Sabga/Bamenda Post

We have had a great week doing a variety of things here in Cameroon.  I decided to update the blog during the big rain storm that moved through Sabga while we all were working outside.  Many people are working here at the Needhams everyday to get their property ready for the missionary family camp on Monday.  Missionaries from all over Cameroon will be coming in for preaching and fellowship.  Please pray for that week. 

 

We had an interesting day in the capital of our Northwest province yesterday.  I won’t go into all the details but the police decided to round up as many parking offenders as they could find and that included us.  My documents were taken, and we were told to go to the station.  Thankfully we had one of our Cameroonian friends with us, but we still had to wait at the station for several hours before we could pay the “fine” and leave.   We were able to get out of there before dark.  Our friend, Genesis, said he had never seen anything like that before.  We have appreciated Genesis’ help the last several days in navigating the streets, markets, and government systems to get our new documents.  We still have a lot of things left to do, but we have made some good progress. 

 

Elena is busy skinning her knees, legs, and arms as she continues to play hard inside and out.  She loves the cats, dogs, cows, and especially the roosters when they talk to her.  She is getting better at greeting people who ask her to greet them.  Elias just puts on a big grin and goes to them all.  Abby is busy helping Kathy Needham with preparations for family camp plus feeding those of us staying here at the house. 

 

We just came down to the Yeiters house to see our two new puppies.  The Loeschers saved two for us and two for the Yeiters.  One is chocolate and the other is a dark brown.  Elena and Elias are very excited. 

 

There is lots more to say, but we hope you enjoy a few pictures. 

 

Have a wonderful week! 

Cameroon Pictures

We have enjoyed our first week in Cameroon.  Here are some pictures of what we have been doing.  

 

The pictures of the palm trees and mountain is in Ndop (Bamunka) where we are looking for a house.  The Bible study is across the road from this picture. 

 

The Needham girls started a fire and we had smores one night last week. 

Safe Arrival in Cameroon!

Greetings to all from Sabga, Cameroon! Thank you for praying us to West Africa! We have had a long three day journey to get here, but praise the Lord we all made it with all of our luggage. We had a few unexpected obstacles with United Airlines to overcome before leaving the states, but we are thankful that the Lord worked out the details. Both of our parents helped us the night before in Elgin and then helped us at the airport in order to see us safely off to Africa. Thanks Dads and Moms and Emily!

The flight from Chicago to Washington D.C. was great, and we had a whole row of seats in a large airplane. When we boarded our plane to Zurich, Switzerland the flight was full and the space was smaller. The Zurich airport was very beautiful, and the Swiss Alps made for a beautiful background after a long flight. There was a large nursery/play area and we all enjoyed resting and playing there!

The flight to Cameroon was great and we enjoyed seeing a plane full of friendly Cameroonians. We met a missionary surgeon and his wife on the plane who were a help with some of our belongings while we got Elena and Elias situated. It was a long series of flights but we are thankful for the safe trip. Matt and Susan Yeiter met us at the airport in Cameroon …they are with Baptist World Mission serving in Bamenda, which is the largest city in our province. We spent the night in a beautiful mission house in the capital of Cameroon. When we walked in the house Elena kept saying, “I’m scared of that man…I want to go outside.” We couldn’t figure out what she meant but then we realized it was that little African man carved out of wood seen in the picture below. It was about her height and the first thing that greeted her as she walked in L We ate a great meal with the missionary couple and spent a very comfortable night under the mosquito nets.

The trip up to Sabga took a good part of the day. We enjoyed the time spent with Matt and Susan and seeing the familiar villages along the way. Two of the highlights of the drive were the Cameroon porta-potty in the capital (on the motorcycle) and Elias smiling out the window in Bamenda with all the moto-taxi drivers laughing and waving to him as we drove by. As we got closer to the Northwest the mountains began appearing in the background and eventually the temperatures began to cool down. We enjoyed a good spaghetti dinner with Kathy, April, and Anna Needham. Please pray for Tom, Barb, and Daniel Needham as Daniel continues to recover from surgery in Denver, Colorado.

It is wonderful to have arrived at our destination. Thank you for your prayers and support in allowing us to come serve the Lord in Cameroon.

Last week

We just finished packing our U-Haul to take to South Carolina where our things will be packed on a container.  Thanks for so much help from the both Burtt families and several friends from AABC.  I wish I had more pictures.   I am leaving on Saturday morning for SC and Abby is taking Elena and Elias to Illinois to see my family.  My sister Emily flew in to help Abby with the kids on the way to IL.  This has been a packed few days.  We are still planning to leave for Cameroon from Chicago next Saturday. 

This week

We hope you all had a wonderful Sunday remembering the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We were able to enjoy the day at church with Abby’s family in Ann Arbor.  They are having a send-off service for us this coming Wednesday as well. 

Please pray for all of our packing to be finished by Friday.  I will be taking a U-haul down to South Carolina to drop off for the container.  Other missionaries are sending things on our container as well.  We need the Lord’s grace and strength for each day. 

Lord willing I will be at a supporting church in SC on Sunday and will fly to Illinois to meet Abby at my parent’s house to spend a day or two with them.  Abby will be driving to Illinois with Elena and Elias.  Please pray for them as well.   We still plan to leave for Cameroon from Chicago on April 25^th. 

Ordination service & Cameroon departure

Thank you for praying for my ordination service. We had a wonderful day with family and friends as well as the preachers who asked all the questions! It really was an encouraging day. Please see the following blog for pictures of the day: www.sandfam07.blogspot.com

We are printing and sending out a prayer letter today, so look for that to arrive soon with all the latest prayer requests and answers to prayer.

P.S. This is opening week of baseball and if you live in the Midwest you probably know it always snows here during this week. Ypsilanti is snow-covered and cold right now. The Cubs won yesterday…why do we torture ourselves with following the Cubs anyway?!

Growing up fast

We have lots of boxes around the house right now, including some to play in!

Elena and Aunt Mary with play-doh
Elena arranging pictures while daddy was baby-sitting tonight
Elias officially got the hang of crawling today! Life will not be the same now. He constantly goes after objects of interest out of his reach determined to get them. You may notice Elena in the background. She was not happy to see her "buddy" going after one of her belongings. She is still learning the concept of sharing. We have been having great times as our little ones grow! Thank you for praying for us as we take care of the details of getting to Cameroon by next month.

March Madness!

Praise the Lord for a great February. Our meetings in Minnesota went well and we picked up a new supporting church there. We attended two Bible conferences in Minnesota and Wisconsin, which were a great blessing to our family. We purchased our airline tickets to Cameroon for the last week in April! We sent in our visa applications and got on the schedule to ship a container. We are sorting and packing a lot of things this month. Thanks for your prayers. May the Lord bless each of you as you serve Him.

Abby, Elena, and Elias went to visit Tina and Stephen at Camp Joy during the Holiness Conference.
Elena about ready to fall asleep...her nap on the way home from Illinois was long :)
Our sorting/packing room in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Midwest meetings

Elias and his latest shots
Elena fights going to sleep whether for a nap or at night. Here she is after she fell asleep outside. She couldn't win against all that fresh air!
Daddy and his treasures!
Us with Pastor Haifley and family in Indiana a few weeks ago. The kids are in their PJs before we headed home on the long drive after the service.

We are thankful for brief week and a half we had here in Michigan. We still have a lot to do to get ready for Cameroon. Pray that contacting the embassy and getting permission will go well this week.

We are leaving tomorrow, Monday morning, for Minnesota stopping in Chicago and Madison on the way. Pray for good meetings in Minnesota. We will be back at our home church in Oshkosh for a weekend as well. We have a lot to catch up on there.