We made it with God's help to Kumbo; caught a 20 passenger van immediately to Bamenda; and caught the night bus to Douala. Arrived here in Bonaberi (suburb of Douala) before 5 am. Slept a few more hours at Charles' house, ate some food, showered (really needed that), and now we're at the inet cafe a few blocks from Charles' house.
We catch the plane next Tuesday from Doula. We allowed extra time for travel delays but had none. God is so good! Also we were planning on a trip to Yaounde on Monday but looks like we may not have to go. Charles may be able to pick up our official resident cards for us. Charles and his family are so helpful and gracious; it's really good to see them and their whole family.
We are really looking forward to seeing you all!
Love you tons,
Carol & Steve
Friday, May 7, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Carol and Steve On the Way Home!
bro,we'r comin home!left lassin 1030am.drov2kumbo.now in bamenda waitn4nite bus2douala.all wel.pls post.s&c
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Stories from Lassin
4/3/10
Divine and I were walking home after church. He told me that he had decided to close his store on Sabbath now. He explained that on the previous Sabbath, another person tended the store for him. The following Monday he took inventory. That Sabbath day alone, he had lost over 130,000 Francs worth of inventory; the amount that he would earn in four to five months.
He was struggling with anger, but appeared to be doing well. The next day, I gave him the Bible study on 'how to keep the Sabbath' that I had intended to give him for weeks, but God beat me to the conclusion- keep the store closed on Sabbath.
4/10/10
Pastor Josia and I discussed preparation of baptismal candidates. There were two people interested as far as I knew: Naphtali's son David, and Devine. After I left the pastor and Naph at the church, they talked for a while. The pastor returned to our house that evening and announced that Naph had agreed to join the church by profession of faith! Later, Naph told me that his second son, Loren, wanted to be baptized too. That's four!
4/11/10
I saw Franklin in the morning. He said that he had missed me the previous Thursday evening when I did not come to his house; Naph & I thought that he was out of town tending to lumber. We agreed to have a 'make-up' Bible study at his house that night. Carol and I discussed whether to invite Franklin to be baptized; we agreed that not to invite would be very rude.
At the study, Naph joined us and we discussed baptism. Franklin said that he would like to be baptized along with two of his sons, Peter & Noel. That 's seven! Franklin attended the first SDA evangelistic series two years ago with Naph'. He has sent two of his children to our school this year, he has made all the arrangements for our lumber to be cut and transported, and he is building all of our new school furniture from this lumber. His heart is really with us. The three of us men agreed that a 12 night baptismal preparation series was needed, and that the 28 SDA Fundamental Belief power point presentations would be the material used.
4/12/10
I began editing the 28 power point files. I use text boxes to overlay the slides. In the box I place simplified language. This is going to be a big job! The original text is a very scholarly work, not intended for remote villages where most people have not completed high school, and most English comes on the wings of a pigeon.
4/15/10
Our first baptismal class was at Franklin's house. 'D' walked with me. We were all present, plus some children that joined us to watch the computer pictures and hear the stories. We read the first two lessons in an hour, the home lit only by the light of the laptop, and planned our next meeting for Sabbath afternoon at 5PM.
I'm editing lesson 7 now.
While walking home from Franklin's with 'D', he told me that he had gone to the market today and stopped by Shay John's store. John had his electric generator running and was showing one of the New Beginnings bible study DVD'
s on his TV. I had copied a set of the 26 lessons for him on five DVD's.
Now, he was showing them to a crowd of 10 or more people who had gathered in his store to watch. 'D' stayed and watched the lesson with them, "you can never say that you have learned enough."
Tonight, Carol stayed home and passed out a few Bibles and Bible study sets to people that live near us in our 'Calaba' quarter. She went looking for Comfort, but found the wrong one. This new lady, Comfort, was interested in Bible studies too, took the Bible and studies that Carol offered her, but wanted someone to teach her. Carol found the correct Comfort and gave her the Bible and studies she had waited two months for. Soon, Magdalene a nurse at the Health Center joined the two Comforts and Carol. Magdalene agreed to teach the Bible studies to the Comforts while we are in the States. Somehow, the group will include about two other ladies; five altogether. It seems that some people here just love to share Bible studies with other people!
'D' said that a young man has asked him to give him Bible studies at the rate of two per day; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The guy has come to 'D' faithfully since Sunday the 11th.
God is truly busy here in Lassin!
4/16/10
This morning before breakfast Irene, one of our faithful, but very busy, church members came to our door. Carol gave her 5 Bibles and Bible studies.
Irene told Carol that she had 5 friends that needed them. Carol wanted to take the opportunity to encourage Irene not merely to deliver the Bibles and studies, but to meet with her friends and study together. "Yes, I'm already giving them Bible studies." Carol could hardly wait to tell me the good news.
Today, Friday, is market day. At the market I saw many friends and tried to purchase some "small thing" (food) from each of them. This time Abduli's shop door was open; he is a tailor, assistant Emom of the Mosque, and an Honorable official recorder of births, deaths, and the like. He's also a wonderfully warm and friendly fellow whose English is pretty good. He told me that he had watched the New Beginnings video at Shay John's store last night. "It told of Adam and Eve, Catholics, and how people are keeping the Sabbath on Sunday." He was beaming as he told me how happy he was that with each point taught, that a text was given from the Bible to support it. He told me again how churches in Lassin only have singing and preaching, but do not teach from the Bible, "not even a sentence or a word." With less than three weeks left in Lassin, I realized that I had better invite him, the Hausa Chief 'Sarki', and Isa over for dinner. This event is long overdue.
We agreed on Monday at 5 PM. Then Abduli said, "I would love to have a copy
of the New Beginnings DVDs." I thought and added, "Would Sarki like a set
also?" "Yes, I'm sure. He has a generator, a DVD player and a TV." "Well, if I give a set to each of you, Isa would feel bad if I had none for him."
"Yes, Isa would love a set. He has no DVD player, but he will ask his neighbors to use theirs. Then the whole Hausa community will be able to watch them." I was amazed! Could I be hearing correctly? The assistant Emom of the Mosque had just told me that the whole Muslim community of Lassin would love to see the Bible studies. In prayer, "Father, you're wonderful!"
I'm making 4 sets of the videos. The 4th set is for the Fon. How could I leave him out? "We are together." We're farmers here, but we sow the Word of God. We have no idea what the harvest will yield, that's not our job.
We are told to 'go', not 'worry'.
4/22/10
Yesterday, Divine told me that his brother-in-law had just died; the 2nd day after his appendix burst. 'D' was grieving for his sister who lives in Kumba, far away in the hot and fertile southwest province. Today, 'D'
knocked at our back door. He was in an extreme hurry and very troubled. "I beg you to help me." He needed a small travel bag to put a few cloths in.
He was leaving immediately on a motor bike to arrive in Bamenda by 10 PM today and Kumba by tomorrow, Friday. Several times his emotions welled up choking his words. "I have to leave. My sister is grieving." He climbed on the back of the bike and pulled his cap firmly down. I watched as he rode up the hill away from our houses, out of sight towards Bamenda and Kumba. Oh, how far will one go for someone he loves. Oh, how far will One go for someone He loves.
It is interesting that 'D's brother-in-law was the one that was supposed to transport a gas-powered electric generator, DVD player and TV to 'D' on the 20th. 'D' wanted to use these ("I will try by all means") to show the New Beginnings Bible lessons and 'Jesus film' in front of his store in the evenings. I hate to think of it, but I believe that there is a war on.
4/27/10
There is nothing in Noni like Noone!
Today, I went to Franklin's carpenter shop to participate in the building of the first desk, of 45, for the school. There was an array of cut pieces of eucalyptus, a top, sides, seat, and so on. However, some pieces were missing and others were of dimensions that were not according to the original, agreed on plan. I was asked how tall the seat risers should be.
I responded, "where is the blueprint page"? These pieces had been cut without reference to the blueprint which was offsite at the time. The method being used would have resulted in a lumber shortage of 25 planks beyond our 20 plank reserve. It was clear to me that although I had provided a blueprint, delivered it to Franklin, and explained its use, the importance had not been appreciated. I am not certain of the reason for this miscommunication, but I suspect that somewhere in the explanation given in English, that the significance of the words was lost. The desks are important, but they are not eternal. Pertaining to eternal things, communication is critical. The project of translating the New Beginnings power point lessons into the Noone language is vital. When completed, the lessons can be sent and played all over the territory of Noni; about 8 towns. No wonder John saw the first angel "fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people."
Okay, here's the last set of stories from Lassin for the '09/'10 school year.
Sabbath, May 1, was a really big day! Our pastor came and we had a special service. Three men, Naphtali, Divine, and Franklin each joined the Lassin SDA church! Divine by baptism, and the others by 'profession of faith'. It was just wonderful. Yes, I have movies and a few stills. You'll have to wait for the DVD as they are too big to shove down the internet. The smallest photo costs $25 to send from Lassin, and the 'big city' internet connections are about the speed of dial up. Anyway, what a beautiful conclusion to this first term!
Sunday, May 2, Carol and I walked the 2.5 km (~1.5 mi) to the airstrip to visit with Eric for 20 minutes on the cell phone (we have no cell phone coverage at the house and have to walk for all calls). Those visits are the greatest though! We collected our backpacks and umbrella after the call, and began the walk back home in a light rain. As the rain intensified (rainy season has resumed), we decided to join four people who were taking shelter on the front porch of a friend's house. Two of them were Gregory and Caroline, our friends who live by the school (Gregory has rebuilt most of the school). We visited a while then he said, "You asked me about a baptismal class." In short, he is looking forward to taking an in-depth Bible study program, and then being baptized later this year. His wife was nodding and smiling; she'll probably join him. The rain cleared and we parted. What a great outing- all for a single phone call.
5/3/10
I just have to do this. Today, I greeted the Fon of Lassin. He was out of the palace at his farm. One of his wives instructed her child of about 3 or
4 years of age to lead me to him. "He's just over there." Well, 'over there' took us along a narrow WELL traveled path above the church, past Naphtali's father's compound, and into 'farm land'. Past corn and beans about half grown, across 6 inch wide plank bridges spanning slow moving murky water, over soggy bottom land, up a hill, past a tree that was buzzing (buzzing? Why? Oh, a bee hive is in the tree. Better get.) All the time this little fellow, plastic sandals paddling along, sporting only a fine red shirt never seemed to question his destination. I trailed silently. At last, under a mango tree, stood the Fon and his second wife, nursing her youngest son. We stayed on the farm for a while, then he gave me a tour of the farms of his four wives as we walked back to the palace. We greeted young and old on the way. Only today, did I realize that Naphtali's father is a Shey. Google it. Our lengthy visit in the royal parlor was really pleasant; no schedule and no interruptions. We talked of community
development- new roads out of Lassin, and a new site for the large weekly market. He passed on a rumor that 'a student who completes four years in your school will be ahead of a student in Form two'. (A 4th grader in our school would be ahead of an 8th grader in the public school). Of course this is unfounded because we have only operated for 7 months and only have 1st graders, but the thought is nice. The truth is that one of our 1st graders helped a 5th grader from another school to read. (Oh dear, I might be bragging.) We discussed our plans for the school and church next year.
He expressed his joy over our recent baptism. Here is the reason I began this story. The Fon of Lassin asked me to 'greet you all', his 'wise sage'
face beaming graciously.
Thursday the 6th, we leave Lassin. The church will be in the hands of God, Naphtali, and Divine. Naphtali and his wife Julie will operate the school until May 20. Divine will keep our rent paid and our garden tended- he will get to eat the corn and beans that he planted and polish off the rest of our egg plant (don't groan, that's good stuff here).
Needs for next year:
Teachers- 3 or 4 please. This is a 9 month adventure. We have promised to have classes 1 - 5 furnished and staffed. We're taking enrollment as if the teachers were signed up. Class size is limited to 20 students. Teachers, you can live a simple and highly rewarding life here for under $100 per month. Beyond that, get a visa, shots, and a plane ticket. Our email address is scrose2@gmail.com to apply.
We got the bright idea to open a flour mill at the school as an industry that would sustain the school project. The need for a mill is significant and the cost is only 700,000 CFA. After conversion to $, it does not seem impossible.
A companion industry would be a small poultry. The birds could eat the mill flour that inevitably falls to the floor. We could sell eggs and grown birds. Note: of a clutch of 7 chicks, 2 are lucky to hit adolescence, and 1 may become an adult. Foul sell for 3,000 CFA each. Tuition is 2,000 CFA per year for a first grader. I would need to build the henhouse and buy starter birds.
We'll still plant as many oil palm trees as we can (up to 600) at the school, but it will be 4 - 5 years before we see any return from this.
After this, the oil industry alone could sustain the school and permit significant growth.
Most exciting of all (for me) is to translate the 26 New Beginnings (by It Is Written) Power Point presentations into the Noone language, then turn them into books and DVDs.
If any of these projects interest you, let me know. I welcome the voice of experience or the sound of cash. Already, I have local church members with expert advice in west African oil palms and flour mills.
If you are still reading, congratulations!
Thanks for keeping us in your prayers as we travel back to the states!
Your friends, Steve & Carol
Divine and I were walking home after church. He told me that he had decided to close his store on Sabbath now. He explained that on the previous Sabbath, another person tended the store for him. The following Monday he took inventory. That Sabbath day alone, he had lost over 130,000 Francs worth of inventory; the amount that he would earn in four to five months.
He was struggling with anger, but appeared to be doing well. The next day, I gave him the Bible study on 'how to keep the Sabbath' that I had intended to give him for weeks, but God beat me to the conclusion- keep the store closed on Sabbath.
4/10/10
Pastor Josia and I discussed preparation of baptismal candidates. There were two people interested as far as I knew: Naphtali's son David, and Devine. After I left the pastor and Naph at the church, they talked for a while. The pastor returned to our house that evening and announced that Naph had agreed to join the church by profession of faith! Later, Naph told me that his second son, Loren, wanted to be baptized too. That's four!
4/11/10
I saw Franklin in the morning. He said that he had missed me the previous Thursday evening when I did not come to his house; Naph & I thought that he was out of town tending to lumber. We agreed to have a 'make-up' Bible study at his house that night. Carol and I discussed whether to invite Franklin to be baptized; we agreed that not to invite would be very rude.
At the study, Naph joined us and we discussed baptism. Franklin said that he would like to be baptized along with two of his sons, Peter & Noel. That 's seven! Franklin attended the first SDA evangelistic series two years ago with Naph'. He has sent two of his children to our school this year, he has made all the arrangements for our lumber to be cut and transported, and he is building all of our new school furniture from this lumber. His heart is really with us. The three of us men agreed that a 12 night baptismal preparation series was needed, and that the 28 SDA Fundamental Belief power point presentations would be the material used.
4/12/10
I began editing the 28 power point files. I use text boxes to overlay the slides. In the box I place simplified language. This is going to be a big job! The original text is a very scholarly work, not intended for remote villages where most people have not completed high school, and most English comes on the wings of a pigeon.
4/15/10
Our first baptismal class was at Franklin's house. 'D' walked with me. We were all present, plus some children that joined us to watch the computer pictures and hear the stories. We read the first two lessons in an hour, the home lit only by the light of the laptop, and planned our next meeting for Sabbath afternoon at 5PM.
I'm editing lesson 7 now.
While walking home from Franklin's with 'D', he told me that he had gone to the market today and stopped by Shay John's store. John had his electric generator running and was showing one of the New Beginnings bible study DVD'
s on his TV. I had copied a set of the 26 lessons for him on five DVD's.
Now, he was showing them to a crowd of 10 or more people who had gathered in his store to watch. 'D' stayed and watched the lesson with them, "you can never say that you have learned enough."
Tonight, Carol stayed home and passed out a few Bibles and Bible study sets to people that live near us in our 'Calaba' quarter. She went looking for Comfort, but found the wrong one. This new lady, Comfort, was interested in Bible studies too, took the Bible and studies that Carol offered her, but wanted someone to teach her. Carol found the correct Comfort and gave her the Bible and studies she had waited two months for. Soon, Magdalene a nurse at the Health Center joined the two Comforts and Carol. Magdalene agreed to teach the Bible studies to the Comforts while we are in the States. Somehow, the group will include about two other ladies; five altogether. It seems that some people here just love to share Bible studies with other people!
'D' said that a young man has asked him to give him Bible studies at the rate of two per day; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The guy has come to 'D' faithfully since Sunday the 11th.
God is truly busy here in Lassin!
4/16/10
This morning before breakfast Irene, one of our faithful, but very busy, church members came to our door. Carol gave her 5 Bibles and Bible studies.
Irene told Carol that she had 5 friends that needed them. Carol wanted to take the opportunity to encourage Irene not merely to deliver the Bibles and studies, but to meet with her friends and study together. "Yes, I'm already giving them Bible studies." Carol could hardly wait to tell me the good news.
Today, Friday, is market day. At the market I saw many friends and tried to purchase some "small thing" (food) from each of them. This time Abduli's shop door was open; he is a tailor, assistant Emom of the Mosque, and an Honorable official recorder of births, deaths, and the like. He's also a wonderfully warm and friendly fellow whose English is pretty good. He told me that he had watched the New Beginnings video at Shay John's store last night. "It told of Adam and Eve, Catholics, and how people are keeping the Sabbath on Sunday." He was beaming as he told me how happy he was that with each point taught, that a text was given from the Bible to support it. He told me again how churches in Lassin only have singing and preaching, but do not teach from the Bible, "not even a sentence or a word." With less than three weeks left in Lassin, I realized that I had better invite him, the Hausa Chief 'Sarki', and Isa over for dinner. This event is long overdue.
We agreed on Monday at 5 PM. Then Abduli said, "I would love to have a copy
of the New Beginnings DVDs." I thought and added, "Would Sarki like a set
also?" "Yes, I'm sure. He has a generator, a DVD player and a TV." "Well, if I give a set to each of you, Isa would feel bad if I had none for him."
"Yes, Isa would love a set. He has no DVD player, but he will ask his neighbors to use theirs. Then the whole Hausa community will be able to watch them." I was amazed! Could I be hearing correctly? The assistant Emom of the Mosque had just told me that the whole Muslim community of Lassin would love to see the Bible studies. In prayer, "Father, you're wonderful!"
I'm making 4 sets of the videos. The 4th set is for the Fon. How could I leave him out? "We are together." We're farmers here, but we sow the Word of God. We have no idea what the harvest will yield, that's not our job.
We are told to 'go', not 'worry'.
4/22/10
Yesterday, Divine told me that his brother-in-law had just died; the 2nd day after his appendix burst. 'D' was grieving for his sister who lives in Kumba, far away in the hot and fertile southwest province. Today, 'D'
knocked at our back door. He was in an extreme hurry and very troubled. "I beg you to help me." He needed a small travel bag to put a few cloths in.
He was leaving immediately on a motor bike to arrive in Bamenda by 10 PM today and Kumba by tomorrow, Friday. Several times his emotions welled up choking his words. "I have to leave. My sister is grieving." He climbed on the back of the bike and pulled his cap firmly down. I watched as he rode up the hill away from our houses, out of sight towards Bamenda and Kumba. Oh, how far will one go for someone he loves. Oh, how far will One go for someone He loves.
It is interesting that 'D's brother-in-law was the one that was supposed to transport a gas-powered electric generator, DVD player and TV to 'D' on the 20th. 'D' wanted to use these ("I will try by all means") to show the New Beginnings Bible lessons and 'Jesus film' in front of his store in the evenings. I hate to think of it, but I believe that there is a war on.
4/27/10
There is nothing in Noni like Noone!
Today, I went to Franklin's carpenter shop to participate in the building of the first desk, of 45, for the school. There was an array of cut pieces of eucalyptus, a top, sides, seat, and so on. However, some pieces were missing and others were of dimensions that were not according to the original, agreed on plan. I was asked how tall the seat risers should be.
I responded, "where is the blueprint page"? These pieces had been cut without reference to the blueprint which was offsite at the time. The method being used would have resulted in a lumber shortage of 25 planks beyond our 20 plank reserve. It was clear to me that although I had provided a blueprint, delivered it to Franklin, and explained its use, the importance had not been appreciated. I am not certain of the reason for this miscommunication, but I suspect that somewhere in the explanation given in English, that the significance of the words was lost. The desks are important, but they are not eternal. Pertaining to eternal things, communication is critical. The project of translating the New Beginnings power point lessons into the Noone language is vital. When completed, the lessons can be sent and played all over the territory of Noni; about 8 towns. No wonder John saw the first angel "fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people."
Okay, here's the last set of stories from Lassin for the '09/'10 school year.
Sabbath, May 1, was a really big day! Our pastor came and we had a special service. Three men, Naphtali, Divine, and Franklin each joined the Lassin SDA church! Divine by baptism, and the others by 'profession of faith'. It was just wonderful. Yes, I have movies and a few stills. You'll have to wait for the DVD as they are too big to shove down the internet. The smallest photo costs $25 to send from Lassin, and the 'big city' internet connections are about the speed of dial up. Anyway, what a beautiful conclusion to this first term!
Sunday, May 2, Carol and I walked the 2.5 km (~1.5 mi) to the airstrip to visit with Eric for 20 minutes on the cell phone (we have no cell phone coverage at the house and have to walk for all calls). Those visits are the greatest though! We collected our backpacks and umbrella after the call, and began the walk back home in a light rain. As the rain intensified (rainy season has resumed), we decided to join four people who were taking shelter on the front porch of a friend's house. Two of them were Gregory and Caroline, our friends who live by the school (Gregory has rebuilt most of the school). We visited a while then he said, "You asked me about a baptismal class." In short, he is looking forward to taking an in-depth Bible study program, and then being baptized later this year. His wife was nodding and smiling; she'll probably join him. The rain cleared and we parted. What a great outing- all for a single phone call.
5/3/10
I just have to do this. Today, I greeted the Fon of Lassin. He was out of the palace at his farm. One of his wives instructed her child of about 3 or
4 years of age to lead me to him. "He's just over there." Well, 'over there' took us along a narrow WELL traveled path above the church, past Naphtali's father's compound, and into 'farm land'. Past corn and beans about half grown, across 6 inch wide plank bridges spanning slow moving murky water, over soggy bottom land, up a hill, past a tree that was buzzing (buzzing? Why? Oh, a bee hive is in the tree. Better get.) All the time this little fellow, plastic sandals paddling along, sporting only a fine red shirt never seemed to question his destination. I trailed silently. At last, under a mango tree, stood the Fon and his second wife, nursing her youngest son. We stayed on the farm for a while, then he gave me a tour of the farms of his four wives as we walked back to the palace. We greeted young and old on the way. Only today, did I realize that Naphtali's father is a Shey. Google it. Our lengthy visit in the royal parlor was really pleasant; no schedule and no interruptions. We talked of community
development- new roads out of Lassin, and a new site for the large weekly market. He passed on a rumor that 'a student who completes four years in your school will be ahead of a student in Form two'. (A 4th grader in our school would be ahead of an 8th grader in the public school). Of course this is unfounded because we have only operated for 7 months and only have 1st graders, but the thought is nice. The truth is that one of our 1st graders helped a 5th grader from another school to read. (Oh dear, I might be bragging.) We discussed our plans for the school and church next year.
He expressed his joy over our recent baptism. Here is the reason I began this story. The Fon of Lassin asked me to 'greet you all', his 'wise sage'
face beaming graciously.
Thursday the 6th, we leave Lassin. The church will be in the hands of God, Naphtali, and Divine. Naphtali and his wife Julie will operate the school until May 20. Divine will keep our rent paid and our garden tended- he will get to eat the corn and beans that he planted and polish off the rest of our egg plant (don't groan, that's good stuff here).
Needs for next year:
Teachers- 3 or 4 please. This is a 9 month adventure. We have promised to have classes 1 - 5 furnished and staffed. We're taking enrollment as if the teachers were signed up. Class size is limited to 20 students. Teachers, you can live a simple and highly rewarding life here for under $100 per month. Beyond that, get a visa, shots, and a plane ticket. Our email address is scrose2@gmail.com to apply.
We got the bright idea to open a flour mill at the school as an industry that would sustain the school project. The need for a mill is significant and the cost is only 700,000 CFA. After conversion to $, it does not seem impossible.
A companion industry would be a small poultry. The birds could eat the mill flour that inevitably falls to the floor. We could sell eggs and grown birds. Note: of a clutch of 7 chicks, 2 are lucky to hit adolescence, and 1 may become an adult. Foul sell for 3,000 CFA each. Tuition is 2,000 CFA per year for a first grader. I would need to build the henhouse and buy starter birds.
We'll still plant as many oil palm trees as we can (up to 600) at the school, but it will be 4 - 5 years before we see any return from this.
After this, the oil industry alone could sustain the school and permit significant growth.
Most exciting of all (for me) is to translate the 26 New Beginnings (by It Is Written) Power Point presentations into the Noone language, then turn them into books and DVDs.
If any of these projects interest you, let me know. I welcome the voice of experience or the sound of cash. Already, I have local church members with expert advice in west African oil palms and flour mills.
If you are still reading, congratulations!
Thanks for keeping us in your prayers as we travel back to the states!
Your friends, Steve & Carol
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