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