January 2012
2 posts
Working on the House
I have to say that the workers on our house have done an incredible job. In fact, most in the village are amazed at the speed with which our house has taken shape. But there are several things standing in between us and a smooth entry.
I have been up at the house the last few days helping with the installation of the doors (still pending) and painting the window frames so I can add screens...
An Update
Our time in Bamenda for Christmas/New Years was filled with friends, laughter and plenty of Christmas cookies and music. We hitched a ride with some friends yesterday on the first leg of our ‘return to the village’ journey. One rough part of the break was that we are leaving with several colds and a pulled neck muscle for yours truly. So for at least a day, we are trying to rest and...
December 2011
4 posts
Coming Up on Christmas
For those who are wondering where we are spending Christmas, we have come out of the village for a couple weeks to share it with colleagues of ours. We are staying in Bamenda, a large city in the Northwest, and are consuming massive amounts of unhealthy, Christmas goodies. We arrived a couple days ago and were thrilled to see our friends. The other night, the kids saw a little advent lesson put...
Dancing Over Our Heads
We sleep in an essentially tranquil setting at night. There are no street lights coming in the windows and no cars driving by on busy streets, but there is the annoying sound of dancing over our heads…or maybe it is more like wrestling. Either way, we sporadically wake up in the night to hear the sounds of our unwanted guests overhead. It is not just rats, but bats and birds as well. Though...
Confession Time
Alright, I am going to share something that I am neither proud of nor trying to justify. I don’t shower every day. There it is. Out in the open. It is not that I don’t enjoy being clean, it just takes more effort and energy to bathe here.
In the States, you may have to wait a few seconds before the water heats up. Well, the only way you are getting anything but cold is if you take...
Ethnocentrism and Fearing God
For those who live in America, we don’t have a culture that really understands fearing an authority figure. We don’t have a king or chief and we are able to openly deride our President if we feel like it. Even our propensity towards nonchalant interactions leads to a lack of hierarchy. So when we come to passages in the Bible where it commands us to fear the Lord, we explain it away by...
November 2011
4 posts
Culture Is Not Static
When I knew I was moving to a village in Africa several years ago, many images popped into my head about what lay ahead. One such image was a grass hut church. Well, for the first time since I have been on the continent, I attended one today. Dirt floor, palm branch roof, no walls, the whole nine yards. I mean I experienced what many people first think of when they imagine a village in Africa. ...
Thoughts on America, Language and Political...
I caught wind of a comment that President Obama has taken flack for recently. Apparently he said something to the CEO of Boeing that America has been ‘lazy’ concerning promoting itself around the world. Afterwards, many conservative news outlets had latched onto the ‘lazy’ comment and, in my opinion, blew it out of proportion and misconstrued it. Now, I am not writing this...
Starting and Finishing
In the past, I am sure people have held certain stereotypes about me, but have voiced very few of them. However, in Cameroon I hear people say stuff like, ‘We know the whites do this or believe this or don’t eat this.’ And depending on the day, I react in different ways. Most of the time, I laugh about it because their assumptions are so absurd. My favorite is that many people in...
Taking the GRE
A couple weeks ago I took the GRE for entrance into graduate school. For those who don’t know, it is the exam that many master’s programs require before entering. I took it in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, at the American Language Center and was very pleased with how it was run. The test consisted of 2 writing sections, 2 verbal reasoning sections and 2 analytical (math) sections....
September 2011
3 posts
Carrying Stones
After going through my usual routine yesterday, I went outside to see what several people from the local church were doing. I saw many of the church members walking up to a partially dug out foundation and dropping large stones, precariously perched on their heads to the ground. When I asked someone what was going on, he said, ‘You didn’t hear me this morning? I was yelling at 6 am for...
My First 'Cry Die'
There is something here called a ‘cry die’. From what I can tell, it would be comparable to the visitation in the States. Well, today I went to my first one. It is customary for many of the people in the neighborhood to come by and say they are sorry for the loss of the family. Now there are many things I could write about this experience, but one stuck out above the rest.
The new...
Reforming the Electoral College
Sometimes there isn’t much to write about, or at least nothing is coming to mind as I sit here at the computer, so I will simply weigh in on something that few of you probably care about and out of which nothing will actually change.
Did you know that in 1992 Ross Perot ran as an Independent candidate for the Presidency and received 18.9% of the vote? I mean, seriously. You could, without...
August 2011
7 posts
Studying for the GRE
Some of you know I am studying for the GRE, which I will be taking in Yaounde at the end of October. This is so that when we are back in the States on furlough, I can attend grad school. Please don’t ask what I am studying yet or where because that has yet to be decided concretely. One thing that is for sure is I am relearning a lot of math I never thought I would have to use again and...
Hedonistically, Olfactorial Moment
The other day, I had what can only be characterized as a hedonistic, olfactory experience with a flower. The aforementioned flower was found in our front yard courtesy of a sweet little 2-year old, flower-loving girl. It is yellow, has about 7 petals and is often the victim of my daughter’s love of flower-picking. After happily snapping its stem in half, she brought it over to me and, with...
Climbing a Tree
I climbed a tree the other day. I honestly can’t remember the last time I did that. I vaguely remember climbing the tree in our front lawn when I lived in town as a kid, but that was before the 3rd grade and since then I can’t remember ever being an avid tree-climber. But the other day (and this morning for that matter), motivated by my daughter’s desire to munch on some guava,...
Typing, Clarifying and Anthropological Categories
There are certain tasks which are difficult to accomplish in the village. One of those tasks is typing up our cultural data into the computer program we use. So while in the village, each day, we try to write down some cultural notes in our cultural notebooks. Sometimes all we can squeeze out is 5 minutes to write down the myriad of thoughts running through our heads. But while we are out of the...
Our Time in Bamenda
Here is a quick recap of some of the highlights from our trip.
Connecting with our boss, friends and colleagues.
Purchasing butter, cheese and sausage, all of which we can’t get in Banso or the village.
Experiencing the ‘interesting’ road system of the Northwest of Cameroon.
Eating at a cafe.
Taking part in a pig slaughter.
Watching Ayla play with another kid her age.
...
Our Drive to Bamenda
We have taken a little time to travel this last week. After being in Banso for a while, we decided to travel to the town of Bamenda to meet with our boss and spend some time with dear friends and colleagues. Sounds like fun, except for the road in between Banso and Bamenda. To say it is rough would be a gross understatement. Imagine a road over hills and mountains, only paved in the steepest...
Learning Solar
There are many things that we are having to pick up along the way here in Cameroon: culture, language, living in a village, bad roads, but one of the most daunting (and that is saying something) has been learning about solar powered systems for our house.
At one point, I had learned the basic equations for electricity involving ohms, volts, watts, and amps, but that knowledge is long gone and...
July 2011
5 posts
Going to the Market
I don’t go to the market every time we need to, but since being in Banso, I have had the chance to go once already and enjoyed it thoroughly. Whereas in Yaounde the experience is more on the overwhelming side, Banso is much more laid back.
I think the most enjoyable part was negotiating for some onions with the woman who was selling them. Now if you have never ‘beat the price’...
Getting Used to the Cold
Kind of wild I would ever have to become accustomed to cold weather. I mean, seriously, I grew up through Illinois winters with their single-digit temperatures and blistering winds. But after living in a place where most of the inhabitants don’t understand what you mean when you say ‘snow’, your body becomes accustomed to the heat. This becomes even more so when you don’t...
Out of the Village
For those who have not heard, we are going to be out of the village until September due to the lack of pilots for that time. We were advised, and believe ourselves, that it would be irresponsible for us to stay in the village with no reliable means of transportation out during the rainy season with 2 young children. While out, we are staying in a town in the Northwest region called Kumbo.
We hope...
What Prayer Does
Who knows if I will get around to writing more than one post about this topic. I hope to, but I have made plans for many posts that still remain unwritten. So despite the fact that people write entire books on the subject, here is part of my humble take on prayer.
I am going to write this from the personal standpoint instead of the theological because I hope to encourage those who are praying for...
Culturally Effective
First of all, sorry to everyone for not writing in a while. Things these days have been a bit crazy and we are still learning how to balance our lives. So here is a much needed post.
I am not a big fan of the term ‘culturally sensitive’. Simply considering our line of work and making an impact for Christ, I don’t think ‘sensitive’ is necessarily what are called to be...
June 2011
5 posts
My Favorite Part of Church
The church service in the village is quite a bit different from the services in the States. There are no instruments other than rhythm instruments and when the offering is taken, they dance and sing as they bring it to the front of the sanctuary. Some of the differences are taking some getting used to and others I have loved since the first time we went.
Here is one of the latter. At the start...
Starting In the Language
So how do you start learning a completely new language from scratch when there are no text books and most of it isn’t even written yet? Well that is a good question, dear reader. And actually, if you start looking, there are several different philosophies out there on language acquisition. To start with, there are 2 major factors that will help you on the path to learning any language. The...
Learning the Culture
This is not going to be a post about specific cultural norms, though I am sure we will share those in the future, but rather a general explanation of what it feels like to enter a culture so vastly different from your own.
The process of culture acquisition often fluctuates between feeling like a lost child and elation. What I mean by this is that we are learning social norms that have been...
The Airstrip is approved
The title says it all. Some of you have been praying that the government would approve the airstrip that has been built in here in the village and we received word last week that it is officially open. This is serious news since now we will be able to fly directly from Yaounde to the village if we need to and make the entire journey much shorter time-wise. Thank you to everyone who has been...
We Are Here!
Hello everyone,
I realize the lateness of my writing, but we have some big news: We are in the village! We arrived on May 30th and are still getting settled in. It is a massive help having my in-laws to help us with the transition. I think the biggest help is that they have been able to give the kiddos some extra attention while Jo and I are trying to adjust and get settled ourselves.
Some...
May 2011
9 posts
Where it starts and ends
We live in an age where seeing is believing. This poses a problem for many people with the Christian faith since that is exactly what it is…faith. But that doesn’t stop many people from explaining everything there is to know in the Bible. I saw a special on the History Channel about the scientific feasibility of the drying up of the Red Sea as well as the Flood. Many times people want...
The 20th of May
I will not try to fake my way through the complete history of Cameroon, but yesterday, the 20th of May was a national holiday, National Day in fact. It was signified by an air show on the 19th, a large parade on the 20th, conferring of honors, and at least one presidential gala I have heard of. Kind of a big deal. But why May 20th.
Well, Cameroon doesn’t have a single independence day due...
My Machete
So in preparation for the village I have bought a machete. Owning a machete in the village is absolutely indispensable, like clean underwear. And if you are ever drawing a blank they are always good gift ideas. One of the most shocking facts about the use of machetes in this country is that the minimum age limit is somewhere around when you learn to crawl. Maybe a slight exaggeration, but when the...
The Growing To-Do List
We have already started getting ready to move to the village and the ever-expanding to-do list is a boon and a burden at the same time. We start each day with laying out the tasks to accomplish that day. But if you were to look at this list before we fell asleep that night and compared it with the activities of the day, you would see much overlap, but not entirely. Because as we launch into the...
Happy Mother's Day
A special Happy Mother’s day to my mom and mother-in-law. They are both extremely supportive of us being in Cameroon and doing what we are doing as well as adventurous. My mom was just here to visit us while my mother-in-law will be coming in just under 3 weeks. We’ll see if the same terror is struck in my mom-in-law’s heart as it was in my own mom’s when she took her first...
How God Moves Us
We have settled on a date to move to the village, May 30th, but how we got to that point is a way that God has worked in our lives before. In the past, God has asked us to move and trust Him to work out the details. When we were still raising our financial support in the States, we were waiting on the finances to arrive before moving, but one day we felt like God was telling us to do it the other...
Happy Birthday Wishes to a Great Dad
It was my dad’s birthday a couple of days ago and though I have already told him, I would be remiss if I didn’t wish him a Happy Birthday on our blog. Love you dad!!
Massive Changes
Alright everyone, or at least for those who read the last blog post, I am going to unveil the massive changes coming on the horizon. And though some already know about them, this will be the official public announcement. We are going to be moving to the village by the end of this month!! It is the culmination of several years of preparation, so needless to say, we are pumped out of our minds.
Now...
Back On Track
Sorry everyone for the long delay in posting. We have had some issues, some wonderful visitors and some responsibilities.
The first thing that happened was our site was hacked and luckily, by the fancy footwork of my brother, our old posts have been saved and reposted. Thanks Josh!!!
Secondly, my parents came to visit us. It may be the understatement of the century to say that we enjoyed...
March 2011
3 posts
How Do You Reach People for Christ?
Recently, I have been learning about cultural differences and, almost simultaneously, have been experiencing cultural stress of my own. This can leave me exhausted at the end of the day, not to mention discouraged about the work ahead. The questions in my head are: Am I cut out for this? Can I really do this? And how am I supposed to change the lives of those around me in a context and culture I...
Teachable Moments
Ayla was flopping all over the couch today, each time becoming a little more reckless and when I saw that it was getting too dangerous, I told her to stop. Well what did she do? She tried it again, testing about the limits of daddy’s rules. But instead of sending her to the corner or talking with her about disobeying afterward, I had to react quickly before she fell headfirst onto the tile floor....
Coordinating Eyes and Mouth
Ayla might be the cutest little girl in the world. Strike that…she IS the cutest little girl in the world. Sorry to all you other parents that thought yours were, Ayla takes the cake. Yesterday, I told her I had a treat for her (peanuts…she loves ‘em) and, as a little game, I thought to have her shut her eyes and open her mouth. Well she handled each task individually, but coordinating the...
February 2011
8 posts
Why Would I?
I don’t know what has gotten into me. Whenever you travel/live internationally, there comes a point where you have reached the limits of what you are willing to experience in the culture. You have become familiar with most of the things, but have drawn a line in the sand saying that it will suffice. The problem is that after a while, you realize that you are still missing out on so much of...
Exhaustion
Holy smokes, it is amazing how quickly you forget how exhausting having a newborn is. I mean, I am flat out wiped. It is like you develop amnesia about the different stages of your child’s growth after each one is finished. You no longer remember the tough parts, but just the really great parts. So when someone asks me, ‘How was Ayla as a newborn?’, my first response is,...
The Book I'm Reading
I have started reading a book that someone lent to me here and I think it is worth mentioning. It is called ‘When Helping Hurts’ by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. I am not through it all the way, so this isn’t going to be a full review (yet), but what I have read, I would recommend heartily. It is more than an instruction manual on poverty alleviation, but also an attempt at...
Realizations From a Red Candle
We had a fierce storm last night that shook our roof. When I say it was raining hard, I couldn’t see more than 20 feet out the window. So the next day I asked several people how they and their houses were after the storm. During one conversation, I learned that one woman lights a red candle during storms because her mother taught her that it kept evil spirits away and consequently would...
How To Pray For Us
I have recently changed how I pray for myself and I would ask you all to follow me in this. So far, during our time in Cameroon, I have prayed for a lot of things. Healing, safety, peace, wisdom, patience, guidance, clarity and understanding. And all those are great to pray for, but the main thing is lacking and that is being made into the image of Christ and having our hearts changed into those...
Blinded by the Vitamins
Who knew they were so dangerous. A dropper of vitamins turned a fabulous, fun-filled evening into a night of utter terror. It all began with a pediatrician visit we had the other day where she recommended we start giving Josiah vitamins. Little did we know, this seemingly innocuous advice would one day lead to an unfortunate accident.
As the doctor’s advice was resonating in my ears later...
The Love of a Father
When we had Ayla a couple years ago, much of what the Bible mentioned about God the Father began to make sense to me. Until then, I didn’t fully understand the love of a father, even though I have a wonderful, loving dad of my own with whom I am very close. But it is different when you are in the position of being the parent as opposed to the child. I knew and know that my earthly father...
Josiah Is Born and We Are Home
Many of you already know, but our son, Josiah Caedmon was born on the 2nd of February at 4:15 pm local time. He weighed 3.56 kilos and was 53 cm long. (I’ll let you guys look up the conversions to add a little audience participation) He is healthy and so is Jo. We were taken very good care of at the clinic and have received an incredible outpouring of help and love from our...