D squared + J squared = Anderson

Geography Buff

Posted on January 10, 2014 by David

Joshua’s been fond of maps and geography for quite some time. While we lived in France, he memorized the RER and Metro map (the commuter train and subway type train) and could tell us if we exited the train at stop B we could hop on the 5 or the 7, etc… He could just see it in his mind.

He’s continued with his interest in maps and will study atlases and maps for fun. He loves to quiz us on locations and country flags. We bought and shipped over a game called Geo Dice for one of his Christmas presents. He loves it. You roll the first set of dice to know what two continents are the focus and then roll the other five letter dice. The goal is to list as many countries or capitals on those continents that start with the letters rolled. He has memorized the country names and capitals, so he beats us every time.

During the Joint Learning Session he made a raised relief map of the USA as part of his school work out of homemade play doh. This assignment was right up his alley.

Posted in Cameroon, Kids | Tagged Cameroon, geography, maps | 2 Comments

Pen Pals

Posted on January 8, 2014 by David

Joshua and Jonah are going to be in a pen pal relationship with some children from the UK. Part of the classroom work during the Joint Learning Session the boys just finished is letter writing. Both boys wrote great letters. Joshua’s was a persuasive letter as to why a miniature golf course is needed in Yaoundé. Jonah’s letter was to a pen pal. We can’t post Joshua’s because we don’t want any political ramifications. Jonah’s rough draft is below. It made me (DeAnna) smile, laugh and cry.

Translation:

Dear _____

My name is Jonah. Do you like ice cream? Have you rode a bike? Do you like school, I do? Do you like swimming? Do you like to have snacks? I broke my fingers and one of them were cut off and the other one does not bend. Have you rode a horse, I have? They have a lot of dirt roads. (meaning here) Our house is in a place called Yaoundé. The zoo has a monkey cage. Once we went to a place and the monkeys threw poop at my mom.

Posted in Cameroon, Kids | Tagged Cameroon, letters, pen pals | 2 Comments

Intimate Apparel

Posted on January 6, 2014 by David

We try to bring enough clothes, underwear, etc… with us for the full term we are planning to be here. So when we left the States in November 2012, we tried to predict wear and tear so we would have the proper items until June 2015. Well, we misjudged on many fronts, but one of those areas were bras. For my birthday in June 2012 during our time in the States, I was given two new bras. I thought that would get me through, however, one of them started to fall apart.

I really didn’t want to shop for bras here. One frequently sees men walking down the side of the road (along with many other vendors) with outstretched arms that are adorned with hanging bras for people to choose from and buy. In market areas (outdoor open air markets) you can find them piled on a tarp or in a wheelbarrow to dig through. I’m not trying to be difficult or picky, but I prefer new, not second hand bras and I really like being able to try them on before buying.

On Christmas Eve David was walking home from work and passed a bra salesman who was at the end of the road to our home. He was surrounded by several women looking over the bras and digging in his sack of panties. David walked in the door, knowing my plight of intimate apparel and said he spoke with the bra man at the end of our road and he said he would wait for me to show up so I could potentially buy a bra. David seemed excited to share this with me and said the bras were new. I wasn’t as excited about going bra shopping from a man with numerous bras hanging from his arm. David convinced me to go look. I walked reluctantly down to where the man was. There were about five other women there. I put a proper fitting bra in my purse so I could compare the bras he had to one that I knew fit. (Clothing sizes aren’t the same in the USA as in France and most items come from France, so I had no idea what size to look for in the French sizing) One woman was trying to help me shop the selection. I pulled out the proper fitting one and asked if he had anything that size. He said he would have to check in his other bag for a white bra in a similar size. I told him I wasn’t picky about the color, but he insisted that I must have a white bra because I’m Caucasian. He pulled one out and I compared it to the one I brought along. I heard him say a price to the women around me, so that’s the amount I paid him, about $2. I was happy to pay and return home. After arriving back home and trying on the new purchase, I was delighted that it fit. Chalk one up to another cultural experience.

Posted in Cameroon, home | Tagged bras, Cameroon, clothing | 5 Comments

Bikes

Posted on January 3, 2014 by David

David purchased bicycles for both boys at a rummage sale in 2012 while in Pennsylvania. The boys quickly mastered riding bicycles and loved just going, going, going. They were sad when we needed to give away the bicycles when it was time to leave to return to Missouri before returning to Cameroon. Joshua was okay with it after he received a scooter and a pair of roller skates, but Jonah continued to ask about a bicycle.

Both boys received Christmas money and Jonah knew immediately what he wanted to spend his money on – a bicycle. We were concerned because new bicycles that are imported have a high price tag. When we went searching for a used bicycle in market areas, we just couldn’t find one his size. After driving around a while, we ended up going past a store that has imported items for the big price. We decided to stop and just look. They had a bicycle that was everything Jonah described – blue, his size and cool! The price was high, but then we were happily surprised by a sale they were having and it brought the price to his range. He’s a proud owner of a blue, cool bike!

David doesn’t like it that Jonah rarely wears shoes. The first thing he normally does when playing is kick off his shoes and that’s the first thing he does to ride his bike. I wonder where he get’s it……

Posted in Cameroon, Kids | Tagged Bicycles, bikes, Cameroon | 4 Comments

Happy New Year!

Posted on January 1, 2014 by David

As we look back on 2013 and give thanks for all that God has done we wanted to recap a few of the stories that we shared, in case you didn’t read all 120 stories that were posted in 2013.

DeAnna has had several adventures with different animals. From chickens in trees to an attacking caterpillar and who can forget the battle she had with the “crazy” cat. There were many challenges with stoves at the beginning of the year, but my wife’s cooking skills never cease to amaze me.

The boys continue to thrive and enjoy many things from Karate to man’s best friend to buying new shoes or not wearing them at all. Then there is making new friends and playing some wii.

As we go into 2014 I’m reminded of the sheep that were in the truck and the shepherd that worked hard to keep them in the truck and how God’s Word can take away our tears. We started 2013 with the image of heavy burdens and I’m thankful that God has taken many of them away this year.

There are many additional stories that I would love to write about and share how God intervened and provided wisdom, but because of my responsibilities many of the daily tasks I do require discretion and I will have to wait and share some of these stories in person. Don’t forget to ask me about my first Cameroonian convocation or learning to speak Ewondo with 4 police officers in my office or the funeral I attended where the deceased was 2 hours late for his own funeral.

This year as we look forward to all that God is going to do, I pray that many more will listen to the Shepherd’s voice. That no matter what language they speak they will hear and understand.

I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd. John 10:14-16 NLT

Posted in Cameroon, home, Kids | Tagged Cameroon, Caterpillar, Family Life, Shoes, Thankful, Yaoundé | 5 Comments

Clothes Dryer

Posted on December 30, 2013 by David

We miss using a clothes dryer. We know, we know, drying our clothes on a line is much better for the environment. Here drying our clothes on a line is just how it is, but when we are in the States we enjoy putting our clothes in a dryer with a dryer sheet and pulling out a soft towel that smells cuddly or sheets that are soft and fragrant. Before we get to caught up in a poor us mentality all we have to do is look around and see how fortunate we are. We have a four rope clothes line, plus a washing machine.

The neighbors who live behind us lay their clothes to dry using the barbed wire at the top of our wall and draping their clothes over the wall where there is jagged broken glass sticking up out of the cement. I can’t imagine how many little holes and pulls are in their clothing. Our neighbors at the end of the drive to our home lay their clothes over the top of bushes to dry their clothing.

The other day we had a lot of laundry. There had been water outages and power outages, so we had laundry pile up. After filling up all our lines outside plus the standing drying rack, we still had some rugs that needed to dry. Joshua likes to help me hang laundry so I said to Joshua, I’m going to lay the rugs on the hood of the car to dry and dry them Cameroonian style. He looked at me and said, “Mom, I think your drying the clothes Cameroonian style enough by hanging them outside.” His comment made me laugh.

Posted in Cameroon, home | Tagged Cameroon, clothes dryer, clothing | 4 Comments

Inquiring Minds

Posted on December 27, 2013 by David

We’ve been asked numerous times how we celebrate holidays. I thought I would give you a glimpse of how we celebrated Christmas.

The day after Thanksgiving we set up our Christmas tree. We were blessed our first Christmas here to be able to purchase a small artificial Christmas tree from a family who left Cameroon.

There is a bit of a tradition here within the mission community to have a Christmas cookie exchange. The person who normally hosts is on furlough, so I decided to host it this year. We had a fun time exchanging yummy cookies and playing fun games.

Christmas Eve we were invited for an evening of worship, food and fellowship. The power company obviously didn’t know there would be a gathering and cut the electricity for about 10+ hours. I felt bad for our hosts who had things planned that we couldn’t do because of lack of power, but the fun continued on using candles and flashlights.

Christmas Day, well the boys woke up extra early and we opened gifts. (I order the boys gifts in January to ensure we will receive them before Christmas. It’s a little difficult to try and predict what the boys will enjoy 11 months before. The gifts I ordered in January 2013, we received via sea freight in August 2013. I felt sorry for colleagues who ordered their Christmas gifts in July because that shipment won’t get here until February due to a delay in getting it sent out to sea).

At lunch we had a family over to celebrate together. Most of us bring food items with us for the holidays so we can have a taste of home. So we had quite the feast. Our friends brought a Christmas cake (which is a tradition in their family), a cranberry jello salad, stuffing, rolls and Christmas cookies. I made a green bean dish, gourmet potatoes, deviled eggs, apple pie bars and a turkey. We were very blessed that in August a French butcher shop opened and they had frozen imported turkeys. We were giddy! Several in the mission community bought his birds (for a crazy high price) so we could have a wonderful taste of home. In the late afternoon, early evening it was time to call family in the States – due to the six and seven hour time difference, we needed to wait until later in the day. As family in the States were preparing for their day of celebration, we had already completed our celebration. So that’s how we celebrated Christmas.

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

Christmas Present

Posted on December 24, 2013 by David

Several of you heard me (David) share the story last year when we were in the states of the Hdi in Northern Cameroon and how God had encoded the story of His unconditional love right into their language. If you don’t remember me sharing this or haven’t heard it, you really should read it. For centuries there was a word that was hidden, grammatically correct but not used. Dvu. For a people that didn’t have a word for forgiveness or grace there was a grammatically correct word in their language that meant “I love you based on who I am. I love you because of Me and not because of you.”

On December 21^st the Hdi received their New Testament. PRAISE THE LORD! They had a special material made because this was a huge celebration. Just like the wedding we recently attended, over 3000 people were wearing outfits made out of this fabric.

They sold out of all the New Testaments that were there and more were flown up. Please pray for this people group who now can read the Christmas story from their New Testaments in a language the can understand.

God’s Word, now there is a Christmas gift that keeps on giving.

John 3:16 – Hdi

For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NLT

Posted in Cameroon, Wycliffe | Tagged Bible Dedication, Cameroon, Dvu, Hdi, Wycliffe | 1 Comment

Questions

Posted on December 23, 2013 by David

We went to a wedding the last day of November. While we were waiting for the ceremony to begin we were looking around and found the paintings at the front of the church interesting. Below are the questions that either the boys asked us or we asked each other.

(1) Why is Jesus barefoot? According to the children’s song, “I Got Shoes” everyone in Heaven has shoes.

(2) Why does the globe that Mary is standing on only have one continent, Africa?

(3) Why is Mary barefoot? (See question 1)

(4) Why is Mary standing on a snake?

Posted in Cameroon | Tagged Cameroon, Questions, Shoes, Wedding | 1 Comment

Prints

Posted on December 20, 2013 by David

We’ve had several sewage issues in the past few months. Our pipes go outside our home and join at several conjunction boxes in the ground covered by a concrete blob. This time our bath tub wasn’t draining, so we needed to snake the pipes. There were two areas where the concrete needed to be broken so we could have access to the pipes. Once the pipes were back to functioning level, it was time to recover the areas with concrete.

A day later, I went out to see if the concrete was setting well and discovered that our pets left their marks (prints) in the concrete on one of the areas. The smaller ones belong to Fluffy, our cat and the larger ones belong to Buddy, our dog.

Posted in Cameroon, home | Tagged animals, Cameroon | Leave a comment