Cake and God’s faithfulness

Posted on August 13, 2014 by David

God is always faithful, so let’s have some cake and celebrate.

Cake Makaa celebration

I recently read the following story by Elyse Patten and thought I would share part of it with you.

Once upon a time, on a small island far away, a man named John wanted to be able to read the Bible in the language of his village marketplace. He didn’t like that only highly educated people could read the Bible in Latin. Although his mother tongue was considered poor and vulgar, John believed that the good news of the Gospel should be available to ‘poor’ and ‘vulgar’ people as well. He was labeled as a rebel, yet he and his friends were the first to translate the Bible into the language that we now call English.

This story has been told and re-told in village meetings, during celebration feasts and around kitchen fires for hundreds of years. Still today, this very day, people around the world share this same vision as John Wycliffe: to be able to read the Bible in their own language.

Our work in Cameroon allows us to help other people groups to have their Bible in a language they can understand, similarly to what John Wycliffe did for us ‘poor’ and ‘vulgar’ English speakers by handwriting the first English language Bible in the 1380’s.

We recently had some cake to celebrate the completion of the New Testament in Makaa. For the last 36 years God has faithfully been with Dan and Teresa Heath as they worked with the Makaa people, along with 3 different Cameroonian translators to complete the New Testament. The picture shows a pastor from the local community holding the first two New Testaments that were printed locally in Cameroon. The remaining will be printed outside of Cameroon and hopefully arrive within the next year.

Makaa NT

Join us in praying for the literacy efforts in the Makaa language and for a hunger for God’s Word in these communities as excitement spreads about the coming New Testaments.

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sear. Habakkuk 2:14 NIV

 

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Back to School

Posted on August 11, 2014 by David

A quote that has stuck with me for years is, “Days may be long, but years are short.”  I’ve found this quote to be so true.  Some days feel like they drag on or something happens and makes a day seem to last longer than 24 hours, however, the years are flying by.

Yesterday was the first day of this school year.  Joshua is in the last class of the mission school that serves children Kindergarten to Sixth Grades.  Joshua started at this school as a second grader and now he’s entering his final year.

Jonah will be going to the mission school this year and will not be homeschooled, like he’s been for the past two years.  He’s entering fourth grade.  When we arrived, he was a Kindergartener.

Happy first day of school boys.  We love you and are proud of you!  We pray for you, your classmates and your teachers.

First day of school

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Light Bulbs

Posted on August 8, 2014 by David

I (DeAnna) never gave much thought to light bulbs. Yeah, I knew there were different kinds, but other than fluorescent long bulbs, I thought the other bulbs all had the same twist/screw end on them. I knew the twist/screw ends come in different widths and lengths like a small night light bulb compared to a 40W lamp bulb. It wasn’t until we moved to Cameroon that my exposure to different light bulbs grew. I’m not a technical person, so I’m just going to call the bulbs what I call them and not take the time to look up their real (technical) names.

In our home we have fluorescent (tube) bulbs for some rooms, twist/screw in type of bulb that is the majority of light bulbs in the USA, 12 Volt bulbs (these are quite expensive and are necessary to run lights that get their power from a 12 Volt battery – very helpful during power outages, however, our battery died) and then there is the pokey kind of bulb that has a metal end with two pokey prongs. So we need to keep a variety of bulbs on hand and have a selection to choose from when a bulb burns out. So when David is changing a light bulb and I ask what bulb he needs to replace it, there is a variety of responses.

light bulbs

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Hard Choices

Posted on August 6, 2014 by David

We live something that I think is quite unique. Not many people in their lives would live in this other dimension. Here it is: in our passport country we are considered low income. In the USA, we qualify for government aid, we qualify for charity at hospitals, we qualify for reduced lunch programs, etc…

In our host country we are considered rich. If we have the means to get on an airplane and fly around the world, if we have the means to purchase groceries at a store, if we have the means to drive a vehicle, if we have the means to pay for water and electricity to our home, if we have the means to rent a large home than therefore we are rich.

To live in this other dimension is quite difficult because we have to balance saving some finances in order to hopefully have at least enough to pay our bills in the USA every month and hopefully have enough to live on in our host country (food, water, rent, electricity, gas, school fees). So since we are seen as rich (by the way we are Caucasian, so that automatically makes us rich in the eyes of Cameroonians), we have people continually coming to us for financial help, for food, for medicine, for clothing, for shoes and the list goes on. We do help and want to help. Every August we usually enter into one or two commitments to pay the school fees so someone’s child can attend public school (one must pay here, it’s not like in the USA where tax dollars provide the funds for education). We have a deaf friend whom we help financially who lives downtown. We help our househelp, our guard, occasional yard worker by being employers in a place where unemployment is extremely high. We help them all not only through employment, but also their children, medical needs, travel expenses, etc… This is not a blog to pat ourselves on our backs, because it’s not us. We are the vehicle, it’s those who give every month who are supporting us who give to these people.

So when we are scammed by others, it’s hard to overcome. It’s hard to not be cynical and hardened by the experience. We have been scammed on several occasions. There was a man who when we first arrived preyed on us (new, excited, wet behind the ears people). It took several months before we knew it was all a scam. Then recently there was a deaf man who showed up at our gate. He wrote on a piece of paper that he needed eye surgery for cataracts and needed glasses. He shared that he is already deaf and to loss his sight would leave him dependent on others for everything. We paid for his medical needs. He came back a week later saying he would like to travel to his village, so that he can live in the village permanently with his extended family and needed money for transport. We gave him the money and wished him the best. Then he started showing up daily asking for money for this, that and everything in between. He wouldn’t answer to why he wasn’t in his village and continued asking for more money. Then we saw an email from another family who was asking the community at large if others have given to this man. Soon several people were sharing how they have given him significant funds for a wide range of medical needs, transport, food, etc… it became obvious he was conning us all. It’s hard to discern who truly needs our help and who is just trying to milk us. It’s hard to always be viewed as a walking money bag that needs to be shaken. Please pray for us to discern who to give to and that we are cheerful givers.

Posted in Cameroon, home | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Sac Sac

Posted on August 4, 2014 by David

Although we are blessed with wonderful, juicy tropical fruit; we crave things we can’t get like strawberries, cantaloupe, peaches, nectarines, pears, grapes, etc… David was introduced by a colleague to a Korean made grape juice drink, Sac Sac. The drink is quite tasty and has an unexpected surprise. There are whole grapes in the can with the juice. It helps satisfy our craving for grapes.

grape drinkgrapes

Posted in Cameroon, home | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Silliness

Posted on August 1, 2014 by David

Lately we’ve seen many people complete silly online survey’s.  Things like what Downton Abbey character are you, what Sesame Street character are you, What State should you live in, What occupation should you really have, etc…  Most of the time we leave these survey’s alone because we don’t want to spend any of our internet credit on them.

We both have completed two of the silly surveys.  One was “What State should you live in?”  We both had the same state result: Michigan.  We were happy we were suppose to be in the same state, but neither one of us has a desire to live that far north – brrrr.  The second survey was, “What occupation should you really have?”  David’s result was astronaut and mine was athlete with alternative occupations being trainer or life coach.  Although these surveys are just for fun with no merit (in my opinion), as I read the description given for the occupations, I started pondering those occupations compared with our current occupation.

David’s description was he’s an explorer, curious about the world around him and the way it works.  Although he’s not an astronaut, the description given isn’t far off from what he does do.  We’ve lived in fifteen different places in our fifteen years of marriage = explorer.  On a daily basis David deals with governmental things, aviation, computers, housing, administrative, financial, organizational, security things = curious about the world around him and the way it works.

David BGAN

My description was dedicated, value loyalty, excited by a challenge and a problem solver.  I’m not an athlete, but I do rise to the challenge – learning new daily life methods (after the feeling of being overwhelmed is set aside) and learning as much as possible about medical things that challenge our family.  I do value loyalty.  I’m not an official trainer or life coach, but I feel that being a Mom, Homeschooling Mom and wife does make me an unofficial life coach and trainer.

Family

Posted in Cameroon, home | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Huh?

Posted on July 30, 2014 by David

I used to have a game called Mad Gab.  My mother strongly disliked this game.  It was a game where you were given gibberish to read and the other person had to try and solve what you were saying.  For example, “These if hill wore, ” when pronounced quickly sounds like, “The Civil War.” (example taken from wikipedia)

When we were stopped at a stoplight, I noticed an advertisement on a billboard and I instantly thought of Mad Gab.

billboard

Posted in Cameroon | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

One Upper

Posted on July 28, 2014 by David

I (DeAnna) recently read a blog post by Tara Livesay on a life overseas blog spot.  This blog’s audience are people who work outside their passport country as humanitarian workers and missionaries.  It was convicting.  The theme is one-uppers.

Since our return in November 2012, I haven’t been able to formulate many positive sentences when sharing about our lives overseas.  I could justify it with how difficult things have been for us since our return like working through some PTSD issues, many ex-patriot and national colleague deaths, David being completely overworked, Jonah working through post-traumatic issues, Jonah’s concussion, Joshua’s ever spreading plantar warts, security issues, etc…  Things feel intense, sometimes overwhelming.

We’ve all heard that laughter is the best medicine.  Did you know that laughter lowers our stress hormones, boosts our immunity, relaxes our bodies, decreases pain and helps protect our hearts.  As I’ve blogged before, I have the choice to laugh or cry.

I know from experience sometimes in the most heated discussion, laughter cools things off like nothing else.  I enjoy relaxing by watching something funny.  In this blog I recently read by Tara, she refers to a Saturday Night Live character named Penelope.  I haven’t seen this character in action, but she sounds quite funny.  Below is Tara’s blog post.

Penelope was the person who was always driven to one-up everyone else, in every situation, even when it was to celebrate how much more miserable she was than everyone else.

Perhaps you stated that your relatives came over on the Mayflower. Well, Penelope’s came over a month before yours did on the “Aprilflower.”

You got in a bad car accident yesterday? Penelope had been in three that very day.

She was often not even invited into a conversation, but still, she would interject and get the spotlight and out-do all other stories being shared with her over the top competitive one-upper neurosis.

I get a kick out of the way humanitarian workers, missionaries, and expats can come off a little bit like Penelope without even lying or trying.  Sometimes we scroll through our Twitter or other social media accounts and see our friends in the developed world airing their legitimate grievances and we nod in agreement.  Often times the Penelope in us comes out.

Now, remember, most of us are being totally honest and not necessarily trying to be a one-upper, but by default and by life circumstance, we just ARE.

Here are some possible examples,

A pal in Minnesota says, “I have been so sick with this nasty cold for more than a week.”  Expat/M/HW says: “Yeah, I have had Dengue Fever, Cerebral Malaria, and Chikungunya this last year, being sick really stinks.”

Your little sister says, “Please pray for my daughter to do well in marching band try outs, she is very nervous.”  Expat/M/HW says: “Yeah, my daughter is getting on a puddle jumper in a few hours to escape civil unrest in our country and she is nervous (about being shot) too.”

Person says, “Oh my gosh, our hot water broke and it has been a week without it!”  Expat/M/HW says: “Yeah, we don’t have hot water (like, ever) – I hear that!”

Your aunt says, “The storm took out our power and we have gone without power for three days!” Expat/M/HW says: “Yeah, our batteries and inverter got stolen and the generator is on the fritz too, we won’t have power for six to nine months – we have to fundraise 5K first.”

Friend says, “Oh.My.GOSH. I sat in traffic forEVER today on the way into the city.”  Expat/M/HW says: “I totally understand that. I do that every day of every month of every year. As a matter of fact, last night I slept in traffic.”

Brother says, “I paid $4.20 per gallon for gas this morning, how atrocious.” Expat/M/HW says: “Oh, gasoline? We haven’t had any here in three weeks. I would love to pay $4.20 for some.”

Co-worker says, “The grocery store was totally out of my brand of Greek yogurt, I was so bummed.” Expat/M/HW says, “The country I live in never built the store that had refrigerators for Greek yogurt. So, yeah, also bummed.”

Your buddy says, “We went out to eat and it took 45 minutes to get our food! Can you believe that?”  Expat/M?HW says, “We did too, there was nothing available on the menu so we had warm Coke for lunch.”

While the truth may be that your day-to-day inconveniences consistently trump those of your friends “back home”, I advise you to leave your Penelope responses in your head.

If you do,  you will always have friends.

I have to admit that I’m convicted by the blog post because I’m Penelope.  It came out with the recent reverse culture shock experience.  It comes out frequently when I read social media posts, I quit following some people moving them from friend to acquaintance because I couldn’t handle the emotions that were stirred within me when I read their status updates.  I want to extend to you my apologies if I haven’t held in my Penelope side and blurted out my Penelope thoughts.

 

Posted in Cameroon, home | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

600

Posted on July 25, 2014 by David

I’m encouraged by those of you who read our blog.  Sometimes we are silly, sometimes serious, David sometimes delivers sermonettes, sometimes it’s sad and sometimes it’s raw emotion.  It’s our life.

I’ve (DeAnna) been asked questions about our blogs from others, so I thought I would share a little about our blog.

Everyone sees things differently, the things I write about are usually how I see or perceive something in the world around me.  Like with the materials blog, I’m a person who has spurts.  There are times blog ideas flow out of me and the internet is working so I’ll write and schedule for posting a month’s worth of blogs.  Sometimes I have bloggers block.

This post is our 600th blog post.  Our first post was published on March 29, 2009 and at that time until 2012 only David wrote the posts.  I learned the ropes in 2012 and have enjoyed writing posts ever since.  Thank you for reading our blog and following the things we see or perceive in our neck of the woods.

Below is a picture of what we looked like in March 2009.

Family 2009

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Interesting Tropical Fruit

Posted on July 23, 2014 by David

As I’ve posted before, we get to experience all kinds of tropical fruit.  Although we like tropical fruit, we do crave berries, cantaloupe, nectarines, grapes and peaches that we can’t get in a tropical environment.

There was a fruit that we noticed out and about, but didn’t know what it was.  Jonah ate this fruit at a friend’s house.  His friend’s family used to serve in the Philippines and were familiar with this little red spiky fruit.  I asked Sophie if she knew this fruit and she said no.  She said she asked a man selling it what it was called and he said he didn’t know what it’s called.  The fruit is called rambutan.  We purchased some rambutan (16 for about $1).  The outside is a fun red with soft spiky looking hairs and the inside is white and is like a very firm grape flesh.

rambutan

 

inside rambutan

Posted in Cameroon, home | Tagged , | 3 Comments