No more waiting

Posted on May 7, 2014 by David

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a former branch member; he actually had my job when he served in Cameroon, about getting a Meta New Testament back to his church in Florida for a special missions’ time during their Sunday service. In case you missed the former blog post on this New Testament not arriving on time, this current delivery was no failure.

They had recently met a Meta woman who lived near them in Tampa Florida. After getting to know Agnes they found out that her father was one of the first Meta translators back in 1975. So as their church celebrated 25 years of their service to Wycliffe Bible Translators they asked Agnes to read Revelation 7:9 in Meta – not telling her that they had a copy of the brand-new fresh from Cameroon New Testament there. She was overwhelmed when she got up on stage and they surprised her by giving her a copy of the New Testament her father had starting working on almost 40 years ago. There was not a dry eye in the house!

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. Revelation 7:9 (NIV)

Meta NT

Meta NT Presentation picture courtesy of Pete Kluck

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Joint Learning Session

Posted on May 5, 2014 by David

Three times a year the boys are part of the Joint Learning Sessions (JLS).  These sessions are a time when homeschooled students and those who are taught in a classroom at a learning cooperative are taught together in the classroom.  This time is coordinated by a parent committee and requires much parent participation.

Jonah in classroomJoshua in classroom

The April session had many offerings for the students.  Every afternoon the students played baseball, had music class and worked on drama.  It was three exhausting weeks for the parents and students, but it was worth it.  All the students had one week of hand bells, one week of learning the recorder and the last week each student was given the program assignment of playing either the hand bells of recorder.  Both of our boys were chosen for recorder.

boys with recordersDuring the session, Joshua said he didn’t like drama or music much.  This wasn’t a big surprise to us because he’s usually a bit more timid and he’s more introverted.  Towards the end of the session, he shared that he wants to continue learning the recorder and truly enjoyed drama.  The drama production was Julius Caesar.  Joshua played Brutus and Jonah played Mark Antony.

Joshua as BrutusJonah as Mark AntonyThe closing program was a proud time for all parents.  We are very proud of Joshua and Jonah.

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

Flashback Friday

Posted on May 2, 2014 by David

We thought it would be fun to post pictures of David and I close to the boys age and pictures of the boys at their current ages.

David 3rd GradeDeAnna 4th GradeJoshuaJonah

Posted in home, Kids | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Water Balloons

Posted on April 30, 2014 by David

We recently received a package from a friend that included a package of water balloons.  The boys have been asking daily if this is the day they get to play with the water balloons.  I like water balloons, however, from the Mom standpoint, they are a lot of work to fill for a short time of fun.

The boys wanted to share the water balloons with the children who live in our cul-de-sac (that’s what I call our little neighborhood area, it sounds better than living on a dead end surrounded by other homes).

It doesn’t matter where you are from, water balloons are fun!

water balloon fun water balloon fun water balloon fun

Posted in Cameroon, home, Kids | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Ant Lollipop

Posted on April 28, 2014 by David

I’ve blogged several times about ants.  It’s just that the ants here are unreal and come out of every crack in the wall, floor and door.

The boys have learned that when they unwrap a lollipop to first look to see if ants are in/on the lollipop.  Jonah was doing this the other day when it dawned on me this is not something we’ve ever done in the USA or France, so I decided to blog about it.

The lollipops are tightly wrapped in the wrapper, so it’s not that there is a loose wrapper on these lollipops allowing ample opportunity for the ants to invade.  The boys have licked to the center of a lollipop before to discover an ant center.

This particular lollipop did have an ant resident, however, the ant was dead.

lollipop

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

Flashback Friday Easter Edition

Posted on April 25, 2014 by David

Easter is one of my favorite times of the year.  Not only is it a wonderful reminder of Christ dying for us and being raised to life; it’s also a time full family memories.

Boys hunting eggsDressed in Easter bestEggs in 2008 done by the boys2009 Easter Best2009 Easter

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Racing

Posted on April 23, 2014 by David

David and I coordinated for the fourth year running, the annual CAM Car Race on April 19th. It’s a pinewood derby race that happens every April as part of the Joint Learning Session.  It’s a fun event with laughter, a few tears and many smiles.

2014 CAM Car RaceDuring the week, people have access to the construction and maintenance departments saws and tools for a couple of hours daily to transform a small block of wood into a racing vessel.

Joshua had a humvee vehicle named Blaster and Jonah had a dragster named Flames.  Flames was firing on all cylinders and literally flew off the track losing a tire and its weights.  Blaster held his own, but didn’t make it into the top ten.  We are proud of both of them.

Joshua with BlasterJonah with Flames

 

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

Helicopter Ride

Posted on April 21, 2014 by David

The aviation department teamed up with one of the RFIS classes to have a fundraiser of helicopter rides.  There is an aviation department in our organization to serve the missionaries who live in remote settings.  The helicopter is normally in the NW region, not in Yaoundé, but the pilots decided to bring it down and share the fun with everyone.

We signed up, prepaid the fee and waited eagerly for our turn to ride in the helicopter.  This was the first time any of us rode in a helicopter.  Jonah loved it!  He wanted to go again (like it was an amusement park ride).  Joshua loved it too!  David and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  The ride was six minutes long over part of Yaoundé.

Jonah helicopter ride DeAnna helicopter ride Joshua helicopter ride David helicopter ride

Posted in Cameroon | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Flashback Friday

Posted on April 18, 2014 by David

When we arrived back to our home on April 4th from our journey to and from Buea, we were greeted with the water being off.  This isn’t a uncommon issue.  We were disappointed because we didn’t shower in Buea and were looking forward to a warm shower once arriving home.  Side note: we didn’t have air conditioning in the vehicle we used so we were quite dirty, stinky and sweaty.

We are flexible, so we took quick baths and went to bed.  The next day we woke up and still no water.  We got some of our reserve water bottles down to use since we came back home with empty water bottles from our journey and couldn’t refill the bottles.  Side note: we need water pressure for our water filter system to work.  Plus, I didn’t do laundry before we left since we were in conference meetings and we returned with more laundry.

The next came and no water.  We started being more conservative with our water usage – trying to only flush toilets when necessary, taking bucket baths, washing hands quickly, only using a small amount of water for dishes.  The water was off for five and one half days.  We were getting worried about our water situation.

Back to the dishes, it takes more water to clean a really dirty dish, so we decided to give our extra coated dishes to Buddy to clean first then washed them in bleach water.

Buddy cleaningYou may be wondering how is this a flashback Friday post.  Well, this was the first time I truly realized just how fortunate we are to have running water.  When water isn’t on for a prolonged period, I became much more aware of how much water we use.  I never thought of that when living in the USA.  We would water our lawn, play in the garden hose and take baths with lots of water.  So, for the flashback, I want to share pictures of how playing in water cools one off on a hot summer day and water is not only vital for life, but has so many uses.

Denise and DeAnna slip slideboys slip slide

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

Trip Take Two

Posted on April 16, 2014 by David

We recently traveled to Buea, Cameroon.  We needed to book a place for a one night stay.  At first a friend who used to work in Yaoundé thought we could stay at a hotel he works at, but it ended up being booked.  When searching for lodging here you must ask specific questions about what is important in your lodging.  For example, our criteria was two double beds, hot water, a working air conditioner and some kind of security.  You may wonder why we ask for air conditioning.  We do not have an air conditioner at our home, however, we have screens on our windows and mosquito nets hanging over the boys beds and fans to blow on us.  Pretty much only foreigners have screens on their windows here.  So we won’t be mosquito food, we find it necessary to have air conditioning in our lodging criteria.  Also, it’s necessary to take your own towels when traveling.

The place we stayed was clean, had two double beds, had a working air conditioner and after some time warm water would arrive.  We were pleased with our lodging and it was fine for one night, however, showering was not in the cards.  I remember when David and I were treated to a cruise and how small the shower was on the cruise ship.  The shower in our hotel room was a shower head next to the sink and toilet with a drain on the floor.

hotel roomHotel bathroom

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