We’ve had a bit of a dry spell here in Lassin; it hasn’t rained in two days. But it’s making up for it right now. The rain is pouring down in buckets! Reminds me of the showers of blessings we are receiving daily!
Our first blessing--We began school this week! We have 12 children, ranging in age from 5 to 13; all in the first grade. Most of the children do not speak English, even pidgin English. They speak the local dialect, Noni. One of our big blessings is our translator, friend, and advisor Naphtali. God brought this fine man to us, and we are so happy to have his help; we would be lost without him! God is so kind!
We feel blessed that we have a small class so far, though people say that more will come. If they do want to join, I hope it’s soon since we are now laying a good foundation for reading and math. The children are naturally quite musical and are enjoying the songs we sing. We even sing as we walk to and from school each day. It’s quite a trek, about three miles each way, and the little ones walk very slowly at times. At other times they are racing down the road! They love to hold our hands as we walk. That, in itself, is more than enough reward.
We have also started a Bible study series on DVD (Mark Finley’s New Beginnings series). We have been showing the series twice a week on a day they call “Country Sunday,” two days after market day. People don’t go to their farms to work but are encouraged to help with community projects on that day. (A town crier with a drum walked through the sleeping town at 5 am beating his drum and calling out to all villagers to help with the community project!) Meetings are often held that day, so it seemed a good day for our meetings. We had one program at our school and one later that night at the Adventist church in town not far from our home. The first was attended by a few, the second by about twenty people. It has been a blessing to us to see people so interested.
Another big blessing has been meeting the Bible Translators here, David & Cindy Lux. They came from California’s central valley about 20 years ago. They have learned the Noni dialect and are currently translating the New Testament into Noni. They hope to print it next year. They are wonderful people who have gone the second mile in helping us out. In fact, Cindy brought us some wonderful food at a time we were very low on food. She may not have realized what a help it was, but with the market day being only every eight days and the last one being on Sabbath, we did not have many fresh things to eat. She brought us salad fixings (lettuce, a tomato, cucumber) and fresh wheat rolls, among other things! The salad and bread were sooo good! We haven’t had bread since we were in Douala. Then one day last week they took us out to their “internet” site, a prominent hill near town. We were able to email Julie an update for our blog. Tomorrow David and Cindy are taking us there again and we hope to send this in.
Other blessings have been: furniture for our house! We now have a solid wood table with six chairs, a long raffia couch, two short raffia couches, a small raffia coffee table with five short raffia stools, and a long work bench with shelves for the kitchen. We also now have a closet clothes rod, thanks to Steve.
Another tremendous blessing has been our neighbors. Wow, they are so friendly! One neighbor has been helping us out by bringing food to us. Most of it has been good. These people would do almost anything for you; it’s amazing. Here’s a story to illustrate. I went to see this lady who has brought us food. We talked; she gave me some leafy green vegetables they call “jama jama.” When I came back a few minutes later, she noticed my big toe in my flip flop and said something like, “Jigger.” Several other people were sitting around her house cleaning vegetables, etc. This lady’s husband looked at my toe and confirmed her suspicion. He explained to me that I had a parasite living in my toe and that it must be removed. He offered to remove it for me. Someone said something about him working for the Health Clinic just down the road. A second later a child came out of the hut brandishing a long machete. My eyes grew round as saucers! The man said he would make a lance with the knife and pick out the parasite! I asked if I shouldn’t go to the Clinic. Everyone laughed and said they would charge me an exorbitant price; they made it sound as if it would be as silly as going to the doctor to have a pimple picked! Anyway, I asked a couple times if they were sure about the parasite. I tried to explain that I had had an ingrown toenail a couple weeks ago and that the small “wound” must be from that. No, I was assured, this was a “jigger” that must come out, and they would do it for me, free! Yikes! I asked if it would hurt; they all laughed again! Anyway, the man asked a young lady there who was a nurse at the Clinic to do the job for me. He probably sensed my apprehension when I asked if he was a doctor. Anyway, this gal poked and prodded out not one, but two, “jiggers” out of my toe! They were gross! The surgery only hurt a little. Wow, was I thankful that my friend noticed my problem and told me! Her husband came by tonight to see how I was doing. Wow, that was nice. Like David Lux said, “These people take personal responsibility for your welfare.”
Actually this experience has opened my eyes to a spiritual lesson. If a “sin” or “blindspot” of mine is pointed out, I am usually quick to defend it—oh, it’s only a little wound, or it doesn’t hurt much. I really do not want anyone pointing out my faults; it’s definitely not comfortable. But when I realize, by God’s grace, that this needs to go and submit myself, exposing my ugly sole/soul, God will pick out the dreadful parasite that would literally kill my flesh if not removed. Praise God for His work on our hearts! It is truly good “surgery.”
Friday, September 25, 2009
September 17 2009 - All is well!
We were not able to send our last e-mail on the 9th as planned. We had a bit more excitement than we planned on. One thing is for sure, don’t leave home without a meaningful sum of cash on hand, and don’t forget to have prayer. You’ll see…
Kumbo is about 40km / 24 miles from Lassin. This means that one should plan on taking between 2.5 and 3.5 hours to go and the same to return; 5 – 7 hours of your day will be spent traveling. Be sure that these hours are in the daylight. Charles and Felicia left us to return to their respective homes on the 8th. They nearly did not make it out of here. Why? Well, it had been raining generously and the big hill 1.5km from here was slick as … can be. The clay becomes so slick that even walking was tricky. We had been traveling together, but after watching them struggle heroically and somewhat dangerously up that hill, I decided to wait a day before making the trip in our little 4WD Toyota Tercel.
Why go to Kumbo? Well, Charles and I discovered more expenses for us than I had planned on and I was going to run out of money within one month or less. Lassin has NO modern conveniences like ATM machines or Western Union or MoneyGram. To get to the nearest ATM would require a 2 day trip (1 day each direction- daylight travel only, remember). To get to Western Union required a trip to Kumbo, climbing steep hills, crossing long mud puddles, negotiating long deep ruts in the dirt road, and enjoying hours of beautiful scenery (rugged green forested mountains, farm land on hill and valley, mud brick thatched homes, small villages with even smaller front porch ‘markets’, and many friendly folks on foot).
We needed a guide. In the 40 km there must be 2 sign posts. Drivers must know the way, and other ways in case ‘the way’ is out. Our new co-teacher at the school, Naphtali, agreed to guide us. He sat front right. We had prayer and headed out. I did not hear the radiator fan running constantly (or even intermittently) as it usually did. “Oh well, it’s a cool morning. It will be nice not to have that thing running.” (The fan had burned up, literally melted, the day before. Something about the engine and the fan colliding during a bad experience with a ‘pot hole’ or something- there were so many.) Murphy was sitting in the back seat. The radiator temp gauge began to rise determinedly. There was little that I could do except keep the speed high enough for the passing air to cool the little engine.
You know, those hydraulic clutches are really smooth. So smooth in-fact that there did not seem to be much pressure from the clutch. Yes, on top of cooling problems, my clutch was failing fast. Shifting down for hills, pot holes, curves or chickens was not an option because I had to keep my speed up, but I would eventually have stop for the police check point. Then what? It turns out that you can start one of these little cars in first gear, take the RPM up a ways, ease off the gas, shift into neutral, and as the engine continues to slow, ease it into second gear; all without a clutch. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
This was an amazing trip- whizzing along through winding hilly roads. Sure glad that we can at least honk the horn to notify other drivers that we’re coming. This horn button can’t be broken. Maybe the horn fell off at that rut that I hit amazingly hard! Whatever the case, there is no horn either.
I remember a long section of “single lane” road with 4 foot tall grass on either side, ruts, and rocks. No horn, 4000 RPM in 2nd gear, no way to pull over or start up after stopping should another car have come along and no other car did come by UNTIL there was a turn-out just big enough to use (the only turn out for a km), didn’t even have to change my speed.
We got to Kumbo in 2 hours. We bought hydraulic fluid and had a clutch again. Limped 100 meters down the road to an automotive electrical repair facility. Within 15 minutes of arriving, the front right tire was completely flat. The fellow sold me a used radiator fan, installed it in my old bracket, cleaned my radiator out, found a fellow to fix the flat (valve stem again- 2nd tire to experience this). I discovered a broken front motor mount (probably the reason the fan took the beating), he found a fellow to replace the motor mount (used mount of course- new are impossible to find). These repairs took the ‘whole day’; fortunately Naphtali watched the car while Carol and I walked ‘up town’ to find the Western Union office. After a fairly complete search of the town, we stopped in at MoneyGram. They informed us that there was ‘no W. U. in town’. Just then, I spied a customer of very fair skin. This fellow named Christopher was a nurse who was helping the Kumbo Catholic hospital make its cardiac unit ‘state of the art’. He happily gave us directions to the W.U. office, told us that they closed by 4 PM, where to find a taxi and how much to pay for the ride. The taxi took us to the office by 3 PM.
The man at the W.U. office was a bit gruff. No problem, we can deal with this. After about 15 minutes of questions and waiting, he warmed up and we began to visit. He asked the reason for our presence in Cameroon (privacy is a myth- just tonight, Carol and I were outside for a few minutes, returned inside to find the school uniform tailor sitting at our dining table waiting for us to come back). It turned out that the W.U. man REALLY appreciated missionaries! He facilitated our cash transfer (only took 60 minutes), he offered us FREE P.O. box service, and he encouraged us in our work here. After that day, I really appreciated the encouragement!
Kumbo is about 40km / 24 miles from Lassin. This means that one should plan on taking between 2.5 and 3.5 hours to go and the same to return; 5 – 7 hours of your day will be spent traveling. Be sure that these hours are in the daylight. Charles and Felicia left us to return to their respective homes on the 8th. They nearly did not make it out of here. Why? Well, it had been raining generously and the big hill 1.5km from here was slick as … can be. The clay becomes so slick that even walking was tricky. We had been traveling together, but after watching them struggle heroically and somewhat dangerously up that hill, I decided to wait a day before making the trip in our little 4WD Toyota Tercel.
Why go to Kumbo? Well, Charles and I discovered more expenses for us than I had planned on and I was going to run out of money within one month or less. Lassin has NO modern conveniences like ATM machines or Western Union or MoneyGram. To get to the nearest ATM would require a 2 day trip (1 day each direction- daylight travel only, remember). To get to Western Union required a trip to Kumbo, climbing steep hills, crossing long mud puddles, negotiating long deep ruts in the dirt road, and enjoying hours of beautiful scenery (rugged green forested mountains, farm land on hill and valley, mud brick thatched homes, small villages with even smaller front porch ‘markets’, and many friendly folks on foot).
We needed a guide. In the 40 km there must be 2 sign posts. Drivers must know the way, and other ways in case ‘the way’ is out. Our new co-teacher at the school, Naphtali, agreed to guide us. He sat front right. We had prayer and headed out. I did not hear the radiator fan running constantly (or even intermittently) as it usually did. “Oh well, it’s a cool morning. It will be nice not to have that thing running.” (The fan had burned up, literally melted, the day before. Something about the engine and the fan colliding during a bad experience with a ‘pot hole’ or something- there were so many.) Murphy was sitting in the back seat. The radiator temp gauge began to rise determinedly. There was little that I could do except keep the speed high enough for the passing air to cool the little engine.
You know, those hydraulic clutches are really smooth. So smooth in-fact that there did not seem to be much pressure from the clutch. Yes, on top of cooling problems, my clutch was failing fast. Shifting down for hills, pot holes, curves or chickens was not an option because I had to keep my speed up, but I would eventually have stop for the police check point. Then what? It turns out that you can start one of these little cars in first gear, take the RPM up a ways, ease off the gas, shift into neutral, and as the engine continues to slow, ease it into second gear; all without a clutch. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
This was an amazing trip- whizzing along through winding hilly roads. Sure glad that we can at least honk the horn to notify other drivers that we’re coming. This horn button can’t be broken. Maybe the horn fell off at that rut that I hit amazingly hard! Whatever the case, there is no horn either.
I remember a long section of “single lane” road with 4 foot tall grass on either side, ruts, and rocks. No horn, 4000 RPM in 2nd gear, no way to pull over or start up after stopping should another car have come along and no other car did come by UNTIL there was a turn-out just big enough to use (the only turn out for a km), didn’t even have to change my speed.
We got to Kumbo in 2 hours. We bought hydraulic fluid and had a clutch again. Limped 100 meters down the road to an automotive electrical repair facility. Within 15 minutes of arriving, the front right tire was completely flat. The fellow sold me a used radiator fan, installed it in my old bracket, cleaned my radiator out, found a fellow to fix the flat (valve stem again- 2nd tire to experience this). I discovered a broken front motor mount (probably the reason the fan took the beating), he found a fellow to replace the motor mount (used mount of course- new are impossible to find). These repairs took the ‘whole day’; fortunately Naphtali watched the car while Carol and I walked ‘up town’ to find the Western Union office. After a fairly complete search of the town, we stopped in at MoneyGram. They informed us that there was ‘no W. U. in town’. Just then, I spied a customer of very fair skin. This fellow named Christopher was a nurse who was helping the Kumbo Catholic hospital make its cardiac unit ‘state of the art’. He happily gave us directions to the W.U. office, told us that they closed by 4 PM, where to find a taxi and how much to pay for the ride. The taxi took us to the office by 3 PM.
The man at the W.U. office was a bit gruff. No problem, we can deal with this. After about 15 minutes of questions and waiting, he warmed up and we began to visit. He asked the reason for our presence in Cameroon (privacy is a myth- just tonight, Carol and I were outside for a few minutes, returned inside to find the school uniform tailor sitting at our dining table waiting for us to come back). It turned out that the W.U. man REALLY appreciated missionaries! He facilitated our cash transfer (only took 60 minutes), he offered us FREE P.O. box service, and he encouraged us in our work here. After that day, I really appreciated the encouragement!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
One week in Lassin Cameroon - update
9 Sept, 2009 (nine, nine, nine)
Greetings!!
One week in Lassin Cameroon.
Progress:
School - We began registration Monday. That day we had two children register. This was really a big deal because they were the children that live immediately up on the knoll above the school. This family is Muslim, and very friendly. These children are sweet and bashful, about 10 and 13 years old. The 10 year old has attended school for a year already. His 13 year old sister has had a 'hard life'; lost her father in early childhood. They have the slender faces and forms of our Muslim community.
Tuesday was 'cattle day' at the market so we were only able to register one son of our farmer neighbor Gregory. Gregory has agreed to help Stephen (another neighbor who is an expert raphia furniture craftsman and the groomer of the air-strip) prepare the floor of the classroom. Tuesday evening we went to the home of Naftili (a man who has come very close to joining the church at the last evangelistic series). We registered one of his children, then registered his father's youngest son and his nephew.
Today, Charles, Carol, Naftili and Emma (tailor) traveled to other compounds near the school. I realize that I have left out a few stories since Carol just informed me that there are 14 children registered now. This number will increase during the few weeks after school begins. This is really exciting!! These children represent such an opportunity to teach the gospel.
Building progress: the window shudders are being built, about 40% complete. Doors are fabricated, but not hung. The floor is loose dirt. We plan to have the floor worked with to make it a very hard dirt surface. Book shelves have been requested, but further negotiation is required (Stephen is too busy with other tasks now and will need to look for a sub-contractor). A 'toilet' will need to be built. Many things remain to do, but we have a week and a half; not much time. Godlove (really his name) is the carpenter that is also building the desks; eucalyptis, hard, heavy, and beautiful.
Church - Mom & Dad, thanks for the guitar! It was used for about an hour and a half during Sabbath school and church. Many of the members had to be invited to attend again. Some guests were invited in (about 14 children that had come to peer in through the windows and door). We had a great time! So much for going to an English speaking region. Does Rosetta Stone make a 'Pidgeon' series? (just kidding! Local tutors will be sufficient.)
Home - We have a small raphia table, 4 stools, and a 1 meter long bench. More are on order, but there is enough furniture now that we can all sit during meals. The dining table 90cm x 1.5m and 6 chairs are on order and should be finished late this week or next. We also ordered a kitchen counter table with a shelf or two below; 2 feet deep and 2 meters wide.
Auto - Tuesday I wanted to start the car and test the battery to be sure it was ready for today's trip to Kumbo. The engine would crank, but not fire. Hmmm? The car alarm has given me grief since we bought it. It would sound off at the least opportune time; like 10PM in front of some kind person's home when I went out to get something from it. At times, it would unlock the doors, then lock them again; perhaps several times during the day; all by itself. Some protection! So, in order to get the car running, I disconnected the whole alarm system (using a tool that G.P. gave me. Thanks! I've used it so many times!) The car started right up. Whew.
Food - A 'hand' of bananas is 125 franks; about 25 cents. I'm in 'heaven'. The pineapple ranges from good (a little sour) to really sweet! We are also in okra 'paradise' (eat your hearts out). With so little green food here, we eat them heartily.
Weather - Sun! Breeze. RRRRAAAAIIIINNNN!!!! I thought that the rainy scene in 'Sound of Music' where the teens danced in the gazebo was a pretty hard rain. Also, the storms in Michigan were pretty grand. Well, they were a good start. Fortunately, the big rains are followed by breaks long enough to get you to the out house. Sure wish we could have returned dry.
Health-
Still got it!
Love you all
Steve & Carol
Greetings!!
One week in Lassin Cameroon.
Progress:
School - We began registration Monday. That day we had two children register. This was really a big deal because they were the children that live immediately up on the knoll above the school. This family is Muslim, and very friendly. These children are sweet and bashful, about 10 and 13 years old. The 10 year old has attended school for a year already. His 13 year old sister has had a 'hard life'; lost her father in early childhood. They have the slender faces and forms of our Muslim community.
Tuesday was 'cattle day' at the market so we were only able to register one son of our farmer neighbor Gregory. Gregory has agreed to help Stephen (another neighbor who is an expert raphia furniture craftsman and the groomer of the air-strip) prepare the floor of the classroom. Tuesday evening we went to the home of Naftili (a man who has come very close to joining the church at the last evangelistic series). We registered one of his children, then registered his father's youngest son and his nephew.
Today, Charles, Carol, Naftili and Emma (tailor) traveled to other compounds near the school. I realize that I have left out a few stories since Carol just informed me that there are 14 children registered now. This number will increase during the few weeks after school begins. This is really exciting!! These children represent such an opportunity to teach the gospel.
Building progress: the window shudders are being built, about 40% complete. Doors are fabricated, but not hung. The floor is loose dirt. We plan to have the floor worked with to make it a very hard dirt surface. Book shelves have been requested, but further negotiation is required (Stephen is too busy with other tasks now and will need to look for a sub-contractor). A 'toilet' will need to be built. Many things remain to do, but we have a week and a half; not much time. Godlove (really his name) is the carpenter that is also building the desks; eucalyptis, hard, heavy, and beautiful.
Church - Mom & Dad, thanks for the guitar! It was used for about an hour and a half during Sabbath school and church. Many of the members had to be invited to attend again. Some guests were invited in (about 14 children that had come to peer in through the windows and door). We had a great time! So much for going to an English speaking region. Does Rosetta Stone make a 'Pidgeon' series? (just kidding! Local tutors will be sufficient.)
Home - We have a small raphia table, 4 stools, and a 1 meter long bench. More are on order, but there is enough furniture now that we can all sit during meals. The dining table 90cm x 1.5m and 6 chairs are on order and should be finished late this week or next. We also ordered a kitchen counter table with a shelf or two below; 2 feet deep and 2 meters wide.
Auto - Tuesday I wanted to start the car and test the battery to be sure it was ready for today's trip to Kumbo. The engine would crank, but not fire. Hmmm? The car alarm has given me grief since we bought it. It would sound off at the least opportune time; like 10PM in front of some kind person's home when I went out to get something from it. At times, it would unlock the doors, then lock them again; perhaps several times during the day; all by itself. Some protection! So, in order to get the car running, I disconnected the whole alarm system (using a tool that G.P. gave me. Thanks! I've used it so many times!) The car started right up. Whew.
Food - A 'hand' of bananas is 125 franks; about 25 cents. I'm in 'heaven'. The pineapple ranges from good (a little sour) to really sweet! We are also in okra 'paradise' (eat your hearts out). With so little green food here, we eat them heartily.
Weather - Sun! Breeze. RRRRAAAAIIIINNNN!!!! I thought that the rainy scene in 'Sound of Music' where the teens danced in the gazebo was a pretty hard rain. Also, the storms in Michigan were pretty grand. Well, they were a good start. Fortunately, the big rains are followed by breaks long enough to get you to the out house. Sure wish we could have returned dry.
Health-
Still got it!
Love you all
Steve & Carol
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Home in Lassin Cameroon
Our dear friends,
Sorry for the delay in getting information on this site. We have tried very hard, but today is the first time that we have been successful. So... Here we are in Lassin Cameroon. We spent the first two weeks getting our stuff in Douala, helping with a local primary school and obtaining supplies. The biggie was a 1989 Toyota Corola Tercell, a small 4WD station wagon.
When we felt that we could do no more in Douala, Carol and I drove our little car behind Charles (our host), to Santa, 300 km and 7 hours, and about 2/3 tank of gas. What a long day. I learned how to drive from Charles during the past 2 weeks. Essentially, you do everything slow enough to avoid collisions and fast enough to avoid excessive horn honking from behind. It is like walking in a large shopping mall on December 23.
In Santa, Cameroon we meet up with and spend the night with Philip and Felicia. Then next day Charles took Felecia, and Carol and I followed once again up the remaining 170 km of road. WOW. I hardly have the words. The scenery was beautiful. It is rainy season in this tropical, mountainous area. The hills / mountains are green, the sky is blue blue, and the clouds, well, they were big! The roads became dirt clay, steep, wet and very slick. That 4WD was a requirement, but certainly secondary to prayer. These prayers are not trite, but life line pleas. In short, we made it. We saw one car slide off the road 4 times; ours not once.
We made it to Lassin to find that we had no place to stay. Our rental house agreement was uncertain. We stayed at the 'church' house that night. We were given permission to stay in the original house the next day.
Hospitality. We love each of you, but we have found that there is no shortage of hospitality in this town. People took the day off from working in their farms to help prepare the house for us. They scrubbed, cleaned and gardened (cleaned the grounds). They lined up to carry our stuff inside. It was all taken care of very well.
Over and over we heard 'you are welcome'. There were hand shakes and smiles.
In short, the project is coming together. We have enough stuff and know where to buy more when we need it. The focus is shifting to final preparation of the school building.
Today, Charles and I have made a trip to town (Kumbo) for 10 bags of cement, reinforcing bar, bed frames, and stuff.
The rain can be intense here, even hail today. But the temps are great, I wear a tee shirt all the time, rain or shine, not too hot or cold. It is warm season as well as rainy, but not too warm or muggy.
more later
our love and prayers
thanks for your support in prayer! God is truely blessing. This place will really grow on us. We may even come back next June (don't worry).
Health: we are both doing absolutely fine. Maybe I have lost a pound.
Steve and Carol 9/2/09
Sorry for the delay in getting information on this site. We have tried very hard, but today is the first time that we have been successful. So... Here we are in Lassin Cameroon. We spent the first two weeks getting our stuff in Douala, helping with a local primary school and obtaining supplies. The biggie was a 1989 Toyota Corola Tercell, a small 4WD station wagon.
When we felt that we could do no more in Douala, Carol and I drove our little car behind Charles (our host), to Santa, 300 km and 7 hours, and about 2/3 tank of gas. What a long day. I learned how to drive from Charles during the past 2 weeks. Essentially, you do everything slow enough to avoid collisions and fast enough to avoid excessive horn honking from behind. It is like walking in a large shopping mall on December 23.
In Santa, Cameroon we meet up with and spend the night with Philip and Felicia. Then next day Charles took Felecia, and Carol and I followed once again up the remaining 170 km of road. WOW. I hardly have the words. The scenery was beautiful. It is rainy season in this tropical, mountainous area. The hills / mountains are green, the sky is blue blue, and the clouds, well, they were big! The roads became dirt clay, steep, wet and very slick. That 4WD was a requirement, but certainly secondary to prayer. These prayers are not trite, but life line pleas. In short, we made it. We saw one car slide off the road 4 times; ours not once.
We made it to Lassin to find that we had no place to stay. Our rental house agreement was uncertain. We stayed at the 'church' house that night. We were given permission to stay in the original house the next day.
Hospitality. We love each of you, but we have found that there is no shortage of hospitality in this town. People took the day off from working in their farms to help prepare the house for us. They scrubbed, cleaned and gardened (cleaned the grounds). They lined up to carry our stuff inside. It was all taken care of very well.
Over and over we heard 'you are welcome'. There were hand shakes and smiles.
In short, the project is coming together. We have enough stuff and know where to buy more when we need it. The focus is shifting to final preparation of the school building.
Today, Charles and I have made a trip to town (Kumbo) for 10 bags of cement, reinforcing bar, bed frames, and stuff.
The rain can be intense here, even hail today. But the temps are great, I wear a tee shirt all the time, rain or shine, not too hot or cold. It is warm season as well as rainy, but not too warm or muggy.
more later
our love and prayers
thanks for your support in prayer! God is truely blessing. This place will really grow on us. We may even come back next June (don't worry).
Health: we are both doing absolutely fine. Maybe I have lost a pound.
Steve and Carol 9/2/09
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Up date via Satellite Phone
Steve just called me and with a lot of delay in the call, I was able to gather the following. Carol and Steve are now in Lassin, are getting settled in their little house, cooking on the Coleman stove, using their Kerosene lamps and they purchased a 4 wheel drive Toytoa Tercel. Sounds like the perfect vehicle for the terrain over there. They are doing well and send their greetings to all their freinds and loved ones. Glenn Hamp (brother)
Now in Douala, Cameroon
8/29/09
Douala, Cameroon-- We have been very healthy. No sickness at all. No malaria, not even a cold.
Our hosts have been so helpful. They have put us up (and put up with us!), fed us delicious food, taken us into town almost every day either to look for “The Box” at the airport or to shop for household, automobile, or food items.
We spent two rewarding days working at the little Adventist school in Yato. Last year was its first year; they offered grades one and two. We helped with the construction of another room in the school. This room will be for grades three and four. They are moving ahead with building and registration, yet they are still looking for teachers. Is there anyone out there who would enjoy helping this little English-speaking community by teaching for one school year? If you want an adventurous, rewarding experience, call Charles at 011-237-7791-8797. Of course, we will be looking for teachers beginning the following year for the Lassin school. ;)
Now with all this help it looks like we will be able to leave for Lassin Sunday. We are looking forward to meeting the people there and getting the school ready to open.
I read in the newspaper that the road to Bamenda (a big city on the way to Lassin) was closed due to landslides about three weeks ago. The government promised that the road would be repaired by this weekend. I sure hope so. We had torrential rain on Friday; hope it didn’t cause more landslides!
We had a very happy Sabbath day today. We went again to the church at the little school in Yato. The people there are so friendly. The kids are so friendly and fun. After church, I held a lady’s very young baby, and then another lady invited me to her house to watch a music DVD. After that another lady invited a whole bunch of us to her house for lunch. These people are so generous.
Right now Charles’ niece, Tatiana, is sitting beside me. She and a girl friend came to Charles’ house to help with the baby and take care of us. Wow! They are so nice! Tatiana will travel with us to Bamenda back to her family. She will continue her schooling there.
It seems like it has taken a long time getting everything together for our trip to Lassin. Since it is about a day and a half to get there, we don’t want to have to come back to the big city any time soon. We found out, though, that there is quite a big town about 40 km from Lassin, Kumbo. Evidently in this town, there are many stores and two good hospitals. We’re very happy about that. Also, the town of Bamenda is very large and has a big market. Bamenda is probably about half a day’s journey from Lassin. It might take about two hours to Kumbo.
Don’t send anything to the Buea address. I will post on the blog an address for us, probably in Kumbo. Here in Douala we purchased French textbooks and a English/French dictionary. We have to teach French to the kids! It will be good for us because most of the people in Douala speak French.
Well, I had better go. I will try to send this before we leave Douala.
Douala, Cameroon-- We have been very healthy. No sickness at all. No malaria, not even a cold.
Our hosts have been so helpful. They have put us up (and put up with us!), fed us delicious food, taken us into town almost every day either to look for “The Box” at the airport or to shop for household, automobile, or food items.
We spent two rewarding days working at the little Adventist school in Yato. Last year was its first year; they offered grades one and two. We helped with the construction of another room in the school. This room will be for grades three and four. They are moving ahead with building and registration, yet they are still looking for teachers. Is there anyone out there who would enjoy helping this little English-speaking community by teaching for one school year? If you want an adventurous, rewarding experience, call Charles at 011-237-7791-8797. Of course, we will be looking for teachers beginning the following year for the Lassin school. ;)
Now with all this help it looks like we will be able to leave for Lassin Sunday. We are looking forward to meeting the people there and getting the school ready to open.
I read in the newspaper that the road to Bamenda (a big city on the way to Lassin) was closed due to landslides about three weeks ago. The government promised that the road would be repaired by this weekend. I sure hope so. We had torrential rain on Friday; hope it didn’t cause more landslides!
We had a very happy Sabbath day today. We went again to the church at the little school in Yato. The people there are so friendly. The kids are so friendly and fun. After church, I held a lady’s very young baby, and then another lady invited me to her house to watch a music DVD. After that another lady invited a whole bunch of us to her house for lunch. These people are so generous.
Right now Charles’ niece, Tatiana, is sitting beside me. She and a girl friend came to Charles’ house to help with the baby and take care of us. Wow! They are so nice! Tatiana will travel with us to Bamenda back to her family. She will continue her schooling there.
It seems like it has taken a long time getting everything together for our trip to Lassin. Since it is about a day and a half to get there, we don’t want to have to come back to the big city any time soon. We found out, though, that there is quite a big town about 40 km from Lassin, Kumbo. Evidently in this town, there are many stores and two good hospitals. We’re very happy about that. Also, the town of Bamenda is very large and has a big market. Bamenda is probably about half a day’s journey from Lassin. It might take about two hours to Kumbo.
Don’t send anything to the Buea address. I will post on the blog an address for us, probably in Kumbo. Here in Douala we purchased French textbooks and a English/French dictionary. We have to teach French to the kids! It will be good for us because most of the people in Douala speak French.
Well, I had better go. I will try to send this before we leave Douala.
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