Les Chenilles

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One morning, a few weeks ago, we went outside and sat at our new picnic table. At that time, it was under a tree. It was a nice location since the tree provided shade against the tropical sun.

However, that morning we noticed a number of caterpillars (chenilles) all over the table. We brushed them off and sat down at the table. Then a caterpillar fell from the tree and landed near Eila.  Hrm. And these just weren’t any little caterpillars, these were large (2-3 inch) black ones with yellow spikes.

We started to move them into a bucket we had around. Remembering that I’ve seen similar caterpillars live in the open air markets here in Cameroon, I brought the few we had collected to the guard at our compound and asked if he would want them. “Well, yes, but there’d have to be more”, he said to us (in French) — but he would stop by at the end of his shift and pick up what we had.

So we went back and noticed that more had fallen from the tree above. We scooped those up into the bucket. Soon, every time we went by there were more caterpillars to be collected and by the end of the morning, we had quite a number writhing in the bottom of our bucket.

We ended up with more than this.

At the end of the day, the guard stopped by and we gave what we had in the bucket to the guard in a baggie.

The next day we asked him how they were , and he said they were very delicious. His son knew how to prepare them, and they are them with tomato, garlic, and lots and lots of piment (hot sauce).

We’re glad someone could use them.

 

 

Fall Photos

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We don’t have pictures of fall, because there’s no autumn here! However, here’s some pictures to show what we’ve been doing over the last few months:

Brian worked with this intern over the summer. He created a web-based database-driven application to manage inventory. Here he is after presenting his project at his university.

Shannon assisting some of her i-Delta students with their projects related to narrative discourse in our living room.

Brian, in his office, helping a friend with some English lessons over lunch break.

Eila spending some quality time on the soccer field with friends. (Not pictured: friends).

Playing Minecraft? One of the Josiah’s favorite activities.

Josiah caught this lizard. Fortunately he’s on a catch and release system.

Thaddeus planting a geranium in our yard that he grew from a seed in science class. It is thriving.

Josiah at the Nyong river where we attended a baptism of some of the students from Eila’s school.

Thaddeus baked a Swiss Man cookie over October break. He decorated it with raisins, walnuts, and peanuts.

Eila painting nails with her friend in our backyard on our new picnic table. She only got a little bit of paint on the table.

Teachers Needed!

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As you might already know, we need teachers in Cameroon.  For us and for nearly all the expatriate families that are serving in Cameroon, the schooling options are a huge part of how and why we are here.  This is true for those working with us in Bible translation, literacy and Scripture engagement as well for those from all sorts of different ministries – church planting, discipleship and mentoring, training of pastors and leaders, orphan care, youth outreach and so many others.  The ability for us to continue to work depends in a very large part on the ability of our kids to go to school.   For next year, the 2019-2020 school year, there are huge needs at nearly every level from administration and support to all varieties of ages/grades and subjects.  If you know any teachers who might like to make a difference in the world and who are interested in living in one of the best climates, let me know!

For The Greenhouse Learning Center (or Field Education System – FES), we need:
  • Preschool Teacher
  • Kindergarten teacher
  • Grade 1/2 teacher
  • Grade 3/4 teacher
For Rain Forest International School, we could use qualified teachers for 7th-12th grade in nearly every subject as well as an administrator!
What can you do?
1.  Pray
2.  Share the need.
Please like the FES Facebook page, and feel free to share it with others.
3. Come and teach!

Report on Wycliffe Bible Translators

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The September/October issue of Mission Frontiers focuses on the work that God is doing through Wycliffe Bible Translators.  Though the entire magazine is devoted to the topic, it only  highlights a few of the ways that God is at work drawing people to Himself.  You can read it here: http://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/archive/wycliffe-bible-translators1

And, I will add a quick story of how God is at work in Cameroon. This morning, I was  praying with five others : two were from Central African Republic, one American, one from Togo, and the last from Congo-Brazzaville.  Each of us shared something that God has taught us this week and we prayed together.  We prayed for the studies that they are doing and for their families back in their respective homes.  We prayed for the work that they will go back to and the impact that it could have.  All six of us are all involved in different aspects of Bible translation, usage, or literacy. Yet,  I am becoming more and more convinced that some of the most important work we do is praying and then walking forward in the next thing God has for us.  It might not seem like much, but I know that it makes a huge difference in innumerable lives.  And, you can join in this work too.  Please take a moment and pray for iDELTA and for Cameroon. Here are some suggested prayer topics.

Bayam Sellam

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There’s a Cameroonian at the place where I work who used to work in the Computer Department. We grab lunch with every now and then. It’s nice to have someone else to connect with and he teaches me about Cameroonian culture and I get some additional French practice.

A few weeks ago, he asked me to help him improve his English — so we’ve been working through a little English learning book. In this book is a story about a market. We talked about the story and he would ask me what certain words meant. One that was confusing to him was  “hawker”.

“What’s a hawker?” he asked (we had this conversation in French)

“Someone who sells in a market and calls out to you ‘Come! I have things here’.”

“Oh! Like a buy-em sell-em”.

Then I had to stop him and ask him about these “Buy-em Sell-ems”.

He said, “They are the ladies who sit by the site of the road and lay out a mat with their goods. A buy-em sell-em”.

It turns out the French word here in Cameroon is “les Bayam-Sellam”.

A couple days later Shannon was reading a news site and found that word “les Bayam-Sellam”. She didn’t understand what it was referring to until she read it phonetically.

Verbs and Death

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Verb Workshop

Shannon recently returned from another trip to the village where she helped with a verb workshop.  In Bantu languages, generally, verbs are known to be able to add suffixes or prefixes or even infixes for different tenses as well as for many other uses.  So, this verb workshop was an attempt to start the process of learning how verbs act and how they can change in this language.  We were able to learn a lot through the participatory workshop and the participants seemed to really grasp the richness and diversity of their language.  It was a productive workshop that also had to be very efficient, as it was cut short by one day due to the funeral of one of the main leaders of the community.  This sad situation was also an occasion for learning, as Shannon attended the wake and burial service.

Final preparations underway, the display and reception area are set up.

Grieving is  often a deeply personal experience in American culture, but in Cameroon, the entire community wails and weeps together.  They stay up throughout the night together; sitting, talking, and even dancing and music are prominent among the activities.  Of course, there is a lot of food too.

Singing and weeping and comforting each other

Laid to rest

I was really struck by the normalcy and injustice of death throughout this trip.  Death is both so wrong, especially when it takes a young person and so normal, in that everyone experiences it.  I appreciated the expressions of grief and the community striving together to make sense of what doesn’t make sense.  And even more, I’m grateful for the eternal life and hope that belong to all who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and the chance to share that hope with others.

I Corinthians 15:50-57 NIV

50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

One Year

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We arrived in Cameroon just over one year ago.  In this time, we have learned so much and yet understand so little about our new home.

We welcomed a new family, arriving from French language study in Albertville, on their first day in Yaoundé and our one year anniversary.  What a gift to be able to see the difference that a year can make! The overwhelming sense of “how do I…?” especially with regard to feeding our family is gone, but a desire for deep(er) connections lingers.

New schools and new friends

Mixing new and old – studying or watching videos??

Potluck, Cameroonian style, with baton de manioc, chicken, fish, salads, and plantains

Seeing some of the natural beauty and learning from others about it

Joining the expat/missions community and playing lots of sports

Singing and dancing with our Cameroonian family

Re-learning old skills in a new context takes time… Driving in Yaounde is not for the timid.

My mom always said that you need two years for really getting to know someone, and I would argue that is likely true for a place as well.  In our first year, we have just scratched the surface.  In this coming year, maybe we will learn about some of the hidden treasures and see a bit more of what we couldn’t see before.

Teachers Needed!

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Calling all educators! Wycliffe Bible Translators is in need of 200 teachers and administrators in the next one to two years so that the work of Bible translation can move forward in many countries. These overseas missionaries will need a team of​ ​prayer and financial partners​ ​as they fulfill t​​​heir Wycliffe role.
If you’d like to learn more about the work and needs, please join us for our Explore Wycliffe: Live webinar on Sunday, July 22, from 7-8 p.m. ET.  Ask us for the Zoom URL to join the meeting.
To learn more about the event, contact ​Daysi Russell, associate director of recruitment leads, at daysi_russell at wycliffe dot org. Please invite other educators!

Family Fun

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We just got back to Cameroon after a wonderful (and exhausting) couple of weeks visiting family and friends in North America.  We had such an amazing trip and wish we could’ve seen more of our family and friends and enjoyed even more time together.  Though saying goodbye again was difficult, we are glad to be back to our other home in Yaounde and to the work that brought us all this way.

Shannon’s grandma, mom, sister, niece, and Eila enjoyed their pedicures.

Playing with cousins and their new puppy, Luna

Serious game playing with cousins, aunt, uncles, grandma and great-grandma on the Yee side

Janes family fun on Lake Huron

So much food, so good.

The boys enjoyed their buddies

Brian’s mom beat us all in putt putt

Brian’s sister and family welcomed us with open arms.

Eila was thrilled to spend time with two lifelong friends.

Branch News

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Sometimes, we might talk about the branch or how things are at our branch, which basically is what we call our local expression of our missions organization.  We are so glad to be part of the Cameroon branch, which is one of the largest (local branches) in the world.  The great international schools that the kids attend is just one of the many perks.

Missiological Reflection

Brian led worship several times during the branch gatherings.

Every year, there is also Branch Conference.  Some of the highlights included times of prayer following reports about work going on throughout the Central African Region and the sharing from one of our ministry partners, Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ Cameroon).  It was so encouraging to hear about the collaboration of these two organizations as well as local churches and the impact that together we are having.  For example, each visitor to the  Prime Minister’s office is questioned about their mother tongue and then offered a download of either the Jesus Film or the Bible in that language, if available, and because they are with this high government official, they accept and use it (whether want it or not.) This is the influence of reaching those in positions of power and of the body of Christ working together.

The bigger your headdress, the more important you are. Shannon is with the new General Director and the out-going branch governing board chairperson; both are good friends.

It was a packed room for the formal ceremony with lots of media coverage.

This year the week-long Branch Conference concluded with the installation of a new General Director.  For the first time ever, our branch director is a woman.  Somehow, I (Shannon) ended up on the organizing committee for the big public relations event for the transition of the directorship.  That means that we planned and pulled off the official ceremony with all the government, university and ministry representatives and partners here in Cameroon along with the party that followed.  I learned so much about protocol and culture from the planning and from the event itself, and praise God, it was a huge success.  The best part was seeing so many people work together to pull this off and to see God answer so many prayers so specifically and clearly.  Just one of those answered prayers related to the weather, where a torrential storm passed by and not a drop of rain or gust of wind blew where we were despite flooding and damage all around us.

These two amazing ladies welcomed me to the team and taught me so much in the process.