Friday, May 6, 2011

Four days on the move... Our second school year in Lassin is complete.

Dear family & friends,

Our trip from Lassin to Douala Cameroon, then Addis Ababa Ethiopia, Washington D.C., Chicago, then Wichita went well; 4 full days. We're enjoying Kansas with our son Eric and his friends. So good to share hugs with him on a frequent basis! The trip went well. The day-long break in Ethiopia was really nice and gave us a chance to stretch our legs and enjoy the cool, high altitude of Addis Ababa.

Now, we're enjoying the cool, low altitude of Wichita. Our bodies are gradually adapting to a stable timezone again. It is amazing to have such long daylight though; the sun remains up until 8:30, 2 hours longer than we're used to. It makes it hard to get to bed early, but even 7 hours of sleep is better than cat napping in airline chairs.

The last evangelism related news from Lassin is that we were able to leave 8 DVD sets of the It Is Written, New Beginnings bible studies in Noone, to be distributed to the 7 or 8 villages of the Noni sub-division. We also left 4 sets of these studies in Cameroonian 'Pidgin'. This represented a pretty focused effort on my part, and so much support on Carol and Jessica's part. Naphtali and Divine will be responsible for distribution within Noni, and Charles (in Douala) will be involved in the Pidgin project. Charles already has a evangelistic series lined up that will use these DVD's to present the message.

Keep Elebert, Merlisa, and 9 month old Estellah in your prayers as they continue to complete the school year in Lassin. We'll let you know how to read about their 2 year stay in Lassin later.

Thank you for your prayers and support. After our trip down the mountains from Lassin to Douala, we handed Charles the remainder of 'our' funds - 250 franks, about 55 cents. We had purchased equipment to support Elebert and Merlisa, supplies to improve the Lassin public water system, pay rent for the two houses, and make April school staff payroll. There was enough to cover every necessary expense, but no more. Again, God covers every need; amazing, just like last year.

About the Lassin public water system: there are 3 shallow wells that catch water that is piped to a storage tank system, then piped to town in a 2 inch pipe. The water that is flowing at the end of dry season is the equivalent of the flow from a half gallon milk carton into a glass. This quantity is supposed to support 1/4 of the town; it falls far short. My initial approach was designed to stop all waste from dripping faucets and leaky tanks. Perhaps Elebert will choose to add a 4th well to the system. We'll see. This is such a support to the health of the town; lower the risk of Cholera outbreak through cleanliness and adequate clean hydration.

Still depending on God,
Steve & Carol

Monday, May 2, 2011

Leaving Lassin

Okay, so it only took one day for Carol, Steve, and Jessica to cram our junk into a taxi, cruise over some of the most beautiful roads in northwest Cameroon, continue by bus in Bamenda, then arrive in Douala by sunset. We're tired as usual, but really happy to be on the move.
We sure left some great friends behind; promised to stay in touch by email.

Our plane should leave for Ethiopia Monday noon. We'll spend the night there in Adis Ababa, then head to Washington D.C. Tuesday.
We'll send more news about this later.

We left a cool, relatively arid mountainous region for a really warm, nearly totally humid sauna; oh what a difference. But the pineapple is incredible!

our love to you all,

Steve & Carol