Pinawa Lutheran & PCF congregations:
Life is hard.and not always fair!
Life is hard here in Cameroon for many! We witness daily hardships amongst the folks - Saturday morning we were taken to visit a grandmother, she is from the Mbya tribe, she told me (Val) - the name for grandma in her language is Koko (sp?). Koko was introduced to us in her small home which adjoins a labyrinth of many others, off a winding road not that far from us. Koko looks after 20 of her orphaned grandchildren ranging from three months to young adults. Koko's only means of support is the selling of dried fish and ground melon seeds (seen in picture on a tray on table), which she packages up into small sacks. It is very difficult - so is the common story of the almost 300 orphans of this area - so is the sad story of the grandmas/Koko's - why are they in this predicament? No, it is not village disease - yes, the fight on VIH/SIDA (HIV/Aids) is fierce here also!

Malnutrition, says Dr. Holly Nelson is one of the greatest problems inflicting the children. The children must be fed something more sustaining than couscous. Saturday evening, we along with four mission friends, attended a big concert put on by the Credo Choir from our station church. It was very uplifting with much singing - dancing and a drama presentation. Jack was greeted with many 'bon revenirs' and also asked to give the farewell benediction. He found it very emotional.

Sunday morning we worshipped in the English speaking Cross and Crown church - Jack assisted in presenting the sermon and in communion. I was so happy to see they still have the children line up for their blessing following communion. One of the things we notice in Cross and Crown is their sad state of affairs concerning their old, old red hymnals (1958) - they are in tatters and missing pages. Upon departure we also witnessed the members removing very large segments of rocks which had blocked their roadway by a surprise builder. They are fighting this building project which has been thrust upon them.

Following the church service (1 p.m.) - we quickly changed clothes and gathered our two young Danes and drove 35kms on the Meiganga road to 'Ngandaba' or The Ranch as we call it. We arrived ~2:15 to join the already present group from our station to enjoy a Cameroonian meal - we're sure was goat. The Ranch is situated overlooking a small lake - the property is very peaceful and pleasant. We returned just before dark - then joined another group at Drs. Nelson's home where we sang a few hymns and watched a very emotional 10-15 minute video that had been put together by a Californian film editor. It tells our/their story through the words of the Nelsons. The needs of the hospital are many - one is the
present wiring and the lack of a standby emergency generator. We will get a copy - it lumps it all together. The Church - the Hospital.

A long and very fulfilling day! Larium day is Sunday for us - so it was not the best sleep - too many thoughts and events are rolling through our brains.

God asks no man whether he will accept life. That is not the choice. You must take it. The only choice is how. -Henry Ward Beecher

Shalom - avec les bénédictions de Dieu... Jack & Val

p.s... We leave for Bénoué / Buffle Noir game reserve at noon until Tuesday evening Please e-mail - we do look forward to hearing from you.

p.p.s::::::Feb 06... Saw many giraffes - baboons - antelopey animals - hippos - 2 huge crocodiles - monkeys.

Please share with the PFC congregation

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Friends.
We arrived safe and sound last Thursday afternoon (jan 11) .all baggage in tow. Exhausted after the many days of travel - ship - planes - mini bus - bus - train and then our final destination. We will not mention the many
beds and places of accommodation. It seems like yesterday that we left here, nothing much has changed, the
roads have the same big pot holes, maybe, in fact, larger. The people greet us with huge smiles and three cheeked hugs of welcome! The weather is in the midst of the dry season - the harmattan winds are fog-like in
the air - the dust, oh the dust. The temperature is on the cool side - soon the humid heat will be upon us.
We attended church at Cross and Crown on Sunday with Etienne Fomgbami - we walked the distance as there were no cabs available and we hadn't received our vehicle yet. The people were most gracious in their greetings. Jeanne
Fomgbami's sister died on Monday, mid day - we do not know the reason. Today we attended the hospital chapel for a talk on SIDA/AIDS - what/where they are doing and planning?! Très difficile as it was in French - Jack/Dad/Papa has become obsessive/compulsive with his study. Maybe Rodney was an easier side kick. Will we ever get it??? But, it has been coming back - it is one of OUR projects. Jack/Dad/Papa has had meetings to discuss what he will do - presently we are still settling in. our computer is missing printer drivers / our DVD movies will not play because we are missing the de-coder - frustrating almost as much as not being able to hook up on the internet. Another problem being our computer is too new - the card will not fit the hospital system connection - they are working on it. sssslowly. The system here has not changed much - we are going to an internet café to send this in town ...... No luck in town - connection to Israel DOWN!!!

We see many projects our church in Canada can undertake, but. the best way is still to be carefully worked out - on how it will benefit them into the ongoing future. They must be accountable for their future, we cannot do that for them. The sanitation problem within this city is another great dilemma - the garbage on the roads (of the years in our previous stay) have become even more sooo! The roads show improvement in places - but, in other areas has become impassible. Will they ever move ahead? Did we mention how much we miss you - please keep us in your prayers, as we do you.

Another day. January 19, 2007 - Friday
I must be back in the groove - I sleep through the first Moslem cries to prayer at ~ 5 a.m. directly over the 10 foot wall from us - my usual time to get up is même chose to Canada ~6 a.m. This morning we will go to the hospital chapel for devotions and another talk on what the Hôpital Protestant is doing to treat SIDA/AIDS. We persevere in grasping the context of discussion. Lee & Torbjørg we are enjoying your house - the view of the mountains out the kitchen & living room is shrouded in the clouds of dust this morning. The nights/mornings are warming up some - maybe again, its us getting acclimatized. We've talked to Yerime (sp?) several times - Blaise is doing well in the army, just been promoted in fact, we are happy for him. I have been watering the plants around the house - hopefully I can bring them back to a semblance of what you had. Jack is off to meetings in the church head office re: Evangelism - they want him to work along with Pastor Etienne Fomgbami - our trip to the west has been put off to February. Works out well as we are back in the swing of mission station duties - guards, guest houses, Gina - the dog, etc. Jim has returned to the USA to bring Karen back, will be back before months end. Our trip to town yesterday went well over & around the bumps - we succeeded in retrieving mail after 3 trips to acquire a computer at the internet café. We could not connect our Lexar jump stick, so this message will go next time, peut-être. It will be an epistle by then. Our mission connection is a big NO at present!!! Should have looked into that satellite connection Mark?

We were invited to lunch along with the roofing group from South Dakota by the President and his wife Frieda. It was to be a small lunch but was not in our estimation. President Nyiwé & his wife were most gracious and we
all enjoyed the sharing of stories for this short period of time. The SD group departed at 5 p.m. to catch the evening train. Jack helped in transported the 3 men and 3 ladies. Our days end shortly after 9 p.m. - is it the high altitude or the culture that sees us very tired by this time of the day? Is it the constant dust in the air or is it the quieter calming life style? We don't miss the hustle and bustle of what life becomes sometimes in North America - we enjoy the quiet of the evenings, no TV to distract the sounds of the insects, tree toads and the night creatures. The soccer/football fields becomes abandoned at 5:45 p.m. - before that it is a crowd of energetic youth and young adults either playing football (soccer) - basketball nets have been added since our other days, which they love to play also. In the
distant on certain nights, especially Saturdays, the sounds of drums and practicing choirs are preparing for the Sunday services. Of course we are constantly reminded of the Moslem community in their calls to worship -
they somehow seem louder and longer these days. We speak of the layed back ways of life here but, there are the
frustrations for us, at least, of not being able to link up with the hospital internet system - it continues to be DOWN! We still haven't found CBC on our Etôn short wave radio - we do get BBC, VOA and many, many
Chinese stations (in English) - if anyone can locate a radio band for CBC, please send it to us. We did hear that the weather in USA & Canada has been extreme?! This is our only mode of communication other than Y'ALL.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Another addendum to this message - we as yet have not been able to link up with our station internet connection - good news last night, however, the system is UP. We will try on another missionary's computer this morning.
Jack is down at the church office meeting with Etienne re: our return to visit the village churches we worked with in the past. Etienne wants Jack / us to travel to the far north (Rumsiki, Maroua) - west (Foubaum, Bafoussam, etc) - south evangelizing in hopes of setting up new churches. The cost will be expensive with the per/km charge of 275cfa/km. We attended 7:30 a.m. chapel this morning and met two of our doctor neighbours of past years, Dr. Solpou & Dr. Ngbatan (sp?) - good greetings with them. GOOD news. Kathreen returned on Sunday - she is thin but well, will clean for us twice a week in return for medical care. We were very happy to see her. She is a hard worker, she is a happy also to work in our dusty abode on Monday & Fridays. It also helps us with our French - as she wants to learn more English. The days and evenings are definitely getting warmer/hotter, in fact - had to take the second blanket off the bed. We hope to get this out today - on station - if luck has it in our favour.

THURSDAY.. January 25.07
At the hospital hook-up - no luck on station. I feel like I'm abandoned on a desert island. no news. We just checked out 35 messages - I'm sorry you don't want to come to Africa Ty Bo - the needle doesn't hurt - you'll miss
seeing the little black snakes & our cute gykoes that creep around our house, our house pets.

Sorry for this convuluted messages - we pray for better access &
messaging...

THANK GOD, Barb for successful surgery.

Les bénédictions de Dieu. avec tout notre Amour (LOVE)
Jack & Val

P.S.
PLEASE... while in Cameroon - only plain text messages - - - click on the hyperlink address at bottom of message (not the 'reply') - NO file transfer of pics - NO cute stories/jokes - not that we are adverse to iall - but, the phone lines are very antiquated!!! THANK YOU - we do look forward to hearing from you.

EELC Mission Station
BP 111 N'gaoundéré
CAMEROON, West Africa
Phone: 237-711-3354
javafrca@mts.net