Trip to Bum #1

 

Chrysanthus, Ernest, and I prepared to leave for Bum.

 

The Ndu Tea Estate

 

The Fon (chief) of Kamine.  He asked me to bend down a little for the picture!  He asked us to arranged a time to come back and preach to his village which was on the way to our Bum destination.

 

Sunset as we approached the town of Fonfuka, the headquarters of the Bum area. It took us about 10 hours but had made several long stops to see things and people along the way. 

 

A temporary foot bridge across the River Kimbi.  It took these guys about 10 minutes to get their motorcycle taxi down the hill across the bridge and back the other side!

 

The new bridge under construction

 

Resting during the heat of the day in "downtown" Fonfuka!

Journey to Bum

On Tuesday I'll be traveling with two Cameroonian pastors to the villages of Bum, Fonfuka, and Ngonakimbi.  This is further up the Ring Road than any three of us have been, so we are excited to be preaching in new territory.  We are going to support an evangelist friend who is preaching in the bush.  We are unsure of the condition of the road and where exactly we will have to park our car. We think we can drive at least for 6 or 7 hours before considering other means of transport.  We may have to hire motorcycles and also trek some of the way.  Much of this trip will only be possible in the dry season like this.  Pray for souls to be saved, our evangelist friend to be encouraged, and for safety on the roads and in the villages.  Also, please pray especially for Abby, Elena, and Elias while I am away!  You can follow my trip on one of the links on this blog page. 

Wum airstrip follow-up

 Menchum Falls on the way to Wum. The next picture shows us at the top of these falls. 

View looking back at the Menchum River from the top of the Menchum Falls. 

 

Felix, Tom, and Daniel at the top of the falls.  We found a spot that literally was on the rocks in the middle of where the river tumbles over the falls.  Very impressive and an impossible place to stand in the rainy season.

 

Me at the Wum (pronounced like "womb") border.  Two and a half years ago, Abby and I went with the Needhams to see this town.  This was a long delayed follow-up to that trip.   We are desirous to put in an airstrip for church-planting.  The town is only 60 miles from Sabga but along a long bumpy twisting road.  I think it took 3 hours to drive there.  This place would also be a great place to land when the weather turns bad on the way to or from the Akwaya airfields. 

 

The chief's regent, wife, and one of the traditional councilmen. They will have a meeting soon to determine if we can still use the proposed airstrip site.  Please pray!  

 

The site for the airstrip.  If approved, we will be back in a little over a week to begin the week long task of clearing the spot for the field.  

 

Wum Lake

 

School kids happy to receive gospel tracts.  

 

Pray for Wum! 

 

On the way home...the Menchum River receding a little during dry season.  Pastor Julius was able to lead a man to the Lord that we picked up here and gave a ride to. 

Cameroon Food

 

Abby's first shot at cooking a completely Cameroon local recipe...Njama-Njama & Foo-Foo.  Basically (though Abby will tell you it is not too basic) it is corn  meal boiled into a big ball that you break off bite by bite dipping it into the greens which are made of a green leafy vegetable fried with tomatoes and onion.  People cook it in many different ways to suit their individual liking.  It was great!! 

 

Some have asked about the coffee here.  I brought a coffee roasting book with me since I knew that they grew and exported coffee in Cameroon.  One of the ladies in the Sabga church sold me a huge bucket of green coffee beans for the equivalent of maybe $16.  She just grows them on her tree in her yard.  They look like little red cherries when you pick each individual bean. We have had a few young guys help to take off the outer shell.  Then you see a pictures above of the green coffee bean.  It smells a little like bread when you start to heat it up.  It takes about 10 minutes to roast them in a sauce pan.  This is not the preferred method of roasting coffee but it works.  It took about three different tries to get this last roast that tasted really good.  Next time I plan to roast even a bit longer.  Roasting coffee helps get rid of the fish smell that we cook for the dogs.  However, after cooking the fish for the dogs, we think we might like to find a good recipe and try it for ourselves. It is pretty cheap to buy in the market. 

 

Ok, here is picture at no charge...Elias washing the motorcycle with David. 

First Christmas Package

We received our first Christmas package the middle of January and had a lot of fun opening it.  Thank you to the Anthony family in our Iowa supporting church.  We have heard of several more packages in the mail and hope they make it safely!

Happy New Year!

The first two pictures are of the area we went for our New Year's day picnic.  It was on the other side of a small mountain by our house and was across the border in the village of Babungo.
The next two pictures are from the student evangelism day we had last week.  We passed out tracts to the several thousand students who walk by our hosue everyday.  Can you spot the 6 of the 8 helpers we had?

Helping hands

The kids love to play outside and “help” wash the clothes.  Elena had fun helping me hull the fresh coffee beans while Elias tried to eat them. 

Merry Christmas from Sam, Abby, Elena & Elias

Church sign

We are thankful to finally have a church sign ready to install by the road.  We hope to put it in on Thursday.  As you can see, bro. Eugene did a great job on the sign! 

Cell Phones in Cameroon

America is not the only place where cell phones interupt a funeral, a wedding, or any normal Sunday service at church.  Welcome to Africa, where most seem to have a cell phone.  Yes, it is much more expensive here to have one but people do.  And, yes, they ring in church even in Africa!  I thought I'd post a picture to prove it from a hospital chapel...

Cameroonisms

Miscommunication is an often endured phenomena for us as we adjust to language.  Yes, people speak English but they are coming from a British/African English perspective with Pidgin English in the mix as well.  Yesterday, a French speaking (Francophone) student came by, and I agreed to take him to town as I was just going there myself.  We try to communicate in English or Pidgin. We got on the motorcycle and headed together for the 4 minute drive.  The frist half is dust and pot holes, and the second half is paved (tarred).  I stopped at the shop and he indicated that he was going farther.  I told him if he waited I'd take him the rest of the way.  Well, he disappeared, and I finished buying my gas bottle for the stove and made some copies for Sunday School.  I had just finished tying the heavy bottle to the motorcycle when my friend showed up again.  He looked confused and so did I...there was now no room for him as I thought he left.  He said he was ready to go back to the neighborhood where we stay, which is not what I was expecting.  I said that I'd be back to get him as I had another friend to bring back to town to catch a taxi. A long story short, we never met back up.  Who knows what we really heard from each other!  I am hoping to start learning French next year. 

...unto us a son is given...

The last two weeks, I have been finishing teaching through our statement of faith during the Sunday School hour.  During the Sunday morning services I have recently preached on Isaiah 7:14 and then Isaiah 9:6.  After today's message on the latter Isaiah verse, three young men who have been coming raised their hands indicating their need for salvation or assurance.  "...unto us a son is given..." is such clear opportunity to show how God gave us His greatest gift, his precious Son, Jesus Christ.  Not all will receive such a gift, and some will try their whole life to "earn" a gift.  God only gives this gift of salvation to those who humbly will receive it by faith.  Praise the Lord for such a wonderful gift and for those in Ndop who are beginning to understand God's free offer.  Pray for these young men and other new believers at Believers Baptist Church in Ndop.  

Ministry in Ngoketunjia

Abby, myself, Elena, Chrysanthus, David, and Johnson folding tracts last Sunday after church in preparation for try to reach over 5,000 students this coming week...please pray!

Chrysanthus, David, Johnson, and myself today after our morning service in Ndop on our second trip to Balikumbat for discipleship and evangelism.  Pray for this potential second Bible study opportunity.  Balikumbat is one of the 13 or so villages of the Ngotetunjia subdivision.  We live in Bamunka (Ndop Town), which is the center of the subdivision just under the Ngotetunjia mountain.  Balikumbat is about a 40 minute drive from our house.  Pray for people to be saved here in the coming months!

Our little mancub

Don't assume that being on the table is allowed!

Fell asleep with his Bible.  When he comes in the office, he'll often look for it and say, "Bible"

Daddy and Elias sick together this week

Taken just a few minutes after the previous picture!

Our early bird caught eating cold mashed potatoes for breakfast...Elena didn't finish them the night before! We try, but sometimes...!

My mancub eating bananas from Balikumbat after I came home Sunday evening