As we look ahead at the coming year, we are wondering what God will do to advance His Kingdom around the world. Maybe you are too. This month, our teens had final exams and started the second semester of the school year. In August, all three of our children plan to attend the same school, Rain Forest International School. RFIS provides a quality 7th-12th grade education that aims to prepare students for the next stage of life, for many that includes attending universities in America, Canada, or Europe. The school serves missionary families as well as Cameroonian students.

Brian is the current chairperson of the RFIS Board, and it has become increasingly clear that the situation at the school is dire. Due to retirements and other factors, approximately 75% of the current teaching staff will be gone in three years. RFIS desperately needs new teachers and staff to join now. It takes time to apply to a sending agency, to build a team of prayer and financial partners, and to prepare for life in Cameroon. We need people to begin this journey now or in the very near future.

This is why we need you. RFIS is looking for people with a passion to transform lives who possess specific skills and abilities. Secondary teachers in every discipline (including math, science, English, history, art, music, drama, computers, etc.), a finance manager, a librarian, an IT network specialist, a student counselor, an academic counselor, learning support and ELL specialists, and a director of facilities and technical services are all desperately needed. Do you have any of these skills? Please ask God if he wants you to join His work at RFIS. Do you know someone who has one of these skills? Please talk to them about RFIS or share this post with them. And, if you know of elementary teachers or librarians who would like to serve missionary families in Cameroon, please let us know. There are also needs at the Greenhouse for first and second grade, music, art, and PE teachers. Comment for more info or visit rfis.org.

We are trusting God to provide for our children’s educational needs and help us continue to provide IT support for Bible translation and linguistics training and research for minority language groups in Cameroon. Interestingly, God’s plans have always involved God’s people joining him in His work.

What are you trusting God for in 2021? How will you join in God’s work this year?

Recently, Wycliffe Bible Translators celebrated the dedication of some new translations of the Bible that were published this year. You can see and celebrate too by visiting: wycliffe.org/celebrate.

In the past six weeks, we have had a lot of transition and are now settling back in to our other home. We hope these photos will give you a clearer picture of where we are.

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Sometimes it seems like you can do the same work from a distance. We’ve all been trying it. It appears to be working. We are getting things done and work is moving forward, in all sorts of ways. This is wonderful and a new normal for us all.

Yet, when you are able to be back doing the work in person again, things are different. For me, I am able to see, appreciate, and find missing parts and pieces that I didn’t realize were even missing from a distance.

This is a little bit what it was like when I went to church in person for the first time after the lockdown. Even though we were spread out and wearing masks, I hadn’t realized what a difference being together made, singing and listening, in the same space.

It is also a bit of what I’ve been experiencing as we are returning to Yaoundé and our work, in person. The reality of the various crisis situations around the country is much harder and more bleak than what I could hear or see from a distance. There are pieces of my life that are being revived, and I hadn’t even realized they had been dormant. I am able to see and appreciate things up close that I wasn’t able to from a distance.

From a distance, sometimes what seems to be is only part of the picture in reality.

Revelation 7:9 gives a picture of heaven and hope for all people:

“After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb” (NLT)

Everyone wants things that last. People don’t want temporary.

When we first arrived back in the USA the idea of temporary was constantly on my mind. I found myself saying “we don’t need that” to many things. We can get by without because we’ll just need to get rid of it soon.

Even our home is temporary. And tonight is the last time we’ll sleep in our rental house. The temporary is gone, its end is here.

And what begins now is just a new temporary.

We trade one for another.

Unlike some people who live overseas, we never live there permanently. We aren’t there to settle for generations. We aim to live fully in our host country, but the reality of our situation is that we can’t stay forever.

It’s through this lack of complete permanence that we know change is always coming.

When our plane lands and we unpack our bags another countdown clock will begin. Sometimes we know when that clock will reach zero, and sometimes we don’t. But it’s always ticking.

We want to believe we have permanence, but we’re all just aliens and strangers in this world. But one day we will find something permanent.

For a lighthearted update and a little fun… a Christmas poem for our friends and family to enjoy!

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house
The children were sleeping and so was my spouse.
So, I pause to think of Jesus and the gift God gave,
And I want you to know it is Him that you crave.
Our family has had another year of transitions,
Which makes it more special to share in traditions,
Like going to the lake at Au Gres with our cousins
And camping at Hocking Hills, walking miles by the dozens.
We loved the early big snow and beautiful colors this fall,
But enjoying time with our family and friends is the best of all!
We are so glad to share the holidays with extended family:
Making cookies, playing games and maintaining our sanity.
The first half of this year we were still living in Cameroon,
Dancing and singing to a slightly different tune.
At the end of the school year, we’ll return to Yaounde;
It’s become our other home, where we work as well as play.
Both in Africa and the US, Brian plays soccer to stay fit;
Of course, so do the kids, but I (Shannon) run a little bit.
I’m working on my MA in Linguistics at Wayne State.
Brian’s able to do a lot of work remotely, which is great.
Josiah is now a hungry 13-year-old middle schooler.
Thaddeus is having fun in 5th grade, everyday a whole lot cooler.
Joe’s grown taller than Eila, of which he is proud.
And both boys play as much Minecraft as they’re allowed.
We can hardly believe that Eila, our daughter,
Is now attending her parents’’s high school alma mater.
After trying cheerleading, she’s back competing in gymnastics,
Even all the time on TikTok and K-pop don’t hurt her scholastics!
Now, we hope that this winter in Michigan we won’t freeze
And we hope that you have enjoyed this update from the Yees.
May you experience God’s love for you in a new way this year!
Our one extra wish is truly warm and sincere:
Merry Christmas to you and a Happy New Year!

I have been reminded many times lately of how all Christians are working for the same thing and have been for a really long time. Even going back to the apostles. Not too long ago, I read a post about the need for missionary care which mentioned how Paul thanked the Philippians for their partnership, specific their support through: “encouragement, prayer, logistics, communication, finance and reentry… And every missionary today needs care in those six areas.” (Neal Pirolo Interview)

It is so true. Everyone needs care. Missionaries might have a few particular areas of need that differ from others. Yet, if we are partners in living out and sharing the good news about Jesus, then we can and should care for one another. The practical ways that we care are evidence of our love and therefore part of our witness.

Like Paul, I am so grateful for the partners we have all over the world. One of our partners in the Gospel is a national linguistics worker who is now working to find financial partners to help cover expenses for his family and also for the work of several language programs in an area of Cameroon where, as foreigners, we cannot currently work. If you’d like to give financially or want to know more about how to partner with this other missionary, please let me know.

We are grateful recipients of lots of care and hopefully also generous givers of similar care.