Christians Celebrating and Caring for Cameroon

May 20th is National Day here in Cameroon, the day that the two parts of Cameroon, English speaking and French speaking, joined to be a united republic. It is a day of marches and parties, and so we decided to have a party of our own, to celebrate Cameroon and also to have a chance for Christians to pray and think about their role as Salt and Light in this nation.

Before we could have the party, we had to get ready. We rented some tents, and everyone chipped in to get the yard cleaned up and ready. 

Working hard to have a great program! Hannah helped clear the dead leaves away. 

Chef Jeremiah! I was able to cook some khebabs for the party, and we had rice and coleslaw that Brittney made up. It was a time of feasting, fun, fellowship and focus, a powerful prayer and praise party! 

Big boy Jonathan helps get the chairs cleaned up. We rented 80 chairs and most of them were filled. 

Bro. Nelson, an outstanding young man, led the singing and did a great job. 

Our near neighbor and good friend, Bro. Oben Wilson  gave us the opening prayer, committing the program into the hands of the God of all nations. 

Many of the ladies chipped in to help serve the food. We didn't have to ask, they just saw a need and filled it. Thank God for willing hearts and hands. 

Yum! Everyone enjoyed the food and we thank God and all of our supporters for the finances that made this program possible. 

As we said, it was a time of fun- we played a number of games, and the adults got into them just as much as the kids (or even more). Being able to do something fun together is a great way to build the sense of being the Family of God. 

The ladies played this game ("Helium Stick") against the guys. I won't tell you who won ;). 

Adults vs. Children for Charades. Young and old, everyone got into it, and so it was great! The kids won. 

Having fun was a goal of our program, and so to was building faith. Our role as citizens of our earthly nation is important- we are to be Salt and Light, we are to shine by being respectful, and prayerful subjects. Our true citizenship is indeed in heaven. 

After the devotion, a number of the men lifted up powerful prayers for the nation of Cameroon, that the rulers will rule well, that peace will prevail as we see the chaos around us in Nigeria, Chad, Mali, Central African Republic, Congo... and that we can have open doors to share the Gospel. Brother Kunga opened the prayer time. 

Everyone there (except Brittney, Jonathan and I) had at some point in their life, marched in a May 20th parade. Well, we closed off "Marching to Zion!" I think the smiles on the faces sum up the time- what a blessing to be with brethren and to reach out to those who are not yet Christians. Thank God for a Great Day and May God Bless Cameroon!

This Post Brought to You by the Letter H for Hannah

Our goal and desire for our children is above all that they will have a love for the lost, that they will not just be present in our ministry, but will be part of our ministry- our greatest helpers. With Hannah, who is 6 now, we do indeed see this happening. This blog is brought to you by her- the pictures were taken by her, and the captions were written by her as well. We hope you enjoy this view of our work from Hannah's perspective.

Daddy was teaching about Freedom in Christ in a new assembly. 

I like hearing my daddy teach in the Mile 14 church. 

This little girl was soo cute!

She's funny. She's about 2 years old. I took a lot of pictures of her. 

My mommy is pregnant. I am excited about it. The baby is coming in just 11 weeks! I want to do almost everything with my new sister or brother! 

Mommy is doing squats in the gym. I like going to the gym with my mommy. She trains the ladies there. Mommy said that those squats would help her for the baby. 

I was at the market with my mommy. We went to go and buy food. We got fruits. The market is pretty crowded.  

This guy asked me to take his picture. He's really funny. People like it a lot when I take their picture. I like taking pictures of people who are friendly. 

Grinding Meat & Making Burgers-N-Fries!

One of the many ways I can serve my family is by helping make family nights extra special by making American food. For family night I either make burgers or pizza while daddy wrestles or plays outside with the kids (or both!). The kids get to take a bubble bath and we watch a family movie together. Then Jeremiah sings, prays, and tucks them in as usual. This blog post is dedicated to encourage you as well as show you the fun process we go through to make hamburgers and french-fries.

Jeremiah goes to the meat market to buy about 5 kilos of meat each month. I use 1/2 of that to make ground beef.

After cutting the meat into cubes and washing it I set up the grinder (that my mother in law brought from Ghana, Thank You, Mom H!). Woops! Power went off here and I had to wait a few hours for it to come back on before I could finish grinding.

When the power came back on I finished grinding, divided the ground meat and put it into bags to freeze for the month...except for the meat I'd use for this family night. Thankfully funds were recently donated for a generator so I won't have to wait for the power to come back on to grind anymore. (This is just one of the MANY ways the generator has been and will be a blessing to us and the ministry.) THANK YOU to all who helped with this project!!!

I soak the veggies in salt/vinegar water and let them drain before cutting them up to put on the burgers.

Homemade french-fries! Buy the potatoes at the market, peel, wash, cut, and fry. :)

Season your meat with desired spices and press into patties. Cook.

Voila! Burgers-N-Fries calls for one happy and holy Hostetter family. :-D

"If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." I Peter 4:11