Boy Stuff

 

The contents of Boaz's pockets.  Things he collected throughout the day.  He went through a stage where he would only wear pants with pockets so he had a place to put all of his interesting findings.  I have to check every pocket well before putting clothes in the washing machine. The only thing that gets me is when I find fruit that they picked in the orchard left in the pocket from a few days before...YUCK!

And then...we got a grass skirt from the Baka that they use for traditional dancing.  Nandry had fun dressing the boys up in it. 

Le me introduce you to the Animal Whisperer with his chameleon and squirrel friends.  How does he do it?

An Important Day: March 29th

Asher's birthday!  This year my baby turned 8.  How is this happening so quickly?  One of the traditions we have for the boy's birthdays in Cameroon is having games outside with our neighbors.  Water balloons are always the favorite! 

 

Nathan and I spent the day cake decorating.  Can you guess our theme?



We had a double party and celebrated Heidi's birthday as well (on the 30th).  I think she got to blow out some candles too. 

One of the coolest Lego party games that I googled was this pass and create a masterpiece activity.  We all had bowls of Legos in front of us, and 1 minute to start to build something.  Then, when a minute was up, each person passed their creation to the next person on the right and now had to add on to the creation that was passed to them.  After a few rounds of passing the Lego creations, we stopped and each person got to use their imagination to name and explain the accumulated creation that were currently holding in their hands.

 

Did you notice Boaz's little buddy on his shoulder? 

More February 2012

And for more fun in Feb...our Mbingo Hospital friends came out to the village for a few days to see our ministry and explore the rain forest.  Christoph and Sara, from Switzerland and coming to the end of their 2 years commitment, made amazing bread from scratch and tried to teach me Swiss German, ja!   

We also had a visit from our bee man (Michel Miel) to check out how the bee houses are doing.  Nathan stands next to the bee house every day to say "hi" to the bees and get them familiar with him.  The will actually fly a circle around him after they leave the hive before they go on their merry way to collect pollen.

SCA February 2012

SCA stands for Sonshine Christian Academy, our home school co-op. We "rent" our curriculum for the school year through SCA and we get together with the other families twice a year for a joint school session. Our Feb/March sessions are particularly fun for the kids because we do swimming lessons! Each session we do L.A., math, P.E., music, art and a special unit. Our special unit this session was occupations/careers. Note some of the cool places we went to and special people we interviewed. 

The local bakery was exciting to visit with their huge mixers, kneading machine and extra large oven.  We got to see how they did some of their specialty breads shaped like turtles and lizards.

Uncle Doug talked about veterinarian work.  I think he had Nandry put the glove on before he told her what it was used for.  Ewwww. 

And among other things like the print shop, radio station and a visit from a physical therapist, the kids really enjoyed sitting in the SIL helicopter and learn a little bit about being a pilot.

 We couldn't get a decent picture during our family photo shoot at the end of the session banquet.  The kids dressed up to look like a professional in specific careers...can you guess what they are?

Asher was a stand up comedian.  Each kid had to recite something that they had memorized or perform on a musical instrument.  Asher told a few jokes about careers, his favorite was, "Why did the photographer get put in jail?"  "Because he shot people and blew them up!" 

Boaz was a dressed up as an undercover spy, bet you didn't recognize him with those glasses on.  Nandry, with her clipboard and pencil ready to jot down any fresh ideas, was playing the part of a fashion designer.  

January 2012

We were blessed this January to have friends from Onley Baptist Church on the Eastern Shore come to Cameroon!  They got to experience life in the village for a few days and they helped build cages for the rabbit project.  Then we headed up to our annual missionary conference in Bamenda and they took charge of the kid's program.  We loved every minute of it...they felt like family!

We also purchased a new "ministry vehicle" (toy) for those quick trips to nearby villages.  Wanna know how to fire up Nathan's determination?  Just say, "You'll never get THAT to stay on the roof of your car!" 

We stayed in a mongulu while we were on molongo!  Mongulu = leaf hut.  Molongo = camping in the forest, Baka style.  Mama Lendo built a HUGE hut for our family, herself and her grandson.  I guess she thinks we are big people, so we need lots of space.  

This is a dry season mongulu.  It won't rain (most likely), so they make it more like a shelter instead of closing it in like a hut.  It got pretty cold at night, and we ended up sleeping like sardines to keep warm.
We'd been talking about doing this for years, and figured this was our last opportunity before home assingment.  Our trip was cut short (only spent 2 nights in the forest) because one of the Baka ladies went into labor.  She had been dam fishing with us the day before, really working it.  She delivered the baby within an hour after we got back home!
 

At night, the guys went hunting.  This is the bush rat Nestor shot while hunting with Nathan.  It was actually pretty tasty!



 Boaz had a hard time sleeping because of the cold, so he spent a bit of time keeping warm by the fire.  Buttercup, our dog, liked being with us, but didn't like being in the forest so much.  Too many bugs!  You can make out 3 mongulus in the picture, there were 5 in total.   

New Year's Eve 2011

21 Baka believers were baptized!  Some of the guys cleared a place in the forest at a nearby river.  In preparation for this baptismal service, we held a baptism class.  Nathan expected just a handful of guys to step forward, but we were overjoyed as we saw that God's Spirit had truly worked in hearts and prepared many for this event.  One after another stepped forward and gave testimony which included such statements as "I love the death of Jesus because it takes away my sins." and "I want to follow God's path with my whole heart."  A truly amazing day that we continually praise God for.

We posted a bio on each of these folks on a facebook page called The Baka People (look it up and click "like") for 21 Days of Prayer for the baptized believers.  Here is an excerpt from that page:

Day 8: There's so much I (Nathan) could write about Nestor... He has truly become a friend to me. We've seen so much growth in him over the last few years. He has been growing as a leader and I've been able to count on him to keep things going while I've had to travel. He used to hit his wife when he got angry and cared more about buying new clothes than caring for his family - but now he's a model husband and father - an example to those around him. He desperately needs your prayers as The Deciever would like nothing more than to trip up this emerging leader and de-rail the growth of the Baka Church. Please pray for Nestor.

Day 14: This is Mango (mah-ngo), a grandmother at Mayos who stepped forward for baptism and surprised us with her understanding of the Gospel and desire to follow God. She publically confessed to the sins of her past and how her life has changed now that she's on God's path. She's the first one in her family to be baptised. She acts as mother to many in the village, providing help and counsel when needed. Pray with us that she will be an example to her family and a light to her generation as well as a spiritual guide to the next.

December 2011

Jenn brought home another very sick newborn.  This little guy’s body was so tense and he wasn’t figuring out the whole breastfeeding thing.  His mother had given up.  But with much prayer, Jenn’s care, some supplemental formula and medicine, and a whole lot of encouragement to the baby’s parents, he is thriving today!  We are so thankful for Jenn’s medical ministry and the ways that she can reach people through meeting their felt needs.



We visited Nkolbikon, a village 16 km way that’s dear to us, to greet them for Christmas.  We took this opportunity to give out pillowcase dresses for the little girls donated by a church in Chesapeake, and other clothes (mostly hand-me-downs from Boaz & Asher saved up over the last 2 years) for the boys.  We left some rice and other provisions for their Christmas/New Year’s celebrations.  We also played the Christmas Baka Likano Bible stories and had a time of worship together.  Wow, these kids love to sing!

I think this is the place where our kids have had the best interaction with Baka kids.  Just the other day, kids from Nkolbikon walked all the way to our house (16 km away) because they wanted to see Asher!

One of our dearest family traditions is to celebrate Advent.  We have a candle for each week before Christmas.  We do more purposed family activities in the evenings in the month of December, in preparation for Christmas and for reflecting on God’s greatest gift to the world, Jesus. 

 Our family gift giving on Christmas is so special.  We try to do our various celebrations with our neighbors and our nearby village ahead of time so we can guard this special time just for us.  This year, since Christmas Day was on a Sunday, we opened most of our presents on Christmas Eve.  It was so incredible that most of the presents where very thoughtfully home-made, with each recipient specifically in mind.  

November 2011

Got into canning…local corn was being harvested and I was excited to save some for the next couple months!  Also did beef…helps for preparing “quick” meals later on.

We had our 2^nd Thanksgiving celebration this year (we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving in October).  However, we had a cold meal (potato salad, bread, turkey lunchmeat, salad and dips) due to the unavailability of propane…we were on our last bottle and praying that it would last until Christmas, or that another bottle would become available.

 

Geri, our home school tutor, arrived for her 6 month stay in Cameroon.  We were so glad to have her come and teach the kids.  She’s done great with them especially in the areas that I’m weak, like writing and special assignments that I just never have time to get around to do.  And...we decorated our Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving.  So glad that we fit it into our suitcases coming back this time! 

October 2011

Found good homes for the last 2 puppies (these guys will make good guard dogs eventually), and salvaged my garden!!!

Aunt Elsie, our home school coordinator, was out for her 2 week home visit and did school with the kids while I entertained the flow of visitors that came our way.  She was a true God-send and I don’t know what I would have done without her there.

Among the visitors were friends that we met in Switzerland this past summer at Breathe.  They are an Australian family that brought their 3 girls (the ages of our kids) and another Aussie friend.  We had an amazing time, Nathan got to travel with Nick, the husband, to visit Baka camps farther down south.  Then Nathan took them on a tour of a few other parts of Cameroon (including the beach…we were a bit disappointed that the kids and I couldn’t take a break from school but had to keep pressing on and miss this). 

 

And…6 weeks later, Nandry took out her studs and try on the assortment of earrings that she had been waiting to wear since forever!  So hard to wait.  Such a pretty girl! 

September 2011

Nandry got her ears pierced.  We had gone to the hospital in Bamenda to see if they would do it there, since many baby girls have their ears pierced after they are born.  But, the hospital method was a little too traumatic for us (“hold still while I push this by hand through your earlobe…it will hurt, but be brave”), uhhh, no thank you!  We were able to find a pharmacy in Bertoua that had an ear piercing gun.  Still painful as you can see on Nan’s expression, but it was worth it!

 

Buttercup had six puppies in August that reached the age where they were making a mess all over our veranda and yard (and garden!!!) and were ready to bless some other people with their presence.  They are a German Shepherd and Beauce Shepherd mix.  Found homes for 4 of them pretty quickly. 

Spent a couple of days with the Schilinski clan!  We got to ride horses in the beautiful hills of Bamenda, visit Prespot and try our hand at the pottery wheel, and just a have  a great time with their family.  This picture is from the trip home from our picnic that got rained out.  Good times! 

Africa Area Conference in Bamenda.  A week of catching the vision for the future of our field and spending time with our WT colleagues. 

The kids had their own Bible Boot Camp during the conference.  They practiced putting on the armor of God.   

Playing Catch up

Time to play catch up here...It's been way too long since I blogged.  There's so much I've wanted to write about, and so much that has gone on with our lives here in Cameroon, with the kids, with the ministry and with me personally.  Most times I don't know which thing to write about, and how much to share.  But, I'm attempting to catch up and keep going. 

Family photo in at our August SCA school session.