D squared + J squared = Anderson

4 Lessons from a Fresh Perspective

Posted on June 27, 2014 by David

I (David) will be the first to admit I am not the biggest fan of short term missionaries. I see many pass through my office and through our home and I wonder if the long term impact they are having is helping or hurting the people of Cameroon. I’m quick to quote the statistics from When Helping Hurts on the number of short term missionaries that go into long term missions, or even those that contribute after they leave. But recently I was refreshed by four unlikely college students who are forcing me to reevaluate my stance.

Lesson 1

People are people

In case you were unaware from the many missionary stories of heroic triumph and God saving people from innumerable odds and maybe even this blog. Missionaries are far from perfect, for additional proof of this statement see Romans 3:23.

One of my short termer’s realized this when he played basketball with some of the employees and longer term missionaries and he was shocked to hear them complain. Yes unfortunately I must share a missionary confession that many of us have done this. Sometimes it’s easier to quote Philippians 2:14 than to live it.

Lesson 2

God weaves it all together

Their first comment was that they were surprised at the scope of our operations. This team was reviewing our financial records and they were amazed at how much we were able to accomplish with the resources that we have. They had no idea how much went in to keeping a large operation like ours moving forward. They shared, that when they arrived here and began looking at our operation that it was like, “They were given a puzzle that was on the table and they had to put it back together without looking at the picture.”

In Cameroon the missionaries come from 15 different countries and we are currently involved in about 80 language projects throughout Cameroon. This doesn’t include the regional support that we also give to surrounding countries. God has given many gifts to the many people that serve here and they were able to see that some people are serving in a position that is unique to their gifting that could have only been a puzzle that was put together by God. I’m pretty sure I’m one of those weird shaped pieces and not an edge or corner piece.
Lesson 3

It’s easy to get numb

The team had to walk five minutes to our main center each day to review our operations, this gave them the opportunity to interact with many of the Cameroonians along the road. It’s difficult to walk around without being asked for money, but after three weeks in the country one of them commented that he had grown numb to the children asking for money or food. His comment was if he could walk past poverty and not be affected after three weeks how much is he walking by in the United States and not noticing there.

I remember that not long after we arrived we were going shopping with a missionary who had been here for many years and we watched as she gave money to a cripple on the street. She warned us to not get too hardened to giving to those who ask. That might be why DeAnna and I both gave money to the same person this week that was a deaf-mute looking for medical assistance.

For more on this topic I suggest Luke 12:22-33

Lesson 4

Heaven not Earth is my home

Two members from the team were having a conversation with a young woman who had just gotten back from her village and was preparing for a short trip out of the country. She shared with them that she finally had her own mud hut to live in after several years of living in other people’s homes. They couldn’t believe some of the living conditions that she lived in, lack of electricity, no running water or kitchen. And she told them very bluntly that she knew that her real home was in Heaven not here on Earth. My guess is that this team will remember this statement for many years to come.

So, when I receive the next request in my inbox to invite a short term missionary for a few weeks. I won’t immediately think. Ugh!!@# Not again, I’ll try to recall these four lessons I learned from a team from Houghton College. Who knows, maybe I’ll learn a lesson from the next short term missionary. Let me know if you would like to come and serve.

Posted in Cameroon, Wycliffe | Tagged Cameroon, Houghton College, Short Term Missions | 5 Comments

Who’s Voice is That?

Posted on June 25, 2014 by David

Millions have decided to follow Jesus over the years after watching The Jesus Film in locations around the world! Wycliffe partners with The Jesus Film to translate the script of the film into minority languages. Our guard, Christian, is from an area of Cameroon that is difficult to travel to and even more difficult to travel within due to dense forests and a large, swift flowing river.

There is a couple who have worked on translation of Badwee with the Badwee people for 30 years. They asked Christian and his son, Geovanni, to be voices on The Jesus film in his mother tongue of Badwee. Christian worked diligently for several days reading the script so it can be recorded in his heart language. His son, Geovanni, had the unique privilege to be a voice of young Jesus at the temple in the film. The translators said, “Christian is always cheerful and helpful concerning any needs of the language project.”

There are many challenges in distribution of The Jesus film in Badwee, please join us in praying that The Jesus film, the audio track of Luke and the picture booklets can be distributed without complication.

Posted in Cameroon, Wycliffe | Tagged Badwee, Cameroon, The Jesus Film | 3 Comments

Unlocked Blessing

Posted on June 23, 2014 by David

The phone rang as the sun was rising. Our first thought, what’s wrong? I could see his facial expressions and hear his tone of voice; this was a bad news call. He hung up the phone and quickly filled me in as he kissed me goodbye, I began praying. He was called to transport a new colleague to the morgue. This precious woman arrived two weeks earlier, not with any organization, but serving for six weeks at Rain Forest International School, a middle and high school operated by our organization. Since she wasn’t with an organization, she didn’t have an emergency contact file, she didn’t have any of her personal information on file and David had no idea where to start.

As David arrived at her apartment, her roommate and the Director of the school were there. David picked up her cell phone and to his delight, her phone wasn’t protected by a password. He could scroll through her phone, but who to call? He started saying the names on her phone aloud, the Director of the school said she recognized one of the names, he’s a missions pastor. David called his number, waking him up in the middle of the night, to share what was happening on the other side of the world. Even when circumstances seem overwhelming, bleak and impossible – the Lord shows up, guiding the way and in this case provided an unprotected cell phone with a number of someone who had the information to contact her family.

Posted in Cameroon | Tagged Cameroon, Death | 3 Comments

The Treasure Stool

Posted on June 20, 2014 by David

“Madam, there were all kinds of good clothes inside. Did you know they were in there?” This question from Sophie led to a conversation full of joyous laughter.

A little over a year ago Joshua found a brown leather covered stool in a free area at the annual branch sale. It looked like it could be either a foot stool or an over-sized cushion to sit on.

The brown leather stool is on the ground in front of the legs with red shorts and beside the leg in brown pants. We never took a picture of it directly.

We kicked off our summer break with cleaning and organizing. Since the stool frequently causes arguments between the boys, I was ready to get rid of it. I asked Sophie if she would like it. She was excited to take it.

That evening, her son’s girlfriend unzipped it to look at the stuffing inside, because it’s a heavy stool for being fabric. She discovered that whoever made the stool stuffed it with clothing. All of Sophie’s family and neighbors were soon gathered round watching for the next discovery pulled from the stool. Sophie was thrilled! She shared that everyone was dancing. She shared that the clothes are in good condition and brought two clothing items to show me. She shared that everyone received at least one nice piece of clothing from the stool and there were so many bras, they shared with the neighbors. It was a great discovery and hidden treasure that provided much joy!

Pictured are two of the clothing items Sophie brought back to show me in her excitement.

Posted in Cameroon, home | Tagged Cameroon, Home | 5 Comments

Generic

Posted on June 18, 2014 by David

I remember the first time I heard the word generic. I was at my grandma’s with some kind of not-brand-name toy and my cousins said that I got the generic of whatever it was. That encounter and word stuck with me.

We’ve been asked why we purchase birthday and Christmas presents for the boys from the States and send them to ourselves. The majority of toys or gifts available for purchase are very cheap, generic toys. Toys that break with first use. Toys that would normally cost about a dollar or less in the USA, but here cost between $3-$10. There is a store with toys that will hold up, however, the cost is outrageous. For example, recently at this store there was a Monopoly board game for 90,000 cfa (almost $200).

We’ve had a Wii since 2008. It recently died, but we were fortunate that a colleague was in the USA for a training time and could bring back a Wii Mini for us. On a recent shopping trip, the same one with the tea, he also found generic versions of video gaming.

Posted in Cameroon | Tagged Cameroon, generics | 4 Comments

Labor Day

Posted on June 16, 2014 by David

The sun is rising up over the horizon, the bright rays are filtering through the clouds. It’s a special day, it’s Labor Day. Labor Day is celebrated differently here than in our passport country. Labor Day is a day to be with those you work with and march parade style in matching clothes downtown before eating a meal together. David has went to many marching parades on Labor Day, however, this year he wanted to be with the few who are left behind to prepare for the after marching feast.
Standing in the kitchen, sweat rolling down his forehead and his fingers turning to wrinkled prunes as he cuts hundreds of vegetables, he’s filled with joy as he works with these remarkable ladies. Before the day arrived, he heard several comments – Director’s can’t help in the kitchen. Why would you want to help in the kitchen? You should be sitting at the place of honor at the parade. Laughter.

The next day, David received an email from a colleague, I just wanted to encourage you that your day yesterday was well-spent… My friend, Hortense, spent the day in the kitchen and said that you helped out all day in the kitchen. She said that everyone was so impressed that you served in this way and that someone of your high position would humble himself to help the women in the kitchen. Hortense was quite blown away by the humility this shows, and said it was a great testimony.
The women enjoyed having you in the kitchen and enjoyed their interactions with you – and really appreciated your hard work too! Hortense said about you “C’est quelqu’un de très bon, mais on ne le savait pas auparavant.”

Posted in Cameroon | Tagged Cameroon, Kitchen, Labor Day | 2 Comments

Hey, are you American?

Posted on June 13, 2014 by David

“Hey, are you an American?” As I walked down the busy, exhaust filled road, I heard from a car behind me a woman’s voice asking, “Hey, are you an American?” At first, I thought I should keep on walking, but it’s strange to have that question in perfect American English on the road here. I stopped and answered, “Yes, why?” She explained she had recently arrived and wanted to connect with another American to be able to ask questions about living here. I gave her my email address and continued on my way.

Later that day, I received an email from her asking questions about living here. I gladly shared novels of information. A few days later, on a Sunday, I received a desperate email from her, asking if we could come get her. The questions swirling in my head overwhelmed me. What if she’s into something dangerous? What if this is a set-up to get us to a location to do harm to us? What if….? But, I couldn’t shake the overwhelming question of, “If I needed help in a foreign land and only had one email address of someone from my passport country, would I want help?” I spoke to David and we agreed we needed to go get her. She didn’t really know where she was located, being so new and being isolated. She shared the neighborhood name and a few landmarks and we started off in the car. She had snuck out to a call box (a person who has a cell phone you can pay to use on the side of the road) and called me. I kept calling her on the call box phone, but we weren’t finding her. After driving around for two hours, we asked her to stop an empty taxi, shared what to say in French and that we would meet her at the destination. She had no money, no phone and was scared. She did as we said with a taxi and arrived at a hotel where we met her to pay for the taxi and take her with us. She was shaking and traumatized. Now what do we do? We didn’t receive training on this kind of scenario. We did the only thing we knew to do, we fed her, gave her a place to sleep, prayed for her, helped her call loved ones in the States, helped her change her return flight and took her to the airport.

This took place about one year ago, we couldn’t contact her for her permission to show her picture, so that’s why her photo looks like this.

Posted in Cameroon, home | Tagged American, Cameroon, Love | 6 Comments

Tea for Everything

Posted on June 11, 2014 by David

When it comes to shopping, I’m on a mission (in my head I have mission impossible going on). I make my list in the order of the store and stick to it. I don’t like to take time to just stroll up and down aisles.

When it’s time to grocery shop, our whole family goes. I think there is a lot for the boys learn by shopping, so we take them. David likes to look up and down aisles and touch things, mostly because I’m so focused on the task at hand. While I was trying to beat my last time in my shopping endeavors, he found an interesting aisle in the store. He spent his time there taking photos of his discoveries. Did you know there is a tea for any ailment? I didn’t know this until recently on a shopping trip.

There were other ailment healing teas, but we didn’t want to take a picture of those boxes because they wouldn’t be appropriate to share. Just imagine a tea that has Viagra effects.

Posted in Cameroon | Tagged Cameroon, tea | 2 Comments

Whaterarium?

Posted on June 9, 2014 by David

I’ve heard of a gymnatorium. I’ve heard of a cafetorium. I’ve heard of a cafeagymnatorium. I’ve heard of a terrarium. I’ve heard of an aquarium. I’ve heard of a solarium. This is the first time I’ve heard of a funerarium. David saw this business when he was sitting in traffic one day.

Not only is it the funerarium, it also has a not-so-tastefully marked hearse – check out the back glass of the silver hearse.

Posted in Cameroon | Tagged Cameroon, sights | 4 Comments

Last Day Flashback

Posted on June 6, 2014 by David

Today is the last day of school. It’s hard to believe we will have a 4th and 6th grader. Where did the years go? My favorite quote from a Barbara Johnson book is, “Days may be long, but years are short.” That’s so true! It’s hard to believe that Joshua has finished 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grades here in the mission co-op school. Next year he’ll be the highest grade in the mission co-op school and will graduate out. Jonah has had all his schooling here, K, 1st, 2nd and 3rd – two years in the mission co-op school and two as homeschooled. I take a first day of the school year picture every year, but don’t for the last day. I scrounged up some photos that are close enough to the end of the school year.

Joshua 2nd grade