Sunday Hike

For our weekly hike we went to the Bali waterfall this last Sunday. It was a bit disappointing as it rained the whole time but still, it is just so extremely beautiful it was totally worth it. There is a huge cave behind the waterfall that we had a picnic in. We were all soaked but it was still a lot of fun. We're heading to another waterfall next week that Jake and the girls discovered when they went out to the village yesterday, the could see it from the road, we'll try to make our way to the bottom.

Home school is going great, we're into week three already. It is soooo nice to be ahead than trying to catch up all the time (as I was last year due to our trip to the States). Teaching First and Third grade is definitely more challenging than Second grade and Kindergarten though. I actually have to use the test keys now :-)

(Will post pic of waterfall once internet connection is better)

More Children

We joyfully received two more children into the Children's Home today, PTL! Aaron is a 13 year old boy with a Muslim background and Tahija (not sure of spelling yet) is a little girl of 8. They are both so precious, we're so happy to have them. Jake, Tim, Shanel, and Jenee (our interns) all went out to the village of Ndop to pick them up (two hour drive). The girls really enjoyed it, even though Shanel did mange to fall into the village squatty potty! Praise God for soap! On Friday they go out to another village (an 8 hour drive) to pick up 5 more orphans. So that will be another adventure I'm sure. Please pray for a safe trip.

Jenee with Tahija on the way home (Tahija got a bit car sick)

Aaron with Shanel, he is 13 but really small!

This is where Tahiji used to sleep with 4 other children

All the kids enjoying lunch together (wearing their Crowns from the previous Bible Class)

The village Squatties!

The bridge!

Sunday afternoon we drove out to see the road that collapsed and stopped everyone from getting into Bamenda. It seems it was one of the bridges, and it just fell away, they've built a road that now goes around it and they're busy constructing a new bridge (even working on a Sunday). On the way up there we saw lots of land slides too, seems like the ground is just too saturated and can't hold itself together anymore. Below is a picture of a landslide, it doesn't look very big in the photo but it's huge, it came across two roads and blocked them for a day or so too. 

Then more drama, we had a sand truck come to the orphanage today to deliver sand... He drove over the Septic tank (which isn't in use, PTL!) and the truck's front tire just smashed the whole covering of it in and fell in (see pic below). Not sure if the rain has something to do with this too as lots of cars and trucks have driven over this before... it took a bit to get the guy out. So we have another project to complete now :-)

Right now me and the boys have SCA session going on, it's a bit like a home schooling co-op where about 10 missionary families get together and have two weeks of school with the kids. It's always a lot of fun and a great time of fellowship. This session's theme: Spies, a big hit with all the boys :). I'm teaching music which is a lot of fun. This Friday we are wrapping up.

Road problems!!

Well praise God our two interns made it safe and sound to Bamenda. And in the nick of time too, a couple of days after they got here the road to Bamenda (about 30 minutes out) got washed out and is impassable (we’ve been having some serious rain to say the least). So now you can only get in and out of Bamenda via a bush road that is more like a path and you have to have 4 wheel drive to do so. So because of that no fuel trucks have been able to get into town, all the gas stations have shut down. You can still buy gas on the side of the road but it is now over $14 a gallon!! So needless to say we’re not driving much or taking taxis as prices have doubled. The road should (key work) be fixed by the weekend. So till then we’re just sitting tight :0).

There has also been a landslide at the top of the hill that leads into Bamenda, it covered two roads, knocked a few houses down and even killed a few people. One of our good friend’s house got completely flooded on the same day due to all the rain. Never a dull moment!

 

You'll never know what you'll see down town here :-). They over loaded this truck and then when it started to go up hill is tipped up. Glad I wasn't driving it!

Well, I start school with the boys on Monday, I'm really looking forward to it. It will be so nice to actually be starting on time and not having to catch up all year. We also have two interns coming from our home church next week. Jenee and Shanel are two young girls who have a huge interest in missions. They'll be staying with us for almost 3 months, helping out wherever needed. We'll get them to continue summer school at the orphanage and spend a lot of time with the kids. Also they'll be helping out at bible class and of course there is always lots of painting to do.

Our first Harvest!

Anna (our Ma at the children's home) harvested her first crop this week. We have quite a bit of farm land there and one of the first things we did when they moved in was give seed money (literally) to get this going. They harvested corn, beans, and potatoes, they'll be planting another crop as the rainy season still has a good 3 months left.

Some neighborhood kids snuck into this shot too :)

Also praise God someone gave the finances we needed to get the kitchen fixed up. We were able to get the countertops built and tiled. Also put a double sink in. Sara and I have been varnishing the ceiling this week (so much fun!) and we'll be painting the walls next week. It is going to be so nice!

A nice looking shiner!

Check out the black eye Jude got at Bible study on Friday when he fell on a chair. I was playing the guitar, leading worship, when it happened, and it didn't seem that bad at the time. Jake took him out as he was crying. When Jake came back in with him, the whole side of his face was swollen up. Poor little guy, it was pretty swollen for a day or two but doesn't seem to be bothering him now. He is actually doing better than Seth who had already had stitches at his age for falling on a drum (of all things). We do praise God for protecting Jude's little eye.

BTW, I win computer! I have finally successfully uploaded photos!!! Wuh ha ha

trial for pictures...

OK, I give up, I've been trying and trying to get pictures up on the blog, they just won't upload. So if any of you are on facebook, you can check out pictures of our summer holidays on my profile there (yes computer, you win!)

All is going well here (beside my computer difficulties :). We just sent the four oldest children from the Home to Teen Missions Cameroon for the summer. They will be there for five weeks, which include, 10 days of training at a "boot camp" where they learn dramas, singing, puppets, evangelism skills, have bible classes, etc. and even an obstacle course every morning at 5:30. It can be a tough ten days but really great too. Then the youth will go out to different villages for 3 weeks, evangelizing, ministering to people in various way (construction, sport, etc.). Then they come back all together for a week of debriefing which is very relaxed and have fun.

We're praying and believing that our kids will have a life changing experience, that they will really grow closer to the Lord these next few weeks and that this whole experience will improve their English and social skills... Please keep them in your prayers. During boot camp they have a rally each night with is a lot of fun (Jake is preaching there on Tuesday). So we're taking a few of the of kids from the Home each night so that they can see what their big brothers and sister are up too.

Summer Holidays!

We just got back from having 8 days away, our summer break. We had such a wonderful time, it sure flew by!

First we went to Limbe (6 hour drive) which is where we spent most of our internship in 2000. We got to visit with the family we stayed with, it was great to catch up. We also got to go the Zoo and botanical gardens there (where we saw monkeys in the trees). Limbe is right on the coast and very beautiful! The hotel we stayed at even had a pool, so the kids had a lot of fun.

Next we headed to Douala to say goodbye to some fellow missionaries who were heading back to the States after being here for 6 plus year. We got to have a nice meal with them before they left.

Then drove another 2 hours to Kribi for 5 days with the Borns (our co-workers) and another missionary family, the Dibbits. They have a 7 year old boy too, we're really close with them. We stayed at a little guest house that has a kitchen and is right on the ocean. It is about 5 miles before the town so there is hardly anyone else on the beach (there is a little fishing community). There is also lots of rocks with plenty to look at (anemones, crabs, snails...) and there is also a small river that flows into the ocean that the boys just love to play in. The guest house has a small Kayak that we used, I really enjoyed going up the river, seeing Hornbills, Herons, hearing monkeys and getting freaked out by every log thinking it was a crocodile :). We borrowed some boogie boards, so much fun! We all got a lovely tan! Praise God it didn't rain the whole time we were there (during rainy season no less). We also got to buy fresh fish right out of the dug out canoes as they come in from their morning catch, boy, nothing tastes better than fresh flounder! Hmmmm. All in all it was a great time of relaxing (which we really needed, been pretty busy lately), had great fellowship with our friends, and drew closer to the Lord with our quiet times with Him each day early on the beach. So we're already planning again for next year.... :)

PS. Pictures coming soon.... having serious internet problems and my husband's not around... I can't even view my blog as our server keeps blocking it for inappropriate contents??? No idea what is going on...