The Amazing Race

Thursday morning we left Ndu and rode for 4 or 5 hours on the dusty bumpy road. It actually went quite well and we arrived in Bamenda with time to visit people. Our friend Steve had finished his mid-terms so we asked him to travel with us, and boy are we glad we did. Steve speaks French and English as well as a couple of other Cameroonian languages so he is quite handy to have around. Our family had rooms booked at the Bro Guest House run by SIL. The main office is easy to find but finding the actual house was another story. One of the SIL workers rode with us in our van and showed us the way. After just a quick stop we loaded back in the van to stop at the bank and get some of our personal money to use for our weekend excursion to the beach. Steve then negotiated a taxi for all of us to take us to the Baptist Conference Center where we had hoped to see Irene (our cook for part of our time in Ndu). Irene is a cook to a Canadian missionary named Elsie. I didn't realize the Baptist Center was so big but Elsie was known by everyone we met and we soon found her. Irene had gone home for the day but Elsie was very kind and welcomed us into her home. It ended up that she had met our friend Steve a few years ago in a class that she had taught. As we were talking, I saw Monie out the window and went running out to greet her. Monie is from Faith Baptist Church in Minneapolis and I had hoped to see her and her husband Jerry in Ndu but the timing was not right. I was thrilled at our unexpected meeting and enjoying our time together catching up. After the Baptist Center we took a taxi to a handicraft place to pick up souvenirs but unfortunately the place was closed and our taxi had already left. We were on a busy street but there were 6 of us and most taxis were not that big, so we just kept walking (or strolling as Steve called it). After walking for a long time, we came to the bus terminal so we checked on the bus schedule to Limbe for the next morning. Once that was taken care of we walked to Steve's aunt's home to see her (since we were in the neighborhood). After hanging out at her house for a while we invited her to Sister Rosa's with us to eat dinner... by this time it was already dark and we were all tired and hungry. The restaurant was a short walk from her home. By the time we arrived it was almost 8pm and we were told the fish would take a half hour... so we waited. The half hour ended up being an hour and we were all so tired it seemed even longer. We ate quickly and hailed a taxi to take us back to the guest house, the one that we had only seen once in the daylight. Steve was able to lead our taxi driver to our house with only a few misturns - we were all so thankful that at least one of us had paid attention to all the bumps and curves to where we were going. I barely remember my head hitting the pillow that night.
The next morning Drew and Steve were out of the house bright and early to book our bus tickets. The hope was to get good seats. (I typed all this up once and it disappeared) The short version is: We were told the bus would leave at 9am sharp - it left at 1108am. We were told it was about a 6 hour drive - we arrived at 830pm. If you had to go to the bathroom you could just yell at the driver and he would stop the bus to let you pee next to the bus for all to see - I chose a dehydration headache over drinking liquid all day. The bus was scheduled to go to Limbe and that is where all the passengers were planning on going but the driver thought he had to go to Doula. This meant we had to unload less than 30 kms from our destination and load another bus instead of going straight on through. Crazy sites along the way... but beautiful scenery too.
I had made reservations for the New Seme Beach Hotel in Limbe online - it was the only hotel I found that took online reservations. I went back and forth a few times through email with them because we didn't seem to be understanding each other but I finally felt like we were clear. Unfortunately, they only had us down for 4 people instead of 6. After looking at a couple of room options we settled on adding another room for Steve and Kyle onto our adjoining rooms. It was frustrating and more so because the man at the front desk seemed to have a chip on his shoulder right from the beginning with us. The other workers were very kind but I can't say that I would recommend this place if someone should ask. The prices here are much higher than in Ndu but right in line with American prices. In fact we asked about the Wildlife Refuge Center nearby and were told that the price to get in is 3000 cfa per person if you are a foreigner and 500 cfa if you are Cameroonian. The Hotel is right on the ocean and has air conditioning as well as a continental breakfast. It feels really weird being here after being in Ndu. I don't feel like I fit in here at all. We ate dinner in after 9pm again last night. For the past 2 months we have been locked in our house pretty much after supper and in bed most nights around 9pm, now in the past 2 nights we haven't even had supper by 9pm.

This morning I woke to the sounds of birds and the ocean. My heart was very thankful for these few days to go over my thoughts of these past 2 months and to relax and enjoy my last memories of Cameroon. We played at the beach for hours and had a very enjoyable day. We are tired but it's not the same as the exhaustion from traveling. We have another day of rest tomorrow. Monday we will try out a bigger bus to Yaounde' - I hear that it even has air conditioning! The flight home is going to seem like luxury to us... especially as we anticipate our arrival home. As we were traveling we started feeling like we had a glimpse of what people must feel like on the show "Amazing Race". Travel can bring out the worst of people but it can also make some of the best memories.

Feeling the Love

This morning was our send off prayer at the CBTS chapel service. We made the kids come to chapel and were expecting a prayer at the end, but honestly were not prepared for the touching send off these dear saints gave us. Our whole family was brought to the front of the church and then ushered into a prayer room in the front while some announcements were made. Mrs. Maasa met us with a bag full of specially made African outfits for the whole family. The boys all threw their shirts on and left Ellie and I to quickly change into our skirt and top...I felt a little like a model having to make such a quick transition. The kids and I were given Certificates of Appreciation for the work done in the library - they were very sweet. There is a mystery gift for Drew that had not made it in time for chapel so we still have that to look forward to. A few of the Pastors on campus came up and prayed for us. Drew was given the mic to make a speech but instead he sang the song "Pleasing To You" by Jared Anderson. After Drew prayed a heartfelt, emotional prayer (after the emotional song), the President of CBTS had a few words to share.

We were so touched by his words and wish we had them video taped because really they were prayers for all of you. He prayed for our son Chris, who is still in the states (he is 24 years old). He prayed for our Pastors, thanking them for the influence they have had on our family's life, that we would be willing to come here to show the love of Christ in practical ways. He prayed for all of you that have contributed financially and in prayer so that it would even be possible for our family to come at all. There is so much to do around this campus from a construction point of view and he prayed earnestly that we would return for years to come. It was so encouraging because he understood and conveyed to everyone there in the chapel that we were only there at all because of a whole team of people. God may have called us to the dusty place of Ndu, but we could never have done it without Him also putting it on peoples hearts to give and to pray and to be our support team all along the way.

Last night we enjoyed dinner with a couple of the Master's program students who have become good friends to our family. They were telling us all the things that we do that are so contrary to their culture. Some examples are that we have conversations with adults and our children are a part of the conversation, we interrupt each other (which isn't a good thing and we will be working on that), we engage in getting deep with people - whether they are eating or whatever is going on, without sending our kids off to another area of the house. They asked if there are other families like ours, and we were able to say YES. We know this because we rub shoulders with them at our co-op and at our church every week. Over the years we have met many families that have influenced our vision for our own family. They asked about our Pastors, because they thought we must have amazing Pastors influence us for God's Kingdom - again they were right. We are so thankful for the leadership in our church and our church family and the impact they have had in our lives.

God has put some amazing people in our life, both at home and here in Africa... and in Canada. We feel so privileged that He would find us worthy to be used by Him and that many of you had faith to trust us and support this adventure God has brought us on. I hope as we return home that we will be able to pass on the gratitude and lessons we have learned from these 2 months in Ndu.

Our Last Weekend

We just ended our last pancake night here in Ndu. Drew made an extra amount of pancakes but we ended up with quite a bit left over since it was a light crowd tonight. There was no electricity so we sat around the table by candle light and enjoyed the company of our friends. There are some doctors here for a month, 2 of which are from Burnsville and go to Bethlehem Baptist, they gave us M&M's as a contribution to the pancakes. Banana and M&M pancakes are pretty amazing. During the conversation we found out that all the noise we had heard last night was not a good thing. We had thought there was some late night sports event or something by all the shouting and cheering. The field Pastor for the area Baptist churches was beaten by Jujus pretty seriously. From what I can understand, a man in the First Baptist church wrote some Christian lyrics to the juju songs (Jujus are basically the witch doctors). He recorded these songs and the jujus are angry, so angry that they want to kill him. Tonight while we were sitting here we heard more noise and one of the missionaries received a call that for safety reasons they were bringing this man on campus for the night. He is staying at the house the Schroths were living in just down the path from us. Tomorrow a meeting is being held and hopefully a solution will be found to satisfy the jujus without shedding blood. Pray for wisdom for all involved and for safety for the Pastor and his family.

Through our time here in Ndu, we have made some wonderful friends. One of the men we have gotten to know is a student in the Master's program - his name is Steve. Tonight we found out more about Steve, including the fact that he is a Master in Martial Arts. I've been trying to iron out the details of our family traveling to Limbe and being tourists for a while before we leave. It seems complicated and we had just decided to hire a taxi to stay with us the whole time, thinking it would be worth the expense. Talking to Steve we found out he finishes his last test before break the very day we are leaving. He is from the area we are going to and speaks both French and English. We asked if he would travel with us and be our "body guard" as well as tour guide. He seemed really excited. Even with paying an extra persons expenses this will be quite a bit less expensive than what we were originally looking at. We will instead take a bus once we arrive in Bamenda, it will be an adventure. It works out well because the Schulzs will be going to Yaounde over the weekend and can bring our extra luggage so we can pack light. God is so good in providing us with this extra help. The other great thing is this will prolong our good-bye with Steve and we will enjoy exploring more of Cameroon with him. I'm feeling quite thankful and relieved by this turn of events. Pray for safety for all of us as we travel. Continue to pray for Levi as he is still not feeling well.

The road to Ntaba

It's our last weekend in Ndu and we are feeling mixed emotions about leaving. For the most part, I am ready to get home to our family and friends but at the same time, I know I will miss this place. Today we took a taxi with Henry (the librarian) to a place called Ntaba. Henry has been telling me how beautiful this place is since I first started working in the library. The car was a little crowded with 7 of us crammed in a small Toyota (like a Tercel). I got to share the front bucket seat with Drew. The scenery was quite stunning and the winding mountain road was exhilarating. On the other side of the mountain range was the savanna area - beautiful. I was hoping that we would get to see some other topography before leaving Cameroon. We will also be traveling to the beach before leaving so that will offer us some more interesting sights to see as well. It's fun to still have new things to look forward to, even as we are experiencing many "lasts" on our journey.

Cameroon's National Women's Day

Happy Women's Day! "Happy Happy" (that is the proper response). Today women all over Cameroon celebrate this national holiday. Ndu had a celebration much like other towns and villages across the country. Fabric was made months ago for women to have special dresses made just for the day. Since we wanted to experience as much of the Cameroonian culture as possible, Ellie and I had dresses made in Ellie's favorite color -PINK! The other option was a bluish/green with the same picture on it. The women's march was scheduled to begin at the grand stand in town at 8am this morning (March 8, 2012). Knowing that nothing starts on time around here we waited until 840am to walk across campus and through the main gate (that has brand new cement). We felt like our own little parade as we walked on the rim road towards the grand stand with shouts of "Happy Women's Day!" thrown our way. It felt a little awkward as we realized we were the only people around with our bright pink fabric on. Circling around we went to our favorite store (Providence) to find out what we could about the festivities for the day. Both the women that worked there laughed when we asked why it hadn't started yet - "Black people here don't follow any type of time schedule" was the reply these 2 black women gave us. We continued our little parade of 2 right back to our little house to wait it out. Finally just before 10am we headed back up to the grand stand and discovered many different women's groups lining up to begin the march. Again, we felt really out of place because the groups were being divided by subdivisions and we didn't have a group that we belonged in. Finally, one of the ladies shoved us into the line, close to the front where we joined other women in pink, marching and singing "Oh When The Saints Go Marching In". I just kept thinking "It's all part of the experience". Ellie and I then went and took our seats in the grand stand to watch some of the women's groups perform their dances and sing. One of the groups was from the CTE (tea plantation we had toured early on in Cameroon). They sang the song "Shine the light of Jesus Christ" but changed the words to "Shine the light of CTE"... it kind of bugged me. Everything I have heard about the man who bought this place just 4 or 5 years ago is that he doesn't treat his workers very fair. Who knows what the truth is? We listened as several speakers shared on different topics (through a bad sound system): Women's rights, education, cancer (cervical and prostate), Agriculture and a male doctor talked in detail about person hygiene. The main theme of the day was ending hunger and poverty... finally, I could stand it no longer - I had to go to the bathroom and I was hungry. So Ellie and I did our part to end hunger (even if it was just our own) and we headed home to eat... and use a flush toilet. A few hours later Drew and I headed up to the MoneyGram place (for the 3rd time without success) and we could see that the Women's Day performances were still going on. No offense, I love being a woman, but to me this was Women's suffering!

More of my observations

Some things here in Cameroon are just so different it makes me laugh. Just this morning I made a phone call to the man in charge of a taxi service here in Ndu. We need to arrange a ride to Bamenda next week and I have been trying to get in touch with him but I was getting only a busy signal. This morning I finally got an answer but barely into my call when my phone went dead. I went to plug it in and we had no power, so I figured I would try again later. Meanwhile, Levi and I headed down the hill to go to the health center. As we were walking, a car came down the road we had just past honking his horn and flashing the lights - strange behavior even for Ndu. I stopped to see what it was all about and a man jumped out and greeted me, it was the taxi guy. He had tried calling me back but got a busy signal, the only information I had given him was that I was at CBTS. Wow, what service. I was able to tell him when we needed a ride and he agreed to meet with Drew and I together a few days before we leave to get the details worked out. Nice to have that off my list, especially since we still do not have electricity. Can you imagine in America if your conversation was cut short with a dead battery and moments later the person showed up at your door to finish the conversation?

Levi was tested for malaria this morning and it did come back negative - Yeah! We got some medicine for parasites so hopefully he will be feeling better soon. While waiting for 3 hours between our registration, consultation, lab work, more consultation and then the pharmacy, I had a lot of opportunity to observe the people around me. One thing I have noticed since arriving here is that women seem to embrace their chin hairs and today I noticed several women with actual go-tees growing. Many of the women wear a wrappa around their skirts and this is very useful for waiting - they just throw the outer wrappa on the grass and use it for a blanket (I will have to remember that next time we go to the health center). Another thing I noticed is that "Minnesota Nice" does not work well when you are waiting in Africa - people do not usually take turns but push to get waited on as soon as possible. You really need to stand your ground or you could spend the whole day waiting and never get service. Yesterday I went to the Moneygram place in Ndu to get some money my brother had wired me. There were probably 20 people waiting and when I arrived the security guy ushered me to the front of the line. I wasn't sure what was happening at first but once I realized I felt very awkward. I did not have the right information though and was unable to get my money, therefore I felt very relieved that I had not waited hours to find that out. I'm going back today but plan to wait my turn.

One thing that I will miss that just doesn't happen at home, is the greetings that happen everywhere you go... and it's not just that we are white, everyone greets everyone. It takes longer to get from place to place because people say "Good morning Madame", "Good Afternoon" or the kids shout "Hello, how are you?" (over and over). People shake your hand and sometimes hold their arm when they do this as a sign of respect. As our time is coming to an end we have had numerous invitations to have supper (fufu and jamajama most likely). The Africans we have met have taught me so much about being hospitable and making people feel welcome. As you enter their homes they often say "You are welcome".

Looking Towards the Goal

Just 2 months have gone by since we walked out the door of our home in Minnesota starting our adventure. I would like to think that we are all changed and transformed people, and I'm sure we are to some degree. The reality is that I have discovered more of my selfishness and my sinful heart than I would have by staying in my busy lifestyle at home in the middle of my comfort. I wouldn't have had to face the fact that I really don't like to be uncomfortable or outside of my control. I could just go on joking about how much I like to have my way, instead of seeing how ugly that really is. I don't know why I was born in a country and own a home that is huge by these standards. I'm not a more valuable person because I live in a land of comfort. I hope that I will appreciate even the smallest comfort once I go home, but honestly I doubt it will take long before I settle back into my life of expectations. What do I do with the fact that I live with plenty, when others live in want? People that I have met and walked with, if even for a short time, will continue in their struggles and I will go home to my easy life. I have no answers, it doesn't change their lives if I should sell everything I own, even if I gave it all to them. It wouldn't give them better plumbing or an endless supply of food, they would still have dust on everything. Both here and there we would be tempted to fill our time with things that do not satisfy. Which leads me to the fact that it is all pointless. If all our life is about our accumulation of "stuff" and we forget that we are made to bring God glory with our lives, than we're missing out. I've seen some wonderful examples of people who understand that here in Africa, with the full time missionaries and many students who have committed their lives to serving Christ. I want to bring home a little of that zeal and that purpose as I too fix my eyes on the goal before me.

Philippians 3:13-16 (The Message
"Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward - to JESUS. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.
So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision - you'll see it yet! Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it.

Pray for us as we end our time in Ndu, Cameroon and prepare to reenter our life in Minnesota and the mission God has for us there.