Life, Love, and Living far from Home: Four Months in Cameroon...

We will hit the 4 month mark just after Thanksgiving next week-

The questions I get about Cameroon now are mostly about how we like it and can we really call it home yet.

What makes a place home? Ponder that. Is it the neighborhood? Access to Target or Wal-mart? Being able to call whoever whenever? Drinking water from the tap? If being home is those things, then no, this will never be home.

But it is home now. My family is here and it’s been too long to be vacation.

Beautiful skies-

My husband is working in an office or traveling to villages to work.

I get to volunteer different places and occasionally substitute at the kids’ schools (okay, just once so far!).

Kristin's class learning body parts

They were all labeled!

I know my neighbors by name and all the grounds keepers and repairmen and mechanics.

Silas showing his summer sausages

We have a vehicle.

I can walk to the ‘boutique’ and get flour and a coke and talk to the owner.

Kristin and Ben with Mr. Kato at Silas' store

The vegie lady, Mama Lucy, is helping my son with his humanities project. I know who to get to buy me a radio and a choir shirt for my son.

I can talk to our house help in French and get her laughing. She brought her 3-year-old son to our home the day he was sick and I had the pleasure of playing with him in between my housework and laundry while she cleaned my house.

The guard coaches me on my French and tells me stories. He also kills snakes and catches thieves! And I found out that he is my birthday twin: same day, same year. How cool is that?

I know which grocery store has the best meat, the cheapest chocolate, and the occasional bottle of Log Cabin syrup.

I can direct someone places, or catch a taxi.

8 in the taxi that day...

I have friends. And 4 months is long enough for several of them to have moved away already- back to the Netherlands, to Switzerland, or the States. Some are short timers and I will only have this year to know, others leave for furlough soon and then who knows? The missionary community is very fluid almost like a college town, but with goodbyes and hellos more often it seems as people leave for 3 months, six months, a year, and then return from furlough.

I know I would rather have water than electricity and drink filtered or bottled water every day. I know internet will always be finicky here.

Our kitchen with gas stove and water filter.

I know where the lab is for medical tests and a good dentist.

This lovely selfie was taken at the dentist office. She was awesome.

I can buy a grilled chicken down the street and reheat it well before eating. Or buy my own, feet and all, and cook it myself.

I’ve learned to make substitutions in recipes (that started in France and is even more important here). I can make all my favorite recipes here. I choose to eat meat and cheese, and other western foods that make my shopping bill MUCH higher than your average Cameroonian. I can cook my own big batch of cinnamon rolls and my moms' Sourdough English Muffin recipe!

MMmmmmm…..

I remember worrying when my kids were little and wanted to listen to music to sleep to if that was a good idea. But now as the music from the neighborhood churches and bars comes in at all hours, I am thankful they are used to music and not just white noise. (It is ALL kinds of music! Some I really like and some, well, you don’t close the windows. It’s too hot!)

I have a prayer group to go to and friends I can pray with anytime.

Kay Watts the Elementary Librarian

I know who to borrow movies from to watch on my computer. J

I know all the librarians by name and we are friends.

Stacey Cawley the RFIS librarian with her daughter

We have been to the pool, been to festivals and seen amazing rainbows.

Noah

Kristin and Anna at the pool

Piñata at fiesta night

We have celebrated birthdays and watched new plants grow.

Birthday hat

The neighbor's 'farm' and the preschool class

Being silly-

So, is Cameroon home? For now, yes, Cameroon is home. This is where we live, play, work, and love right now.

David would be 10

Our downstairs neighbor brought these- just because

Only had shrimp once here, but we made it count!

Lots of studying in 8th grade!

Stuffed animal toss...

And do I feel safe? Yes. Safe in God’s will. No less safe than in Lynchburg, but I don’t go out at night either.

It is not easy here, but neither is it truly difficult. I told my house help that in the States I would be considered almost poor. Can’t afford a TV or my own washer and dryer; I buy clothes and shoes second hand; rely on the generosity of others; old fridge; terrible bed; ants I can’t get rid of; no budget to eat out very often. But no, I am wealthy here. I have an oven, a hand mixer, a blender, running water, and a vehicle. I am rich. And I have SO much. Even with just 2 suitcases each and a carry on, we have SO much more than the average Cameroonian!

Sometimes I start to feel guilty because I have so much and my Cameroonian friends have so little, but then I try to remember to just be thankful and share what I can.

And so, keep praying. Pray for us to help spread the good news through the arts. Pray for village leaders who don’t have the bible in their own language and for those in the congregations who don’t want it because it would allow everyone to know truth and they might have to change. Because we all know that going to church and calling yourself Christian does not change your heart or your actions. Only God can do that with his living word.

Pray for the churches in the States who have the Word and don’t want to hear it for the same reasons, because people are people all over the world.

Continue to pray for our house to rent in Virginia. We have changed realtors, but the weather is COLD right now and that is not a good time for moving! You can find it on Lynchburgrenting.com.

Pray for our kids in school who deal with all the normal growing up things in another country. Thankfully their teachers are awesome and classmates generally nice, but there are always those mean kids who make life difficult because they are unhappy themselves.

Pray for good health. So far, so good. No malaria, just minor colds, and stomach things so far. And Ebola is far away, not in this country. Yes Wycliffe/SIL has contingency plans just in case and yes, if it we were afraid we could leave. But we are not.

Thanks for reading and for praying!