Getaway

Posted on July 31, 2011 by David

David took the week off and we got away as a family.  This is our first “vacation” in a few years.  It was wonderful to just go somewhere as a family.  We went to Kribi, about four hours from Yaoundé on the Atlantic.  David and I said to one another that we never imagined we would be seeing, much less, wading in the other side of the Atlantic.  We had a nice time and are always amazed at God’s creation of the ocean.

We couldn’t figure out how to catch the crabs that were all over the rocks, they kept crawling away when ever we got close with the bucket.

The fishermen left their carved out log boats right on the beach and fought against the tide to go out in the morning to go fishing.

In true Anderson travel in Cameroon form, we were driving home from Kribi and saw a grass clump in the road (grass clumps are placed in the road to alert other drivers that there is something in the road up ahead), David slowed down and we felt the thump thump of a flat tire.  We had a full size spare, only had a flat (thankfully the tire stayed attached to the car) and we were not harmed – God is always looking out for us.  David changed the flat and we were back on the road in about 30 minutes.

There are no McDonald’s in Cameroon but we do have a different sort of meat being sold by the side of the road with a side of fresh pineapple.

Posted in Cameroon, Kids | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Busy House

Posted on July 24, 2011 by David

We have friends who are serving in the Philippines and recently I read one of her blogs about all the visitors who come to her door in a day.  I would like to share how busy our door can be.  Last week, a colleague asked if she could drop one of her daughters off at our house at 7:30am because they needed to take their other daughter to the optometrist.  I said yes. So here is a quick summary of the first 2 hours of the day.

7:20 am – Our colleague’s daughter arrives

7:30 – Another colleague comes and asks if I can watch her three until their househelp arrives

7:40 – A woman who worked for another colleague as a househelp arrived to ask if I recognized a person’s name (she’s been coming at least once a week asking for work and money to get her by until she finds work)

7:45 – A neighbor stops by to ask if she can have my box of oats because she’s getting ready to leave and can replace the oats next week

7:50 – Our househelp arrives

7:55 – The househelp of our colleague with the three children arrive to pick-up the children.  She asked me for the key to their house and I said I didn’t have it, so off she went to search for the key.

8:00 – A woman who is going to clean an apartment for a new arrival on Sunday comes and asks if I can open a locked key box to get the key for the apartment she needs to clean.

*Jonah followed me to the key box area and his little foot slipped between the grate covers on the gutters and was hurt.

8:05 – Another colleague comes to ask about the status of the water (yesterday the water was off) and the status of the washing machines (because one machine is completely broken and another one takes about 2 hours to finish all the cycles)

8:10 – The househelp found the keys and is back to get the three children and take them to their house

8:15 – The other daughter who was going for an eye exam comes and tells me the optometrist is on vacation

8:20 – I sat down to write this before I start the work I need to complete today

8:40 – Another colleague arrived asking for a key to another apartment because their house’s hot water heater isn’t working and they would like to shower in an apartment with hot water.

I guess it’s good that I went to bed last night at 9pm and woke up at 5:15 am this morning, the last visitor finally left around 8:30pm.

Posted in Cameroon, home | Tagged | 3 Comments

Rug

Posted on July 20, 2011 by David

School was officially over June 3rd and I started homeschooling with the boys on June 6th.  I wanted to focus on things they wouldn’t learn here, for example: Pledge of Allegiance, Symbols of the USA, etc…  After homeschooling time the boys go out and play.  The month of July will be incredibly busy for me as the Orientation Coordinator because many people arrive the month of July and the first week of August.  August 15th school starts again and I will be the Librarian.

I purchased a Locking Hook project set from a missionary who left and decided to do something I just wanted to do for fun.  I used fabric scraps of African prints, rug canvas and a locking hook to make this rug.  I’m happy with the results and hope it holds up for a while.

Posted in Cameroon, home | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Dentist

Posted on July 19, 2011 by David

We decided it was time to visit the dentist for a cleaning.  Last year, we visited a dentist in France who examined our teeth and took x-ray’s, but he refused to clean our teeth, so this year we decided to just go for a cleaning at a dentist in town.  The appointment was made for the whole family and on July 13th we left with a cushion of time to arrive and off we went for our 9 am appointment.  We arrived and the waiting area is filled with people waiting.  We filled out the one form required for our whole family and waited patiently.  Soon into the waiting process a beggar came in with a cup to deposit money in.  The receptionist made him leave.  The receptionist informed us that the machine needed to power the dental tools wasn’t working, but there was a technician trying to repair it while we waited.  During our three hour time at the dentist the following processional of venders came in little by little.  First up, a man selling lawn clippers; second, a man selling rat poison; third, a man selling cut coconut (that should be fun to clean out of teeth); forth, a man selling copied DVD’s; fifth, a man selling children’s puzzle books and magazines; sixth, a man selling cut pineapple; seventh, a man selling copied DVD’s; eighth, a man selling clothing; ninth, a man selling papers that look like forms; tenth, a man selling candy and the list goes on for at least four or five more men coming in to sell his goods.  We finally were finished and ready to leave at 12:20pm and each of us sported clean teeth.

Posted in Cameroon | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Superheroes

Posted on July 9, 2011 by David

I’m only human and there are times when I think about all the things we sold and how nice it would be to have this or that.  There are times when the boys reminisce about toys that they don’t have any more, especially when they look at pictures from their past.  Denise gave the boys many superhero costumes a few years ago.  The boys loved them and there are many pictures of all the boys dressed up ready to save the world.  Today a new colleague of mine with two older boys asked if I would want our boys to receive a bag of superhero costumes.  I said, “yes!” and she gave me the bag.  This afternoon our boys and our neighbors boys had fun dressing up as superheroes and saving our compound from destruction.  I’m reminded again of how awesome our God is that he even cares about the smallest details.

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

Banner

Posted on July 8, 2011 by David

I’ve read many books before leaving in the States and after arriving in Cameroon about cultural adjustment, raising children in a different culture, stresses from living abroad, etc…  Something I thought I was providing in the way of lasting memories for Christmas sadly ended this year.  Due to a tropical environment with high humidity our homemade clay Christmas decorations from over the years had to be thrown out.  I was quite a blow for this planner type person.

A friend here made a banner for her family and I loved the idea.  I have been working on different projects since school ended and had many scraps of fabric.  I used the scraps and made a banner.  I plan on hanging this banner to decorate our home to mark it for special occasions.  I should be able to travel with it to try and help keep continuity.

Posted in home | Tagged | 2 Comments

Blue Tape

Posted on June 23, 2011 by David

We have received the same question many times over the past 4 years:

Why does Jonah wear blue tape on his forehead? 

Jonah was born with an eye condition that required patching and eventually surgery.  At six months old he needed to wear an adhesive patch over one eye twice a day for 30 minutes.  At eighteen months he needed surgery to correct his Brown’s syndrome (his tendons were too short in his left eye).  We noticed that if someone gave him something sticky, like tape or a sticker, he would place it on his forehead.  We have contributed this comfort mechanism to his year of being patched.  When we were preparing to sell our home in the United States, we needed to do some touch-up painting around our home.  We purchased Scotch blue painter’s tape to protect our baseboards from drips.  Jonah peeled the tape from the baseboard and placed it on his forehead.  He liked the blue tape and we liked that the adhesive didn’t damage his skin.  He was hooked!  He no longer wanted stickers, he specifically asked for blue tape.   He wanted to wear pieces of the blue tape throughout the day.

People would look at us funny, but we didn’t care because we had a happy boy.

When we were driving from Missouri to Florida for training at Wycliffe Bible Translators, a friend gave our boys care packages to keep them entertained on the long drive.  Jonah received Scotch blue painter’s tape for delicate surfaces in his package and he loved it at first stick.  He then asked specifically for soft blue tape.  Now he is six years old, we have lived in France and currently in Cameroon and the only thing he has to have is Scotch blue painter’s tape.  Other children find comfort in a special blanket or stuffed animal, but Jonah finds it in blue painter’s tape.  We can’t find Scotch blue painter’s tape here and our roll was becoming thin.  We traveled to visit a family living in another part of Cameroon.  Jonah asked for blue tape before bedtime.  Our friends inquired as to why he wants tape on his forehead.  We shared his story and one of our friends left the table.  Our friend returned holding a new roll of Scotch blue painter’s tape that he brought with him to Cameroon many years ago and he said he was just cleaning out his shed and came across it, wondering what to do with it.  Jonah was delighted to receive a fresh roll.

Posted in Kids | Tagged | 4 Comments

The Remaining Need

Posted on June 17, 2011 by David
Francophone Africa Countries

Francophone Africa Countries

Coupled with Nigeria, francophone Africa makes up one of the three areas of greatest Bible translation need in the world today. In francophone Africa alone, there are approximately 380 remaining translation needs. Pray for wisdom for translation personnel and administrators who are drafting comprehensive plans, or strategic outlines for starting projects in this region. Comprehensive planning with partners requires broad thinking and the assembling of ideas, data, and people to make them successful.

Last week I attended a workshop on comprehensive planning which brought together 5 countries in Africa to Yaoundé to see how partnering together we can better use the resources that God has given us. It allowed us to see our strengths and weaknesses and we studied how God uses the strong and weak, rich and poor all to create a lasting impact for His glory.

A comprehensive plan for Cameroon calls for increased partnerships with local and global organizations. Pray for the development of these new partnerships, and for those that are already in place to grow to a level of joint planning. Ask God to guide collaboration efforts in Cameroon. Pray for good conversations, and for the creation of a partnership steering committee.

“There are more French-speaking countries in Africa than there are English-speaking. It is also among these countries that we have the largest number of unreached people groups in Africa.” —Pastor Reuben Ezemadu, Nigeria

-Statistics taken from Wycliffe Intercessor June 2011 Newsletter

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Kitchen Aid

Posted on June 15, 2011 by David

On Christmas 2005, I received a Kitchen Aid Mixer from my father-in-law.  As many of you know, I love to cook, so this gift was perfect for me.  I used the mixer almost daily to make doughs, batters, and even butter.  There are times when I miss some of the stuff we gave away, sold or left to others.  Living here when everything is from scratch, I often think about all the time saving gadgets I had to help when I lived in an environment where things didn’t take that long to make compared to here.  One of our neighbors, who has served in many countries in Africa, offered me her 1962 Kitchen Aid mixer with attachments.  This might sound silly to some, but to me wow what a wonderful addition to the kitchen.  All breads, rolls, tortillas, cinnamon rolls, bagels, etc… are made from scratch.  As David said to me last night that he never thought I would have a Kitchen Aid mixer in Africa or again, yet the Lord blessed me with one in an unusual way.  Now, I’m excited to make peanut butter with the food grinder attachment, shred cheese with the shredder attachment, slice & shred vegetables with the shredder/slicer attachment, make bread dough with the dough hook, etc… and how much easier it will be than by hand.

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Tax Fun

Posted on June 13, 2011 by David

My new position requires more interaction with various offices including those who have the privilege of collecting taxes on contracts. I went to the office to introduce myself to the chief of the department and see how the process of paying taxes works.

So we arrived at the tax office and I saw a complicated flow chart on the wall that explained the process. The first room we went in had four desks set around the room with someone behind each one reading over contracts and there were a few people standing in front of their desks who were talking on their cell phones. There were no computers on anyone’s desk but there were several large ledgers and one over-sized calculator that they passed around between them. To say it was a full room would be an understatement. We handed them the 3 copies of our contracts, then they wanted me to meet the chief of the office. I wanted to ask the chief why I needed to pay in cash instead of a check for the very large bill. After introductions I gave him my business card and asked about not accepting our checks and he told me it was because we originally wanted to pay on the 31st of the month and checks take 48 hours to clear, but they would be happy to take a check from us in the future. So we went to another room with a big vault door and two women sitting at their desks with papers piled high, we gave them the money and one of our smaller bills was questioned. We asked the chief if the bill was OK and he sent us back to the two ladies in the vault room because they have a machine to determine if the money is good. They weren’t going to take it, so the Cameroonian that had come with me to the tax office found a bill in his pocket that we were able to use.

This was our third visit to the tax office for this contract because we have been in a disagreement with them about the amount we need to pay. So we then went back to the first room to wait, there were two guys that came in and sold lunch to the ladies that were working and another guy came in to sell fabric. But they continued to read and review our contract. It was decided that we would need to come back tomorrow to pick up our legal and stamped contracts.

I still don’t have them though because it was decided that the original agreed upon amount was the wrong amount since this was not a personal contract and would need to pay a higher amount. I get to go again next week to discuss the late payment of a different contract that we didn’t have stamped correctly. They have already agreed to reduce 50% of the 100% penalty for being late but I’m hopeful I can get it down to even less.

So it has been an interesting first month in my new role as Director of Administration and Finance.

What was Jesus’ advice on taxes? “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.’ And they were amazed at him.” Mark 12:17

Posted in Cameroon | Tagged , | 3 Comments