Blessedly Busy

There are several things I want to share with you all so I decided to combine topics in this blog.

A very generous American family living in Buea called me up a few days ago asking if I knew any needy families they could help with a tenth of the chickens they have raised. 

Thankfully a beloved sister/mother in the Church has an NGO called Reach Out who had a chicken4life project therefore had a truck and chicken crates to help carry the chickens.

Reach Out is a trust worthy organization that helps many people in the community everyday.

We were able to give out 30 chickens, 24 of which were generously given by our friends, to orphans, widows and those who were in need. God continues to provide for His people in unexpected ways.

Carys wanted to help with the project too!

Many were blessed in Buea today and Reach Out took some of the chickens to a nearby village, Tole. Praise God for using His people to partner together on such a fun project that helped those in need.

Something else I got to be a part of: several of us ladies joined together to cook for a dear sister in Christ's traditional wedding.

People came from different parts of Cameroon to attend.

Every tribe has their own traditional way of paying the bride price. The bride's family made a list of items the groom's family had to get together to bring for the traditional wedding. Here they are "arguing" about the quality of material they brought from the list. Finally, the groom's family said the bride's family should take this material as a bonus, and they would buy more material of better quality later.

Something else that was on the list was palm wine and bitter cola. The groom's family had to taste it first to make sure it wasn't poisoned before giving it to the bride's family. Both families are in the Church but they still practiced this as a cultural thing.

The handsome groom and beautiful bride.

It was a beautiful wedding all around!

The father of the bride talking about wanting them to wait to be "joined" until after the court and Church wedding.

The mother of the bride and the bride. They are truly wonderful women of God. We are now preparing for her court and Church wedding which Hannah and I both will be part of.

Since I made the cake for the traditional wedding I was given a small part of some of the bride price. Here we have soda, soap, tomato paste, salt and maggi (spice cubes).

On another note, Abel (whom I'm sure most of you have heard about through other posts) was in a hit and run car/motorcycle accident, breaking his toe and suffering severe abrasions on his arms and legs. He had no family to help him so he called "Mr.J" (Jeremiah) for assistance. There is no such thing as medical insurance here, and if you don't have the cash on hand to pay medical expenses BEFOREHAND, the hospital will simply not help you. Many die simply because they cannot afford treament, including a young motorcycle taximan (19 years old) who similarly had an accident while Abel was in the hospital. Coming out of anesthesia Abel said a lot of funny things such as "Girls like me because I'm social but I'm not ready for marriage, send them away." And sweet things such as "My family has abandoned me but Mr. J will never abandon me, He has taught me the Word of God!" 

Abel had to spend 18 days in the hospital and he had surgery on his broken toes but he is doing much better now, though he has to walk with a crutch.

Culturally, when someone is sick or has come back from a long journey friends and family will come and visit you. Ladies from the Buea Town Church of Christ recently to visit my husband and to encourage him despite the troubles with his eyes and the challenges it brings.

They have absolutely amazing voices.

It was indeed encouraging to have them in our home offering praises to the Lord and encouragement to the family.

God is good...