Thank you for your support!!

This may be my last posting for a while as I begin to catch up with life again. I'm almost back into my regular sleep pattern which gives me energy to tackle work and assorted duties...like the hundreds of emails I have accumulated while away. Missions at midlife...who would have thought that this would be my life? It was my prayer to demonstrate Christ's love to the people we encountered. I'm thankful that prayer was answered over and over again!! I was also blessed to learn from the people of Cameroon about their daily lives and walk with Jesus. So many memories to cherish and carry forward to my life here. Because of your support in a number of ways, I was able to make this dream a reality. Please keep me in your prayers for wisdom and discernment regarding the next steps in my life towards serving a longer mission in the very near future.
This last post is a collection of people and sights that I won't soon forget.

Dr. Philemon Yong...Academic Dean at Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary. Visionary,energetic and passionate about reaching his country with the truth of the gospel.


Linda Yong...wife of Dr. Yong. warm,insightful,compassionate..










Our home during the mission.

Children and friends of Cameroon

Children having lunch after their program to thank us for vacation bible school:








With Mercy and Martha. Martha cooked our meals and made me realize the importance of CARBS at every meal...fruits and veggies are highly over-rated:>)
Mercy is in the middle and very pregnant! Amazing woman with an equally amazing faith in God.

My assignment in Cameroon

Administrative tasks and the Seminary textbook library was a major part of my work. Although I spent a couple of days at vacation bible school to help get things started, the bulk of my assignment was cleaning, organizing and creating spreadsheets for over 1000 books used for instruction in the seminary. This also meant getting rid of 1000s of damaged,out of date texts/materials and other assorted items that didn't work or were just ancient...like movie reels dating back to 1950s and a microfiche reader. Even though I spent the day covered in dust, it was a labor of love that answered my prayers. These are the before pictures...extreme water damaged ceiling tiles, more dust swirling around than a Arizona dust storm and a mouse that scurried around room as my constant companion :>).

Yes, those are containers of reel projector films!


There is a window buried behind this stack that opens which I didn't discover until days later. That was a glorious day(thanks Garth) to get fresh air into this space.




I can only guess how much mold and/or abestos was floating around the room :)





In the end, I was able to create spreadsheets logging info for every text, shelves cleaned, organized and labled by subject and a list of recommendations for the seminary president to consider. That year of working at a bookstore in high school, really came in handy for this project...it appears God's preparation for this trip started a long time ago :>)
Like any makeover,here is the after:

Early days in Cameroon

Vacation Bible School in Cameroon and A few of our excellent teacher assistants!:







Our Missionary Hosts: Dr. Philemon Yong and his wife Linda:



Team on the way...first stop on the way, Chicago!

I'm back!!

Family and friends, Made it back to Phoenix last night! My daughter picked me up from the airport and listened to me ramble on and on and on about the trip. She was sort of a captive audience since she had to bring me home. So many great memories of yet another trip to Africa. The last time I was in Africa, I called it a life changing experience. This time, I can't find the words to describe all the thoughts and emotions except to say I didn't want to leave. Even without many of the modern day conveniences of my life here, it felt like I was home. The warmth and generosity of the people we worked with and served was overwhelming at times. They saw us as a blessing and answer to prayer. Little did they know that we were equally blessed by them. This was a time of growth, affirmation and life's purpose culminating in a deeper understanding of God's grace, mercy, and promises. The ability to share Christ with people who wanted to know and understand more about Him was rewarding and challenging(interesting questions and overcoming language differences)...and an experience that I haven't had on a daily basis here in the U.S. Definitely challenged me to look for those opportunities to share the truth of God's word and my faith in Him more often and with boldness. Thank you all for your support..spiritually, financially and emotionally! Your prayers for me before, during and now after this trip are greatly appreciated. Pictures and video to follow in next posts.

PICTURES AND VIDEO!!!

Happy Sunday!

My mom and the team are in Bamenda. She had WiFi last night and sent me some
pictures and video. She said that they went into town last night and did some shopping. Took a ride in the taxis, which are an adventure(check out the video!) and had a nice dinner at a local hotel. Today they are on their way into the village that Dr. Yong was raised in and see his mother and family. She says that it is much warmer in Bamenda than it was in Ndu(and probably not pouring) and will be even warmer once they get to Duoala.

Jess




My mom and the ladies from church!! GREAT outfits =)


Youth Sunday at church

Rain, rain and more rain!

Just when I thought the rains had stopped, it rained again and even heavier! Imagine our monsoon rain for hours at a time and no heat source except for a fireplace. Temperatures are in the 60-70's before rain and 50's during and after rain. We are a few degrees from the equator but 7000 feet in elevation. My project in the seminary library is done including spreadsheets and a report to the university president. It was dusty, dirty and hard work; with a mouse that was my constant companion in my work space. Everyone here is very happy with the finished work. Again, I realize how blessed I am and have learned so much about God's goodness, grace and mercy. The ladies finished teaching today and provided gifts of soap to each other at the requests of the pastor. We go back tomorrow for a celebration program with the kids and teachers.

A little taste of home..

The seminary

The library where I work

So my mom and the team in Cameroon have been having a great time there! When I talked to her the other day, she told me how thier hosts are making it a little bit like home while they are there.

At the end of each day, we are tired in a good way. It feels great to be able to serve others and share our faith. We are all grateful to our church for the sound teaching we recieve. We realize our blessings even more. Yesterday, the guys surprised us with a treat, Coke! And Mercy, who takes care of our place, made us lots of french fries. We had a great time playing games and laughing. It has been partly sunny and no rain for 24 hours so that has also been nice. Last night was ladies night and all of the women played games with Linda and Debbie, another missionary who is here with her husband and 3 kids. All of our jobs are going well and are just right for each of us. We all have stories of what the Lord is teaching us. We send our love.


The trail to yong's house for meals everyday

This is fufu. It comes out of the package very thick like cream of wheat made with corn that you eat with your fingers scooped with jama jama


This is jama jama, you eat it with fufu like spinach


Martha picking fresh jama jama


Free range chicken

French toast and banana bread

What has Kim been up to??

Here are a few texts from my Mom on her doings in Africa!!

July 6th:
First day of our work here and its been a glorious day in the Lord! Our hosts have been so impressed by our desire to serve and the diverse gifts and talents we bring. I have been so overjoyed with what has happened so far especially during holiday bible school with the kids. We had over 160 students with many having to be turned away. There will probably be another 50 or so that will show up tomorrow that will have to be turned away. So much work and need is here. The roads are an experience that can't be described. You must feel every pothole and washboard to really understand. However the views offer so much beauty as we look out to lush green tea plantations for as far as you can see. This is a place to come back to next year. Thanks to everyone for your prayers!

July 8th: We go shopping on Saturday in the village to pick up traditional clothes and wares. Its rainy season here and it rains for at least 6 hours a day. I'm getting used to walking in the rain and mud all the time. I started working in the seminary library today organizing tons of books, creating spreadsheets, and systems of organization.Will be doing a teacher training next week to help them continue the work we started. So much to do and be thankful for. Im loving it here and can't wait to get back next year.

July 10th: Team is doing well. Its Saturday evening and we have had a busy day. The team joined me in organizing the library and bookstore which was so needed. Now it won't be so overwhelming next week. After lunch we all walked over to the market to shop for potatoes, fabric and assorted goodies. It was crowded, very busy and the ability to bargain is key! Its about 2 miles from us, great exercise and if we were to stay longer maybe we would learn how to balance things on our head while walking =) The tailor measured us and will be creating outfits with the fabric we bought. We look forward to wearing them on Sunday when we are home.It is about 2 hours before dinner and we use this time daily to read, study and discuss the Bible and talk about our day. Tomorrow, Andy will preach at church and they will be celebrating with a thanksgiving feast! We are blessed by their kindness. Keep us all in your prayers. We send our love ♥

She made it!!!

Hi!!
Its Kim's daughter, Jessica. Just letting you know my Mom and her team made it to Ndu, Cameroon safely. She said it was a 4.5 hour drive on a very bad road. But that the weather is nice and cool. She has spent her time in Ndu touring the seminary and exploring the town. Tomorrow she will be starting work with the seminary in which she will be doing a variety of different organizational things. So let's all pray it goes well and my mom and her team have fun. I cant wait to hear the stories when they get back!

-Jess