Step by Step

I’m taking the morning off to read and pray..

I’m one who likes to think I’m pretty smart…predicting the outcome of a situation using the information at hand…I guess that’s the Scientist in me. When this comes to me and God, it gets in the way. I like to know where I’m going…what the next step is, so I can prepare for it. If I can prepare for it….counting on my resourcefulness and talents, it will not fail….Right?  Not knowing what to expect is hard for me.

Over the next few months, I’m reading through the Bible in French…quite a daunting task, but a rewarding one. Today, I was reading about Abram(Abraham) and Lot, and Jacob(Israel). These men would say or do ANYTHING just to save their own skin.

Why did God choose Abram? He was a coward who lied to Pharoah to protect his life. God, rather than punishing Abram for lying, sent plagues on Egypt for their unknown indecency with Sarai.  God made a promise to him it is said that:  “Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.” Soon, he got impatient, and when Sarai offered Hagar to him as a shortcut…he jumped at the chance.  (Anyone see a little Adam/Eve action going on here?)  This illegitimate child spawned a race that would fight his children for millenia to come.

Why Lot? He’s the one that, living in the contradiction of Sodom, offered his virgin daughters to the crowd to ravish rather than his angelic guests. While this act saved his life, I can’t help but think that he should have gotten out of the situation long before the day of destruction.  This taste of sin probably resulted in the deception of his daughters against him in Gen 19:32-36.

Why Jacob? God chose him, despite the fact that he was a conniving, and God let him keep whatever he lied to get.  Esau, a good man, got nothing.   A Christian might wonder why Issac wasn’t  punished for his deception…but his line grew to be Israel.  Just browse through Genesis to see his faults.

Was the world so corrupt that these were the best men out there?  We know this to be the case with Noah and Lot. Or did God want to show us that His house could be built on the Rock, even if built with crumbling bricks.

Ps 118:22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

I can imagine the other nations looking at these God-called leaders, wondering what was so special about them…and even that more would have turned to God if his chosen people had been more “appealing”.  Yes…each time one of the founding fathers faltered (say that 10 times fast), God’s delivery on promises was delayed.  As I said in my testimony, how much easier would things have been for Man if we’d just believed God and been obedient in the first place?

Rich Mullins: AlrightOKUhhuhAmen
Don’t have to be no hunger
Don’t have to be no war
Don’t love this world any longer
Better learn how to say yes to the Lord
Alrightokuhhuhamen
Alrightokuhhuhamen

You can argue with your Maker
Or know the joy of saying yes to, to Him
Alrightokuhhuhamen
Alrightokuhhuhamen

For men of God, impatience seemed to be their biggest fault.   They knew for sure what they were promised, and yet couldn’t wait to start the ball rolling.  I’d love to do a study on the consequences of each sin of the founding fathers. 

For example: In his thirst, Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it (Num 20:8) as he had been commanded.

Bad:

• Moses had sinned.
• This action stole glory from God, and Israel was forced to wander until the death of Moses. 
• This delay sowed the seeds of complaint and impatience among the Jews that would continue…well, forever.

Despite the disobedience, God still worked his glory, though it took longer!

Good: 

• Immediate desires for water were satisfied. 
• The 40 years fortified them, turning them from a bunch of submissive slaves into a strong nation.
• Joshua was trained to became a new leader.
• Many more miracles followed.

I don’t have answers to all these questions, and don’t expect to. I just thank God that He has chosen yet another imperfect man to do his work here in Africa…that despite my faults he continues to bless me, bless the people of Cameroon, and bring Himself glory through my feeble works.  I believe with my whole heart that this is where I’m meant to be and what He wants me to do…but I have always been impatient to have insight about who will walk beside me.  Please pray for me regarding a partner…that I will wait for God’s direction and not continue to push impatiently.  Paradoxically, and looking at the sins of the founding fathers, I expect that this impatience in this area is why I still walk alone. 

Here’s a song for you: Rich Mullins: Sometimes by Step.  Focus on the fact that one of the stars that Abraham saw had been lit for you. 

Sometimes the night was beautiful
Sometimes the sky was so far away
Sometimes it seemed to steep so close
You could touch it but your heart would break
Sometimes the morning came too soon
Sometimes the day could be so hot
There was so worth much left to do
But so much you’d already done
Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise you
Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise you
And I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your ways
And step by step You’ll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days

Sometimes I think of Abraham
How one star he saw had been lit from me
He was a stranger in this land
And I am that no less than he
And on this road to righteousness
Sometimes the climb can be so steep
I may falter in my steps
But never beyond Your reach

Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You
Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You
I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your ways
And step by step You’ll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days

And I will follow You all of my days
And I will follow You all of my days
And step by step You’ll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days

~Rich Mullins

Take comfort in each step, knowing that God has the future planned out for the good of those who love Him. Take comfort that He won’t abandon us when we falter as long as we keep believing and climbing. If we do sin, in His mercy He will work through those consequences to make us more trusting of him in the future. If we obey and don’t sin, we will be blessed.  

Mark 16:23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

 Don’t be a hindrance to God’s glory.  Trust that God knows what’s best for you. Pray to God, flee from sin, and never forget that we need him…in every step..to do that.

Let Mercy Lead: Rich Mullins

Let mercy lead
Let love be the strength in your legs
And in every footprint that you leave
There’ll be a drop of grace

Till all have heard
~Matthew

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Christmas time in Africa: Part 1

Here’s a little something special and different. This is part one of a story from Teresa, a friend who came to visit me here in Cameroon for two weeks. Enjoy!

Mamfe, Dedications, and Travel

After a 24 hour plane adventure, arriving with no luggage, and sleeping for 5 hours, I woke up ready to travel again. I was headed to South East region Cameroon for the dedication ceremonies of the New Testament for the Kenyang and Denya-speaking people. I really had no idea what I had gotten myself into, but I was ready for an adventure.

I squished into the backseat of Dan’s truck, between Matthew and Larry, to begin our travels. It was exciting to see Yaoundé in the daylight. Larry was an excellent travel guide telling me neat facts about the city as we were leaving. The Chinese Sports Complex, the beer refinery, the Hilton hotel and the Presidential Palace were among some of the things he pointed out. I was amazed with the people and traffic, but more about those later. I rested some as we traveled and then Matthew and I played scrabble on our DS’s and watched an episode of Castle on his laptop until I got a little car sick. At this point we had made it to Bamenda were we were meeting up with some other people. I was so happy to be able to get out and stretch my legs after riding for 5+ hours.

After about a 30 minute break we loaded back into Dan’s truck and began the rest of the travel to Mamfe. This was the bumpiest road I have ever been on. Part of this road was pretty much “one lane” other parts of the road were under construction and many parts of the road had ruts and potholes that had formed during rainy season. The views were beautiful however and we passed only a few villages along the way. I however was very glad when we arrived in Mamfe because I wasn’t too sure how much more bouncing around my body could take.

Once we arrived we put our stuff in our rooms and then headed down to the river. I assumed at first that we would walk – but nope, our transportation was a SUV – some people rode inside (myself) and others sat on the roof or hung onto the back of the SUV. The road getting to the river was so steep the locals (who were walking) didn’t think we would make it. Even riding on the inside of the vehicle it felt like I was at the top of the hill of a rollercoaster that was going to drop 30 feet. We all made it and many enjoyed taking a dip in the river to cool off, I however stayed dry.

I was excited about dinner this night because it would be the first night I would get to eat a “Cameroonian” meal.  I really had no idea what to expect so I relied on Matthew and his friends (Allison, Maralee, and Megan) to tell me what I was eating! I enjoyed everything I ate.

That night Maralee and I sat up our bug net in our room at the Data Club. This is a must-do in Cameroon so that it will hopefully prevent you from getting malaria. Matthew gave us the bug net and some string. We then proceeded to tie it off to our light switches and a nail in the wall that was hanging a picture. This worked except it would be drooping in our faces, so we found some metal clothes hanger and we stuck one in the ceiling and then hung the other one from it and tied off the bug net and it worked perfect. I slept so well that night!

After a yummy breakfast at the Bishop’s house of omelets, hard boiled eggs, and toast with butter we were off to the dedication of the Denya New Testament. When we arrived I walked with another lady down to the river where some Cameroonian women were washing clothes. They greeted us and then continued with their work.

It felt like a privilege to be able to attend a Dedication service. While we were getting ready for the service to start I realized that for the first time, because of the hard work of many different individuals and God laying it on their hearts to come and serve in these villages and learn this language that the Denya speaking people would be able to hear the Word of God in their language. What a blessing it was for me to be able to attend and be a part of this.

Two of my favorite parts of the dedication included:

–        Watching them bring in the New Testaments. They danced and clapped and sang for joy. It was joyous moment to see them rejoicing and praising.

–       The area that we were in was “English” speaking so I was able to understand a good bit of what was said. There were many different speakers and people recognized, but one speaker in particular was speaking about how we should not hide our faith under a bush but let it shine (Matthew 5:14-16). And that we should do the same with our Bibles – we shouldn’t let them sit around and gather dust, but read them and live and share God’s word. I pray that the Pastors of the Denya Language use the Bibles to spread the word of God and that those who purchased a Bible will read the good news and share it and not “let it gather dust”.

After the service was over we enjoyed a lovely meal prepared for us; another Cameroonian meal including some salad, rice, plantains, and red and green sauce. Oh and we had popcorn!

While we were waiting and getting ready to head back to Mamfe we enjoyed taking some pictures of the local children. We started out taking a picture of 2 or 3 and then the next thing we know there are about 20 children standing together excited to have their picture taken! The hardest part was trying to tell them we were done.

 

Once back to Mamfe a group of us decided to head down to the river again. This time I found a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to swim in (since my bathing suit was in my luggage that didn’t make it). We jumped “in” and “on” the SUV again. The water felt cool at first but once in it was very refreshing. Since we didn’t have any running water at the Data Club we brought shampoo and soap with us and bathed in the river. We played around in the water until it was time to head back up the “hill” for dinner. This time I rode on the back of the SUV. You put your feet on the bumper, your hands on the bar at the top and you hang on. We only lost 1 person and 1 wrap as we traveled back up the hill.

Although approaching dark, Matthew and I decided to walk down to a bridge that he had seen from his Data Hotel window. This bridge was awesome. It was a swinging wooden rope bridge at that crossed over a river! I was scared at firs t to cross it, but once I started it was a lot of fun. We had to run back to the hotel because of the bugs and it was getting dark, plus it was time for a chicken and potato dinner.

The next day we attended another New Testament Dedication – this time for the Kenyang speaking people. There were more people who attended this dedication – it was in Mamfe and Kenyang is a much larger language group.

A couple of my favorite parts of this ceremony included:

–       I enjoyed listening to the pastor speak. I couldn’t understand what he was saying. But I could tell that he was very enthusiastic and I could tell he was speaking of God.

–       There was a gospel choir that sang and worshiped. There was also a group of people that performed a “Sketch”.

–       It was also exciting to see the presentation of the Bible. They brought the Bibles in during a special arrival. And then the pastors all went up to lay their hands on the Bible. I was rewarding to see them for the first time receive God’s word in their language.

We left to travel back to Bamenda where we would be spending the night. This also meant traveling the “bumpy” road again. Matthew was asked to drive another vehicle back but I decided to ride back in Dan’s vehicle so that I could ride with the girls. I enjoyed talking with Megan and Allison about the work that they do in Cameroon. It was a great distraction from the bumpy road conditions. Because of road work we had to stop every so often to wait. My favorite time to wait was when we were on the “one lane” section of the mountain part of the road and we met the excavator who was filling holes. We had to go in reverse for a little while until there was enough room for the excavator to move off the side of the road.

We spent the night in Bamenda at the guest house with a group of people and then met up with Dan the next day. We did a little bit of shopping and walking around before getting back into the truck for the drive back to Yaoundé. On our travels back Dan stropped at Makanene to grab lunch. This consisted of Matthew and me walking along the vendors who were selling different things to eat. They had a variety of different meats and lots of plantains. Matthew and I decided on roasted fish and plantains. The fish even included the head. It was a quick lunch and we were back on the road again. Dan needed to stop at the “market” to get some vegetables. As we approached the market on the side of the road, Dan just pulled the truck over and women begun to swarm the truck with baskets of different types of vegetables. Dan got out and bargained with the women for the vegetables that he wanted. While I sat in the truck women would come up and try to sell me things. I would just shake my head no. Before we left a little boy approached begging for money. He was very persuasive.

Every so often we would have to go through a “toll stop” and at these stops people always have different fruits or vegetables they are selling. We were approaching one of these toll stops and Dan said that he was going to be pasting me back 4 pineapples. We pulled over to the side of the road and women came running with baskets full of pineapple towards the truck. Dan rolled down the window and started passing the pineapples back to me. He ended up buying 8 pineapples instead of 4. I wonder if he ate all 8 pineapples himself.

We arrived back in Yaoundé safely. Look for more about the city and the trip to the beach coming soon.

 

Conscience

Living here includes a barrage of demands for food, money, or help.  To those of us that don’t speak French…I suppose it’s just an incomfortable confusion…but I hear the words, the pleas. They know that we have resources, but believe them to be endless. 

Not sure where it came from…but when I arrived, I decided that I wouldn’t respond if they started the conversation with a demand.  Generally, I’ve followed that, expanding on the fact that the relationship-building is far more important here, and crucial for all commerce.  I can’t help everyone…so no relationship-building or concern for me, means no money.  Of course, that doesn’t preclude a need that I can easily fix. Walking down the road with an open bag of food is just asking for demands, which normally I bend to…I once got 4 requests in a quarter-mile and returned home with a few less cookies. Then there’s incidences like these. Where a little can do a lot of good.

Today, I was returning to the house with a lemonade and some butter crackers.  I was hungry, and because of the cookie incident, I jammed the half-full wrapper into my pocket (as I couldn’t hide the 2-liter lemonade without some stares.)  A young lady walking beside me said in French: “Excuse me, but I’m hungry.” Already late for work, I looked away, sped up and went through my spiel about how it doesn’t work with me to start the conversation with a demand as I gained distance. 10 steps later, I remembered the crackers hidden in my pocket, but I felt like too much of a jerk to go back.  10 minutes later, I caught myself wondering whether she could have traded something, and my selfishness made me shiver. So much for Proverbs 3.

Proverbs 3:27–29 (MSG) “Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God’s hand for that person. Don’t tell your neighbor “Maybe some other time” or “Try me tomorrow” when the money’s right there in your pocket.”

Prayer and Bed, G’night all!

Mamfe

On December 18 and 19th, I had the opportunity to attend two New Testament dedication celebrations in south-east Cameroon.  The Kenyang and Denya-speaking people, people groups of at least 75,000 people in and around Mamfe, now know that God speaks their heart language.  They celebrated the scriptures in song, dance, and prayer.  Leaders and lay-people now have a foundation for their faith, a new reference for their questions, and now can be less dependent on awkward English or French translations.  Finally, they can begin to read God’s word for themselves.

Travel

At 6AM, we loaded into Dan’s truck to go to Mamfe.

This was a 5-6 hour trip to Bamenda along paved roads…and then the 140 km on dirt roeads to Mamfe.

Needless to say…it was bumpy.  Larry managed to hit his head on the window several times. (More on this road later.)

Mamfe

I think we arrived around 4 in Mamfe, a town lovingly described my a previous inhabitant as a Turkish bath, with just enough time to check into our hotel and take a dip in the river before dinner.

A bunch of us young(er) ones jumped in (or on) Karen’s SUV for a slippery 4-wheeling trip down to the river. Let’s just say it was steep, and several locals warned us that we weren’t gonna make it back out. We made it with all passengers down to the sandy bank of the river for a swim in the Cross river, a warm body of water that flows into Nigeria.

Next stop, heading to the home of one of the local officials for a big dinner.  They served a big buffet with almost every “Cameroonian” dish I’ve seen…quite impressive. I sat with Allison, Maralee, Megan, and Teresa, and we enjoyed our meal and the game of trying to avoid the REALLY spicy stuff.

Data Hotel

We split up into our housing…some had the deluxe rooms at the Data Club and some had the cheaper ones at the Data Hotel.  Teresa and Maralee had a room at the Data Club with Air Conditioning, a dresser, and a desk.  Hmm…shame I don’t have a photo of my room at the Data Hotel. Some of the high points:

• Just enough water pressure to wash my kneecaps in the shower.
• A toilet that couldn’t even flush manually, and had the added bonus of mosquito larvae in both the bowl and back.
• No toilet seat.
• No dresser, no desk.
• A sink that turned around every time you turned the knob.
• Torn window nets.
• Broken light fixture hanging from it’s wires.
• String for a curtainrod.
• A double bed with no mosquito net.
• A swarm of midnight roaches.
• A wedding party downstairs (with DJ) both nights.
• Only one pillow (story below).

Ok…so when I was shown my room, I knew that I’d be sharing with Alex.  There was one pillow on the bed, and she said she’d get another…but I assured her that I’ve given up using pillows.  I set to work soon at constructing the mosquito net (no easy task with almost no furniture in the room).  I put in earplugs [see bullet 8] to sleep and went off to dreamland in moments.  When I woke the next morning…Alex was already gone, and the pillow was across the room on the floor.  Apparently, Alex woke up in the middle of the night with bugs crawling all over him…bedbugs from the pillow.  He threw the pillow across the room and ran into the bathroom for a shower [also not an easy task, see bullet 1] to get the bugs off.  I slept right through the whole event…but I would have payed $10 to see the freakout moment.

To Denya

Now for the meat of the story…the why-I-was-there part. In the morning, we all headed off to the Bishop’s house across town for breakfast. Lining the walls of the large room were around 50 of us who had come for the dedications. Omelettes, steamed milk…reminded me of the meal from the train to Ngaoundere.

I had offered to help with the video, since one of the guys had stayed home…so after breakfast, the film crew hopped into the vehicle and sped off to set up.
Well…that was the intention…but in a mixup with our convoy, a dirty windshield, and our escort…we ended up last in line…so we had to pass the convoy along the way to the village. We did arrive just in time to set up and get the entrance.

We filmed the unloading of the Bibles, and all the little bits leading up to the event…though being careful as we only had 2 batteries for our 2 cameras.

The Service

Here are some photos, I’ll try to describe more of it later.

(1) The Ceremony (2) One of the Elders dances up to the tent (3) The children of the village. With literacy work, these children may be the first to read the Denya New Testament. (4) The Bibles Arrive at the ceremony (5) The Bilingual Cake (6) The reception

Denya Pastors and their new NT

Kenyang

There’s a whole ‘nother dedication to show you… You’ll have to wait to see what we see..

 

To be continued….

Simma Down

Today, as I was walking home from work…I broke off from the crowd I was walking with towards my house wit several things on my mind.   I noticed a break in traffic on my side…and jolted into the lane heading for the center line…only then realizing that in 2 seconds, a beer truck would be passing on the other side.  With lanes being as fuzzy as they are here…that’s not a vehicle I want to tango with.  I jumped rather abrubtly to the sidewalk.  (at no point was I in danger here…just prolly looked funny).

3 steps down (my side) of the road…a Cameroonian passed me and said (in English) “Simma down!”.  Gave me a giggle…and I decided that would be my return to blogging.