We just returned from spending a week out in the East of Cameroon. When we worked with Bread For Life we were out there a lot, assisting teams build a school and clinic, doing outreaches, etc. It has been four years since I was there and the last time Jake was out there was the night Jude was born, so almost as long. One of the most amazing things of the trip was the roads, the majority of it is paved now and from Yaounde to Mbang is took us less than 5 hours (once a 8-12 hour trip). Cameroon without a doubt is moving forward.
So we started out trip with a 5 hour drive to Yaounde so spend the night with our good missionary friends, the Youngs (Daryl is a pilot). When we lived there we hung out all the time so it was great to spend a bit of time catching up. The next day we drove another 3 hours to see some more good missionary friends in Dimako, Nathan and Laurel Conrod with their 3 kids. They are missionary to the Baka "Pygmy" tribe and live in the rainforest with another family and a couple of single girls. They are what I call real missionaries as they have no electricity except what they get from their solar panels, they pump their water from a well. and live a good six miles from the closest shop. They really have given up so much for the sake of the Gospel, makes me feel bad for complaining about electricity cuts all the time. Anyway, it was great to see the work that they are doing amoungs this mostly unreached people group. We also showed them how to slaughter a pig... they ask the man to bring it live but just as we got there we heard a shot and the man came up with a dead pig (he'd been shot with bird shot so there was a lot of pellets in him). So we had to kinda rush to show them how it was done as it was hot, the flies were out, and it was already dead. It was a pretty small pig but that was a good thing as there wasn't much fridge or freezer space (which is kerosene run). We made some yummy italian sausage and put some ribs and chops in the freezer as well. The boys had fun running around getting dirty, holding their pet snakes, and exploring the rain forest. It was a great time.
Then we headed out to Mbang to visit the TMI team. The team is doing awesome and completing the clinic that another TMI team built 4 years ago. It is being led by Tom and Linda Maher who Jake led a team with to Scotland in '98. Linda was also one of teachers in Bible School.
Right before the Clinic site there is small Baka village, these are the people that we know pretty well, the chief has always been so friendly to us. As we pulled up, everyone came out running to meet us and the they all gave us great big hugs, it felt soooo good! You never know if someone is going to remember you but it was so great these people did. Everyone seemed to be doing well. Sadly one of the chief's children had died since out last trip, but he did have another baby too, and I think his wife was pregnant again.
We had a lot of fun with the team, helping with the work, walking the half mile to the spring to fetch water, cleaning vegetables, translating, filtering water, going to the village to do a presentation, enjoying the evenings around the camp fire as they did devos (I got to lead worship one night). When we were out there 4 years ago a lady brought her young son to us who had fallen in the fire and his legs and private parts were covered in third degree burns. I blogged about it on July 24th, 2007 if you want to read about it in the archives on the side. Anyway, at the time the mother didn't seem very grateful or show much emotion about it. I know she was concerned for her child but she also didn't seem over zealous to seem him get better either. Anyway the first night we got there, she came running up to us, saying, "Jacque, mon sauveur", or Jake, my saviour. She was so happy to see us and said that as soon as she heard "Jacque" was around she had to come and say thank you. Carlos is doing well and getting big she said. So it made me realize that you never know what seeds you are planting in these people's lives even when they don't seem to show too much emotion at the time. We praise the Lord that Carlos is doing so well.
In the Baka village Josh pointed out that one of the girls had a swollen foot. At first I thought it was just mal-nutrition as a lot of them have swollen feet from that. But this was different, she had a cut under her foot and she could hardly bare for me to even touch the top of her foot. It was badly infected and the mother said it had been that way for about a month. She couldn't walk and you could tell she was in a lot of pain, poor thing. Jake ran to town and got some antibiotics (no prescription laws here) and pain reliever. I soaked her foot in warm water for the days I was there and a lot of gunk came out. We prayed over her and it was looking a lot better by the time we left. Josiah, a team leader, is going to continue to give her her medicine everyday and change her bandage. We were also brought a little baby that was having stomach problems and had a fever. There is such a huge need out there for basic teaching on nutrition, hygiene, health, etc and the Gospel of course. The Baka tribe is 50,000 strong yet there is so few that are reaching out to them. Matthew 9:38 has been my prayer for them these last weeks.
On our way out we stopped at the Baka village one last time to say good bye. The Chief told us next time we come we need to build our house there and learn his language (the chief speaks a little bit of French). It was hard to say goodbye to them all. These people certainly have a very special place in our hearts!
On the way home part of our exhaust fell off, the car was full of fumes. For some reason the floor got really hot and the back seat actually melted on the bottom! Thankfully it was only an hour from home and we made it back safe and sound. Thank you Lord for your traveling mercies!
I haven't been able to upload photos on my blog. Hopefully I will figure it out soon. Till then check out the photos I posted on FB of our trip:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2068429425274.114876.1080983117&l=a2c5de027c&type=1
1 comment:
Glad to hear you had a good trip. Folks in the States often don't realize that even very basic health care, like cleaning of wounds with rubbing alcohol and such, makes a huge difference in Africa. Saw something similar to the story of the girl on my trip up north here in Ghana, a girl with an infected foot. Fortunately, the evangelist up there had received a little training and supplies and was treating it. Thanks for the blog... enjoyed reading it very much. Keep touching lives with love. Jeremiah
Post a Comment