Holly in Cameroon

Day with Jordan and random rambling

2012-01-29T01:03:00.002+02:00

It is almost midnight but I was determined to get a blog up today and it looks like I might just make it. Jake took all the boys to Douala (5 hour drive) with him today to pick up his step-mum, Heidi. She is coming to visit for 10 days, we are really excited. I believe it is her first time out of the US so it is definitely going to be an adventure for her. Heidi is the one that got Jake interested in missions in the first place, so she is in a way responsible for us being here in Cameroon. So they'll all spend the night at the Baptist guest house, and then should be back here tomorrow by mid-afternoon. So I had all day to myself and Jordan, a real delight. I can't recall that I have had any special alone time with Jordan, I have really treasured today. We had a fun watering the garden together, petting and feeding the horses, eating lunch out on the verandah, and just being silly. All I can say is that Jordan certainly is "something else." Words can't express how much she means to me. Right now I'm laying in bed with her right next to me, her warm little hand on my arm as she sleeps, awwww. And it was incredible how my house stayed clean and clutter free today and how little dirty dishes there were! And man, getting ready for church tomorrow is going to be a cinch, I might even manage to get mascara on!

Anyway, I also got caught up on most of my emails today, got the guest room all ready, washed lots of laundry, and started on our newsletter. The newsletter is going to be mostly about our upcoming furlough in June. It has got me thinking about it and I am finally starting to get excited about coming back. Of course it is always wonderful to be back and see family and friends, eat familiar food, and generally get spoiled by everyone. But it is also a lot of work and stress traveling with little ones, trying to manage a household with out your own house for an extended amount of time, and the challengages of homeschooling on the road. And like they say, there is nothing like your own bed. When we got back from furlough 3 years ago I never wanted to see another airplane again! But I am over it now and starting to really look forward to seeing everyone (especially a new nephew and niece I have never seen) and driving around the country, sharing what the Lord has been doing in our lives. One thing is for sure though, we're really going to miss our precious kids at Helping Hands, the longest I have been away from them is 10 days so six months is going to be a little different!

Not for the squimish!

2012-01-15T22:42:00.000+02:00

The last couple of days have been a bit rough at the Schilinski house. On Tuesday Jake and Seth both came down with malaria, then on Wednesday I started feeling pretty bad and was sure I had it too (maybe spending the night in the hammock at the beach wasn't such a good idea after all). There is nothing worse than being sick other than having your spouse sick at the same time! And it's not just the misery of malaria that is bad, it is the fact that I'm not getting school done with the kids, the laundry is piling up, plus the thousands of other little things that need to to get done (you mums know what I'm talking about). Thankfully when I was really bad, Jake was already starting to recover so we could tag off with Jordan and Jude. And on Thursday night, when Jake was teaching at the Bible school, my good friend Colette dropped in unexpectedly and watered, feed, and bathed all the kids for me while I'll laid down (God always knows what ya need!). Anyway, we are all feeling a whole lot better now and ready to catch up next week.

Yesterday was also an exciting day at the Schilinski house. Dr. Doug Lewis, a missionary vet, was in town so we had scheduled him to spay our dog Brindie. He and his wife are out in the village of Takui ministering to the Fulani tribe up there, helping them with their cattle and animal needs. And he also provides a great service for all the missionaries, treating our animals, keeping us stocked with frontline, etc. And once again I was reminded why I love my kids growing up on the mission field, they got to see the whole spaying process, a good little biology lesson :D. Josh was pretty fascinated while Seth was a bit grossed out.

Prepping our dining table (Jude was also circumcised on this table!)

Doug said a word of prayer first. Once Brindie was out, they tied her down to the table. Doug had a young lady from New Hampshire that is out here assisting him for a few weeks.

Brindie did so good! She was very groggy all afternoon and quiet all night but is running around and barking now. So happy that she is doing great. And we don't have to worry about puppies anymore.

We're back!

2012-01-08T21:23:00.004+02:00

So we had an awesome time at the beach with our good friends the Youngs, very relaxing. Of course it didn't come without a few hiccups. Our exhaust fell off (again!) on the way there, thankfully we found a welder that quickly fixed it. The first night it rained (we were totally caught off guard) and our tent and foam mattresses got soaked. It was so warm so we just slept on wet mattresses till morning.

What I love about this beach is that it is out in the middle of nowhere, you're only sharing the beach with a couple of fishermen in their dugout canoes. There is no cell phone reception, so even if your house burns down, you're not going to hear or worry about it till you leave. You have no choice but to relax.

New Year's eve was spent around the camp fire eating smores (with really Hershey's chocolate!), playing charades, strumming the guitar, singing worship songs, and sharing funny stories. A lovely way to ring in 2012! And on New Years Day we stopped at one of our favorite restaurants on the way home, for shrimp, pizza, and ice-cream bars! My kinda way to start a new year. Sadly, they are building a deep sea port literately a stone's throw from the camping site so this will be the last time we can go camping on the beach, at least in this area. So sad! And on the way back the wheel fender half fell off. We couldn't find anyone with a rivet gun so Jake just bungee corded it up. Always an adventure! I have put an album up on Facebook if your interested. Anyone can view it, even if you don't have an account.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2675180113662.130955.1080983117&type=1&l=94cdd959fa

A few other photos of the kiddos... We got the boys saddles for Christmas, some missionaries were leaving and they had had horses. These are beautiful western saddles, so we didn't want to pass the opportunity up. Well, we finally got a chance to put them on the horses yesterday. Take a look at the photos below to see how it went:

With a saddle:

Without a saddle!

Josh was not comfortable in a saddle! It's so funny, his pretty much only ridden with just a blanket. Hopefully he'll get used to it soon (wow, the dry season sure is hard on our lawn!).

I just finished learning about the Mongols and Genghis Khan with Josh in school. The boys decide to build their own Mongolian "Yurts." Obviously the beach wasn't enough camping for them. They were pretty cute!

(I know, Jude's feet are filthy! We haven't had much water lately)

2012 resolutions

2011-12-26T21:57:00.000+02:00

I know some people don't agree with new year resolutions, reasoning that if one wants to change something, they should do it now and not wait till "tomorrow". Personally, I really like them, having a set goal really helps me, and gives the boost that I seem to need sometimes. Last year, my resolution was to lose all my "baby weight". I plowed into food right up to December 31st and then just went for it in the new year. I've lost a total of 26 pounds this year (got to my goal weight!). I've been exercising regularly and not drinking so much soda (not getting pregnant helps a whole lot too!), so I'm super glad I set that goal for myself.

What are my goals for this year? Well, here are a few:

~Reply to emails as soon as they come in and then delete or put the email in a folder. Our inbox currently has 1906 emails in it! And I do procrastinate when it comes to emails, thinking I'll write back in the evenings, but then I'm usually too tired in the evenings to get on the computer and do much, so then I forget who I need to reply.

~Guard every word that comes out of my mouth. "He who is slow to anger, is better than the mighty; And he who rules his spirit than he who rules a city. Proverbs 16:32." This is especially for my kids, when I've had a long day, and they're whiney or bickering, it's so easy to get frustrated! And that's when it matters the most, right?

~Run a half marathon if not a full marathon when we're back in the States

~Practice typing on my typing instructor (it's actually Josh's). I'd like to get up to at least 60 words per minute, I'm up to about 40 right now :(. Ten minutes a day!

~Not to get agitated or stressed out when we travel back, no matter how obnoxious the flight attendant might be, or how unhelpful the airline may be, I'm just going to smile and let it slide (I can feel my heart pacing already!)

So there you have it. As alway, I'm asking the Lord for the strength to carry through, so thankful for His grace upon my life!

We head to the beach tomorrow to go camping for a few days, sooo excited. I have tons to blog about with so much going on this past week; hopefully I'll get to post about it all when we get back next Monday. Happy New year to you all (or Happy Happy as they say here)!!

2011-12-15T22:48:00.000+02:00

On Wednesday I had all the older girls from Helping Hands come over to help make Christmas cookies (plus our two wonderful cooks at HHCH). We all had a lot of fun and just about managed to fit in my kitchen.

They next day the older boys came too to help decorate them. So I wasn't sure if I would do just simple frosting or go for royal icing. I decided with the latter and it worked out great! I have never worked with royal icing before but got the recipe from a friend (thank you Harmony!) and it turned out amazing. The kids got VERY creative!

168 decorated cookies! They all did an awesome job and I think this will become an annual advent. We'll take our cookies with us when we head to another orphanage on Monday to do an outreach. The children will play with the other kids, sing songs, do a drama, and speak to them about the true meaning of Christmas.

Our Christmas tree

2011-12-11T19:27:00.001+02:00

Jake did it again, he found us another wonderful Christmas tree. Now here you can buy shinny, flimsy, cheesy, plastic trees imported from China for ridiculous prices or you can wait till Christmas Eve to buy a branch of pine tree from someone on the side of the road (which we used to do). But for the last few years we have been scouting out Chistmas trees, we usually ask someone if we can lope off the top of their cedar tree. It's not always picture perfect but it works. I can't stand fake trees and just love the smell of real pine. Well this year, Jake and the boys went out driving around neighbourhoods looking for a good cedar to chop the top off and found the one below. It was in someone's front lawn, already shaped! Bold Jake knocked on the door and asked them if they were willing to sell it. The man had a few of them so he didn't mind and Jake came home with it. It is more like a hedge than separate branches but it looks and smells great! We had a lot of fun decorating it (with the help of Claude) and putting our stockings up. Jude is really loving it, he keeps saying, "It's almost Christmas, Mama."

The next couple of weeks are busy, I didn't realize how full until in church today we were trying to figure out what day we could have a leader's retreat for the new year. This week I'm still doing school with the boys but our Christmas schedule is as follows;

Monday afternoon is normal; staff prayer meeting, Kid's Club and library at HHCH.

Tuesday afternoon is Staff meeing.

Wednesday afternoon I'm having all the older girls of Helping Hands come over to help me bake Christmas cookies (what for you ask?).

Thursday afternoon the boys have French class like usual and then all the Children's workers from our church are coming over. We're going to be wrapping small presents and making Christmas hats for Saturday's outreach.

Friday afternoon I'll be taking all the Christmas cookies down to the Children's Home so that all the kids can decorate them, should be fun (and messy!). Then in the evening we're hosting, "It's a Wonderful Life" party.

Saturday afternoon we have our "Christmas Celebration" at church. It is an outreach to the kids and their parents in the church's area. Today after church we took all the older kids out in the quarters and we handed out invitations to children and parents. The kids had a blast! We are believing for 200 people. They'll be singing, games, Christmas drama, carols, snack, film, and a short message at the end (please keep it in your prayers).

Sunday after church I'm heading to a ladies cookie exchange, one missionary lady puts it on every year and it is always a really special time.

Monday: We head out to another orphanage that's about an hour away (with close to 40 children). This is going to be "outreach" for the children of Helping Hands. We want to make sure that they realize it is important that they reach out and be a blessing to those around them too and not always just be on the receiving end. So that is what all the Christmas cookies are for, to hand out to the kids there. We'll also be taking some of HHCH chickens with us too. The kids are going to hang out with them, play football, jump rope as well as sing some songs and do a drama. They are soooo excited (as am I!).

Tuesday is Seth's Birthday. Usually we get too busy to do much for him but this year I planned early. We are heading to the pool at a hotel just out of town with a bunch of friends for a few hours then back to our house for cake (he wants a dragon this year) and tacos. I can't believe my boy is going to be 9.

On Wednesday and Thursday we're hoping to slaughter and process a pig so we can have sausage and a pork roast for Christmas (plus some lard for pies), yum!

Friday we have an all day retreat at church, prayer and planning for the new year.

Saturday we'll be finishing up and last minute shopping and I'll be in the kitchen a lot, I'm sure.

Christmas day, our plans are still up in the air but for sure we'll be spending the morning at the orphanage, cooking breakfast, reading the Christmas story, and opening presents. Always a lot of fun to see the joy on the children's face.

And then, on the 26th we head to the beach to camp for 5 days with our good friends the Youngs (I'll be ready for a break!). This is probably going to be the last year we can go camping on the beach as a deep sea port is being put in at Kribi and they are tearing the whole place up, so sad! So that is the next few weeks in a nutshell.

2011-12-01T21:53:00.001+02:00

We are all missionaries. Wherever we go, we either bring people nearer to Christ, or we repel them from Christ. (Eric Liddell)

The thing I love most about the Sonlight curriculum that I use with the boys is all the missionary biographies they put in with the history books. Josh is study the Eastern Hemisphere this year and "Eric Liddell, Something Greater Than Gold" is one of the books that we just finished. I enjoyed it so much, I haven't been able to get it out of my head, I've been thinking about it all week. Now, I saw Chariots of Fire when I was a kid and knew that after Eric ran in the olympics he went onto be a missionary in China and died there, but that was about it. What I didn't know was that Eric was born in China since his parents were missionaries there. They faced many challenges with the different wars going on at that time. His family went on furlough to Scotland when he was six and Eric and his brother was put into a boarding school. His folks went back to China and Eric actually didn't see his dad again until he was 19! (his folks were hard core missionaries!). Eric actually played rugby for Scotland before he was a famous runner. I did know that he refused to run on a Sunday even with the chance of winning a gold. What I didn't know was that it seem the whole of Scotland was against him, calling him a coward. Yet he refused to give into the pressure, stood firm on what he believed, and won a Gold in another race anyway. He then became an absolute hero in Scotland which opened up the door for him to to spread the gospel all of the British Isles. He was this huge celebrity, at his prime, yet he decided to go to China and be a missionary teacher. He met his Canadian wife there. After being there a few years the Japanese invaded China and Eric was asked to move to another area of China to help in a hospital and preach the gospel there. However it was too dangerous for his wife and daughters to go. So after prayer and consideration, he decided to head off and leave his family to enter this perilous province. He was robbed, shot at, and in constant danger yet manage to spread the love of Christ wherever he went. He and the other missionaries eventually had to leave as the Japanese took over the hospital.

They decided it was too dangerous for his pregnant wife and two daughters to stay in China so they headed back to Canada without Eric. Then Japan bombed Pearl Harbor causing Great Britain and the US to declared war on Japan. So of of course Eric along with all the other missionaries and people from the allied countries became "the enemy." Eric with about 1800 people (including Hudson's Taylor son) were put into an internment camp. They were pretty much left to look after themselves and weren't treated badly, they were even allowed to bring their own beds with them. Food was scare but no one was starving. Eric became "Uncle Eric" there to the many children and youth who he spent so much time with, teaching them, organizing sports, and keeping their moral up. He continued to show the love of Christ through his selflessness to those around him, bringing peace and joy. Six months before the camp was liberated, Eric got sick and died, it seems of brain tumor. He never got to see his youngest daughter, at least not in this life. Throughout the whole book it talks about how people just loved Eric, he was always calm, he never got angry, he always had time for people; a wonderful example of the love of Christ. Certainly a challenge to me! He was so dedicated to what God had called him to do. He could have returned to Canada when his family did but he decided not to. He took his calling seriously!

Now I am wanting to read some of the memoirs of the people that were in the prison camp with Eric, pretty fascinating stuff. My brother and his wife have named all his kids after famous missionaries (William Carey, Amy Carmichael, Elizabeth Elliott). If they get pregnant again, I'm going to recommend Eric Liddell, a truly amazing missionary!

So Much to be Thankful for!

2011-11-25T22:10:00.001+02:00

Praise the Lord. Oh Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,for his steadfast love endures forever! Psalm 106:1

It has been a lovely week; Tuesday was my Birthday and thenof course, yesterday was Thanksgiving. On mybirthday I slept in, had breakfast in bed, and was surprised with homemade cards and wonderful gifts from my boys. We had fun celebrating Thanksgivingyesterday too. It always makes me think back to my first Thanksgiving back in 1997. I had been in the US for a few months and I was invited toThanksgiving dinner at some Staff’s house. That is where I had my first tasteof a cheese log (and have been addicted ever since) and watched my first Americanfootball game. I really love Thanksgiving, it is probably the American thing that I have embraced themost (besides my husband :D). We had a get together at our house on Thursday withtwo other missionary families: our good friends the Dibbits, and another familythat just moved to Cameroon, the Waites. Unfortunately the Waites were havingsome truck issues so Mark was running around trying to get it fixed and missedeating the meal with us but it was still a great time with good fellowship andway too much food! Then we had some more friends show up and had 12 kidsrunning around the house and yard while us adults crammed pie into our already full stomaches. All in all a great day.

So I was just reflecting yesterday, I truly have so much to bethankful for, the Lord just continues to be so good to me. I notice thatwhenever I get stressed or disappointed, it’s when I’m focusing on myself andnot the goodness of God. When I keep my eyes on Him, my heart is full of gratitude. So a few of the many things I am thankful for:

My wonderful Saviour, who loves me despite all me failuresand selfishness. My Rock, my Refuge!

My amazing husband, who is truly my best friend and isalways there for me (and makes me a cup of tea every morning!). He is the bestdad to our kids and I love him so much.

Joshua, my dependable son, always loving, always wanting toplease. My little peace maker. I love our time out in the garden together.

Seth, my little funny guy, always makes me laugh. Has suchcompassion for people and animals. I love when I play my guitar and he plays the djembe drum with me.

Jude, my little man, my little shadow. I love those quitetimes when we cuddle up and read books together all by ourselves.

My Jordan who brings such a joy to my life, I love all those hugs and kisses that she is sogenerous with and those cheeky little smiles

For all the dirt roads that have just been graded this last weekin Bamenda. So much easier to travel around and easier on the truck

Our generator and water tower that keep us going through thefrequent water and electric cuts.

Good friends, here and overseas, that encourage us and support the work that we do here.

Skype (and a reliable internet connection) so I can talk and see my precious family!

Thank you Lord!

All my goodies for my birthday

Thanksgiving Dinner

Farawa

2011-11-16T19:57:00.001+02:00

Meet Farawa, another sweet boy we welcomed into Helping Hands Children's Home last week. In October the Lord blessed us with an amazing lady, Fransica, that is helping out in the HHCH kitchen. A fortnight ago her elder brother died and she travel to the village to attend the funeral. When she came back she told about the grandson of her brother who had just sort of been abandon since the funeral and wasn't being treated well by the family. Jake and Tim, with Fransica, drove the four long hours on rough, dirt roads to go and see him in the muslim village of Nsam. They first met the widow; now I'm not sure if this is a muslim tradition or a village tradition, but she is in mourning for 4 months, 10 days (I need to ask some friends about it). During this time she cannot leave her room and she can't even sleep on her own bed, she must sleep on a thin mat that is on top of rocks (see photo below). Also her roof is full of holes from a hail storm and they haven't been patched at all so she gets soaked when it rains. I guess this is to make sure that she doesn't forget her misery?! Poor lady!

Farawa is about six years old (no one knows for sure) but is extremely small, not much bigger than our Jude. His mother died in June from a "sickness," (more than likely AIDS). They have no idea who the father is. Jake said the village was full of young girls that had babies with no husbands... kinda surprising for a muslim village. As you can see in the photo, Farawa's eyes are very yellow, or he has "itchy eyes" as they call it here. It is probably a sign of malnutrition but we will be getting him checked out by a doctor this week. He has never been to school but surprisingly, speaks quite a bit of pidgin English. Since coming to the orphanage, Farawa has fit right in. He had a tough first night but by the morning he was running around everywhere and getting into everything, he is quite the little character! He keeps asking when he is going to go to school. We will be enrolling him this week and as soon as we can get the uniformed made, he will start attending. Please keep little Farawa in your prayers that he will completely settle into his new home. Also he has always grown up in a muslim environment and is hearing about the love of Jesus now; pray that the Good News of Christ will really make an impact in his little life. Also pray that he will get a sponsor soon.

Farawa's Grandmother

Her hail beaten roof

The family signing paperwork

A beautiful little girl in Nsam

I have no idea what this is for but it looks vicious!

A little boy making bamboo stools. We buy these in town for 500cfa (about a buck)

A long day

2011-11-13T10:11:00.001+02:00

Saturday was a long and tiring day but a good one too. About 10 days ago the Borns had a call from a friend, Philemon, out in the village of Benakuma. He told them that some twins (a girl and a boy) had been born there, that the mother had died, and that the family was struggling to look after them. We discussed it but HHCH does have a policy of not excepting children under the age of two as we are just not set up or have the staff to look after babies (we have made exceptions to this rule as Bena was 8 month old when we got her). Twins would be a huge responsibility but then later at our staff meeting we discussed it some more and felt that we should go and see them at least and assess the situation. Babies are generally a lot smaller here than western standards and especially twins. So on Saturday we were planning to head out to the village at 8. Some things came up and we didn't head out of town till 10:30am. The village is about a 3 hours drive on some very bumpy, bendy roads. It is always and adventure when traveling on dirt roads here, last time Jake went out there, they had to turn around about 2 hours into the trip as a truck had got stuck and was blocking the way. This time a bridge had fallen down and was replaced by logs and planks. The kids and I got out and walked across and let Jake brave his way across it in the truck. We also met the TMI director on the road (TMI has a rescue unit out there) and he informed us that one of the twins had died.

We finally reached Benakuma and met up with Philemon. He told us that the family was actually in Benadae, another village about 40 minutes away (on more bumpy, windy roads of course!). My heart sank as I was starting to feel sick from the heat and being in the back with Jordan on my lap. By the time we got to the village I was feeling really rough. We walked down to the family hut and there was quite a crowd gathered to meet us. The Fon (Chief) of the village was there which always makes us happy so that he is in the know of what is going on. We met the father and got to chat with him. This is why we always make sure that someone from our team travels out to assess the situation as the story was quite different than what we heard through Philemon. Of couse the biggest one was that the girl had died a week after being born, even before we got the first call. Secondly we had heard that the mother had been alive for a week and that the father wasn't around. But the mother actually died a day after giving birth as she never delivered the placenta. She was very young, only 17; such a sad end to her young life. Medical help in these villages is so basic if not non-existent. The father is around, they were newly married and these was their first children. Obviously he is very distressed about losing his wife and then his daughter. His sister has been helping to look after the baby boy. Sometimes people will find a wet nurse but they didn't do that. They hadn't even named the baby yet as they were not sure he was going to make it. We asked what they had been feeding him and they said formula. We asked do they have some now, and they said no, it ran out a week ago. So they have probably been feeding him "pup" a corn mealy drink that they often give motherless babies here (certainly not what newborns need). So we discussed with the family and they basically said that they don't want the baby to die like his sister and that they can not provide for him (formula is $5 a can, usually impossible for people to buy enough for a baby). So we decided to bring him into the HHCH family. We have encouraged the family and especially the father to come and visit as much as possible and told him we will be calling him frequently. They decided to name him before we left, Godwill. As it came time to say good-bye, it was really hard for the father and sister. We really hope that they will come and visit soon or at least call.

One the ride home we didn't hear a peep out of little Godwill, he just slept and slept. We brought a bottle and formula with us and Sara fed him half way home. I was super sick on the way back, the heat just really got to me, and we had to stop at least 5 times for me to throw up. At one point I just wanted to lay down in the dirt road and tell Jake to come and get me tomorrow. I felt bad cause we were already running late, we didn't want to keep little Godwill out on the bumpy roads longer than necessary, and it was getting dark. Thankfully I started to feel better about half way home and we could get going. We made it home about 7:30 at night. The Borns took little Godwill home that night and we will switching back and forth taking care of him till we are sure that he is gaining weight and thriving. We think at HHCH he would be "over" loved by all the girls :-D. Everyone did get to meet him on Sunday and today all the girls kept asking me when Godwill was coming to stay. WON will be hiring a girl to be a care giver specifically for Godwill.

So far, Godwill has been doing well, he has started sucking well and keeping down his formula. He is 3 weeks old, and 4 pounds exactly. We'll be keeping a chart of his weight gain. So please keep this little life in your prayers, we are so grateful that the Lord has entrusted this little life into our hands.

The village where Godwill comes from

Godwill's Father

Precious little Godwill (pink for girls is a western mindset :D )

Jordan greeting some new friends

Volunteers

2011-11-06T23:12:00.001+02:00

Last month we had a young lady, Breanna, come and volunteer for 4 weeks. She is from Oregon but her aunt and uncle are pastors of a church in Kansas. My good friend goes to that church and she shared our newsletter with them, and they passed it onto Breanna, who has always been interested in coming to Africa. So she wrote us a while back and asked if she could come out and help out in anyway. We can always use volunteers over here, no matter how short or long, so we told her to come on over. Breanna just fit right in to our family and was such a pleasure to have. She helped in the house, at the children's home, wherever needed. In the morning she assisted me with homeschooling, in the afternoon she helped out at HHCH with kid's club, library time, tutoring the kids, etc. We are so grateful that she was willing to give up a month of her busy life and invest it in the lives of our kids. We're pretty sure she had a great time too. We can ALWAYS use more volunteers (hint, hint!). The photos below are of her time here.

Breanna and Marvelous

At the seamstress' where she got a few African dresses made

Helping build the dog cage at HHCH

Knocking down the old toilet block

Keeping Jude entertained (he is really missing her!)

Beautiful hikes on the weekends

Breanna brought a gift for each of the children

We went and got pedicures together!

Breanna and Dorcas

Breanna got her hair braided twice

It took us four hours to take it out and she had quite the 'fro!

I made pepperoni!!

2011-10-29T14:44:00.001+02:00

You can't buy pepperoni in Cameroon and since the Skis LOVE it, it is always something we bring back with us and ration out. Or if someone asks what they can send, pepperoni is usually on the list. It's so good on pizza, in a sandwich, or in a breakfast burrito. Well, my cousin, on her blog, recommended a recipe for pepperoni (http://tammysrecipes.com/tammys_spicy_pepperoni). Now, we have been making our own pork sausages for quite some time (breakfast, bratz, and italian) but I have never thought of making pepperoni before. I've always assumed that it would be a huge, long process with lots of ingredients that I couldn't get. But it's actually pretty simple. I had all the ingredients beside the mustard seed. I ground my own beef and crushed my own spices and it turned out great! I didn't having curing salt, which apparently is what gives the pepperoni it's red color, but regular salt worked fine. The sausage tastes amazing and the texture is great too. This is definitely something I will be making monthly. Yes, one less thing we need to ship over here now! Now if I can just master mozzarella chesse I will be able to make a "true" home-made pizza.

Bible School class

2011-10-25T13:12:00.003+02:00

For the mid-terms of my Children and Youth Ministry class, I got each of my students to give a 5 minutes presentation of a bible story as if the class was a children's sunday school class. Children's ministry is often the least thought about and planned part of a church here. Even when new church buildings are put up, rarely are classrooms put in for the kids, and they end up out back sitting in the sun or in some small room. They are given a tiny budget and usually don't have enough benches to sit all the kids (which is usually a lot as familes are generally big here). I have really being stressing the importance of children in the Kingdom and also the importance of being well prepared when teaching them. One of my focuses this term has been on getting creative when teaching children. It is very rare for Children's churches to have even a picture of a story that is being taught let alone some sort of object lesson. Of course it is hard to get Bible curriculum and pictures that are so easy accessible to us in the West. So I was trying to show them to use things around them. A few weeks back I presented the lesson of Jesus feeding the five thousand, and I brought a basket with some bread and fried fish (something everyone has in their house). I also taught The Good Samaritan and brought some bandages, plasters (band-aids) and an empty wine bottle. I was showing them that with a little planning and thought, despite the fact that we have limited resources in Cameroon, one can make Bible stories come alive to children. I also encouraged them to not always just narrate the story but tell it from a different perspectives of one of the characters in the story. And of course, to teach a lesson, not just a story. They all did amazing well and each one came up with a unique way of presenting the story, I was very happy. We also had a lot of laughs!

Cynthia teaching the story of Abraham and Isaac

Justine teaching on the Good Shepherd. She also brought in a keyboard and we all sang a song of rejoicing at the end.

Matthias got our attention by doing a puzzle at the start

Emmerencia got her class mates to help her act out Jesus healing the blind man

Sister Agnes taught on Jesus changing the water into wine and brought along yummy juice for all to taste

Mable brought a Picture bible with a drawing of Zacchaeus in it.

Goodness assuming the role of David

George brought in some of his own helpers!

Goodness was really nervous but did an AMAZING job

And Jacob was very creative as he made a tomb and when he pulled a string, up popped Lazarus!

Currently there are two children's workers in the class. I am really hope this will encourage many of the students to get involved in their churches, neighborhoods, and schools, to start reaching out to the youth of this nation.

Dance night

2011-10-19T21:25:00.002+02:00

If you told me when I came to Cameroon that I would one day learn to line dance here, I would have thought you daft, but that's exactly what I did last week. There is a missionary girl who is in town for a couple of months that is really into dance. She decided to put on a Family Dance Evening with the help of some friends. Missionaries from all over came plus lots of Cameroonians. We started with swing, later on we lined danced, next a Scottish lass taught us some Ceilidh dances (my favourite), and then we even did some waltzing. The boys really enjoyed themselves too and were all hot and sweaty by the end of the night. One of my favourite things of the night was to watch a Cameroonian married couple do the Scottish dancing. PDA is not a norm here between couples, in fact I can say I have never seen a couple even holding hands in public. But it was so sweet to see them twirling around together, laughing, and having a good time.

Breanna and I doing the Swing (couldn't get Jake to do this one)

Some Scottish dancing

Dosey Doeing with Josh

Driving Licence

2011-10-13T22:50:00.000+02:00

Since being in Cameroon I have always driven on my American licence. It has never been a problem but I have always intended to go get my Cameroonian one at some point. When Jake got his a few years back, he just went into the office, showed his US one, paid the fee, and had his license in a week or two (same with every other missionary I know). Well, Norbert who works at the children's home needed to get his too, so we went in together. I think that was my mistake as Norbert has never had a license before and would need to take the test. So they said I had to take a test too. I explained I've been driving for like 15 years, but no they insisted I had to take a theory test. They only do a test once a month (for the whole city of Bamenda's 350,000 residents). So we paid our fee and put our names down for the test. We were told to show up prompt at 7:30 in the morning on the particular day. So a few weeks back that day came and Norbert and I headed up. As normal nothing was set up and we waited and waited with the throng of people. Finally at about 10 the people showed up and started taking down our names. It wasn't until 11 that we finally sat down to take the test. We had two hours to complete a 30 question, multi answer test. I hadn't study at all as I didn't have a book and I figured I knew everything already. But some of the questions were really bizarre such as, "What is a sign on internal bleeding?" and, "What should you do to someone who is breathing but unconscious?" I didn't think I was taking a medical exam. Anyway for the most part it was very simple and I was done in 10 minutes. They they said we had to come back on Monday for the practical test. So we went back that afternoon, and once again I thought, how hard can it be? There was literally hundreds of people there, waiting to take the test. We had to wait and watch while every person parallel parked. Seriously I think the last time I parallel parked was when I took my test in the states in '97, maybe once in Chicago.... and it was a bit nerve racking with all the people watching you but thankfully I had no problems. Norbert did pretty good too even though he was really nervous and had only practiced it once before. A few people did knock the poles over and everyone cheered, pretty funny. Then after everyone had finished (hours!) we went out in groups in a car with an instructor (I had two nuns in my car). The lady that started could hardly get the car to move forward and then almost killed us as she popped the clutch and went whizzing into the road then stalled it. The instructor told her to get out. I went next and had no issues except he told me to slow down :D. Then we went back to the office to find out how we did. There they said our results would be announced in the next month, ahhh! Why does everthing have to be sooo complicated? Anyway, I am sure that I passed, Norbert wasn't so sure. I guess we'll find out in a week or two.

Team

2011-10-11T21:09:00.000+02:00

Last week we were very blessed to have a team from California visit Helping Hands Children's Home. They came from a church of one of our good missionary friends that live in Yaounde (the Young family). They were in Cameroon for just a week but managed to get a lot done. They were all I.T. guys who work at Microsoft, Facebook, Ebay, Yahoo, Cisco etc., so they were very techie to say the least. They came to help set up different security and internet systems for different missionary groups. They came to Bamenda just for one day but it was great to get to know them. They blessed the orphanage with two laptops! It is so wonderful, we have always wanted to be doing some sort of computer training with the kids (especially the older ones) as it is so important in this day and age, but never really had the opportunity. We were also blessed with a desktop recently too so we now have 3 computers. This month we will be switching one of storage rooms into a "Learning Center." We're still working on a system that is fair allowing all the kids to have a chance. It will also be a good incentive to get chores and homework done! Thanks so much to this generous team!!

One Year Anniversary

2011-09-30T19:14:00.000+02:00

Our church just celebrated it's one year anniversay, it hardly seems possible. We have so enjoyed helping out with this new church plant and just continue to see it growing from strengh to strengh. When we first moved to our new location a few months ago, the church seemed to slow down a bit. We weren't having many visitors or seeing people getting saved. The last month or two though it has really been picking up and we are seeing lots of new faces. We had a three day Celebration outreach for the anniversary, we saw over 200 people the last day. We praise the Lord for all the souls that were saved and lives that were touched. It has been so awesome to see this church grow from the very start, we know everyone in the church and feel like such a family. The leadership all went out to eat at a "buffet" after church on Sunday, it was such a nice time of fellowship. Of course the church has already had it shares of difficulties and challenges but we do serve a faithful God. I have a great team (seven to be exact) of children's workers who are doing a fantastic job. If I do say so myself, we have an excellent children's Sunday School. I'm glad that the church has really caught the vision of how important children's ministry is as it is often overlooked in many churches.

Jake is traveling for 3 days and took the laptop with him so I am on Seth's notebook at the moment. I don't have any photos on this computer but I will try to remember to post some once Jake gets back.

On another note, Jake and I will be celebrating our 12th anniversary this Sunday. We have too much going on to do anything that day but we are hoping to take a day in the week where we can pawn off the kids to someone, go up in the hills horse riding, packing a picnic. I'm really looking forward to it. And I know this sounds terrible but it will be the first time Jake and I have had a date alone since Jordan was born. Way over due!

Running in Cameroon

2011-09-28T19:35:00.003+02:00

For the most part I go running three times a week. My distances vary from 3 to 10 miles depending on weather, time, and my energy level. I leave the house at 5:30 as that's when there are a lot of other people out running. It's still dark, the sun comes up about 6am. Many people take sport very seriously and there is literally hundreds of people out jogging at that time and doing exercises. I'm actually a late bird, most people are out by 5am. All of us runners clap as we pass each other. Also if you're having a hard time, someone will always give you an encouraing word to keep on going. Generally running is a great, relaxing time. But running in Africa certainly is an experience. There are no side walks, huge pot holes, often no street lights, serious mud in the rainy season, suffocating dust in the dry season, lots of stray dogs, terrible drainage when it rains, motorbikes that don't seem to see you, cars that give you no space. Just the fact alone of being a "white girl" you attract attention weather your running or not. People calling out, guys cat call and sometime try to run along side you. Usually a curt, "Leave me alone, I'm running" get's rid of these distractions. When Jenna was here she ran with me a lot. She is young and blond which is even more of an attention grabber; there was often boys trying to run with us. One boy would not give up, so finally after sticking my finger in his face and telling him to stop following us, he quit. We kept running and then about a mile down the road we saw a taxi pull up in front of us and then the same guy got out! As we passed him he said he wanted to talk to us but we told him we weren't interested. Thankfully he finally gave up. Just the other day I was running Upstation, a mile and half huge hill that comes into Bamenda. It is super steep and is an awesome workout! Anyway I was on my way up, listening to my music, and I heard a guy shouting at me, I kept going but could still hear him. I turned around and saw it was a "mad" man following me. There are lots of these people in Cameroon, I'm guessing in the West they would be put in a hospital of some kind, but here they just sort of roam the streets (often naked!). Thankfully this man was dressed but I did speed up to a guy running in front of me and kept a steady pace with him. I forgot about the man in a few minutes and made it to the top in record time! On the way back down I noticed the mad man again... he had come all the way up the hill after me! When he saw me he started waving his hands and blocking my way. I shouted at him to move but that didn't help. I decieded to go around him in the ditch. As I came out I missed the curb and twisted my ankle, so now I couldn't run... thankfully he stayed where he was and just kept shouting. There was a lady in front of me running and she told me to jog down with her. I didn't feel unsafe at anytime as there is so many people out but is was frustrating. I have been thinking though, that when we are back in the States next year, running is going to seem so boring!

Getting back into a groove

2011-09-26T23:13:00.001+02:00

It feels good to be back into a routine after our full summer, it is only now that I feel like I am getting back into my school "rhythm." We aren't behind, the boys are learning lots, and we're still having fun. We are really focusing on spelling this year as I feel that is where the boys are a little weak (you know why if you read my blog). So poor kids, I have really been drilling them, but they are doing great. Jude is still enjoying school and when asked if he had a good day at school last week he enthusiastically replied, "Yeah, no one hit me!" Ah, so glad he's having a good time! No seriously, he really is. He has become a little chatter box these last few weeks.

On another note, some friends that come to Cameroon every summer to do missions lent us their motorbike for a year. It had some work that needed to be done on it but it is finally all fixed up. As you can imagine, Jake is very happy to be out and about on two wheels again (ok, me too!). Jake often runs Jude up to school in the morning.

This week in pictures

2011-09-24T07:17:00.001+02:00

Our good missionary friends, the Conrods, came to stay with us a few days this week. It was a lot fun to hang out with them (stayed up way too late most nights!). They have three kids very close to Josh and Seth in age so the boys had a blast. We went out to Prespot (a pottery place), attempted to have a picnic, and also went horse riding (thanks Laurel for taking all the great photos).

Seth hanging around at Prespot

Taking the tour, seeing how they prepare the clay

Seth trying his hands at the potter's wheel

Josh's turned out awesome

Jude helping me with my bowl

Not bad for my first time (especially since this is a manual wheel, you have to keep spinning it with you foot)

Jake's started out great but slowly turned into the shape of a bedpan :D

Of course Stider had to come along

Stopped for a lovely picnic next to a gorgeous waterfall....

... but we didn't even get to eat before the rains drove us back to the car

The boy's racing up the road on Prince and Macchiato

Nathan and Jake having a race

Me instructing Asher how to ride and pretending I know what I'm doing (with a beautiful shot of the Bamenda valley behind)

I love Jake's face in this one!

The boys swimming in a little stream

My little doll!

Bibles School

2011-09-10T19:39:00.001+02:00

Faith Bible College kicked off it's second year this week. We have three new students signed up, but we would like to see at least triple that. Registration lasts for another week so we hoping to see more coming in. I am teaching on Thursday nights an elective class; Children's Ministry. I have the second time slot but this first week the other teacher wasn't able to make it so I had the whole three hours. It was a bit daunting just because I didn't know how much material to have ready for that long. Thankfully I did last the 3 hours and had a great time (I think everyone else did too). The students had some interesting questions that showed they were really paying attention. So I get next week off and then have a normal hour and half class after that.

Another quick testimony. I was chatting with our pastor's wife, Marthe, who was telling me about her brother who has been coming to church the last few weeks. He is a musician that lives in Nigeria and she hadn't seen him since she was a teenager until he recently showed up. Two weeks ago Jake preached and gave an appeal. A few people raised their hands and Marthe's brother was one of them. Marthe was telling me that he has really taken it seriously and she can see a change in him. He even fasted for three days last week. He just headed back to Nigeria where he is living with his girlfriend. He is going to be sharing with her about his new faith and is praying that she will become a believer too. Please keep Domonique in your prayers that he will stand strong as he heads back home and that his girlfriend will become and Christian and that they can get married.

Ok, now to watch the US open!

Little Girl Update..

2011-09-07T20:40:00.001+02:00

We had Tom and Linda Maher stay with us this weekend. Lots of you know them, they are the TMI co-ordinators here. They led the TMI team that we visited out in the East this summer. So of course I asked them how the little girl was doing that had the badly infected foot. They said they went to the village and continued to soak her foot everyday and finished giving her the antibiotics and by the time they left, three weeks later, she was walking around and going off into the forest! My heart rejoices, poor thing she was in such a lot of pain. I can't wait to see her next time we go out (I have no idea when that will be!). Anyway, just wanted to share my praise with you all.

School days...

2011-09-06T17:53:00.001+02:00

Above is the newest member of the Helping Hands' family, Francis. He is a lovely, 12 year-old boy who just came to us from the village. His 3 siblings have been with us for a couple of years now. Merander, Noel, and Dorcas all came to us malnurished and neglected. You might recall, Dorcas was two but was unable to walk or talk, she had sticks for legs, and had only her 12 year-old sister to look after. Since they came, they have all just blossomed and are doing so well. Dorcas has caught up on all her stages and started school for the first time this week. OK, back to Francis... his elder sister who lives in the city called us and told us the uncle that her two brothers were living with had died and the boys had no one looking after them. So Jake headed back out to the village to go investigate. An uncle had already come and taken the younger of the brothers, but Francis was still there. The family was happy for him to come with us as they could not provide for him. Since coming to the home, Francis has just been doing fantastic, he has probably adapted to his new life quicker than any of the other kids. He is friends with everyone and just fits right in, it is so good to see. The background on this family is that the father had two wives. He had 6 children with his first wife, and then married a much younger lady and had 6 children with her also. We have numbers 6, 5, 3, & 2 out of the last set of children. The Father died of HIV/AIDS and then the mother died of of the same disease when Dorcas was just a few months old (praise the Lord that Dorcas doesn't have the disease even thought she was breast fed). This maybe one of the reasons that the family neglected these precious children as there is such a stigma associated with HIV/AIDS here. We thank the Lord for bringing these precious children into our care and we know that He has a wonderful plan for them.

All the kids started school on Monday. We had two boys heading to secondary school this year (equivalent of middle school & high school). They are attending a government school now which are a lot different from the small private school they have been in the last two years. They now have classes of over 70 students and have very little room to ask questions or discuss something they don't understand. If you want to do well, you really have to study hard and give 110%. And there is of course all the different peer pressures that come along from being in a much larger school. Please keep Blessing and Aruna in your prayers, that they will stay focused, study hard, and be a light for Jesus in their schools.

We switched schools for all our primary (elementry) aged kids. We were not too impressed with the school they have been going to, even though it was a Christian one. We decided to take a step of faith and put them in a much better, but much more expensive school (there is no free education here). It is much more organized and is education focused. They also provide all the school books for the kids which is very rare, you usually have to buy them. It is about a five minute walk so it is a great location too. Jude is going there as well and is enjoying it so much. There are a lot of kids in Nursery 1 but he is having a blast. I'm not quite sure what they have been doing but he did tell me they had bread with hot chocolate and they sang a butterfly song (that's all I've got from him so far). Below are a few photos of the first day:

All schools here require uniforms, Jude sure looked cute in his!

Sandrine in her new uniform too, she has been soooo excited to go to school

Bena and Jude

It was pretty noisy in there!

All the kids lining up for prayers and national anthem before school starts.

(WOHOO, I can finally upload photos again!)

School books

2011-09-02T15:47:00.000+02:00

So I had a huge ordeal getting the boys' school books to Cameroon this year, it has never been an issue before. I usually order from 3 different places, Sonlight, A Beka, and CBD.com where I get all my consumables and math. I just get it shipped to my parents and then they send it with a team or intern. I have always gotten it on time before. Well, in January a church blessed us with finances specifically for school curriculum. I went ahead and got a few extra charts, posters, computer programs, and books since I had the money all for it (it was a happy day!). I had it all shipped to my parents. There was a team scheduled for June so I wasn't concerned about getting it here. But then the team was rescheduled for next year so I had to look for another way to get it here. One of our Cameroonian friends just started a business of shipping containers from the States to here. He had already done it a few times with success so we decided to mail our boxes up to his warehouse in Georgia. It got put on the container and then low and behold, the container got stolen! Apparently this happens all the time. Our friend flew back to the States as quickly as he could to sort things out. It took about a month to find it and inventory all the things. My boxes were nowhere insight but I was told they could be inside a vehicle as it wasn't opened. Very frustrating! At this point it was July and our home schooling co-op started early August, I really needed my books by then. I also did not want to start school late as my goal is to finish early before we travel next year. I had a few days where I couldn't even think about it as it made me sick but after some prayer and a look at priorities I got my head on straight. We decided to go ahead and reorder everything and have it shipped directly here, expensive, but that seemed our only option. We have never had any trouble with losing boxes before but there is always that risk. PTL, Sonlight was awesome and did the cheapest possible shipping for a 40lb box. They also said I can return my previously bought curriculum if it does show up and they will give me a full refund, I love Sonlight! After emailing CBD and explaining the circumstances, they actually sent out my whole order for free and didn't even charge me shipping! How incredible is that?! Both of those boxes arrived the week before home schooling started. A Beka was the only one where shipping was way too much so I got it sent to my parents and then they shipped it here for much less. PTL, that box just arrived today so we are all set for school! We will also be getting a refund from our friend as soon as the container arrives and all the paperwork is sorted out. So happy I have a wonderful Father in heaven who is into details and worked the whole mess out. I think in the future I am just going to direct ship again as it is the most hassle free way.

So here is the what we are doing this year if your interested:

Josh:
Sonlight Core 5 (history, geography, readers and read-a-louds all focus on the Eastern Hemisphere)
Sequential spelling 3
Saxon Math 5/6
Abeka Language arts work book B
Abeka Science, Investingating God Worlds workbook
Map Skills for today 5
Wordly Wise 5
Typing instructor CD

Seth:
Sonlight Core 3 (history, geography, readers and read-a-louds all focus on early American history)
Sequential spelling 2
Saxon Math 3
Abeka language art workbook 3
Abeka science; Exploring God's World and Health Safety, and Manners 3
Wordly Wise 3
Explode the Code 7 & 8

We do the four day schedule and Friday is our "fun" day. We always have piano lessons, art, watch a Mythbusters, and try to get some sport in there too. One week down, 35 more to go!

I'm back!

2011-09-01T19:53:00.003+02:00

I know, I have severely been neglecting my blog but just so much has been going on I honestly haven't had time to sit down and write. But life is back to somewhat of a schedule since school has started up so I should be able to blog a couple times a week again (famous last words!).

So since my last post our family has grown a little larger, we now have three horses and a snake; an african burrowing python to be exact. We were also given a monkey but I had to put my foot down somewhere (much to the dismay of my boys!). But we did find the little primate a home and he is doing well (current animal count at the Ski house: 2 dogs (one is pregnant), 2 cats, 1 turtle, 1 chameleon, 11 chickens, 3 horses, and 1 snake). We are only looking after the horses for a year for some missionary friends that have gone back to the States. Since coming to Bamenda we have been contemplating getting horses but it is a big investment and lots of work so we wanted to make sure the boys were old enough to handle the responsibility. This way we don't have to buy the horses and we get to experience what it is like and at the end of the year the boys can decided if they want to carry on with all the work. So here is how school days are looking for us right now.

5:15 rise and shine for Jake and I
5:30 I go for a run
5:45 Jake wakes up the boys so they can take the horses down to the pasture (a mile away)
6:30 I get back and the boys are just about getting back too and they finish their chores
6:45 Wake up Jude and Jordan if their not already up
7:00 Breakfast
7:25 Take Jude to school (only a five minute walk)
7:45 Take shower
8:00 Do devos (Josh and Seth too)
8:30 Start school
12:30 Pick up Jude
1:00 Lunch
2:00 Josh finishes up school
3:00 Head to our afternoon program (kid's club, tutoring, staff meeting, prayer meeting, teaching at Bible school or music practice at church)
6:00 Boys go get horses from pasture and feed them
6:30 supper
7:00 Family devos
7:30 Showers for kids
8:00 Bed time for Jude and Jordan
8:30 Bed time for Josh and Seth
10:00 Bed for Jake and I

Phew! So this is the plan anyway, so far this week it has been working like a charm but of course it is the first week! And Jude hasn't started school yet, it starts on Monday. The horses are pushing school back half an hour but I think it is going to work. The boys haven't complained about the horses yet even thought it is a lot for them. They have a lot of horse poop to pick up (which my compost is loving!) but they do get to ride all Saturday and Sunday afternoon. I have been so proud of them, they are doing so well, they are like pros already! They pretty much ride bare back most of the time too.

Our Co-workers, the Borns just got in today after being gone to the States for five month. It's nice to have them back especially to help out with the workload, since Bible School starts next week.

Like I said above, Jude starts school on Monday, he is going to the same school that the kids from the Children's home are going to. He will be in the same class as his best buddies, Bena and Dorcas. It is Nursery 1. We'll see how he does being the only white kid in school, but he can stand up for himself pretty well and of course he has 19 friends there already so I'm sure he will be fine. He is soooo excited, every time we go past the school he shouts, "That's my school." We got his uniform this week, I'll post pictures soon.

Well, I have TONS to blog about, hopefully I can catch up in the next week or two.

East trip

2011-07-28T21:35:00.002+02:00

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

Back from vacation

2011-07-26T17:35:00.000+02:00

SO, I wrote this blog over a week ago but couldn't post it as internet was down. We just got back from the East but I thought I would get this one up first and then blog about our trip out to the rain forest:

We got back from vacation over a week ago and I feel like I have been playing catch up ever since... I still have piles of laundry (the constant rain isn't helping!). But it was totally worth it, we had a blast. Vacationing with four kids is definitely a lot of work but we did have a relaxing time and it was nice just all to be together without any pressure of having to do something. We all came home with a nice tan. I have uploaded a bunch of photos to Face Book and you can look at them here (even if you're not a member).

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2027423600154.112896.1080983117&l=471dae09bc

A few memories from the beach:

Going to bed to the sound of crashing waves

Digging my feet in the sand while doing devotions.

Body surfing with the boys and laughing so hard I could hardly breath

Walking on the beach collecting shells with Jude

Singing songs around the campfire at night

Watching Jordan chase leaves in the shallow river

Playing Carcassonne till I couldn't see straight.

Kayaking up the river

Making a raft (Bear Grylls style)

Jumping into the cool ocean after going for a run with Jenna

Eating the most delicious shrimp ever

Family vacation

2011-06-28T23:27:00.001+02:00

This last couple of weeks have been a bit of a blur... just so much going on while trying to get ready for our vacation (finals at bible school, church programs, kids getting ready for Teen Missions, traveling out to the village). Jake's cousin Jenna came in after a day's delay in Paris. She is such a trooper and is fitting right into our family, it is a real joy to have her here for a couple of months. There have been some major storms here the last couple of weeks and the electric and water have been off a lot. Our internet router blew up as well as our laptop cable (praise the Lord is wasn't the computer!). It took over a week to get back up online and we were able to borrow a cable from friends until we can get one here, but it is so good to be connected to the world again. Tomorrow we head to the beach for just over a week, we are all so ready for a bit of a break. In a strange sense of irony, we just heard that the electrical transformer blew up there and that there has not been electricity there for over a week... hmmm looks like we might be vacationing with candles :-D. Anyway, at least we will all be together having fun.

So I will be posting lots of photos when we get back. Be back soon!

Yummy Dinner

2011-06-15T22:49:00.000+02:00

Why do I have a photo of food on my blog you ask. Well this is one of the hens from the first batch of chickens from the Children's Home (and it was sooooo good!)

Cut back to a few days ago....

We have 50 chickens and we slaughtered 18 of them on the first day. Believe it or not, my Texan-Iowan-country-boy-husband had actually never killed a chicken! The way they do it here is not the most humane or clean way so we decided to youtube it and found some easy, quick techniques. It worked like a charm, the chickens were dead in a matter of seconds after cutting their throats.

Next we dipped them in scalding water (140-160 degrees) for a few seconds

Then they were plucked, the feather pretty much just wipe off

Then we cleaned them, of course nothing goes to waste here, head, feet, even the intestines are all eaten. I am now an expert chicken cleaner!

We had all the older kids helping, this is a great skill for them to know. The littler kids were hanging out watching and being silly.

Jude enjoying his chicken dinner

So our goal is for the orphanage to have two chickens a week and then sell the rest to to cover all the cost of feeding and raising them. With this first batch we have sold well over half already. Chicken is probably the choice meat for Cameroonians, it is what you always have at weddings, church events, or when you go over someone's house. It is one of the most expensive meats. Generally our kids only get it at Christmas. We ourselves have it very rarely as it is costly and you have to buy them live at the market so it's just not very convenient. We seriously haven't had chicken for like 4 months, which I know is weird as chicken is so cheap in the States. Anyway, now we have a great source to buy from! We will be getting the next batch of day-old-chicks next week.

Summer plans

2011-06-13T13:08:00.001+02:00

Here's our plans for the next couple of months.

June 20th: Jake's cousin is coming out till mid August. She is going to be helping at the orphanage and with our kids, all while experiencing Africa for the first time. She is also a runner so I will have a runner partner for a bit. I am really looking forward to her coming!

June 20th-28th: Finish painting the inside of my house, we've been living here over three years and I'm still not done. It's not that I'm procrastinating, I love to paint but it is usually down to time or finances. But now I have the paint and the time. I just need to finish the hallway, the boy's bathroom, Jake's office and my laundry room and I'll be all done (next year I'll tackle the outside).

June 29th: We head to Douala, then on to Kribi for 6 nights. Kribi is the most beautiful beach in the whole world. We are going with our friends the Dibbits and staying at a little guest house. It is the bare minimum but that suits us just fine as we are out in the sun all day anyway. We can also bring our dog Strider along and we don't have to worry that he is going to dirty the cement floors. I am really looking forward to this break! No responsibility for a week (besides the kids and Jake of course :D)! We usually bring lots of snacks, eat out at the local restaurants, and buy fish fresh from the beach so I don't have to do too much cooking. We spend the evenings playing board games or watching movies. It'll be great to have some quality family time. Then we head to Douala again and spend two nights there before heading back home. Douala is the capital city and great for shopping. You can just about find anything there is you have time from parmesan cheese to real ham to a new power steering pump for our truck (so now you know what we'll be looking for). The Baptist guest house there has a pool so the kids love being there too.

July 9th: The older children of HHCH head off to Teen Missions Boot Camp. We will try to go to most of the evening rallies. Always a lot of fun! The kids will be gone a total of 5 weeks I believe.

July 10th: Start doing some summer school with the younger children at HHCH with the help of Jake's cousin.

July 14th: Go get the three horses we will be baby sitting for a year, so excited! Their owners are heading back to the States on Forlough. Ever since we have moved to Bamenda we have been thinking about getting horses. This is the perfect opportunity for us to find out if we can cope having horses without forking out a lot of money to buy them and all the gear. The boys will get to see if they really want to get up earlier to do their extra chores and experience what hard work it is to look after the horses. We live in the mountains here so it is going to be wonderful to go riding up in the hills to waterfalls and caves.

July 19th: Head to Yaounde (6 hours away) to visit friends

July 20th: Travel to Dimako (another 6 hours?) to visit our friends, the Conrods. They are what I call real missionaries; ministering to the Pygmy Baka tribe, out in the middle of the rain forest, solar panels, water from a well, pet snakes, etc. We'll spend a couple of days with them, hopefully going to show them how to slaughter and process a pig. They have three kids right around Josh and Seth's age so they will have fun running around getting dirty.

July 22nd: Head further into the rain forest to Mbang (another 4 hours?). This is where we spent the summer with a Teen Missions team back in 2007 (I think). We helped build a clinic for the Baka tribe, an awesome time. We'll spend a few days out there with the US team and visiting all our Baka friends. We'll also bring lots of snacks and goodies for the candy-deprived-teenagers :D.

July 26th: Head back to Bamenda

July 28th: Continue on with Summer school with the kids

Early August: Have a VBS at our church

August 14th: School starts again with our SCA session (Home schooling co-op). I'll have a 5th and a 3rd grader!

So there it is! I also want to get some cheese making in and my vegetable garden up and going. Of course through most of this I'll still be teaching kids club twice a week, having library time, teaching Mami how to read, teaching Sunday School at church, and doing some schooling with the boys. I also am aiming to get out with the kids at least once a week, whether it be to the pool, tennis court, or hiking. There is also the possibility that Seth will go spend a few weeks with my folks in Florida (Josh did that last year).

Jordan's B-day

2011-06-11T10:21:00.000+02:00

It's hard to believe but Jordan turned one on Thursday. This year has just zoomed on by! We decided to have a little get together at our house. Our missionary friends the Hamms are heading home on Furlough so we combined a goodbye dinner with the party. We had our friends the Dibbits over too. I went with a cat cake, Jordan's favourite animal. She just adores our cats and surprising they don't seem to mind all her chasing, squeezing, and kissing. So we had cake and ice cream first, we went and sat out in the garden so all the kids could run around. I made a huge spaghetti dinner and we had a great time of fun and fellowship. Good memories!

Josh helped me make the cake

Birthday girl!

Finishing School

2011-06-07T21:45:00.001+02:00

We finished school last week, phew! There was a few days when I wasn't sure I would get through it with my sanity still intact but we did! It was definitely more of a challenge trying to keep Jordan and Jude entertained while doing 4th and 2nd grade with Josh and Seth. I remember one morning when I was doing spelling with Josh trying to concentrate, Jude was asking me to look at a picture he had drawn, Seth was asking me to help him with a Math problem, the doorbell rang, and I looked around and Jordan was standing on top of Seth's desk clapping her hands (she is out little spiderman!). I was about ready to do my Shrek roar! Thankfully, most days went a little smoother. Jordan has a good hour or two nap every morning which allowed me to get all my reading in. I'm believing that next year will be easier. I'll continue to do a little spelling with Josh thought the summer but I am looking forward to a few weeks break (at the end of the month we head to the beach for a week!). It has been nice not to be quite so rushed in the morning and making breakfast a little bit later. I have been organizing, cleaning, and gardening already.

The kids at HHCH are all finished with school too. They had an end of school and graduation ceremony last week. It lasted a total of 6 hours! Blessing and Aruna graduated primary school and will be going to secondary school in September (equivalent of middle school). Marvelous and Godwill graduated nursery and will be going into class 1 next year. We are looking at a new school for the children next year, we have not been completely happy with the school they have been in the last two years. Some of the kids are still not up to where they should be and the teachers aren't too concern about it. They have also been asking extra money for evening classes so the kids can pass their exams... very frustrating, surely they should be teaching that stuff IN school. Also the children have only gone about a 10th of the way through their consumable books, books the school insisted the children have, but then they hardly used them. So there is another private school that is close by, it is more expensive but we have asked for a reduction, we are waiting to hear from them, please keep it in your prayers. Blessing and Aruna will be heading to Government school as they enter secondary schools. This will take some adjusting for them as most classes have 100+ children but we are believe they will do well. July we will start summer school with all the kids (going to finish off those consumables!).

Our beautiful kids!

Blessing and Aruna, our two graduates

Marvelous graduating nursery (I couldn't get him to smile, but he had been there 6 hours, so I don't blame him!)

Godwill (placed first in his class!)

They whole crew

Lots of painting

2011-05-22T16:22:00.000+02:00

Our church will have their first service at the new building next Sunday. This week every afternoon we have been busy down there cleaning and painting. It is always fun to paint in public as people always stop and watch. I must have been told 10 times that they have never seen a women painting before and that they didn't know women could paint :D. I had quite the crowd at one point! They whole church has been a huge help and it is great to see everyone working together. We still have a lot to do as well as moving all the chairs, podium, benches, over. I am looking forward to Sunday though.

Painting...

more painting...

Jake has been busy at HHCH getting lots of little projects finished up. The chicken coops are now plastered and all we need to put up is the run. He and Norbert (with the help of the older boys) made a cement bench for the kids to do their clothes washing on. Also he has put up 6 clothes lines pole and two bathrooms have been tiled.

Our first 50 chickens

We had to keep them in a small warm place for the first few days. They have a lot more room now and have about doubled in size already. They will be ready to eat in 4 weeks.

The chicken coops

The farm is doing great. You can see corn and beans growing in the back. The kids are doing a great job of looking after it and keeping it weed free.

New church building

2011-05-13T19:53:00.003+02:00

We had some very exciting news this week. As I have mentioned before, the church plant we are helping out with, CCB, is bursting out of its little walls (about 90 people). By the end of service on Sundays, there is usually no chairs left (a good problem, I know!). Well, Pastor Titus and Jake have been looking all over town for a good size meeting hall... we have found a few but rent is pretty high. A couple of months ago there was one that we were really interested in and then as we were negotiating someone else came and took it. We were pretty bummed as it was big, in a great location, and even had extra rooms for children's church. Well last week, the landlord called us and said that that deal fell through and asked if we were still interested. So we went and signed the contract today and it is a go! It is certainly a step of faith as rents will be more than triple of what we are paying now but we are believing as the church grows, so will the offering. It is really exciting to be moving into anther hall, we have had to delay outreach meetings simply because we didn't have space for new converts. I will get two rooms for Children's church, YES!! It really isn't easy teaching 12 year-olds with three-year-olds at the same time so now we can have two classes. The building also has an office for the pastor and a room for a student pastor to live in to keep an eye on the place. It does have a lot of work to be done, cleaning, painting, electrical things, etc., so the whole church will be busy for the next couple of weeks. We are hoping to be in by the 29th of this month. Praise the Lord!

The outside of the buildings... lots of parking space too.

Inside the building, it will comfortably seat 500

This weeks goings on...

2011-05-09T06:29:00.002+02:00

Happy Mother's day to all the mothers out there! The electric was off all day so I didn't think I would get to speak to my mum. Finally came back on a few hours ago so I could skype her. Nothing like having kids to appreciate your mum! Jake and the boys made me breakfast (breakfast burritos, yum!) and they boys made me cards and gave me M&Ms, what else could a mum want?

Staying pretty busy these last couple of weeks; homeschooling, kid's club, sunday school, church meetings, hanging out with the kids at HHCH, etc. But just four more weeks of home schooling and then onto summer school. I'm looking forward to it! We are also planning a week at the beach late June, REALLY looking forward to that!!

We now have 37 bunnies and 10 full grown rabbits at HHCH, what can I say, they're breeding like rabbits! We also now have 50 three week old chicks. The children's home farm is doing great; corn, soya beans, black beans, and groundnut are all sprouting up. It is exciting to see all these things taking off.

Some of our rabbits

The new chickens

The boys got hair cuts on Saturday, their hair was getting super long. Seth still didn't want to cut his hair but he was having trouble combing it!

Jude's first time at the barber

This a pig we slaughtered last week to make sausage. She was really sweet though and Brindie our dog really liked her.

Mother's Day today, we went out for lunch after church. A super nice day!

Our little clan!

Easter Weekend

2011-04-25T20:15:00.001+02:00

We had a full Easter weekend. We started off by having an Easter celebration at the children's home Saturday morning. First we did a cross craft then an egg hunt in the yard (with candy and coins inside). Next I taught an Easter lesson using the resurrection eggs, the kids really enjoyed them. Last, we showed the Jesus film for children. We were planning on showing it on the projector but when Jake open the projector up he realized the cords weren't there. So 30 of us gathered around the laptop but it was actually fine. We made a bunch of popcorn, roasted peanuts, and juice, so it was a lot of fun. It's wonderful to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with these precious children.

Then I headed to church for worship practice. We decided that Easter Sunday would be a celebration service, with mostly praise and worship with a short exultation at the end. I stayed at practice for three hours and finally headed home before we even started singing (3 hours of praying, choosing songs, writing them down, phew!).

Sunday service was really special, the praise and worship was great and really uplifting. It is amazing just to be in the presence of God. My fingers were aching by the end and I broke a string, but a really awesome time. Jake gave a short exaltation and did a fantastic job at preaching the gospel. He certainly didn't mince his words. Praise the Lord, one lady came forward for salvation and many come up for prayer. It was a wonderful service. Then we headed out with our good friends, the Dibbits for pizza. Not very traditional I know, but a special treat for us.

Making cross murals

beautiful Dorcus

Kingsley's cross

And the hunt begins...

Searching...

With their eggs

Sakina won some chocolate

Watching the Jesus Film

Our little Jordan all ready for church (I know, the purple shoes don't match but she doesn't have any black patent leather ones :-)

Our boys (a rare occurrence for them all to be so clean!)

Jordan and her buddy Miracle

Our kiddos before service

Sandrine update

2011-04-20T21:33:00.002+02:00

Praise the Lord, Sandrine will be back home tomorrow (and Pa of course)!! It's been just over fours weeks that Sandrine has been at the hospital and she's done incredibly well. Her legs have already started to straighten and she's gained a couple of inches in height because of it. I know the rest of the children at HHCH will be so happy to see her.

I did go and spend the weekend with Sandrine a couple of weeks back. She has a tiny little room with one single bed. I managed to set up the pack 'n play for Jordan so it was just Sandrine and I in the bed. It felt a bit like being in the village with pit toilets, authentic African food, and everyone being super friendly and not even bother to knock when they come into your room. My whole evening was full of visitors, chatting with those also staying at the hospital. One person had come from the extreme north just to be there and another from the capital city, Douala. It is amazing to think this place is only 30 minutes away from us. On Sunday, Sandrine and I just hung out, playing games, reading books, and going for walks. It was so nice to have some one on one time with her. I didn't see Jordan much as she just got taken away by everybody.

Some things did make my stomach turn though... it is also a home for mentally disabled children. I guess the families pay for them to be there and find a caretaker. A couple of young boys were close to our room, the caretakers were less than compassionate, even whacking them across the face when they wouldn't eat. At one point I went and tried to rub one of the boy's hair and he cowered away from me, so sad! I did get them to smile at me after a while. I know they are probably the fortunate ones to have a family that actually pays for them to have someone to look after them and not just left in a hut somewhere but it still was very hard to see. I also saw mothers making their children (with braces on) walk by hitting them with switches... arrrh it is so hard not to interfere in such cases. I know the mothers have the child's best interests at heart but it is hard to see the kids so upset.

On a happier note, Jordan is now walking... her clothes are staying a lot cleaner! We are also 7 weeks away from being done with the school. It has been a great home schooling year, 3rd and 5th grade next year... yikes!

Stormy weather

2011-04-19T18:55:00.001+02:00

Last night we had a major storm, it felt like we were in a hurricane for a few minutes. This often happens at the start of rainy season. It made us realize that we need to get our roof patched in a few places! Also my favorite pear tree snapped in half :(... we have 4 others but this one has the best tasting "pear" ever. Thankfully the bough fell away from the chicken coop and only knocked down a little bit of their fence. So the boys and I spend the afternoon chopping up the wood (for firewood) and collecting all the avocados. I think the tree will continue to grow, yay! Looks like we will be eating pear nonstop for the next couple of weeks. The children's home will get a bunch plus neighbours. I'm still trying to figure out if it's possible to can guacamole... any suggestions?

Car wash

2011-04-01T13:48:00.000+02:00

Well you know what they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery, so I should feel very flattered right now. A car wash in town just put up some new signs and they seem very similar to those of Helping Hands Car Wash that Jake runs (all profits go to the Children's Home)

Here is the one that Jake designed and I painted

And another one that Jake got made here...

And then here is the ones that the other car wash just put up...

They even stole our motto! Oh well, it must mean that we are doing a good job if they want to copy us so bad, right ?

Rabbit Farm

2011-03-30T15:59:00.000+02:00

HHCH was blessed with some extra money from a church in the States to start up a rabbit farm. This will add some extra protein into the diet of our children. Hopefully it will also add some more monies to their food budget through sales. Jake grew up raising and even showing rabbits (he won $300 for a rabbit once!) so he is really enjoying designing and making their cages. I must admit the rabbits look too cute to eat but the kids don't think so :D.

Norbert, Jake, and Tim hard at work

Cages with nesting boxes

We bought our rabbits from a Catholic farm where they raise rabbits, pigs, chickens etc. plus teach people about raising them. They have an amazing setup.

We have one more of these cages made now plus a few more rabbits. They are currently in the garage but will be moved outside once a lean-to has been built.

Four bunnies already! The mother rabbit pulls her fur out to make a nest. They are so cute!

Delanee Scone

2011-03-29T11:43:00.000+02:00

So I have mentioned Delanee Scone, an intern that has been staying with us for the last couple of months. She is from Satalite Beach, FL. She has a blog going too, check it out, it might be nice to see what is going on over here from another person perspective:

http://ready2impact.blogspot.com/

Lanee only has two weeks left here, I should have put this up sooner!

Front Wall Project

2011-03-28T22:00:00.000+02:00

This month the front wall of the new Helping Hands Children's Home location has had a face lift. Delanee (our intern) has been busy painting and putting the logo up on one section. She has also put a scripture with a mural on another. On Saturday we spent the morning with the kids, getting them to put their hand prints all around the logo. The kids had a blast and it looks fantastic. No one will be able to miss the orphanage now!

What it looked like when we moved in

After a layer of plaster and a lick of paint

Delanee hard at work

Just about done

And the fun begins...

Marvelous (in his Sponge Bob PJ's no less)!

Derek, Kingsley, Marvelous, and Noel

Getting their hands painted

We went through a lot of paint thinner

Jake was our step ladder

Our little Dorcas

Just about finished

Sandrine and other news

2011-03-27T18:24:00.001+02:00

Wow, it has been well over a month since I blogged last, where does the time go? So much has been going on, hmm, where to start? Well, we do have an intern staying with us, Delanee Scone, who will be here a total of 8 weeks. It is so nice having an extra pair of hands around and she has done some awesome artwork at the orphanage. All the kids love her and we will be sad to see her go home in a couple of weeks. We have also got a rabbit farm up and running at HHCH, plus a chicken coop built. The rains have come and the farm has been turned and ready for planting next week. I will post pictures of all this soon.

Much has been going on in the life of Sandrine too, she went for a consultation at a hospital that specializes in crooked limbs (only a 30 minute drive, amazing!). The doctors said her problem isn't serious and that her legs should straighten out just fine. They measured her for braces and then we took her back there last week. She will be at the hospital for about a month as she learns to walk with braces and has physical therapy every day. Pa is staying with her. The biggest issue was her fear of the hospital and doctors as it wasn't too pleasant for her last time when they dug 60 parasites out of her hands and feet.

We went to visit them yesterday, Sandrine ran out to meet us, she was so happy. We took Ma plus Bena and Dorcus, our two youngest, as Sandrine requested they come and visit her. She was so excited to see them and it was great to see her all smiles. It was a big relief to see her not upset or sad about being there. She had just got her braces that day, and is starting to wear them a few hours each day. Eventually she will be wearing them all day long. It is already pushing her foot forward which is great, but you can tell it is a lot of pressure for her. She can't walk independently with them yet but it won't be long. She does her exercises everyday with lots of other children that are in the same situation. Pa is doing great job of looking after her. I was hoping to take over next weekend to give him a little break but since I'm still nursing Jordan, I don't think it will be possible. I would have to do all the exercises with Sandrine which would be hard with a 9 month around. Pa said it's not a problem but hopefully we will get to give him a bit of a break somehow. Please keep Sandrine in your prayers, that her legs will straighten the way they are meant too and that the process won't be too painful for her. Once she can walk well in the braces she will come home. She could wear the braces for up to one year.

Inside their hospital room

Sandrine showing us her new braces and shoes (she is very excited about them)

My handsome boy

And Jordan chewing on the new braces...

Happy Sandrine

With her braces on, still big smiles! It's amazing to think how far she has come in such a short time.

Our wonderful Ma and Pa

Bena, Sandrine, and Dorcus (best buddies)

Want to Come to Cameroon?

2011-02-19T12:00:00.000+02:00

Are you interested in coming to Cameroon to see all that is going on over here? Well now is you chance! Win Our Nations is sending a team to Bamenda on July 5th to the 19th. The team will be building a toilet block at the orphanage plus spending some quality time with the children. They will also be doing evening outreaches in the town with a laser light show. These teams are always a great time of drawing closer to the Lord plus being a huge blessing to the people of this country. I seriously believe that all Christians should go on at least one missions trip so they can see how most of the rest of the world is living and to broaden their perspectives. The team costs $3389 which includes, all travel, lodging, food, and project money (it does not include, your passport, visa, shots, or spending money). I know this can sound like a lot of money but I have found that whatever God orders, He always pay for! It you sign up soon it would give you plenty of time to raise this money. The team will be leaving from Orlando, FL, so you would have to meet the team there. Families are welcome. Click on the website below to print out a brochure:

http://winournations.com/Win_Our_Nations/Cameroon_Team.html

Please feel free to share this in your church, or with friends and family. There is limited space so first come, first serve. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to email and ask me any questions (schilinskiclan@gmail.com) or call the WON office at 321-684-1062. Below are a few pictures from past teams to whet your spirit a bit :D

Jordan Connie

2011-02-10T16:13:00.001+02:00

Our little sunshine turned eight months yesterday. She's almost been out as long as she's been in! Jordan certainly brings so much joy to the whole family, she is just so precious. Here are a few things I've noticed so far that are different between baby boys and baby girls (beside the obvious one :D )

-Girls keep you a lot cleaner when you're changing their nappy, I haven't been peed on once! I swear Seth used to wait to go till I took his nappy off.

-Jordan is timid of our dogs, she'll hold onto me a little bit tighter when they walk by. The boys were trying to bite their ears off at this age.

-Jordan gets a diaper rash in about .01 of a second. I never struggled with this with my boys... her sskin is just ssooo ssensative!

-Much more talkative (already!)

-And something else I've never realized before; crawling isn't easy when your wearing a dress.

The rain is on its way!

2011-02-06T21:05:00.000+02:00

We had our first rain this week. It hasn't rained since November so it was very welcome. Granted, it was only a few drops, but it was still a blessing. The boys went crazy running around in the garden, hoping it was going to pour. You can see on our dusty grill how little precipitation it really was. But it has rained gently in the night a couple of times since, so the dust is down, praise the Lord! I also don't have to water my garden constantly, phew!

See what my wonderful husband found at a second hand shop in town... it is a heavy duty meat slicer! We really are becoming quite the butchers, with our industrial meat grinder and pig processing shenanigans. This slicer is a huge blessing though, as you can only buy ham in 5KG chunks here, so obviously we never buy it. But now we can, we'll just slice it, put it into pound packages and freeze; life just became a little bit easier. And yes, I am in my PJ's. Jake came back late after bible school with it so we had to clean it all up and try it out. We slaughter a pig next week so maybe we will slice some belly bacon.

Visiting the dentist

2011-01-30T23:15:00.000+02:00

I spent Friday morning at the dentist with 5 kids from HHCH plus Ma (and Jordan of course). Someone has paid for all the kids to go and get a cleaning and any other work that needs to be done, PTL! It was a first time for all the kids to go (besides Godwill, who had the cancer in his cheek). Sara had already taken 11 children last week. Hardly any of the kids owned a toothbrush before coming to the home, amazingly their teeth are pretty good (they've never had a lot of sugar). They have all been very brave and Sandrine was the only one that didn't want to open her mouth. Tim is taking the last batch tomorrow.

I have been running three times a week. It is going great and I am really enjoying it. It's nice to have a little alone time and give my lungs a work out. My stamina is a lot better already. I've also lost 7 lbs this month, 9 more and I will be back to my pre Jordan weight (yay!). When I go out early in the morning there is a lot of people out running, walking, and exercising. I love seeing the Cameroonian women in the shell suits and trainers with their african head wrappers on, awesome! I have decided that I am more like I horse than I would like to admit. If you've ever seen the movie, Sea Biscuit, he would only run fast if there was a horse for him to compete with. When someone is ahead of me I push myself a lot harder to catch up... nothing like a bit of healthy competition!

Next month we have an intern from Florida coming to stay with us. She'll be here for 2 months, we are really looking forward to it. Delanee will be working with the three little ones at HHCH in the morning and then helping out with Kids Club, library, tutoring, etc. in the afternoons. We praise the Lord for an extra pair of hands, we can sure use them! Some days I seriously wish there was more hours in a day.

Church and the New Year so far

2011-01-23T22:07:00.001+02:00

Church went really well today, we had over 50 people, the most so far. It's great to see the new church plant growing and becoming a family. Jake preached last week and 2 people got saved, praise the Lord. This week he taught in the evening service, Josh always goes with him (too late for the little ones so I stay home). It was really cool, Josh told me everything he learnt and even the scripture verse the lesson was from. He is really growing up. Josh is doing a personal devotion every morning too, he sure knows his bible! We're so proud of him. Next weekend we have a church outreach, Jake will be speaking on Friday night, please keep it in your prayers.

Church this morning

Some little girls at church

We just completed week 18 of school on Friday, that means we are exactly half way! So far, so good, we are all having a lot of fun and learning lots. Next week we start on a book about the World Wars, really looking forward to that one. Jude has just started playing some educational games on the computer, so that should help keep him a bit more occupied in the mornings.

It hasn't rained here for over 2 months now, everything is parched and dusty. I cannot keep my floor clean! My flower garden is looking kind of sad, I need a sprinkler system, my hose just isn't cutting it. We usually get some light rains at Christmas but not this past year. I am so ready for the raining season to come! It is super cold here in the mornings though, about 55 degrees. I would have my heating on in the States! We just bundle up and enjoy it, once the rains come it won't be so cool.

Jordan doing her eagle impression. She says "ahhhhg" and flaps her arms, too cute!

Happy New Year!!

2011-01-13T23:16:00.000+02:00

Happy New Year!! It has been over a month since my last post. On January 3rd I started getting back into a schedule and have been focusing on that before getting on the web. It seemed to take a bit, especially to get back into the swing of things for homeschooling after a three week Christmas break. But I think we are back into a rhythm again. I have also been running/exercising for an hour three times a week. I've been getting up at 5:30 to feed the baby and then get out of the door by 6. It has been a fight but I think I am finally winning! It does feel great to be working out again and finally getting rid of those baby pounds (you're so worth it though Jordan :). I have also been making sure I get personal devos in everyday and not skip when things get hectic. So the year is starting out great, praise the Lord.

Here are some photos from December. My folks were here for Christmas, it was so nice. We had a lovely time together (it had been almost two years!).

Our Seth turned 8 on December 20th. He wanted a rocket cake (phew, not too hard).

Seth was poorly for his birthday. We were planning on going to the nice hotel in town to go swimming but he just wasn't up to it. At least he was all better for Christmas.

It turned out pretty good. Notice the little blemish in the sky on the left side. I balanced it on cups in a cookie sheet full of water so the ants and roaches wouldn't get to it in the night. But that was no problem for the mouse that had a little nibble on the icing. Oh well, it still tasted good :D.

We found Seth a nice bike for his birthday. He can keep up with Josh now.

We had a great Christmas party at church, it was a lot of fun and three children asked Jesus into their hearts. It was our first children's outreach at the church.

Seth was a wise man and Jude was a shepherd (the other white boy is Noah, one of our missionary friends). I was amazed that Jude went up front as he is usually really shy.

Our little shepherd!

We have a tradition of giving our kids new PJs Christmas Eve. It's lovely for them to go to bed all cosy and feeling special.

Christmas morning around the tree (lots of presents from the grandparents!). We spent the morning at the Children's Home. We waited to open presents till we got back, the boys did so well not complaining, I'm very proud of them.

We cooked breakfast for all the kids and staff. We all had plenty to eat.

Aruna taking a mouthful

My parents bought the blow up penguin with them. The kids loved it!

All the children got a present and some new shades! It was a lovely morning.

We had our co-workers, the Borns, over for Christmas dinner. We also had another missionary family, the Hams. We all ate way too much!

We had a staff dinner at a nice hotel in town. It was great just to hang out and enjoy good food.

And of course I had to sneak one in of Jordan. She just turned 7 months and is crawling and is into everything! She is starting to pull herself up on furniture now. She is such a sweety!

Grasshoppers and airplanes

2010-12-04T12:26:00.000+02:00

Jordan can sit up now so I can bathe her in the sink (a lot more easier on my back!). She loved it even though I don't think she is going to fit in there for very long. I'll guess we'll upgrade to the big bath next.

It is mangwin (type of grasshopper) season here right now. They always come as dry season starts. People attach fluorescent lights to high poles with a sheet on metal behind them and a bucket underneath. At night the grasshoppers fly into the light, hit the metal, and fall into the bucket. Then for a reason I don't understand they can't get out. They are an expensive delicacy for $10 a bucket. They fly into the house ever so often and the boys have fun catching them. A couple of days ago I told Seth to take one out and he said he wanted to eat it (he eats them at his friends). So when our friend offered us some yesterday, Jake took a handful. I got my friend to cook them (I have no idea). They boil them first, them fry them. Jake and Seth enjoyed them but Josh and I were too chicken (the little eyes bug me!). I'm sure they are great protein though.

So the President still has not come to Bamenda. He was meant to be here this week but it is now postponed to the 9th. It makes life a little more complicated as there is a curfew at night and lots of police check points set up. I'll be glad when he has come and gone! They are going to do an air show when he is here and 3 jets and 3 helicopters have been flying over often. I remember Jake's Great Grandma telling me that when she was a girl the teacher used to let them out of the classroom if a plane was flying over so they could see it. Well, I'm doing that too, the boys go crazy over it! They usually never get to see planes flying over. Then when I was down at the meat market yesterday and the jets flew over and the whole place erupted, people were cheering, shouting, and dancing. It was like Cameroon had scored a goal in the world cup or something. It was cool to experience, enjoying the simpler things of life.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2010-11-29T21:52:00.001+02:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week. Our good friends, the Youngs, came up from Yaounde to visit for a few days. They are missionaries with Jaars/Wycliff, Darrel is a pilot. We've missed them a lot since moving to Bamenda so it was great to get some quality time to catch up (our kids had a blast seeing their kids too).

Thanksgiving Dinner with the Youngs. Also our good missionary friends the Dibbits were there (plus Simon). We all ate way too much!

We went for a picnic by a waterfall

Jake hiked to the top of the waterfall with the kids

The first term of Faith Bible College ends this week. We praise the Lord it has been a great semester. Registration starts this week for term two, please pray that we have good attendance; we are believing that we will see at least another 10 people join. We did hold a Pastor's breakfast to help promote it, it went very well.

Tim sharing at the Pastor's breakfast held at a restaurant in town

Also the last few weeks I have been busy painting my kitchen whenever I've had an evening free. We've been in this house over two years and the kitchen has been very neglected. It badly needed painting when we moved in! We also have started to make cabinets for it. We are making a section every month or so.

Sweeping the cobwebs down before painting the ceiling.

I chose a sunny yellow, it seems so bright in there now! And here is the first cabinet we made, Jake designed it. It is so nice not to have to bend down to get my plates and cups out anymore. And this is made out of solid Mahogany! I love living in Africa where this stuff is so easy to get.

I also celebrated my birthday last week, 31! It was a lot more easier than 30, that's for sure. One of my close missionary friends, Val Ham, made me a lovely cake and we all sat out in the garden and ate it so that was very special. I can't remember the last time I had a cake for my birthday.

Val with my cake, yum!

Jo Jo helping me to blow the candles out

And of course I had to get one in of our little Jordan, who is now practically crawling! She is just ready to go!

I'm still alive!

2010-11-07T19:57:00.001+02:00

I know it has been for-ev-er since I posted, as usual life has been crazy busy, but good busy. Here is a little update of the last few weeks. We finished week twelve of school on Friday, we are a third of the way through already even though it seems like we just got started! It is going really well though and I'm even a little ahead on my read-a-louds, a miracle! We have a miniature zoo in our schoolroom right now as we are studying bugs in science. There are caterpillars, crickets, grasshoppers, and earthworms in jars all over the place, a boy's paradise!

All is going well at the children's home, I will blog about it more in the next week or two, but there are some changes coming up this month (good changes). We received three big boxes in the mail from the church Jake grew up in, First Baptist Church of Clarinda, Iowa. They were full of shirts and shoes for the kids, what a huge blessing! Their VBS helped bring them all in, it is wonderful to see how the children's home is continually being blessed, God is good. All the children did great on their mid-term exams. We also might be getting another orphaned girl this month, please keep that in your prayers.

Sandrine continues to improve and is really zipping around with her walker now. She is such a sweetie!

The new church plant is growing, I already have two helpers with the children's church, they are doing awesome. I am starting to feel we are a team. It's great to be making so many more Cameroonian friends. I'm still helping with the praise and worship. Last week the leader called me on Saturday saying she wasn't well and if I could do it by myself. Praise the Lord is went well, even if my voice was almost gone at the end (there is no mic). The Lord is always stretching me (and I'm finally playing my guitar again)!

There is a little bit of unrest in the air right now. The President, Paul Biya, will be visiting Bamenda at the end of the month. He has only visited here one other time, in '88, so it has been a while! We are in the English zone and there is always turmoil between them and the French zone. There are many people that do not particularly like the president here. So there is a 8 o'clock curfew in town, and they are taking anyone out past that time to jail for the night (and making them register to vote for the next elections!). The Bible school is having to close a lot earlier. There are a lot more police and soldiers out and about, so we alway make sure we have our paperwork with us. Never a dull moment on the mission field!

My folks are defiantly coming for Christmas, can't wait! They will be here for almost three weeks so it will be great. Of course they will be spending all their time ohhhing and ahhhing over Jordan :D. Jordan will be five months next week. She already has two teeth and is the most adorable little girl in the whole world! I just couldn't love her anymore!

The three big boxes that came

Sakina and Tahirih in their new shoes and shirts

The kids looking very smart in their new clothes

Sandrine update

2010-10-18T23:33:00.000+02:00

Sandrine is doing so well and fitting right in at the Children's Home. She went to the hospital for a check-up this week. The doctor reexamined her feet (this time she wasn't screaming her head off). The doctor said that there is no reason why she shouldn't walk, we just need to keep stretching out those muscles. Tim managed to find her a small walker in town, such an answer to prayer! Sandrine has been using it and really getting around fast. As you can see from her knees in the photos she still likes to crawl but we are being pretty strict with Sandrine to use her walker when she is outside. It is wonderful to see her so happy and full of life. We have noticed that she likes to whack the other kids if they do something to upset her, or touch her when she doesn't want them too. I'm guessing she had to be pretty tough to look after herself in the village! So we are working with her to stop that. She is already picking up a lot of English and when I gave her a book from the library today she said thank you with no one prompting her. She's a quick learner!

Using the walker

Standing by herself

Taking a couple of steps by herself

Big smiles

Laughing at the dog that was running around :D

I have been spending Thursday afternoons up at HHCH to help any of the children with their homework. I have really been enjoying the time I spend with them, where we can just sit, chat, and laugh. I'm there on Monday's and Wednesday's afternoons too but I'm teaching Bible class, running the library, checking on the kitchen, etc. so I don't have a lot of time to just sit and chat with the kids (especially since Jordan was born).

Some things I saw at HHCH this week that made my heart happy. Ma returning from the market and Tahirih running up to meet her and giving her the biggest hug. Cidoni telling me that Helping Hand's is the best orphanage. All the kid's clapping and cheering as Sandrine walked around the table by herself.

Good News for Micah

2010-10-06T21:23:00.000+02:00

I don't know if you remember but back in May I posted about when we went and visited our missionary friends who live out in the village of Bafangi. They are bible translators there. I mentioned a little boy from that village, Micah, who had a cleft palette and could not talk. Well, our friends told us that he had his operation a couple of weeks ago and is doing really well. The hardest part was that he wasn't able to eat for about three days after the surgery, poor little thing! There is still a slight gap in his palette as there wasn't enough skin to close the hole completely but the doctors are hoping it will grow over by itself. So that is a big praise. Now Micah will have to learn to talk, please keep him in your prayers, thanks!

A morning at the dentist

2010-10-05T18:04:00.001+02:00

I spent all Friday morning at the dentist's. We actually have a wonderful dentist here, Florence. She was trained in England and is married to a Canadian missionary so she knows how to be a little more gentler with us wimpy westerners :D. I had a filling fall out about two months ago but I just haven't had time to get it taken care of. So when Kingsly at the Children's Home started complaining of toothache I decided to finally make time. I also took along Seth and Josh as the needed some things done too. My friend Joy also came so she could hold the baby while I was being worked on.

Florence found that I have three cavities besides the filling that fell out, yikes! She fixed two and will do the other two this week. For some reason she doesn't like the white filling and always goes on about how the metal ones are so much better and more durable. I literally had to argue with her to give me the white ones. She said, "Why does it matter, you already have a husband?" Too funny! Anyway I managed to convince her to give me the white fillings even though she was shaking her head at me (made me feel very vain). I did have to the nurse Jordan halfway through as she was screaming her head off. I felt wierd with cotton balls in my mouth and the little bib thing on :). Anyway Josh had to have a tooth removed as his permanent one was coming in on the side of it. Seth had two teeth removed as one was rotten and the other was in the way on his permanent tooth. And little Kingsly had two teeth removed too as they were in a bad state. Poor little Kingsly, it was his first time to visit a dentist but he was very brave and did great. And the damage for three hours of work of two fillings and a total of five teeth being removed; $100! Sometimes I love living in Africa (okay, all the time)!

Most of the kids at the children's home never brushed their teeth before coming to HHCH (but they also never had much sugar either). Their biggest problem is plaque. I talked with Florence and she is going to come out the orpahange next saturday to check all the kid's teeth and see who needs what done. Then we can work at getting them to the dentist in order of greatest need as funds come available.

A Good Week

2010-10-03T22:08:00.001+02:00

It’s been busy week, especially for Jake. Besides all he’s normal daily work, he has been at the Bible school Monday through Thursday, teaching the last night. Friday he taught at a Bible study at our house and today he preached at church in the morning and the evening! He’s amazing! Next week shouldn’t be quite so packed.

We celebrated our 11^th wedding anniversary on Saturday. A good friend looked after all 3 boys for us. In the afternoon we went looking around second hand/import shops in town, I haven’t done that forever! It’s hard to do with all the kids as you really have to rummage and then barter for everything but you can usually find some good deals. I found hair conditioner, non-stick cooking spray, and even Martha Stewart measuring spoons! We ate dinner at a new hotel in town that makes pizza! They were soooooo good, much better than my homemade ones that’s for sure! I had a curried chicken pizza with a fresh cream sauce (instead of tomato), sounds weird, I know, but amazing! Then we came home and watch Slumdog Millionaire, incrediable movie! So it was a great day. Hard to believe I have been married for 11 years already!

Sandrine, the little girl I mentioned a few weeks back is now at HHCH. She spent four days in the hospital where they removed 60 plus jiggers from her hands, feet, and knees. She is doing great. They first few days she was very weepy but she has really settled in now. Every time I go to HHCH she has the brightest smile on her face and gives me a great big hug, she is so precious. We are doing some stretches with her to help loosen up her legs. We are going to keep working on the muscles until she is walking, we’re believing it won’t be too long. Sandrine speaks no English but we do have four children who speak her language so that is a blessing. Before you know it she’ll be understanding and speaking English. Please keep her in your prayers!

Jake with Jordan before church this morning (awww!)

Sandrine and Jake

Sandrine's much improved hands but they still have some swelling

Her feet are looking a lot better too

Kool-aid and other stuff

2010-09-25T19:57:00.001+02:00

We use a sachet of kool-aid everyday as juice is expensive here, it's what we always have with lunch. I noticed we were getting pretty low the other day and though, hmm need to get someone to send me some more. Tom and Linda Maher came and stayed with us last weekend and with them they brought two packs off Kool-Aid (plus some other goodies)! Just little things like this always remind me how God is always providing for our every need (if you can call KA a need :D). I know this might seem really small and insignificant but it meant a lot to me, God is into the details!

Below are a few pictures of the last week or so. I desperately need to take more photos of Jordan, it's that fourth Child thing!

Seth with one of our puppies (who we have now sold)

Josh with a beetle he found in the backyard

Found this one under Josh's photos... should I be worried?

Jude reading to Jordan!

Josh's newest pet, Tripod the Chameleon. Josh found him when he was out in the village with Jake picking up Sandrine. He only has three legs but gets around really well. Jake spent the afternoon with the boys building a cage for him. It is amazing to watch him catch bugs with his tongue!

Faith Bible College

2010-09-17T12:58:00.001+02:00

Last night completed the second week of Faith Bible College. We have 8 people registered, we were hoping for at least 10, but 8 is still great! The school holds evening classes at an office space WON is renting in town. They have classes from 5-8pm, Monday through Thursday. Tim is teaching a class, we also have two local pastors teaching classes. Jake is teaching the Foundations class on Wednesday's night. He has been studying a lot lately, I love seeing my husband reading and studying the Word! It's also bringing up lots of Bible/theology questions and talk in our daily conversation, love it!

The first week was a little tough as there was no electric in the whole city. This week was a lot better as they had light and could use the projector. Next semester I will be teaching an elective on Children's Ministry, really looking forward to it.

Jake teaching (yes, it's cold here right now!)

Tim teaching by candle light

Home School

2010-09-11T15:53:00.001+02:00

For anyone interested, below is a list of the curriculum my boys are using this year. Josh is a lot more independent in 4th grade, and Seth can do much more by himself now that he is in 2nd. Teaching’s been a lot easier than last year so far (I know, I’m only in the third week). We start at 8am and we’re all done by 1pm (with a 20 minute break at 10). We do four days of regular school with Friday as our fun morning. We do art, PE, music, and usually some science project (more work for me but the boys love it).

This year we switched to A Beka Language arts as that’s not one of Sonlight’s strong points. The difference is AMAZING. The A Beka workbooks are great and Josh (my little math and science dude) is doing so much better already with creative writing and grammar. It was like pulling teeth to try and get him to write an interesting story or poem last year. Sonlight’s history is wonderful though, I think I enjoy it more than the kids. I never studied American history before so I’m learning along with them. Sonlight does have a LOT of reading (history books, plus read-alouds) but I cherish cuddling up on the couch and reading with the boys.

Jordan does great, I feed her right before school and then she’ll usually sleep most of the morning. Jude on the other hand is at the stage where he is wanting to be a part of everything so I am trying to come up with creative ways to keep him occupied so he’s not distracting the boys all morning (anyone know a good play doe recipe?). So here’s the list:

Grade 4:

Sonlight Core 4 history (American history part 2)

11 read-alouds

18 readers

Saxon math 5/4

Sequential Spellings (2)

A Beka Developing good health workbook

A Beka Understanding God’s world (science)

A Beka Languae arts (God’s gift of language A)

A Reason For Handwriting (D)
Word Study (E)

Wordly Wise 3000

Map skills for today workbook

Grade 2:

Sonlight Core 2 history (World history part 2)

15 read-alouds

21 readers

Saxon math 2

Sequential Spelling (1)

A Beka Health, Safety, and Manners

A Beka Enjoying God’s world (science)

A Beka Languae arts (2)

A Reason For Handwriting (B)

Word Study (B)

Explode the code 4, 5, and 6

Map skills for today workbook

Orphans in need

2010-09-02T18:08:00.002+02:00

Jake and Tim went to the village of Nwa with Tom Maher of Teen Missions. We have four orphaned children from that area, we saw such a need out there as there's so many orphans and children in desperate situations. Teen Missions is looking into the possibility of starting a rescue unit there, where they would help feed, cloth and school children in need (and of course preach the Gospel to them too). They had a great trip on some really bad roads (they even had to use the winch to pull up a car that had fallen down a hill). Praise the Lord for the Land Rover!

Truck that had got stuck

So if you have a queazy stomach you might not want to scroll down to the pictures below. On the way back they saw some kids walking down the road and noticed that one had bad looking feet. They stopped to talk with them and saw that they girl's feet were severely infested with chiggers (little parasite worms) and what also looks like fungus and infection. I don't know if you remember but we had two children that came to us like this (not quite as severe); they were from this same area. It is really just from neglect as chiggers are relatively easy to dig out. Anyway, they found out they're orphans living with their blind grandfather and grandmother. They don't know who their father is and their mother has abandoned them. It looks like they are being neglected. We're hoping to go there soon so we can talk with the family and find out if they want to keep them. Their aunt was with them who is actually a nurse! I don't know how she could not have done something about the poor girl's feet. We said we wouldn't be getting anymore orphans till we had our current children fully sponsored but this is a pretty extreme case; these kids have basically been abandoned and not cared for, so sad. Please join us in prayer for these precious children, that we can help them in some way, whether bringing them to the Children's Home or just getting her some medical care. We did leave them some money to go get medical help but who knows whether they'll use it for that.

So here is the older sister with her little sister (maybe six years old). She can not walk and she also has chiggers all on her knees as she crawls everywhere. They said that she is disabled, but we're not sure if this is because of the chiggers or not. That would explain why she has been so neglected as disabled people here are often treated like second class citizens.

From this picture is does look like her foot is a little deformed, not sure though.

This must be so painful, look how swollen her toes are. The kids that we have who had bad chiggers made a full recovery in a couple of months even though some of their nails are a little crimperly (if that is a word). There other younger sister was not with them.

Here is the grandfather's own child, who has a pop belly from malnutrition (not underfed though)... she was walking around with no clothes.

Full days!

2010-09-01T21:56:00.000+02:00

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth; just a lot going on right now. WON's Bible school starts next week so registration has been going on the last couple of weeks. All the kids at HHCH start school next week, been making sure that they have everything they need (shoes, backpacks, socks, etc.). Jake traveled out to a village today and will be back tomorrow. Our friends from Ghana left this past weekend, went for a hike with them their last day. Had a LOT of visitors (Linda Maher is here with me right now). The new church plant we are assisting with had it's first official service on Sunday with two days of meetings before (I was leading praise and worship). Praise the Lord, the church went great! I started Kid's Club and library time at HHCH again this week. Things should be slowing down a bit next week. We are in our second week of home schooling, it is going so well, the boys are a lot more independent now and I am actually managing to get laundry done in the morning plus homeschooling, wohoo! Anyway, I hope to post about all this things in a bit more detail soon, but no promises. I just praise the Lord for His love and goodness, He is always there for us. We had a great sermon on Sunday, the speaker was talking about how we're meant to be as little children to enter the kingdom of God. I have always though of this as being honest, loving, innocent. The preacher put it in another perspective I really liked, about how a child will always run to his Father in times of trouble, always trust his father a 100%, reaching his hands up to him, knowing that he can't do things by himself, great stuff! Ok, I need to go take a shower, feed the baby and get to bed.
Ohh I posted a cute video of Jordan on facebook, check it out at:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1495217535335&ref=mf

First Church Service

2010-08-22T23:01:00.001+02:00

Phew, it's been a crazy couple of weeks! So much to blog about, just need the time to do it! We had a great home school session with other missionary families and we start regular home schooling tomorrow morning! Yay, can't wait! My first read-aloud with Josh is William Wilberfore's biography, looking forward to that. Anyway, hopefully this week I'll be able to catch up on my blog all that has been going on (all good stuff!).

We had our first service this evening for Calvary Chapel Bamenda (a Full Gospel Church). It was kinda of a trial run before the big kickoff next weekend. Friday and Saturday we'll be holding outreach meetings in a hotel and then Sunday morning will be the official opening of the church, very exciting. Yesterday I was asked if I could lead praise and worship and was told that the pastor's wife would be there to sing with me, so I said no problem. When I got to church I found out it would just be me! Oh well, I think it went pretty well anyway, it always amazes me how the Lord opens up doors for me to sing and play guitar even though it is something I'm not great at. I guess He is continuing to stretch me and take me out of my comfort zone. I'll be helping out with the worship group for a while but my main focus at the church will be developing and training a strong Children's leadership team. Jake is in the church leadership, he led the service today and did a great job. Please keep this all in your prayers, we love seeing a church come together from the very start though of course it's not always easy. Praise the Lord there is a solid, dedicated leadership in place already!

Leading worship (our close missionary friends, the Dibbits, are in the front row)

Josh was our little picture taker, I think he must have taken at least 50!

Jake leading the service. The church is starting out in a house and we're believing we'll expand in the next few months.

2010-08-15T11:56:00.001+02:00

As promised, here are some photos of summer school at the Children's Home. It's going really well. Since all the older children are at Teen Missions (coming back on Thursday), there are only two classes right now. Main focus is reading, writing, and spelling.

This is Jeremiah, he and his wife run an A.C.E. school in Ghana (looking at the possibility of starting one in Cameroon too)

The older boy is Jackson who lives with Jeremiah's family in Ghana. He is 15, a very sweet young man.

The little girl is their daughter Hannah, who is three going on 30, she is so smart! Her and Jude have been having a lot of fun together. They also have a 5 month old boy, Jonathan.

The older girl is 15 year old Myriam who is from Ivory Coast but moved to Ghana to go to school there. She is a lovely girl and a great help. She is a whiz a pictionary (we've been playing that with them a lot)!

SCA (Homeschooling co-op) went well this week, the boys are having a lot of fun with all of their friends and learning lots. Jude and Jordan have been doing good too, but by the end of the afternoon I'm beat! I enjoyed sleeping in till 7:45 this morning, I really needed it! On Thursday it was "crazy hair day" so Jake had a blast styling the boys' hair. One more week of SCA and then we start regular homeschooling, really looking forward to it.

Needless to say, the Josh and Seth both have very short hair now :-D

School

2010-08-11T22:03:00.000+02:00

Just a quick post, SCA, the homeschooling co-op I'm a part of has started... so that will be keeping me busy for the next two weeks. There are six missionary families participating, with a total of 19 kids. It is a lot of fun, and the boys are having a blast. Will post some pics soon. It has been a challenge to have all four kids dressed, fed and out of the door by 7:30am but we are doing it, it's good to be getting back into a schedule again and it is making me go to bed early (always a good thing!).

Also summer school started at the Children's Home yesterday. They will have three weeks of teaching. Our missionary friends came all the way from Ghana to help out, such a blessing! Please pray that our kids will get a lot out of it these next few weeks. I'll be posting some pics of that too, probably this weekend.

In Douala

2010-08-06T21:59:00.000+02:00

Sitting in an air condition room at the Baptist Guest house in Douala, munching on Milka Chocolate, yum! My husband knows what makes me happy :D.

Yesterday we made it safe and sound to Yaounde. Our wheel did start smoking about half an hour into the 6 hour trip but after pulling over, letting it cool off and checking it out, all was OK... Jake thinks it must have been some oil on the brake pads as we had some work done on it a few days ago. So when we got to Yaounde, Jordan got her passport photos taken, then we headed straight to the air conditioned, diaper changing table equipped, American Embassy (it is seriously just like stepping into the US, they even had a movie playing and a kiddies play area). It took a good hour and half to get all the paperwork filed (registration of birth abroad, passport, social security number) but glad we've got it all done and out of the way. We spent the night with some close missionaries friends who have just returned from furlough. It was great to catch up and we stay up way too late talking and laughing. After a hearty breakfast we headed to Douala where we are right now. Lots of time in the car but the kids all did great.

We have a missionary family arriving today from Ghana who are going to be doing summer school at the orphanage for the month of August. There is no Cameroonian Embassy in Ghana so they couldn't get visas there. We went to immigration here and got them a letter saying they could get a visa on arrival. Well, Tim and Jake went to pick them up 7 hours ago and they are still not back from the airport! They are giving them hassle about the visa thing, so frustrating! But it looks like it is all going to work out and they should be here soon (they have two little kids, so no fun for them after flying then being stuck in a hot airport). Anyway, it is a huge blessing they are coming for the month.

Tomorrow afternoon Josh flies in... can't wait!! The guest house here has a pool so we'll spend the day in that till we need to head to the airport, so looking forward to a nice relaxing day and then getting to see my boy!