Dear friends and family,
The 2009 year is about wrapped up, but the whole old year / new year thing seems nearly inconsequential. What does seem important is that, after a 6 day massive road trip from Lassin to Yaounde and back, we are now residents (not citizens) of Cameroon for 2 years! Wow, how wonderful; no more wondering if our visa will be approved. This means that we can continue to teach ‘our’ children through the end of the school year, we can continue bible studies with our friends, and we can keep eating our fill of bananas and coco yams!
Note: (for readers that want the whole story) On Thursday evening 12/17/09, I phoned Charles, In Douala, to find out what had to be done to secure our visa before the 60 day extension grace period ran out on 12/27/09. We appreciate the much required help of Elder Richard Gates (David’s father) for vital GMI documents, the kind lady at the GMI office who typed them and e-mailed them to Charles. But even with this help we were going to have to leave THE NEXT MORNING on the long trip to the capital of Cameroon; originally, we thought we would only go as far as Bamenda- one dusty, bumpy, long day’s drive (158 km, 98 miles). Friday, drove to Bamenda, stayed with the Ichu family (see photos of Charles folks) home until Sunday morning. We took the bus to Douala Sunday. Charles picked us up, took us home and fed us some of the world’s best pineapple along with his wife’s great cooking. We met Nadia; what a treat! Monday at 4 AM, we took a taxi, then a bus to Yaounde, then a taxi to the office of immigration. You have no idea of how God led here. We were taken by Charles into a room with an officer that was very busy. We waited while a young man named Stephen came to take us through many strong doors and gates to a photo and finger printing office. While he created our temporary residence permit cards we waited outside the office. It was only then that we were shown a covered waiting area that had benches for about 60 people. How was it that we were literally taken around the line? Any guesses? After details were arranged we retraced our steps from Yaounde to Doualla arriving at 11 PM. Tuesday Charles drove us to Bamenda (all day outing). Wednesday we shopped a little for parts to make an attic heated, 80 liter (20 gallon) water supply for showering and then drove our little red Corolla home to Lassin by 9 PM. Nadia was such a good sport. She sat in back with all her things. Some boxes would try to fall into her lap, but only when the car would hit a bump during left hand turns; countless times.
Home: we’re settling in again. Nadia brought some wonderful things for us; things that had to be hand carried. Someone may wish to help me with this one; send the answer via SMS to our Iridium phone (Iridium.com, our phone number is 8816 316 72129. Again, this is free to you and free to us, BUT do not call us on this number- you’ll pay too much so we do not ever answer). I would love to know the frequencies for the following radio stations: ‘Voice of America’ in West Africa, BBC, and Adventist World Radio (Again, all stations within reception in Cameroon) Thanks!
All windows have mosquito net on them now. Bathroom plumbing is coming really slowly especially with the interruption of the Yaounde trip. I bent 45 degree turns into two of the sections using our Coleman stove to heat the plastic. The radius is really gradual, but it worked. I also flared the ends of the pipe so that one could slip into another; no slip-slip or 45 degree PVC fittings available. But now they sit waiting for more ‘spare’ time.
Some day we’ll do the shower job, but for now, the hot water from the bucket routine works just fine.
School: brick work is progressing very well to prepare classroom two for service next year. Gregory is the chief ‘technician’ on the job. The new walls are plumb and straight! They look beautiful and I feel very good about the structural integrity. Next plans are to continue total reconstructive brick work of this type throughout the remainder of the school until complete. Then we’ll address tasks like concrete ‘plaster’ of walls and floors. I need to take time to locate wood for desks and window shutters. Oh yes, I need a carpenter basically full time. Hey, don’t panic. Look what God has done so far. It’ll work out.
Church: the bible study list is growing steadily. Carol and Nadia began a new study with the mother of one of our members. I need to contact Moses, the tailor, to set a day and time for his studies. Story time: after the call to Charles on ‘that Thursday night’, I felt pushed way out of my comfort zone. I really feared traveling on lonely mountain roads in a small car during the Christmas season; bandits. I struggled to trust God for safety. My mind still reeling from the realization of this trip, I began the ¾ mile walk home from the spot where the cell phone gets reception. 100 feet down the path a large flashlight was shone in my face, “Is that you?” How do you answer this? It was Moses. He was walking home from town very late. He was happy to see me and immediately asked, “When you come back from your trip, can you have Bible studies in my home?” Immediately, I was reminded exactly why we are here and why I could be so sure that God would be with us. I believe that this really is the difference between faith and presumption.
Want another story? (if not, skip this paragraph) I met with my friend Musa Abduli (deputy Emom of our local mosque) for a brief study of the Quran and the Bible. At the end of the study he began talking about our dear friend ‘Shey’ John. I was informed that this title means that John is required to come to the palace whenever needed and that he is involved in assigning the ‘Juju’ men tasks. Have I told you about Juju men? Google this. These guys are the strong arm of local ‘traditional’ spiritualism, ancestral worship / communication with dead ancestors, ‘death celebration’ (funeral) stuff. These are the guys that I hesitate to photograph from a great distance because I wonder if I should have even this much interaction with them. Here’s the rub, the big deal… my dear friend John is involved in the coordination of this group! My heart was sick when Abduli told me. By the way, John and I have bible studies on Wednesday or Thursday mornings between 9 and 10 AM. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. Please join me in prayer for this delightful man; not once in a while, but regularly. Don’t fear the lesser / loosing power, but don’t leave home without securing yourself to the Strongest power! So, about Abduli? We ended our visit together in earnest prayer for John and each other. What an adventure!!! Want to visit?
Enjoy the photos!
We love getting your SMS messages! Keep keeping us in your prayers. God is very real and we’re really enjoying working and living here.
Thank you for your donations! Keep in mind, you get no tax benefit from this, but believe me, there are other benefits! We do not use this for food or feathering our nest; we have funds for this. We’re spending money as fast as we can to get the school ready for next year. We are careful to use funds wisely; striking the stewardship balance as well possible. Believe me, having Bible studies and seeing work go forward at the school is more exciting and fulfilling than I ever imagined possible. Carol’s work with the children is such an effective ‘bridge’ to peoples homes! She is still learning to appreciate this, but her work is indispensible (so is she!!!)
We’re praying for you too. Our daughter Julie tells me that there are some new movies sweeping America- not the kind of stuff that we want in our minds. Please avoid this stuff! Leave them for the ‘dung beetle’ (see photo).
Faithfully shaving once or twice a week now,
Your friend, Steve
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
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Sunday, December 6, 2009
Dear Friends and Family,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Cameroon. God has been so good to us. We do miss you all! Please pass on our greetings to all our friends wherever you are.
We are settling into Lassin even more. By this I mean we are becoming more comfortable, not only in the place where we live, but also with the people.
It is very exciting to work with people who are listening to the Bible studies and those who are coming to church. We think there are probably many out there who would come but perhaps are just waiting to be invited.
We had one new visitor today and one repeat visitor who Steve is studying with during the week. Praise the Lord!
We are very excited that we will be picking up a Bible Worker in less than three weeks. Nadia comes from Australia but has been in the U.S. attending ARISE, a Bible Worker training school. She has an interest in the Muslim population here, and we are anxious to reach them as well as others.
Steve has been busy supervising work at our house and busy arranging for work to be done at the school during Christmas vacation. We decided we needed all the floors in our house to be concrete (three rooms and the hall were dirt) and to make the indoor bathroom/toilet usable, especially because we are planning to have other workers staying with us. We also will be completing/improving Classroom 2 at the school. Part of the work includes walls that need to be replaced and then plastered. The school is truly in a beautiful spot; the school children just love it. They are having a wonderful time there-the stream is nearby and we send them down there to "carry water" for the school. In the surrounding "bush" there are fruits they pick and eat by the dozen-a bright red fruit called dinjee, guava, and raffia fruit. The cows come to visit about once a week. It is a neat place even though the walk is far; but they usually manage that just fine even when it is hot.
We have 19 students at the school now, and school is going fine. We have had a few students contract malaria. Some of them have been able to continue coming to school in spite of it or perhaps only miss a day or two.
The students are learning English quickly. We have had one or two students
come to school without eating breakfast. That can be uncomfortable for them and a challenge for us teachers. One boy cried inconsolably for quite a bit of our walk to school. Come to find out, he was just hungry. Fortunately when we arrived at Naphtali's house, he understood the problem and gave the child some food to eat. The child was quite happy after that. The students are looking forward to participating in Youth Day in February where all the Lassin schools will get together and march in a parade, sing, and perform.
God has been very good to us in so many ways. Our translator, Naphtali, has been one huge blessing. The school building (Classroom 1) was almost ready when we arrived. Our local neighbors and church members have been so welcoming and friendly. Best of all, God has been working on our own characters; yes, we really needed it! Praise God, He hasn't given up on us, though. Steve and I are growing in God's grace, and what happiness He brings! Keep praying for us. We still have many blind spots that need to be revealed to us, but God is faithful and able to work mighty changes.
Please see our blog: Lassin.blogspot.com for pictures and more stories.
We try to update it weekly.
We love you all,
Steve & Carol Rose
We are settling into Lassin even more. By this I mean we are becoming more comfortable, not only in the place where we live, but also with the people.
It is very exciting to work with people who are listening to the Bible studies and those who are coming to church. We think there are probably many out there who would come but perhaps are just waiting to be invited.
We had one new visitor today and one repeat visitor who Steve is studying with during the week. Praise the Lord!
We are very excited that we will be picking up a Bible Worker in less than three weeks. Nadia comes from Australia but has been in the U.S. attending ARISE, a Bible Worker training school. She has an interest in the Muslim population here, and we are anxious to reach them as well as others.
Steve has been busy supervising work at our house and busy arranging for work to be done at the school during Christmas vacation. We decided we needed all the floors in our house to be concrete (three rooms and the hall were dirt) and to make the indoor bathroom/toilet usable, especially because we are planning to have other workers staying with us. We also will be completing/improving Classroom 2 at the school. Part of the work includes walls that need to be replaced and then plastered. The school is truly in a beautiful spot; the school children just love it. They are having a wonderful time there-the stream is nearby and we send them down there to "carry water" for the school. In the surrounding "bush" there are fruits they pick and eat by the dozen-a bright red fruit called dinjee, guava, and raffia fruit. The cows come to visit about once a week. It is a neat place even though the walk is far; but they usually manage that just fine even when it is hot.
We have 19 students at the school now, and school is going fine. We have had a few students contract malaria. Some of them have been able to continue coming to school in spite of it or perhaps only miss a day or two.
The students are learning English quickly. We have had one or two students
come to school without eating breakfast. That can be uncomfortable for them and a challenge for us teachers. One boy cried inconsolably for quite a bit of our walk to school. Come to find out, he was just hungry. Fortunately when we arrived at Naphtali's house, he understood the problem and gave the child some food to eat. The child was quite happy after that. The students are looking forward to participating in Youth Day in February where all the Lassin schools will get together and march in a parade, sing, and perform.
God has been very good to us in so many ways. Our translator, Naphtali, has been one huge blessing. The school building (Classroom 1) was almost ready when we arrived. Our local neighbors and church members have been so welcoming and friendly. Best of all, God has been working on our own characters; yes, we really needed it! Praise God, He hasn't given up on us, though. Steve and I are growing in God's grace, and what happiness He brings! Keep praying for us. We still have many blind spots that need to be revealed to us, but God is faithful and able to work mighty changes.
Please see our blog: Lassin.blogspot.com for pictures and more stories.
We try to update it weekly.
We love you all,
Steve & Carol Rose
12/06/09 from Steve
News from Lassin
Church:
Friday the 4th, a neighbor came by and after visiting a while he said, 'I heard that you worship down the road'. Getting a nudge from 'Above', I asked him if he would like to join us for worship the next day. Yes he would like to come, and yes he came. His name is Emanuel and he works at the Baptist medical clinic between our house and the church. He turned out to be quite the bible student. He commented after the program that he really appreciated the Sabbath school lesson's bible study format and that the sermon was based on a series of scriptures. Hey, Franklin came to church again and also came for the afternoon singing and It Is Written 'New Beginnings' 'film' as they call it. Note: this is a really big deal since he is a very busy carpenter with many mouths to feed and all work is done by hand. (try planing eucalyptus by hand until it shines like it has been through a power planer- not easy.) I roped him into coming up front with me to give the scripture reading for the church service. He did fine.
Naphtali presented the Sabbath school lesson. I realize that technically a member should perform this task, but 'he who teaches learns best'. His presentation was excellent- well prepared with smooth transitions through the topics. His teaching skills well utilized at church.
School:
It's dry season. When the rain is away the people make hay. Gregory, who lives very near the school, has two sons attending, and enjoys weekly bible studies has been really busy lately. He has made 500 mud bricks- they lie in the final stages of drying in the unused 3rd classroom and offices. He has hauled about 5 cubic yards or 350 'hail pans' (whatever that is) of clean sand from the stream bed below the school to classrooms 2 and 3. I asked him to prepare a bid for the work to restore the 2 walls of classroom 2. He broke the project down by tasks with the fee for each task. We discussed it Friday and I accepted it as presented. The work will be done during the 2 weeks of Christmas break.
Next phases:
revised roof rafter system, plastered walls and concrete floor.
Next year- repeat all this stuff in classroom 3 and the offices.
Note: Carol and I are considering combining the square footage of classroom
3 and the offices and producing two classrooms. This will give us 2 smaller, yet good size rooms for grades 1 and 2, and two large classrooms that can combine grades 3 & 4, and 5 & 6. In this way we will have an entire elementary or primary school under one roof. See how soon we will need more teachers! Won't be long.
Home:
Our home has been the site of much activity! All the outer and bathroom walls have been plastered. There are no more dirt floors in the house- all rooms have concrete floors; between 3 and 5 inches thick.
The electric lights are up, and outlets work. We hardly ever use the romantic kerosene lanterns any more.
We're planning to install bathroom plumbing next. Carol really wants a
toilet- kind of fussy don't you think. Someday, indoor running water.
Adventist Medical (not) Aviation-
You probably know that we are working under the name 'Adventist Medical Aviation'. Yes, we have no airplane. As of today, 12/06/09, the 1989 4WD Toyota Tercell will probably be able to drive 24 miles without the engine dying. After installing a new fuel filter the mysterious stalling 'feature'
should fade from memory. So, why tell about our mighty Toyota in the aviation section? We plan to use the car to perform some level of medical transportation service for the people of Lassin, instead of an airplane as originally planned. This Thursday we hope to transport a woman with cancer to visit a physician at the hospital in Kumbo, 24 miles away. A few days ago, I heard that she had opted for a 'natural' home remedy of hot and cold water and massage treatments to try to shrink the tumor; because she hadn't the funds to get to the hospital for consultation and surgery. My heart revolted. I could just see metastases forming while she waited for funds to ride to the hospital. So, 'Adventist Medical Transportation' begins.
Pigeon coop:
It's about time I learn some local form of communication. Likely Pigeon.
We were given a beautiful copy of the New Testament in Pigeon English- 'GUD NYUS FO OL PIPUL' (Good News For All People). It is fun to read and pronounce and decode. Here's a sample. If you like it, let us know via SMS.
Decoding tips: 'a' is short, 'e' is long, 'I' is a long 'e', 'o' is long, 'u ' is short or 'oo'. Sometimes you have to listen to yourself read. By hearing, you may recognize a word. Frequently, the last letter or sound is left off of a word. Have fun.
Title: Jesus e sen yi twef lanboi dem-
Jesus e bin tok meik yi twef lanboi dem kam si yi. Tam weh dem bin don kam fo wan pleis, e giv pawa fo dem fo draiv ol devul dem an fo meik sik pipul dem fo wel fo dem sik. 2) Den e sen dem for go tok de gud nyus abaut God yi rul an e meik pipul dem wel fo ol kain bai kain sik dem. 3) E bin tok fo dem sei, <>
Hint: Luke 9: 1-6
A little more help-
Wuna- pleural form of 'you'.
Lanboi- hear 'learn boy', think 'student' (disciple).
Tam- time
Weh- when
e- neutral gender of 'he' / 'she' (the person)
bin- been
meik- make
chop- food
na- is (how are you? Na fine.)
waka- walk (waka fine- have a good walk)
fo- for
dem- them
don kom- done come, came (frequently heard here- ya don kom. You came.)
sei- say
eni pleis- any place
6) Time when he finish for talk, the learn boy them come out and them walka for all village them, and them talk the good news and them make people where them been the sick for well.
Come out and walka for all village! Steve & Carol
Church:
Friday the 4th, a neighbor came by and after visiting a while he said, 'I heard that you worship down the road'. Getting a nudge from 'Above', I asked him if he would like to join us for worship the next day. Yes he would like to come, and yes he came. His name is Emanuel and he works at the Baptist medical clinic between our house and the church. He turned out to be quite the bible student. He commented after the program that he really appreciated the Sabbath school lesson's bible study format and that the sermon was based on a series of scriptures. Hey, Franklin came to church again and also came for the afternoon singing and It Is Written 'New Beginnings' 'film' as they call it. Note: this is a really big deal since he is a very busy carpenter with many mouths to feed and all work is done by hand. (try planing eucalyptus by hand until it shines like it has been through a power planer- not easy.) I roped him into coming up front with me to give the scripture reading for the church service. He did fine.
Naphtali presented the Sabbath school lesson. I realize that technically a member should perform this task, but 'he who teaches learns best'. His presentation was excellent- well prepared with smooth transitions through the topics. His teaching skills well utilized at church.
School:
It's dry season. When the rain is away the people make hay. Gregory, who lives very near the school, has two sons attending, and enjoys weekly bible studies has been really busy lately. He has made 500 mud bricks- they lie in the final stages of drying in the unused 3rd classroom and offices. He has hauled about 5 cubic yards or 350 'hail pans' (whatever that is) of clean sand from the stream bed below the school to classrooms 2 and 3. I asked him to prepare a bid for the work to restore the 2 walls of classroom 2. He broke the project down by tasks with the fee for each task. We discussed it Friday and I accepted it as presented. The work will be done during the 2 weeks of Christmas break.
Next phases:
revised roof rafter system, plastered walls and concrete floor.
Next year- repeat all this stuff in classroom 3 and the offices.
Note: Carol and I are considering combining the square footage of classroom
3 and the offices and producing two classrooms. This will give us 2 smaller, yet good size rooms for grades 1 and 2, and two large classrooms that can combine grades 3 & 4, and 5 & 6. In this way we will have an entire elementary or primary school under one roof. See how soon we will need more teachers! Won't be long.
Home:
Our home has been the site of much activity! All the outer and bathroom walls have been plastered. There are no more dirt floors in the house- all rooms have concrete floors; between 3 and 5 inches thick.
The electric lights are up, and outlets work. We hardly ever use the romantic kerosene lanterns any more.
We're planning to install bathroom plumbing next. Carol really wants a
toilet- kind of fussy don't you think. Someday, indoor running water.
Adventist Medical (not) Aviation-
You probably know that we are working under the name 'Adventist Medical Aviation'. Yes, we have no airplane. As of today, 12/06/09, the 1989 4WD Toyota Tercell will probably be able to drive 24 miles without the engine dying. After installing a new fuel filter the mysterious stalling 'feature'
should fade from memory. So, why tell about our mighty Toyota in the aviation section? We plan to use the car to perform some level of medical transportation service for the people of Lassin, instead of an airplane as originally planned. This Thursday we hope to transport a woman with cancer to visit a physician at the hospital in Kumbo, 24 miles away. A few days ago, I heard that she had opted for a 'natural' home remedy of hot and cold water and massage treatments to try to shrink the tumor; because she hadn't the funds to get to the hospital for consultation and surgery. My heart revolted. I could just see metastases forming while she waited for funds to ride to the hospital. So, 'Adventist Medical Transportation' begins.
Pigeon coop:
It's about time I learn some local form of communication. Likely Pigeon.
We were given a beautiful copy of the New Testament in Pigeon English- 'GUD NYUS FO OL PIPUL' (Good News For All People). It is fun to read and pronounce and decode. Here's a sample. If you like it, let us know via SMS.
Decoding tips: 'a' is short, 'e' is long, 'I' is a long 'e', 'o' is long, 'u ' is short or 'oo'. Sometimes you have to listen to yourself read. By hearing, you may recognize a word. Frequently, the last letter or sound is left off of a word. Have fun.
Title: Jesus e sen yi twef lanboi dem-
Jesus e bin tok meik yi twef lanboi dem kam si yi. Tam weh dem bin don kam fo wan pleis, e giv pawa fo dem fo draiv ol devul dem an fo meik sik pipul dem fo wel fo dem sik. 2) Den e sen dem for go tok de gud nyus abaut God yi rul an e meik pipul dem wel fo ol kain bai kain sik dem. 3) E bin tok fo dem sei, <
Hint: Luke 9: 1-6
A little more help-
Wuna- pleural form of 'you'.
Lanboi- hear 'learn boy', think 'student' (disciple).
Tam- time
Weh- when
e- neutral gender of 'he' / 'she' (the person)
bin- been
meik- make
chop- food
na- is (how are you? Na fine.)
waka- walk (waka fine- have a good walk)
fo- for
dem- them
don kom- done come, came (frequently heard here- ya don kom. You came.)
sei- say
eni pleis- any place
6) Time when he finish for talk, the learn boy them come out and them walka for all village them, and them talk the good news and them make people where them been the sick for well.
Come out and walka for all village! Steve & Carol
Monday, November 30, 2009
Hello from Carol!
Thank you, everyone, for the birthday greetings! It was simply fabulous hearing from each one of you!
School is going well. We have 19 students-7 girls and 12 boys-ranging in age from 5 years to 13 years! We just had our first day off. We found out just about three days before that it was going to be a public holiday.
It was a real treat having the day off. Now I can't remember what I did-oh yes, I slept in for once! And I swept and mopped our church since it was our turn to clean the church.
For the past two weeks Steve has been supervising the improvements on the house we rent. By the end of the day tomorrow, all the floors will be concrete and all the walls, inside and out, will be plastered. After negotiations over the course of two months with various people, we finally found two young men who are dependable, knowledgeable, and trustworthy.
Besides the work on the house proper, the two young men poured concrete lids for the septic pit after Steve built the frame and the reinforcing meshwork.
These lids were large and heavy and had to be carried into position by about
12 men. It was quite a job! Now in order to complete the indoor restroom, we need to buy pipe, fittings, glue, and a toilet and sink from the closest town. It will be sooo nice to have a private indoor restroom. You guys take even the simplest things for granted! Yes, you! Thank God for your bathroom! The bathroom will not have running water, but at least the water will drain to the septic.
We will be joined in three weeks by a Bible Worker. We are looking forward to working with her encouraging our small congregation and reaching out to the unreached. It will be fun to have another friend.
Yesterday, Sunday, Steve and I planted our small garden in front of our house. I am so excited about the different veggies and fruit we planted.
We planted chard, beets, green onions, lettuce, spaghetti squash, green beans, kale, tomatoes, bell pepper, spinach, and zucchini. But, the most exciting thing we planted was watermelon! This is a small variety that is supposed to be sweet. Small will be nice since we do not have refrigeration. This will give us more variety than we have had. Now, I am not complaining-I am enjoying cabbage, okra, and jama jama, but it will be nice to have more variety. Jama Jama is actually a nice green, much like spinach, however it takes quite a while to prepare because the small green leaves need to be pulled off of the stems and then washed twice. It can take an hour just to get the greens ready for cooking.
I want to tell you a little about our 19 students. We are really getting to know them and enjoy them. We have five students that live near the school.
The girl who lives closest to the school, Juley, is our one and only Muslim.
Her mother told us she is 13. She doesn't look more than 10, but she is very small and thin. She is very sweet and shy. She never gets in trouble.
She speaks another dialect which I didn't realize until after a few weeks of school. The other teacher will sometimes try to translate into her dialect but most of the time he does not. She is learning English quickly. Lately she has been bringing avocadoes to sell to us. They are very good, and we are happy to buy them. Today her mother came to school during lunchtime and brought us teachers some food-corn fufu (like cornmeal mush) and a meat sauce. The fufu was excellent, but I let Naphtali and the children eat the meat sauce.
There are two brothers who live near the school-Zachariah and Ignatius.
Their father has been studying the Bible with Steve for a couple months. We really enjoy their whole family. Frequently their little brother who is about three years old comes to school with Zachariah and Ignatius. The little brother is very well behaved as are the two older boys.
There are a stepbrother and stepsister (Promise and Beli) who also live near the school. These kids are "step" because they are from "sister wives," if you know what I mean. The little girl has a powerful and beautiful singing voice. The boy is a bit shy. They have both attended school previously and are doing well in handwriting.
Naphtali has a five-year-old daughter, Onoria, who has the biggest smile.
She is quite expressive, mischievous, and very energetic.
There are five boys that live quite close to us. The first two, Kenedy and Leonard, are cousins; their mothers are sisters. Leonard's mother is a regular member at our church. Both Kenedy's mother and father are living in separate towns, neither of which is Lassin. About three weeks ago Kenedy "moved" to Leonard's compound/house quite on his own, I believe. He was in his father's compound living with his father's mother and a brother, Julius.
Then one day he went home with Leonard. Kenedy and Leonard, but especially Kenedy, are frequent visitors at our house. They have a special place in our hearts and sometimes at our table. It seems as if they do not eat breakfast regularly and they hardly ever bring lunch.
Then there are the three boys who live in Naphtali's father's compound. One boy is Naphtali's junior brother (Bless) who is about six years old. The other two (Rodrick and Isaac) are both about the same age as Bless and are related, but I'm not quite sure how. These boys are neat children. If one is behind, it is usually Isaac, often because he is so fascinated with the motorcycles that frequently drive past. Bless is very industrious and often carries home firewood. Rodrick knows the most English of all the students in the school.
There are two girls, Lucia and Blessing, whose mothers are good friends.
Lucia is about 7-8 years old and Blessing is 5. Lucia is quite sassy and can be a tease. She has been to school before. I think Blessing has been to nursery school. (We see toddlers as young as three years old walking down the road by themselves heading off to nursery school.) Blessing is a sweetheart and is quite energetic. I heard this morning that she was in the clinic with a fever. I sure hope she doesn't have malaria. Two or three of our students have had malaria just in the past three weeks.
Jacenta and Christian are brother and sister. Their father is one of the many tailors in town. Their mother is very gracious and sweet. She helped cook the food for our PTA meeting. Jacenta is about 8-9 years old. She is one of the tallest in the class. She is definitely a "ring leader." She adores me (I don't know why) and frequently wants to hold my hand as we are walking. Christian is five years old. His 2 mile walk to school tires him out sometimes.
Julius is Kenedy's junior (little) brother. He is about five years old.
When I first saw him, I thought to myself, "No way; he can't be in school.
He's too young." Oh, well, we decided that if a child was at least five years old, we would take them; that is the age for first graders here.
Julius is a sweet little kid; he's never in trouble. He loves to hold Steve 's hand. As mentioned before, he's a bit of an orphan. The aunt of Julius and Kenedy is a regular member of our church.
Joshua and Betila are brother and sister. Their father Franklin is the very muscular carpenter in Lassin who made our dining table, chairs, and a kitchen work counter for us. Joshua is about 8-9 years old and has attended school before. He is doing well. Betila is a 5-6 year-old sweetheart who is trying hard. The walk is difficult for her, but she is now getting used to it. Steve has been studying the Bible with their father.
Ransom is our newest student. If I thought Julius was way too young, I thought Ransom was barely out of diapers! We found out that he is really, truly over five years old. He is a nice boy who is doing his best.
When I say a student is over five years old or about 8-9 years old, it is because I don't think any of them could tell you the day he or she was born.
They (and their parents) are just fortunate to know in which year they were born. Also, frequently no one (not even the parents) know how to spell their child's name. I guess it is just not that important. This indicates custom and literacy only, NOT intelligence.
School is never boring with our group of students. Naphtali and I have been talking about the special "Youth Day" coming in February. All the schools gather together at the Catholic school and participate in activities which include marching, choral singing, traditional dances, and athletic events.
This could be good publicity for the school. One of our friends told us that if we wanted more students all we had to do was feed our students and their parents well after the Youth Day events! The kids are learning English very quickly, and it is very nice to be able to talk with them.
Our communication situation is not that great. I was really hoping for a good way to talk to you back at home. At least we can do limited email; that is a blessing. Our new cell phone does have a decent signal about three quarters of a mile from home. On the bright side, we don't have to 'check our messages' when we come home. No telemarketers interrupt our meals. The phone never wakes us.
Local news you may have heard. About two weeks ago Cameroon's football (we call it soccer) team won a match with Morocco. This puts Cameroon in the South Africa Cup games next spring and also some other play offs earlier in the year. This is very exciting for the Cameroonians. They love to watch their team play, just like people love to watch football back home.
Love, Carol
School is going well. We have 19 students-7 girls and 12 boys-ranging in age from 5 years to 13 years! We just had our first day off. We found out just about three days before that it was going to be a public holiday.
It was a real treat having the day off. Now I can't remember what I did-oh yes, I slept in for once! And I swept and mopped our church since it was our turn to clean the church.
For the past two weeks Steve has been supervising the improvements on the house we rent. By the end of the day tomorrow, all the floors will be concrete and all the walls, inside and out, will be plastered. After negotiations over the course of two months with various people, we finally found two young men who are dependable, knowledgeable, and trustworthy.
Besides the work on the house proper, the two young men poured concrete lids for the septic pit after Steve built the frame and the reinforcing meshwork.
These lids were large and heavy and had to be carried into position by about
12 men. It was quite a job! Now in order to complete the indoor restroom, we need to buy pipe, fittings, glue, and a toilet and sink from the closest town. It will be sooo nice to have a private indoor restroom. You guys take even the simplest things for granted! Yes, you! Thank God for your bathroom! The bathroom will not have running water, but at least the water will drain to the septic.
We will be joined in three weeks by a Bible Worker. We are looking forward to working with her encouraging our small congregation and reaching out to the unreached. It will be fun to have another friend.
Yesterday, Sunday, Steve and I planted our small garden in front of our house. I am so excited about the different veggies and fruit we planted.
We planted chard, beets, green onions, lettuce, spaghetti squash, green beans, kale, tomatoes, bell pepper, spinach, and zucchini. But, the most exciting thing we planted was watermelon! This is a small variety that is supposed to be sweet. Small will be nice since we do not have refrigeration. This will give us more variety than we have had. Now, I am not complaining-I am enjoying cabbage, okra, and jama jama, but it will be nice to have more variety. Jama Jama is actually a nice green, much like spinach, however it takes quite a while to prepare because the small green leaves need to be pulled off of the stems and then washed twice. It can take an hour just to get the greens ready for cooking.
I want to tell you a little about our 19 students. We are really getting to know them and enjoy them. We have five students that live near the school.
The girl who lives closest to the school, Juley, is our one and only Muslim.
Her mother told us she is 13. She doesn't look more than 10, but she is very small and thin. She is very sweet and shy. She never gets in trouble.
She speaks another dialect which I didn't realize until after a few weeks of school. The other teacher will sometimes try to translate into her dialect but most of the time he does not. She is learning English quickly. Lately she has been bringing avocadoes to sell to us. They are very good, and we are happy to buy them. Today her mother came to school during lunchtime and brought us teachers some food-corn fufu (like cornmeal mush) and a meat sauce. The fufu was excellent, but I let Naphtali and the children eat the meat sauce.
There are two brothers who live near the school-Zachariah and Ignatius.
Their father has been studying the Bible with Steve for a couple months. We really enjoy their whole family. Frequently their little brother who is about three years old comes to school with Zachariah and Ignatius. The little brother is very well behaved as are the two older boys.
There are a stepbrother and stepsister (Promise and Beli) who also live near the school. These kids are "step" because they are from "sister wives," if you know what I mean. The little girl has a powerful and beautiful singing voice. The boy is a bit shy. They have both attended school previously and are doing well in handwriting.
Naphtali has a five-year-old daughter, Onoria, who has the biggest smile.
She is quite expressive, mischievous, and very energetic.
There are five boys that live quite close to us. The first two, Kenedy and Leonard, are cousins; their mothers are sisters. Leonard's mother is a regular member at our church. Both Kenedy's mother and father are living in separate towns, neither of which is Lassin. About three weeks ago Kenedy "moved" to Leonard's compound/house quite on his own, I believe. He was in his father's compound living with his father's mother and a brother, Julius.
Then one day he went home with Leonard. Kenedy and Leonard, but especially Kenedy, are frequent visitors at our house. They have a special place in our hearts and sometimes at our table. It seems as if they do not eat breakfast regularly and they hardly ever bring lunch.
Then there are the three boys who live in Naphtali's father's compound. One boy is Naphtali's junior brother (Bless) who is about six years old. The other two (Rodrick and Isaac) are both about the same age as Bless and are related, but I'm not quite sure how. These boys are neat children. If one is behind, it is usually Isaac, often because he is so fascinated with the motorcycles that frequently drive past. Bless is very industrious and often carries home firewood. Rodrick knows the most English of all the students in the school.
There are two girls, Lucia and Blessing, whose mothers are good friends.
Lucia is about 7-8 years old and Blessing is 5. Lucia is quite sassy and can be a tease. She has been to school before. I think Blessing has been to nursery school. (We see toddlers as young as three years old walking down the road by themselves heading off to nursery school.) Blessing is a sweetheart and is quite energetic. I heard this morning that she was in the clinic with a fever. I sure hope she doesn't have malaria. Two or three of our students have had malaria just in the past three weeks.
Jacenta and Christian are brother and sister. Their father is one of the many tailors in town. Their mother is very gracious and sweet. She helped cook the food for our PTA meeting. Jacenta is about 8-9 years old. She is one of the tallest in the class. She is definitely a "ring leader." She adores me (I don't know why) and frequently wants to hold my hand as we are walking. Christian is five years old. His 2 mile walk to school tires him out sometimes.
Julius is Kenedy's junior (little) brother. He is about five years old.
When I first saw him, I thought to myself, "No way; he can't be in school.
He's too young." Oh, well, we decided that if a child was at least five years old, we would take them; that is the age for first graders here.
Julius is a sweet little kid; he's never in trouble. He loves to hold Steve 's hand. As mentioned before, he's a bit of an orphan. The aunt of Julius and Kenedy is a regular member of our church.
Joshua and Betila are brother and sister. Their father Franklin is the very muscular carpenter in Lassin who made our dining table, chairs, and a kitchen work counter for us. Joshua is about 8-9 years old and has attended school before. He is doing well. Betila is a 5-6 year-old sweetheart who is trying hard. The walk is difficult for her, but she is now getting used to it. Steve has been studying the Bible with their father.
Ransom is our newest student. If I thought Julius was way too young, I thought Ransom was barely out of diapers! We found out that he is really, truly over five years old. He is a nice boy who is doing his best.
When I say a student is over five years old or about 8-9 years old, it is because I don't think any of them could tell you the day he or she was born.
They (and their parents) are just fortunate to know in which year they were born. Also, frequently no one (not even the parents) know how to spell their child's name. I guess it is just not that important. This indicates custom and literacy only, NOT intelligence.
School is never boring with our group of students. Naphtali and I have been talking about the special "Youth Day" coming in February. All the schools gather together at the Catholic school and participate in activities which include marching, choral singing, traditional dances, and athletic events.
This could be good publicity for the school. One of our friends told us that if we wanted more students all we had to do was feed our students and their parents well after the Youth Day events! The kids are learning English very quickly, and it is very nice to be able to talk with them.
Our communication situation is not that great. I was really hoping for a good way to talk to you back at home. At least we can do limited email; that is a blessing. Our new cell phone does have a decent signal about three quarters of a mile from home. On the bright side, we don't have to 'check our messages' when we come home. No telemarketers interrupt our meals. The phone never wakes us.
Local news you may have heard. About two weeks ago Cameroon's football (we call it soccer) team won a match with Morocco. This puts Cameroon in the South Africa Cup games next spring and also some other play offs earlier in the year. This is very exciting for the Cameroonians. They love to watch their team play, just like people love to watch football back home.
Love, Carol
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Post Birthday & Thanksgiving news
Dear family (that's all of you),
Carol's birthday and our Thanksgiving were really special, thanks to each of you! Here are some highlights...
Carol's birthday: the SMS parade was the most wonderful gift you could have sent her! She just lit up with each one! We read them as they came over the phone, and then she read them again in the evening! Thanks to each of you! You wouldn't believe your collective impact on us both. Yes, Carol is loved! (It is Sabbath evening now 11/28/09. Last night we read another 20 SMS notes! This morning I put the phone in the kitchen window to check for any more notes; there were 10. We read them before walking to church.
Please don't apologize for being late; you simply extend Carol's joy.
Really, you should see her as we 'open' each note; she just beams.) You filled our 'inbox' full twice; about 50 messages! Birthday goodies. (What do you eat for your birthday in this part of Africa?) Breakfast: the last of her 'home made' granola from our kitchen in California, raisins, almonds, powdered soy milk (with Vanilla flavor) (this much was all 'from home'), bananas and sweet pineapple. Lunch: (at the school PTA meeting) corn 'foo foo'(balls of finely ground, boiled corn. These folks have made this food an 'art form') and 'jama jama' (tasty green leaves steamed in a palm oil
sauce)- these are the PASSION of this region! Dinner: (quickly eaten before prayer meeting) a packet of dried nuts, seeds and fruit vacuum packed 'from home', more banana, the rest of the pineapple, some 'oranges', and a lemon (that she tried to pass off as an orange- I fell for it then went ahead & ate half of the sour thing.) In short: you eat the most wonderful food 'from home' and local food that you have time to eat. We did not have candles on the pineapple because you cannot buy birthday candles here.
After a great 'day', we met at the church for singing and a 'health'
discussion about the immune system and the impact of enough water (sounds like Steve!), and effects of sugar. Our assistant teacher Naphtali joined us, then our 'land lady' whose husband is a retired teacher at the Catholic university in Kumbo, then our neighbor Benjamin who has been a Baptist minister. We were asked if we would show a program from the It Is Written, 'New Beginnings' series. They each loved it. I can hardly believe how God is bringing people to us; little by little. But, oh how important each one is. This is the reward of weeks of visiting from the street, the living room, and finally the Bible study. This is pretty exciting for this boy who was so afraid of even offering a bible study and never actually gave one before coming here.
Steps to Jesus: "Where's my copy?! Give me my copy!!" The second police officer seated on the wooden bench in front of the small highway check point shack on the way to Kumbo was ordering me to give him a 'Steps To Jesus'!
Ever since the first time I passed through that check point during Christmas of '08, I have wanted to give these officers some reading material about Jesus. My first encounter began with a stout officer ordering me to produce my Passport. When he read 'California', he exclaimed, "I love your governor! I love his movies!" He smiled enthusiastically and handed my passport back. What a relief! I could proceed with my trip. But as I thought of that man sitting for hours a day watching and stopping traffic, I thought that he may enjoy some reading material (folks here generally love the gift of a book). Today, I did it. I had gotten up my courage to stop and address the men whom no driver wished to be stopped by, much less visit with. I handed a 'Steps to Jesus' and half a dozen 'GLOW' to the man whose outfit most closely resembled a uniform. He sat first on the bench. There were at least eight of them there that morning. I suggested sharing. That was when the order came to produce another book. "Will you read it?" I asked. "Yes!" was the firm reply. A colporteurs' dream, the guy wants your book, and he wants it NOW! Later, on the return trip, this man greeted me, 'You're back!', dropped the rope that blocked the road, and waved me on.
Pray for these guys! That's an order!
Isa (Arabic for 'Jesus') came to our school PTA meeting on Carol's birthday.
He is a significant influence in our Muslim community and he supports our school with his heart. He announced that he plans to send one or two of his children to our school.
Met Abduli today, he invited us to the celebration of the 'Ram' this Friday at 10AM near the airport. I plan to attend. He is the deputy Emom of the mosque. He was excited about his roll of leading out at the 3:00 PM prayer service at the Mosque today.
Final note: Have you ever done something that you knew was REALLY stupid; just WRONG?! It was Friday morning and 'Divine', the man who runs the daily household supply shop and tavern across the street, had gathered 12 sturdy boys and men to help us move the two septic tank lids about 20 feet to the pit. Each lid must have weighed 1000 pounds; concrete 140cm x 180cm, and
3 - 4 inches thick; a 'rebar' mesh inside each. 'We' (they) had tilted one lid up and placed four eucalyptus 'sticks' (10 foot rough cut 3x3's) underneath to create 8 handles (besides the edges of the lid itself). I took one of the handles, then 'knowing something about lifting' decided to instruct these incredible men in 'the art' of lifting. 'Face forward while lifting', I said. 'It will align your lumbar spine to decrease the risk of a disk bulge'. (this was translated into Noni by Divine) There, that should help. Sure enough, some of them faced forward. However, I never dreamed of what came next. This group, used to hours of stooping over while using short handle 'hoes' on the farm, lifted the lid only a foot off the ground as we walked along. This placed incredible forces on my (really
wimpy) low back. I knew that this position was WRONG, but I lifted with 'all I had'. Sure enough, before the lid was in place my back suddenly confirmed my really stupid decision. Now I understand how it feels to be healing from a 'low back strain'. It's a lot better already; so glad it was not a ruptured disk. Next time, I choose a position where I can walk forwards and not carry so much weight.
Friday night worship service at the church- Naphtali came and the 3 of us began singing all the Christmas hymns in the hymnal. Then they began coming. Children. More children. Soon, the 3 pew church was full. After singing, Naphtali and I began telling stories: Zacchaeus and the sycamore tree, David & Goliath, and the 'wise' and 'foolish' house builders. After each story we sang the song (about 3 or 4 times each, with hand motions) by guitar and the light of two kerosene lamps. 8:30PM came really soon.
(Note: we normally end by 7, but Naphtali had walked 6 km just to attend- he arrived at 7. We couldn't just walk out on him. Besides, we were having too much fun.)
While proof reading this e-mail aloud to Carol, she let out a series of screams and began stamping her feet. Turns out she was performing the 'la cucaracha'. She said its body was more than 2 inches long, and the antennae were 3 inches long. I think she was just upset; she hates those things.
She did not want it walking on her raisin, cinnamon rolls that she will be baking in our Coleman oven / Coleman stove combo. About once a month she pulls off one of these 'most amazing culinary stunts' from scratch.
Thanks again for your notes! You folks are great!
Love, Carol & Steve
Carol's birthday and our Thanksgiving were really special, thanks to each of you! Here are some highlights...
Carol's birthday: the SMS parade was the most wonderful gift you could have sent her! She just lit up with each one! We read them as they came over the phone, and then she read them again in the evening! Thanks to each of you! You wouldn't believe your collective impact on us both. Yes, Carol is loved! (It is Sabbath evening now 11/28/09. Last night we read another 20 SMS notes! This morning I put the phone in the kitchen window to check for any more notes; there were 10. We read them before walking to church.
Please don't apologize for being late; you simply extend Carol's joy.
Really, you should see her as we 'open' each note; she just beams.) You filled our 'inbox' full twice; about 50 messages! Birthday goodies. (What do you eat for your birthday in this part of Africa?) Breakfast: the last of her 'home made' granola from our kitchen in California, raisins, almonds, powdered soy milk (with Vanilla flavor) (this much was all 'from home'), bananas and sweet pineapple. Lunch: (at the school PTA meeting) corn 'foo foo'(balls of finely ground, boiled corn. These folks have made this food an 'art form') and 'jama jama' (tasty green leaves steamed in a palm oil
sauce)- these are the PASSION of this region! Dinner: (quickly eaten before prayer meeting) a packet of dried nuts, seeds and fruit vacuum packed 'from home', more banana, the rest of the pineapple, some 'oranges', and a lemon (that she tried to pass off as an orange- I fell for it then went ahead & ate half of the sour thing.) In short: you eat the most wonderful food 'from home' and local food that you have time to eat. We did not have candles on the pineapple because you cannot buy birthday candles here.
After a great 'day', we met at the church for singing and a 'health'
discussion about the immune system and the impact of enough water (sounds like Steve!), and effects of sugar. Our assistant teacher Naphtali joined us, then our 'land lady' whose husband is a retired teacher at the Catholic university in Kumbo, then our neighbor Benjamin who has been a Baptist minister. We were asked if we would show a program from the It Is Written, 'New Beginnings' series. They each loved it. I can hardly believe how God is bringing people to us; little by little. But, oh how important each one is. This is the reward of weeks of visiting from the street, the living room, and finally the Bible study. This is pretty exciting for this boy who was so afraid of even offering a bible study and never actually gave one before coming here.
Steps to Jesus: "Where's my copy?! Give me my copy!!" The second police officer seated on the wooden bench in front of the small highway check point shack on the way to Kumbo was ordering me to give him a 'Steps To Jesus'!
Ever since the first time I passed through that check point during Christmas of '08, I have wanted to give these officers some reading material about Jesus. My first encounter began with a stout officer ordering me to produce my Passport. When he read 'California', he exclaimed, "I love your governor! I love his movies!" He smiled enthusiastically and handed my passport back. What a relief! I could proceed with my trip. But as I thought of that man sitting for hours a day watching and stopping traffic, I thought that he may enjoy some reading material (folks here generally love the gift of a book). Today, I did it. I had gotten up my courage to stop and address the men whom no driver wished to be stopped by, much less visit with. I handed a 'Steps to Jesus' and half a dozen 'GLOW' to the man whose outfit most closely resembled a uniform. He sat first on the bench. There were at least eight of them there that morning. I suggested sharing. That was when the order came to produce another book. "Will you read it?" I asked. "Yes!" was the firm reply. A colporteurs' dream, the guy wants your book, and he wants it NOW! Later, on the return trip, this man greeted me, 'You're back!', dropped the rope that blocked the road, and waved me on.
Pray for these guys! That's an order!
Isa (Arabic for 'Jesus') came to our school PTA meeting on Carol's birthday.
He is a significant influence in our Muslim community and he supports our school with his heart. He announced that he plans to send one or two of his children to our school.
Met Abduli today, he invited us to the celebration of the 'Ram' this Friday at 10AM near the airport. I plan to attend. He is the deputy Emom of the mosque. He was excited about his roll of leading out at the 3:00 PM prayer service at the Mosque today.
Final note: Have you ever done something that you knew was REALLY stupid; just WRONG?! It was Friday morning and 'Divine', the man who runs the daily household supply shop and tavern across the street, had gathered 12 sturdy boys and men to help us move the two septic tank lids about 20 feet to the pit. Each lid must have weighed 1000 pounds; concrete 140cm x 180cm, and
3 - 4 inches thick; a 'rebar' mesh inside each. 'We' (they) had tilted one lid up and placed four eucalyptus 'sticks' (10 foot rough cut 3x3's) underneath to create 8 handles (besides the edges of the lid itself). I took one of the handles, then 'knowing something about lifting' decided to instruct these incredible men in 'the art' of lifting. 'Face forward while lifting', I said. 'It will align your lumbar spine to decrease the risk of a disk bulge'. (this was translated into Noni by Divine) There, that should help. Sure enough, some of them faced forward. However, I never dreamed of what came next. This group, used to hours of stooping over while using short handle 'hoes' on the farm, lifted the lid only a foot off the ground as we walked along. This placed incredible forces on my (really
wimpy) low back. I knew that this position was WRONG, but I lifted with 'all I had'. Sure enough, before the lid was in place my back suddenly confirmed my really stupid decision. Now I understand how it feels to be healing from a 'low back strain'. It's a lot better already; so glad it was not a ruptured disk. Next time, I choose a position where I can walk forwards and not carry so much weight.
Friday night worship service at the church- Naphtali came and the 3 of us began singing all the Christmas hymns in the hymnal. Then they began coming. Children. More children. Soon, the 3 pew church was full. After singing, Naphtali and I began telling stories: Zacchaeus and the sycamore tree, David & Goliath, and the 'wise' and 'foolish' house builders. After each story we sang the song (about 3 or 4 times each, with hand motions) by guitar and the light of two kerosene lamps. 8:30PM came really soon.
(Note: we normally end by 7, but Naphtali had walked 6 km just to attend- he arrived at 7. We couldn't just walk out on him. Besides, we were having too much fun.)
While proof reading this e-mail aloud to Carol, she let out a series of screams and began stamping her feet. Turns out she was performing the 'la cucaracha'. She said its body was more than 2 inches long, and the antennae were 3 inches long. I think she was just upset; she hates those things.
She did not want it walking on her raisin, cinnamon rolls that she will be baking in our Coleman oven / Coleman stove combo. About once a month she pulls off one of these 'most amazing culinary stunts' from scratch.
Thanks again for your notes! You folks are great!
Love, Carol & Steve
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
More info to blog
Unless I have missed something, I have the only laptop in Lassin; with the exception of our fellow Baptist missionary friends. Mrs. White's instruction requires repeatability. So, should / could I buy a laptop for every church member? Nope. This leaves the 'printed' Bible study program as the practical option. There are still members who do not read well, but practice will help. The slow readers can travel along with a proficient reader until they have learned the lessons. Then they can venture out.
So, the next question. Which study programs are available? Were you looking for a reason to send Carol and me a text message? Here's your chance. Text us your suggestion; your favorite bible study program and why. Send consecutive messages if necessary. Note: put your name in at least one of your messages; sometimes we have to do detective work to know who the author of the note was.
I was thinking. God has work to do in Porterville, Modesto, Sacramento, SoCal, etc, but by coming here, we got ourselves in so deep that we have had to think (and pray) in ways that we never would have 'back in the states'.
The experience has been priceless !
Once again, we apologize for not responding to most of your text messages to our Iridium phone. Think of us living at the bottom of a lightless well.
If you yell down into it once in a while, we'll hear and enjoy getting your message free, but we just can't afford the 78 cents per 140 character reply too often. There is no other form of internet access in the whole town.
The 'village phone' does not always work and it is the same price to 'the states' as the iridium phone when it works. Travel to a local hill top (35 minutes each way) for cell phone reception is not practical for routine need. I had no idea of how practical and necessary this phone would be, it'
s just expensive. Even it is not 100% reliable; it often loses satellite connection during e-mails. So I divide long messages into multiple short messages so as not to have to resend too much data. All-in-all I'm very thankful to have what we have!
Your friends,
Steve & Carol
'One more story'. Last Sabbath after church the members gathered for 'announcements'. I wanted to plan a topic for the 4 - 6 PM meeting. It was the general consensus that the meeting should be delayed until after the football game between Cameroon and Morocco which began at 3:30 PM and would not be over until after 6 PM. Carol and I looked at each other as the realization hit us. Our members and near-members alike were planning on listening to this game on Sabbath. They sincerely believe that Saturday is the 'correct' day to 'go to church', but have yet to enjoy a complete Sabbath rest and restoration with their Maker. Remember, it was quite some time between the 'Advent Movement' and the Seventh-day Adventist church.
So, the next question. Which study programs are available? Were you looking for a reason to send Carol and me a text message? Here's your chance. Text us your suggestion; your favorite bible study program and why. Send consecutive messages if necessary. Note: put your name in at least one of your messages; sometimes we have to do detective work to know who the author of the note was.
I was thinking. God has work to do in Porterville, Modesto, Sacramento, SoCal, etc, but by coming here, we got ourselves in so deep that we have had to think (and pray) in ways that we never would have 'back in the states'.
The experience has been priceless !
Once again, we apologize for not responding to most of your text messages to our Iridium phone. Think of us living at the bottom of a lightless well.
If you yell down into it once in a while, we'll hear and enjoy getting your message free, but we just can't afford the 78 cents per 140 character reply too often. There is no other form of internet access in the whole town.
The 'village phone' does not always work and it is the same price to 'the states' as the iridium phone when it works. Travel to a local hill top (35 minutes each way) for cell phone reception is not practical for routine need. I had no idea of how practical and necessary this phone would be, it'
s just expensive. Even it is not 100% reliable; it often loses satellite connection during e-mails. So I divide long messages into multiple short messages so as not to have to resend too much data. All-in-all I'm very thankful to have what we have!
Your friends,
Steve & Carol
'One more story'. Last Sabbath after church the members gathered for 'announcements'. I wanted to plan a topic for the 4 - 6 PM meeting. It was the general consensus that the meeting should be delayed until after the football game between Cameroon and Morocco which began at 3:30 PM and would not be over until after 6 PM. Carol and I looked at each other as the realization hit us. Our members and near-members alike were planning on listening to this game on Sabbath. They sincerely believe that Saturday is the 'correct' day to 'go to church', but have yet to enjoy a complete Sabbath rest and restoration with their Maker. Remember, it was quite some time between the 'Advent Movement' and the Seventh-day Adventist church.
More info for the blog
Bible studies: Monday evening, our friend Gregory rode his 'bike' (a Chinese 150cc motor bike, seats 4 adults. Eat your heart out you big BMW types) to our house. He has been watching the 'New Beginnings' Bible studies with me for about 8 weeks. He announced that he would like to enroll in our new 'Bible worker training school'! He wants to follow the example of Paul and be a 'tentmaker evangelist'. He asked how much we would charge for the training program. We read the story in Acts 8 about the fellow who wanted to 'buy' the Holy Spirit. Then we told him that the program was free. We also said that this is not a 'seminary' where, upon completion, the student was a full blown pastor. He agreed that this was the program for him.
Gregory requested that we keep him in our prayers (THAT'S YOUR CUE.) Then he explained that he has been 'filling in' as pastor at his Baptist church while they have no pastor. Can you imagine the possibilities here? (Pray again. Can you see that this is not an issue of money? We don't need money for this phase of the work. We need your prayers!)
Monday morning I was walking through town and stopped in at Franklin's carpentry shop. After his usual warm smile and handshakes we discussed the football (soccer) game between Cameroon and Morocco last Sabbath afternoon at 3PM. (We creamed 'em- 2 to 0. Go Cameroon! Carol and I knew when the game was over because we could literally hear the cheer coming from homes all over town.) He apologized for not being in church on Sabbath due to his 'higher than normal' work load. But, he was looking forward to the Bible study on Thursday evening. He wants to begin 45 minutes earlier to have time for singing and additional topic review, both in English and Noni (for the children). I learned that he had instructed his children to avoid inviting a certain household last Thursday because he did not have enough room in his home for all their children!
Monday afternoon as I was building the iron reinforcement bar mesh to imbed in the concrete lid for our septic tank, I listened to a few chapters of the book 'Christian Service' (5 - 8). In this section I heard that the roll of pastor (yes, I have been handed this roll too) is to train members in the three fundamental areas that result in personal 'growth': personal prayer and bible study, sharing your faith. Mrs. White said that training (both instruction and 'doing') are more important than sermon preparation. This is understandable as usually one or two of my dear friends will be nodding off in church during my sermon. It takes some real interactive sermonizing to get their eyes to stay open consistently. Really, its quite fun to play the game of 'keep the members awake'; yes ladies, it's the guys that are nodding off. Okay, I have the instruction, so what do I do with it?
Our outreach model has been for me to take the laptop PC with the It Is Written 'New Beginnings' video / PowerPoint type presentation on it to the church and 'play' it for the attendees. Pros: people here are so underexposed to video entertainment that they still think this format is exciting; we have had up to 10 children watching who virtually understand nothing but like the pictures. Having texts on screen is good. For members who understand (American) English fairly well, this is really great! During my bashful (I can't give a bible study by myself) phase, the 'canned'
approach was really necessary. Cons: the video runs for 30 minutes non-stop. Some polite folks never ask questions when language difficulty arises. But the plot thickens when applying the concept of Christian Service and 'New Beginnings'.
Gregory requested that we keep him in our prayers (THAT'S YOUR CUE.) Then he explained that he has been 'filling in' as pastor at his Baptist church while they have no pastor. Can you imagine the possibilities here? (Pray again. Can you see that this is not an issue of money? We don't need money for this phase of the work. We need your prayers!)
Monday morning I was walking through town and stopped in at Franklin's carpentry shop. After his usual warm smile and handshakes we discussed the football (soccer) game between Cameroon and Morocco last Sabbath afternoon at 3PM. (We creamed 'em- 2 to 0. Go Cameroon! Carol and I knew when the game was over because we could literally hear the cheer coming from homes all over town.) He apologized for not being in church on Sabbath due to his 'higher than normal' work load. But, he was looking forward to the Bible study on Thursday evening. He wants to begin 45 minutes earlier to have time for singing and additional topic review, both in English and Noni (for the children). I learned that he had instructed his children to avoid inviting a certain household last Thursday because he did not have enough room in his home for all their children!
Monday afternoon as I was building the iron reinforcement bar mesh to imbed in the concrete lid for our septic tank, I listened to a few chapters of the book 'Christian Service' (5 - 8). In this section I heard that the roll of pastor (yes, I have been handed this roll too) is to train members in the three fundamental areas that result in personal 'growth': personal prayer and bible study, sharing your faith. Mrs. White said that training (both instruction and 'doing') are more important than sermon preparation. This is understandable as usually one or two of my dear friends will be nodding off in church during my sermon. It takes some real interactive sermonizing to get their eyes to stay open consistently. Really, its quite fun to play the game of 'keep the members awake'; yes ladies, it's the guys that are nodding off. Okay, I have the instruction, so what do I do with it?
Our outreach model has been for me to take the laptop PC with the It Is Written 'New Beginnings' video / PowerPoint type presentation on it to the church and 'play' it for the attendees. Pros: people here are so underexposed to video entertainment that they still think this format is exciting; we have had up to 10 children watching who virtually understand nothing but like the pictures. Having texts on screen is good. For members who understand (American) English fairly well, this is really great! During my bashful (I can't give a bible study by myself) phase, the 'canned'
approach was really necessary. Cons: the video runs for 30 minutes non-stop. Some polite folks never ask questions when language difficulty arises. But the plot thickens when applying the concept of Christian Service and 'New Beginnings'.
Dear 'family',
We want to send your our greetings, tell you that we are healthy, and thank you for keeping us in your prayers! We have seen God busy in our lives and in those of our neighbors here.
So, here's the scoop on our decisions, and projects:
School: We try not to be negative, but I knew last year when I visited Lassin for the first time, that the structure of the school had problems- the mud brick walls were cracked badly, the concrete is so soft in places that you can break it off and crumble it with your hands. Many walls were leaning precariously, and one had even fallen down. The bright spot was the roof, it looks great and doesn't leak. The classroom that we're using was constructed first and the quality is acceptable. We are so thankful for this room! However, I have very seriously considered abandoning the facility to build a new one. After much thought, prayer, and discussion we have decided to 'repair' the existing structure. This year's work will involve 'classroom 2'. We will replace the two outer walls, replace the rafters, and put a concrete floor in. I hired Gregory to 'mud' 500 bricks; they look great! He is 'dredging' sand from the local stream to make the new concrete. It's clean and beautiful; the pile is impressive. He's put it inside of classroom 2 to make access easy. When the children are away for Christmas break, we'll 'scatter' the walls, hire a few more fellows to rebuild them. Then we'll rebuild the rafters from straight and very strong eucalyptus wood. Last, we'll pour the floor and stucco the walls inside and out. We'll be busy for the next few months, but we'll also be ready to expand the school next year while conserving on expansion expense, but not on construction quality. Next year, we'll replace every wall of classroom 3 and the offices, and perform each type of concrete work.
Perspective: although the school was 'built' and very significant work had been done before we came, there was much carpentry and concrete work left to be done. We are very thankful for the months and months of sweat, long trips, negotiation work, labor contracts, financial load and PRAYER that brother Charles and our friends from Din have provided before we came!
Thanks to them, we were able to begin school 22 days after our arrival in town. This is incredible.
Just a note to 'touch your heart'. The other day, I was walking home from school when the sound of singing caught my ear. Our only Falani student, a Muslim girl, was walking down the path toward me singing, 'with Jesus in the family, happy happy home.' Sure keeps the perspective of why we're here!
Steve and Carol
So, here's the scoop on our decisions, and projects:
School: We try not to be negative, but I knew last year when I visited Lassin for the first time, that the structure of the school had problems- the mud brick walls were cracked badly, the concrete is so soft in places that you can break it off and crumble it with your hands. Many walls were leaning precariously, and one had even fallen down. The bright spot was the roof, it looks great and doesn't leak. The classroom that we're using was constructed first and the quality is acceptable. We are so thankful for this room! However, I have very seriously considered abandoning the facility to build a new one. After much thought, prayer, and discussion we have decided to 'repair' the existing structure. This year's work will involve 'classroom 2'. We will replace the two outer walls, replace the rafters, and put a concrete floor in. I hired Gregory to 'mud' 500 bricks; they look great! He is 'dredging' sand from the local stream to make the new concrete. It's clean and beautiful; the pile is impressive. He's put it inside of classroom 2 to make access easy. When the children are away for Christmas break, we'll 'scatter' the walls, hire a few more fellows to rebuild them. Then we'll rebuild the rafters from straight and very strong eucalyptus wood. Last, we'll pour the floor and stucco the walls inside and out. We'll be busy for the next few months, but we'll also be ready to expand the school next year while conserving on expansion expense, but not on construction quality. Next year, we'll replace every wall of classroom 3 and the offices, and perform each type of concrete work.
Perspective: although the school was 'built' and very significant work had been done before we came, there was much carpentry and concrete work left to be done. We are very thankful for the months and months of sweat, long trips, negotiation work, labor contracts, financial load and PRAYER that brother Charles and our friends from Din have provided before we came!
Thanks to them, we were able to begin school 22 days after our arrival in town. This is incredible.
Just a note to 'touch your heart'. The other day, I was walking home from school when the sound of singing caught my ear. Our only Falani student, a Muslim girl, was walking down the path toward me singing, 'with Jesus in the family, happy happy home.' Sure keeps the perspective of why we're here!
Steve and Carol
Friday, November 13, 2009
Carol's Birthday is comming soon Nov 25 will arrive Nov 24 in the US
Carol is about to turn 49! Can you believe it? That youngster?
Well, she has been talking about this birthday at school and even at home more than I believe is usual for her. Actually, I think she may be missing her friends 'back home' and wishing that she was a bit (about 8000 miles) closer.
So, I have an idea that I think she would really love.
Could you post a blog note that asks people to SMS birthday notes to Carol on November 24. The reason is that we are 9 hours ahead and we will be enjoying the 25th while you are still basking in the 24th.
Steve
PS Go to this website - http://messaging.iridium.com/ The number to send to is 881631672129. You can copy and paste from here as a short cut to entering all the numbers.
Well, she has been talking about this birthday at school and even at home more than I believe is usual for her. Actually, I think she may be missing her friends 'back home' and wishing that she was a bit (about 8000 miles) closer.
So, I have an idea that I think she would really love.
Could you post a blog note that asks people to SMS birthday notes to Carol on November 24. The reason is that we are 9 hours ahead and we will be enjoying the 25th while you are still basking in the 24th.
Steve
PS Go to this website - http://messaging.iridium.com/ The number to send to is 881631672129. You can copy and paste from here as a short cut to entering all the numbers.
Thoughts regarding Jesus' visit to Mary, Martha and Lazarus home
Living in Lassin, we have seen how much work is involved with sustaining life. Here we have only one advantage - matches. Food must be grown; this is an entire career. Water must be carried for drinking, cooking, bathing, and washing cloths, and dishes. Carrying water may take an hour or more.
Firewood must be located, cut, and carried. A fire must have been kept going at a smolder between use in Jesus time. Meal preparation involves each of these tasks. These constitute the activity of an entire day.
So, when Jesus came to dinner bringing his 12 friends and possibly some other followers, the meal task was multiplied by 5 at least! Who could blame Martha for asking for help? It was a chore to whip up even the simplest of meals.
Perhaps, a wild, undocumented scene may have been as follows. Jesus says, 'Let's go visit our friends in Bethany.' Off goes the group. Along the way, Jesus and His disciples pickup sticks and begin to tie them into bundles and place them on their heads. They pass a market. The group disperses. Bread and fish are bought. Someone finds a cup of oil and a small bag of salt. Oil lamps and vials are filled; this is going to be a late night of visiting. They stop at a well. Each person fills their water bag to the brim. By the time the group gets to Bethany, the only task left is the actual meal preparation and cooking. Although the work load is great, it could have been much larger! The thoughtfulness of Jesus could have taken some very simple, but important and undocumented forms.
Steve
Firewood must be located, cut, and carried. A fire must have been kept going at a smolder between use in Jesus time. Meal preparation involves each of these tasks. These constitute the activity of an entire day.
So, when Jesus came to dinner bringing his 12 friends and possibly some other followers, the meal task was multiplied by 5 at least! Who could blame Martha for asking for help? It was a chore to whip up even the simplest of meals.
Perhaps, a wild, undocumented scene may have been as follows. Jesus says, 'Let's go visit our friends in Bethany.' Off goes the group. Along the way, Jesus and His disciples pickup sticks and begin to tie them into bundles and place them on their heads. They pass a market. The group disperses. Bread and fish are bought. Someone finds a cup of oil and a small bag of salt. Oil lamps and vials are filled; this is going to be a late night of visiting. They stop at a well. Each person fills their water bag to the brim. By the time the group gets to Bethany, the only task left is the actual meal preparation and cooking. Although the work load is great, it could have been much larger! The thoughtfulness of Jesus could have taken some very simple, but important and undocumented forms.
Steve
From Steve, 11/12/09
Every now & then something happens that is 'worth writing home about'. It happened again today. I have been building a concrete and stone footing for our septic tank lid this week. The footing is 40cm deep, 40 cm wide, and rings a hole that is 1m across, x 2m wide, x 3m deep; you do not want to fall into this thing, you'll feel worse than Joseph. The plan is for an indoor toilet, shower and maybe even a sink; that would really be livin'.
So you don't get any horrible ideas of our cleanliness, we do bathe indoors, but we take water from a bucket in a plastic scoop cup and pour it over ourselves while standing over or within an aluminum basin. The basin catches most of the water and the rest is absorbed in the dirt floor. It's a huge adjustment for me to live in a house made of mud clay brick. Honest, the way to keep the dust down on the portion of the house where the floor is made of dirt is to carry a bucket and toss water on the floor. Not too much, just cover the dirt. The house does not get mildew amazingly enough as long as no plastic is left sitting on the dirt or concrete. If it does, just put a little straight bleach on that area; no life will remain. Wow, what a digression.
So, I had completed pouring / building the tank lid footing by about noon today and prepared to walk the 3 miles to the school. I took my hat with the cloth that shades my neck from the sun, my umbrella (the heavy thunder did not produce rain, but it sure looked like it could), the laptop with the New Beginnings seminars by It Is Written (people here absolutely love this program), and my Sony Walkman MP3 player (I wanted to listen to the book 'Christian Service' again). For an hour I walked and listened to chapter 1.
I met my friend Gregory at the school. We visited about reconstruction plans for the second of 3 classrooms, and had a Bible study from the laptop; about 2 hours & change all together. We paused the study occasionally for questions and comments. We had a great time! Gregory has decided to study with me for a year. At the end of this year he plans to make a significant denominational decision. Neither of us is in a hurry. A decision of this weight should not be rushed. This man is a Christian who is very committed to his relationship with God. We share together as the brothers in Christ that we are.
As I walked back home towards Lassin, I heard chapters 2 and 3. In them, we are counseled to make use of every opportunity to share the good news with people. This was a happy day and I was in a long conversational prayer while walking. But who can I share the 'good news with'? Well, there's Franklin the carpenter who made our dining room table and chairs and the food preparation counter with the food storage shelves below. He is currently preparing to build Carol a table to place our gas burners on. (It will be so nice not to have to kneel on the dirt kitchen floor so you can bend over to see under a pot to adjust the flame down. Carol has been such a good sport- no complaints- just like her.) Yes, Franklin. I was so amazed to see him in church last Sabbath. He showed up after Phillip invited him. I'll bet he would be interested in bible studies in his home. He works such long hours and it is so inconvenient for him to come to the church on Wednesday, Friday, or Sabbath evenings for prayer meetings and bible study time. So, "Franklin, would you enjoy Bible studies in your home some evening?" "Yes." We agreed that tonight, Thursday, at 7:30 PM would be fine. We visited for a few more minutes and I left him to continue a project.
I headed towards the Village phone shop and saw John standing on the front porch of his general store and taxi business. "Brother John, how are you?"
(The title of 'brother' is used liberally here. It really has no bearing on whether you are actually related or go to church.) Guy talk followed, and then I got the same idea again, "So, John, when would you like to have Bible studies with me?" I couldn't believe I was asking, but it came out so freely and it was out now. He decided that Wednesday or Thursday at 10 AM were very slow times and he could close his store to eliminate interruptions. Can you believe this? The busiest man in town has just agreed to have Bible studies with me! How exciting. Now, this friendship didn't just happen out of the blue. I have visited him many times, even the first visit to Lassin a year ago included a stop to John's store. I do business with him whenever I can. Recently, he rode along with us an entire day to Bamenda to show us the way and facilitate some business that each of us had there; extending our Visa 3 more months before we are eligible to request a residence permit; like a green card. It was he that arranged for proper lifting of our little Toyota; the thing rides rough and stiff like a goat now, but it no longer smashes the engine against rocks at the slightest pot hole- should extend its life considerably. So, next Thursday at 10 A.M.
I came home with an amazingly light heart. Ate a wonderful dinner of steamed brown rice under jamma jamma boiled in a 'cheese' sauce. Two bananas made desert. "It just doesn't get any better than this" (Diane).
After dinner, I walked about 1km to Franklin's house. I was welcomed in his front yard with rounds of handshakes from Franklin, his children and 'brother' Naphtali. I was taken into his home, given the chair at the head of the table. Then we waited.. The house began to fill. Children of all ages came. Last, the women came from their work in the kitchens. We had prayer, sang a hymn at Franklin's request and watched the first of the New Beginnings Bible studies. After the study (in English), unsolicited, Naphtali spent about five minutes translating the program into the Noni language. Somehow, I had imagined that Franklin and I would have sat alone at his table that evening. Instead, God packed the house with people from at least three homes, and provided an interpreter! No wonder we call Him God!
Just had to let you know. Keep keeping us in prayer!
'brother' Steve- don't you dare call me 'brother' Steve! I'm just regular 'ol Steve to you :)
So you don't get any horrible ideas of our cleanliness, we do bathe indoors, but we take water from a bucket in a plastic scoop cup and pour it over ourselves while standing over or within an aluminum basin. The basin catches most of the water and the rest is absorbed in the dirt floor. It's a huge adjustment for me to live in a house made of mud clay brick. Honest, the way to keep the dust down on the portion of the house where the floor is made of dirt is to carry a bucket and toss water on the floor. Not too much, just cover the dirt. The house does not get mildew amazingly enough as long as no plastic is left sitting on the dirt or concrete. If it does, just put a little straight bleach on that area; no life will remain. Wow, what a digression.
So, I had completed pouring / building the tank lid footing by about noon today and prepared to walk the 3 miles to the school. I took my hat with the cloth that shades my neck from the sun, my umbrella (the heavy thunder did not produce rain, but it sure looked like it could), the laptop with the New Beginnings seminars by It Is Written (people here absolutely love this program), and my Sony Walkman MP3 player (I wanted to listen to the book 'Christian Service' again). For an hour I walked and listened to chapter 1.
I met my friend Gregory at the school. We visited about reconstruction plans for the second of 3 classrooms, and had a Bible study from the laptop; about 2 hours & change all together. We paused the study occasionally for questions and comments. We had a great time! Gregory has decided to study with me for a year. At the end of this year he plans to make a significant denominational decision. Neither of us is in a hurry. A decision of this weight should not be rushed. This man is a Christian who is very committed to his relationship with God. We share together as the brothers in Christ that we are.
As I walked back home towards Lassin, I heard chapters 2 and 3. In them, we are counseled to make use of every opportunity to share the good news with people. This was a happy day and I was in a long conversational prayer while walking. But who can I share the 'good news with'? Well, there's Franklin the carpenter who made our dining room table and chairs and the food preparation counter with the food storage shelves below. He is currently preparing to build Carol a table to place our gas burners on. (It will be so nice not to have to kneel on the dirt kitchen floor so you can bend over to see under a pot to adjust the flame down. Carol has been such a good sport- no complaints- just like her.) Yes, Franklin. I was so amazed to see him in church last Sabbath. He showed up after Phillip invited him. I'll bet he would be interested in bible studies in his home. He works such long hours and it is so inconvenient for him to come to the church on Wednesday, Friday, or Sabbath evenings for prayer meetings and bible study time. So, "Franklin, would you enjoy Bible studies in your home some evening?" "Yes." We agreed that tonight, Thursday, at 7:30 PM would be fine. We visited for a few more minutes and I left him to continue a project.
I headed towards the Village phone shop and saw John standing on the front porch of his general store and taxi business. "Brother John, how are you?"
(The title of 'brother' is used liberally here. It really has no bearing on whether you are actually related or go to church.) Guy talk followed, and then I got the same idea again, "So, John, when would you like to have Bible studies with me?" I couldn't believe I was asking, but it came out so freely and it was out now. He decided that Wednesday or Thursday at 10 AM were very slow times and he could close his store to eliminate interruptions. Can you believe this? The busiest man in town has just agreed to have Bible studies with me! How exciting. Now, this friendship didn't just happen out of the blue. I have visited him many times, even the first visit to Lassin a year ago included a stop to John's store. I do business with him whenever I can. Recently, he rode along with us an entire day to Bamenda to show us the way and facilitate some business that each of us had there; extending our Visa 3 more months before we are eligible to request a residence permit; like a green card. It was he that arranged for proper lifting of our little Toyota; the thing rides rough and stiff like a goat now, but it no longer smashes the engine against rocks at the slightest pot hole- should extend its life considerably. So, next Thursday at 10 A.M.
I came home with an amazingly light heart. Ate a wonderful dinner of steamed brown rice under jamma jamma boiled in a 'cheese' sauce. Two bananas made desert. "It just doesn't get any better than this" (Diane).
After dinner, I walked about 1km to Franklin's house. I was welcomed in his front yard with rounds of handshakes from Franklin, his children and 'brother' Naphtali. I was taken into his home, given the chair at the head of the table. Then we waited.. The house began to fill. Children of all ages came. Last, the women came from their work in the kitchens. We had prayer, sang a hymn at Franklin's request and watched the first of the New Beginnings Bible studies. After the study (in English), unsolicited, Naphtali spent about five minutes translating the program into the Noni language. Somehow, I had imagined that Franklin and I would have sat alone at his table that evening. Instead, God packed the house with people from at least three homes, and provided an interpreter! No wonder we call Him God!
Just had to let you know. Keep keeping us in prayer!
'brother' Steve- don't you dare call me 'brother' Steve! I'm just regular 'ol Steve to you :)
Saturday, October 31, 2009
You can send messages to Carol & Steve (Free)
Go to this website - http://messaging.iridium.com/ The number to send to is 881631672129.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Updated SMS number
Hey Glenn, all is well. Looks like carol must have sent you a bunch of photos. Sure hope so. I was at a 'garage' getting our car lifted for the second time. This time for sure. It is about 4 inches higher. This is not an ego thing! Driving 25 miles can really be disasterous for the car. for the first time, we have not had any repairs to make after a 65 mile trip. So. I'm not dreading the next trips to Bamenda next month.
Our sat phone SMS or 'data' number is 8816 936 72129. Sorry, but I gave it to Julie wrong in the early days of trying to communicate.
Could you update the communications note from her. If not possible, could you enter a new one.
Thanks so much and our warmest greetings to the family, the 'whole' family.
Your brother, Steve
Our sat phone SMS or 'data' number is 8816 936 72129. Sorry, but I gave it to Julie wrong in the early days of trying to communicate.
Could you update the communications note from her. If not possible, could you enter a new one.
Thanks so much and our warmest greetings to the family, the 'whole' family.
Your brother, Steve
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