Big Sister, Big Brother, Little Sister

I drove a half an hour today to the Bamenda road junction to get Elena and Elias.  They stayed with the Yeiters last night and went to the church service in Bambili today.  I picked them up on their way to church in Bamenda.  Elena talked about seeing Chloe the whole way to the hospital. 

Elena held and kissed and gently took care of Chloe.  Elias just wanted to eat peanuts...

...and when he did pay attention to Chloe it was a little rough!  We had to rescue her a few times. 

Big Sister and little sister! 

Chloe Elisabeth Sanderlin

Chloe Elisabeth Sanderlin was born on June 26^th, 2010 at about 10:30 pm at Mbingo Baptist Hosptial in Cameroon, West Africa.  She weighed about 5 lbs 13.5 oz.  She is a beautiful little girl, and her mommy did wonderfully.  We were amazed at how fast everything happened once we got to the hospital.  We are truly thankful for the Lord’s help and timing. 

It was a cold and blustery night just before dinner when Abby informed me that she “might” be in labor.  We all ate dinner, and afterward Abby wanted to lie down to see if the pains would go away.  She had been having them for a few hours.  She came out not too long after and said we should probably go.  Ezekiel was with us at first and helped us to quick get the rest of our things packed in the car (of which I was charging the battery in case we needed the car). 

It had been raining all day and was so cold and windy after the rains stopped.  We drove through the Sabga/Bambili mountains through heavy fog.  We finally reached 3 corners Bambili where Susan Yeiter and her kids were waiting to take Elena and Elias.  Our car wouldn’t start (guess having the lights on was too much for it), but I had parked on a hill in case of that….no problem! 

We were out of the fog but had about a 30 minute drive to the hospital.  Abby and I made it there about 9 pm when USA and Ghana World Cup football were the main attraction at the hospital.  Too bad for USA :(

We checked in and waited for a while as the workers changed shifts.  They checked Abby and she was dilated to 8 cm!!!  She was so happy and could hardly believe it!  They then sent her to the labor room where the contractions increased in time and intensity.  Abby called it right as she asked to be moved to the delivery room where she had the baby 10 minutes later.  I made so many fast trips to the car to get different bags and items she needed.  The midwives were asking for baby clothes before I even had a chance to realize we were so close!  The Lord gave us a beautiful baby girl, and we are so thankful for the safe delivery He allowed us to have!  Thanks for praying!  

Elena will be so excited to see her dream come true of a baby sister, though she had finally settled on the thought that God knows what we need :) 

Burtt Wedding

Abby's brother Adam married Katie Hollandsworth last night in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.  Unbelievably, we got to watch the big day via SKYPE...from picture time in the auditorium, to the music prelude, to the beautiful ceremony, to the dismissal!  Thanks for waving Mom and Dad B. and Adam and Katie!  Praise the Lord there was never a glitch or disconnect, plus the video and sound were great!  Thanks Adam, Daniel N., and Chris (all my bros in some way or another) for taking time to make sure it all worked!  We felt like we were there and truly had a front row (or baptismal row) seat.  Congratulations and may the Lord truly bless your marriage! 

Week in Review

Wow, this week like most weeks was super busy but a wonderful change of pace for us as well. On Monday, Chrysanthus and I finished our World Cup themed tracts in the market of Ndop.  Unfortunately for Cameroon, they lost their first two games eliminating them from the tournament.  The last game they play will not matter for them.
I am teaching Chrysanthus on Tuesdays on the book of Revelation.  I enjoy my time spent with him.  Pray for his continual growth as a preacher.  He is a great co-worker.  Abby is teaching his wife on occasion as well.
On Tuesday, we "moved" to Sabga to wait for the arrival of our new baby.  Sabga is at an elevation of 5,800 feet, so for one thing we are enjoying the much cooler climate!  It is nice to be cold on occasion for a change.  Also, if Abby goes into labor, we will not have to climb the road that we dubbed "car killer."  The mountain road from Ndop up to Sabga literally slays any car not up to the challenge.  Some it kills through slow death as they climb the road day after day.  Our little red beater is not to be trusted on that hill if Abby was having a baby.
On Wednesday, I was supposed to fly two students back into the bush and pick up a few sick people.  However, I was uneasy with the weather on Wednesday, and after about 1 hour of thinking, planning, and praying, I decided to cancel the flight.  Not more than 30 minutes later, some wicked looking fast moving clouds literally rolled up from the valley and down from the sky and in through a nearby mountain pass.  The house was covered in a matter of minutes with clouds.  It was absolutely stunning to watch it all happen.  I have never been so glad to be on the ground as the rain lasted for hours.
I completed that flight the next day on Thursday.  On the way to Akwaya with these students I flew over a cloud deck and was praying for a hole to drop through once I got to the village.  On the way, I looked below me to see the shadow of my plane moving along the clouds.  Surrounding my shadow was a beautiful circle rainbow...God is good!  We arrived in Akwaya to find an awesome hole big enough for me to safely circle down and have an awesome approach to land.  It was a little bumpy and windy and hard work to get the plane down, but were thankful to get these people back home.  When I got home, Abby and I made a run into Bamenda for groceries and airplane fuel.  She needed to get out of the house, and we had a great time.  We took the kids with us as they had not been to Bamenda for a while.  They always love it!
On Friday, I headed back to Ndop with Ezekiel to finish some projects on our house.  We then watched USA draw in their second World Cup match.  They still have a chance to advance.  We all watched a video together in Sabga that night and had a nice relaxing family time after a busy week.
On Sunday, we headed down the mountain to Ndop for church.  We then went to our own house to eat and rest.  Abby fixed an awesome Father's Day meal of beef enchiladas.  We were all going to go to the Bible study in Babungo, but the kids were asleep and had had a rough night.  I went with Chrysanthus.  We ended up walking through and around the village today for several miles of absolutely stunningly beautiful countryside.  We picked up the new bamboo benches for the Bible study and headed back with the man that the Lord seems to be calling out for himself.  Please pray for this man to be raised up as a leader and used to reach his own people.  I usually withhold names at least for a while until they are well established with us to protect their privacy.
Now for the surprising news about our car fund...  I was expecting a call from America though I was not told the reason for the call. Terry Rushing lined up a Skype conference call with our home church, Wyldewood Baptist.  In the middle of nowhere Babungo I talked to our assistant Pastor who was in charge of last week VBS for the church.  They chose us as their missionary to support for the penny parade and raised $2,600 for us!  We are very near now to be able to purchase a car.  Please pray for us to  make the right selection and that it would last us for many years.
Hope you had a wonderful week as well!

Update from Ndop

Matthew K. gave me most of his pictures before he left, and I wanted to post some of his and ours as well.

Elena is counting mango trees or something like that...no kidding :) 

One of rainy seasons many super clouds...love them from the ground but not from the plane! 

For you dog lovers...Chocolate and Sailor. 

 Playing catch with Matthew...first time to play baseball in over a year!  It felt good to throw again.  I think that is the first time I've played ball at an altitude of 5,800 feet!  Anybody else want to come out and throw the ball with me? 

It sure was great having Matthew around...come back any time! 

Our busy boy at work...Matthew followed Elias around for these nice shots!

A little blurry but worth it...notice the grin! 

When I took Matthew back to the airport 7 hours away, I brought back some treats for Abby, Elena, and Elias.  Abby got lots of American type foods that we can't buy where we live.  Elena got two "new" books.  One is called "Snow" and Abby said she used to have it when she was little.  I got Elias the Cameroon football jersey in the next picture along with a ball. 

Elias and I are wearing our Cameroon jerseys and watching the World Cup every day.  Too bad Cameroon lost their first game against Japan.  I don't think they have a chance now.  Go USA...we saw them draw against England.  USA's goalie was awesome.  Someone is trying to locate a USA "football" jersey for me.  I hope Cameroon and USA can come with a few wins.  Every single game of the World Cup is on the regular channels here.  I doubt that is the case in America :) 

Graduation Saturday in Sabga.  These are the students of the Fundamental Bible Institute.  It was really a very encouraging service. The place was packed out and the overflow outside was full.  I was asked to give a 10 minute challenge to the grads.  There was one other challenge and also a great message from a visiting American preacher.  Pray for these graduates who are serving the Lord around Cameroon. 

A few from our new Bible study in Babungo.  See our prayer letter and a previous blog post for more about this village. 

How the weeks fly by...

No pun really intended, but the weeks just really seem to fly by.  If it is always like this, then our first term will be over before we know it.  Here are a few pictures...I need to write a prayer letter soon to sum it all up.

Elena and Elias sharing a "precious moment" together one morning.  They wanted to start their breakfast together at the kitchen island.

 Matthew Krawiec has been with us since Tom Needham left for furlough.  Matthew has been a big help and blessing around the house, around Ndop, and up at Sabga when I fly.  He preached a good message at our church on Sunday from Joshua chapter 9.  He will soon be heading back to the states. 

Oops, the pilot forgot his hat...not good with the blue skies and a sun-roof!  I was finally able to fly Paul and his family back to their home in Akwaya.  His whole family of 5 are in our little plane.  Thankfully, they are very small.  There baby was the one who was at the point of death when Tom and I flew out there a few months ago.  Thankfully, the baby recovered in the hospital and was cleared to go back home. 

When I am on the ground, I am fascinated by clouds...but in the air they have been annoying me the last few weeks.  I have shown up twice in two weeks at the Akwaya field only to have to turn back because of clouds and dodge more clouds the whole way home.  Today, I thought it was going to be the same.  I prayed the whole way it would be open.  There were clouds in front of the airfield's mountain, but on the other side the field and approach path were open! 

Sunburn...the white man's problem.  I took care of the no hat thing for the flight home. 

Ngoketunjia mountain from the air...this is the mountain near our house in Ndop. 

Beautiful day to fly!

Matthew has been a huge help with the ground operations of my flights, so I took him up for a quick ride over Ndop and Babungo. 

The Last two weeks in Pictures

Sorry for the lack of pictures...but we have had an exciting two weeks! 

Two Sundays ago we had Pastor Ernest and his family in to the church in Ndop and then to our house for lunch.  He is the director of Camp Joy.  He preached for us and informed the church in detail about the camp.

On Monday two weeks ago, Matthew, Chrysanthus, and I hiked up Ngoketunjia Mountain that overlooks Ndop.  This is the mountain that the division is named after.  It affords a beautiful look at most if not all of the thirteen villages (if you know where to look) in Ngotetunjia...plus Sabga and then looking the other way to Banso and the Foumban area. 

Overlooking Ndop...

We celebrated "the 20th of May" in Ndop for their 50th anniversary of Independence (1960).  There was lots of marching and speeches, etc. in Ndop.  Matthew, Chrysanthus, and I passed out maybe 1,000 tracts and had fun watching it all before calling it quits due to the hot sun. 

This is Elias taking some coins from the Fon (chief) of Babungo, our neighboring village.  We brought him some gifts for his very large family including lots of soap, salt, and Bibles.  We hope to begin a Bible study in this village on this coming Friday.  Please pray for the furtherance of the gospel in this town.  Here are a few more pictures of this impressive palace and compound. 

My flight to Akwaya yesterday.  Felix is here witnessing to the lady that I was going to take to the hospital.  He was witnessing in Pidgin and the ladies daughter was translating into her village language. 

The deaf students on the grounds of Mbingo Baptist Hospital. 

Ready for takeoff at Mbingo heading back to the home base at Sabga.  I landed in Sabga with some incredible tail winds.  The weather was strange that day but we are thankful for two safe flights in support of Felix and the Akwaya people. 

Ok, so this is why you all should really be praying for us...can you guess what we found in our yard the other night?  I am holding up a snake skin that a large black poisonous snake decided to shed as he came out of hibernation in our yard.  The dogs were barking at an alarming rate and sound, so I went to check what was happening.  I shouted for Matthew to bring me a machete and some sticks or anything.  By the time we got all situated and ready to kill he slipped down a hole...probably the same one he had been sleeping in.  I was so mad that I missed the opportunity to kill him, but I was afraid it might a spitting cobra.  I hate snakes!!  Anyway, after failing to coax him out again by pouring fuel then water down his hole, we decided to seal the hole with cement.  Maybe he is dead, but who really knows.  So, the largest snake I have seen so far in Cameroon was in my very own yard!!  You can see the snake would be about 5 feet long in the above picture.  We hope your week does not include any snakes!!  Have a great week and thanks for praying!