Baptisms.... African Style!

We had a wonderful afternoon as Josh and Seth plus 19 people from the Children's Home were baptized. Our church announced two weeks ago they would be doing baptisms so we asked the boys if they would like to make that step. We also talked to the older kids at HHCH and some of the staff that hadn't been baptized yet. Josh and Seth were very excited to be get baptized as were most of the kids at HHCH. It was a bit of a challenge for some that had grown up in more traditional churches and had always heard about baptism as more of something one has to earn than just do. Some of the staff had some pressure from their families not to do it as they weren't being baptized in the church they had grown up in. We decided to have a bible study at our house yesterday to make sure that everyone understood exactly what baptism is and isn't. I had a lot of fun teaching it and answering some interesting questions... I think a lot of them were shocked when it was pointed out that in Acts everyone was baptized as soon as they were saved. Praise the Lord at the end when I took down everyones name to give to the pastor, they all signed up, very exciting! I love it when the Word of God breaks down the traditions of man. So here are a few pics of the day:

Bible study yesterday

This is the area where most Full Gospel churches baptize. It is a small stream that they dam up to make a baptismal. It certainly isn't the cleanest stream I have ever seen but we did pray over it before we started :D.We had a lovely time of singing before the baptism started.

Quite a bit of rubbish scattered around

Seth and Pastor Titus (no idea what is floating in the water)

Big smile, we are so proud!!

Josh's turn

Yay!

Mirander going under. I must admit I had some tears in my eyes as I saw our HHCH kids being baptized. It is so amazing to see the joy on their faces.

Norbert, we have seen him mature in the Lord so much this last year.

Our wonderful pastor, Titus

Two weeks of fun schooling

The start of February marked the beginning of Sonlight Christian Academy (SCA), a missionary co-op that we're a part of. The theme this year was occupations.  The kids enjoyed visiting a printing shop, bakery, and radio station plus having talks from a vet, and property managers to name a few. The boys, as always, had a great time hanging out with their friends and having someone else other than mum teaching them. I always enjoy it too as it is a great time of fellowship with friends that we don't get to see very often and I get to teach kids that aren't mine ;). It is such a blessing that this happens only 10 minutes away from our house, some missionaries have to travel two days to get to it. 

Right now I have the organizer of SCA, Elsie, teaching the boys for two weeks (all part of the academy). It has been so nice, I have got an awful lot done in the last week; laundry baskets are empty and I don't have piles of folded clothes stacked on my night stand, can't remember the last time that happened! I've spent some time out in the garden too, heaven! I am looking forward to getting back into normal routine next week though, 12 weeks of school left... then we hit the road.

Some photos of the highlights:

At the printing press

At the bakery... I love the tennis shoes sitting on top of the baking sheets (we buy bread from here all the time :)

The finished project, sure is good!

An afternoon with Pilot Eric of Jaars

Pretty cool!

Seth learning what physical therapist do

Jude's B-day celebration

Jordan had a lot of fun in preschool with her buddies

My little class, I enjoyed teahing them math and language arts

Swimming lessons in the afternoons (with some fun time as well)

Teaching survival skills

One of my favorite activities of the weeks, "mother's tea." A time where all the mums come together, share, encourage and pray (oh and eat too). 

Occupation themed closing program photos: Seth was a butcher, Josh a footballer, Jude a cowboy, Jake a missionary explorer, and I was a baker (we just needed a candle stick maker)

I have totally been neglecting my poor blog, I know. It's late but I just wanted to get something up, so I won't ramble on too much. We just finished two weeks of Sonlight Christian Academy, a missionary home schooling co-op we're a part off. It is always a blast but also a lot of extra work. It is never easy to get 4 kids out of the door at 7:30 in the morning and to have the little one's schedules all mixed up. This time it was extra busy as WON just opened a second car wash the same week (I'll blog about that soon). Jake was out the door at 6am so I lost my helpmate. But praise the Lord it all worked out well and the boys learned a lot and enjoyed hanging out with friends. I had a lot of fun teaching math and language arts to the k thorough 2nd graders. I had a MASSIVE amount of fun going to the pool everyday and teaching the dolphin class breast stroke, front crawl, etc. I got a lovely tan! I will post pictures of the two weeks soon. 


Something else that has happen in the last two weeks is that the rains have come. After a long, dry, three months, they are a welcomed changed! I have been amazed at how our parched, dusty, brown lawn and plot has been transformed into a lush, green garden in such a short time! The Lord quicken to me the verse in Isaiah 58:11, "And the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places. And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail." So thankful that in the dry and difficult times, the Lord is there continually refreshing me. It is visual reminder to be in His Word, prayer, and meditation to stay fresh and living!

Day with Jordan and random rambling

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! 

We're back!

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

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)!!

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

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. 

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!

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 then of course, yesterday was Thanksgiving. On my birthday I slept in, had breakfast in bed, and was surprised with homemade cards and wonderful gifts from my boys. We had fun celebrating Thanksgiving yesterday 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 to Thanksgiving dinner at some Staff’s house. That is where I had my first taste of a cheese log (and have been addicted ever since) and watched my first American football game. I really love Thanksgiving, it is probably the American thing that I have embraced the most (besides my husband :D). We had a get together at our house on Thursday with two other missionary families: our good friends the Dibbits, and another family that just moved to Cameroon, the Waites. Unfortunately the Waites were having some truck issues so Mark was running around trying to get it fixed and missed eating the meal with us but it was still a great time with good fellowship and way too much food! Then we had some more friends show up and had 12 kids running 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 be thankful for, the Lord just continues to be so good to me. I notice that whenever I get stressed or disappointed, it’s when I’m focusing on myself and not 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 failures and selfishness. My Rock, my Refuge!

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

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

Seth, my little funny guy, always makes me laugh. Has such compassion 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 quite times 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 so generous with and those cheeky little smiles

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

Our generator and water tower that keep us going through the frequent 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