T-Minus 4 Months and Counting...

Hey All! You might be wondering why the map of the United States. Well, that's because we have begun planning our next trip back! We will be back in the US from March till early August to travel all over the place and see many of you. This map roughly shows where all we will be going! It is going to be a crazy summer. Just point to point, it is over 10,000 miles of driving! We will most likely be visiting or driving through:

Missouri

Oklahoma

Texas

Arkansas

Tennessee

Mississippi

Alabama

Georgia

Florida

South Carolina

North Carolina

Virginia

Maryland

New York

Pennsylvania

Ohio

Illinois

Iowa

Nebraska

South Dakota

North Dakota

Montana

Idaho

Washington

Oregon

Utah

Wyoming

Colorado

New Mexico

Whew! That's at least 29 states! We are excited to see many of you and hope to get in touch in the next few weeks to sort out dates to visit. Let us know if you want us to make sure to stop over and see you and if you know of anywhere in the vicinity of our journeys where we could share about our ministry and the work of the Lord here in Cameroon, please let us know. It always seems that people are very encouraged to learn of all that is happening here, and we are always excited to meet fellow saints. Please be praying for us, as we make these plans and for the next 4 months here in Cameroon, that we can get everything done that we need to get done. Keep our coworkers the Harris family in your prayers also as they will have a lot on their plate when we are gone. God bless and see you soon!  

While Jeremiah was gone...

It feels SO good to be finally writing a blog again! While Jeremiah was away we managed to keep up (though it wasn't easy) with our normal routine (for the most part) and we had some extra programs in addition.

Neville, the man in front, is a good friend of ours who majored in creative arts. He now teaches in the University of Buea as well as campaigns for women's rights. He took George under his wings to help him act in different dramas. This particular one they exposed human trafficking that happens often in Cameroon.

Here are some of the Cameroonian women leaders from our area wearing their traditional dresses.

Hannah and her friend Julian sang a duo "Jesus Loves Me" while Uncle George played the guitar. They did a great job singing in front of the crowd!

There was also a talk about HIV and a testing area.

Me with acting crew. These are some very talented people who were able to get the point across in a creative way.

Cameroonians like to march and celebrate! This day we celebrated Teacher's Day. We listened to several different speeches about education and education in Cameroon history, sang, marched, watched the giving of awards to certain teachers, etc. It was a good and fun day!

Here is some of our teaching staff. Neville, Rosette, me, and George. 

When Jeremiah was away I went to Church assemblies at the Buea Town Church of Christ instead of going to the villages. It was nice to see the saints there and one afternoon we had some Nigerian missionaries take a group of us out to eat in Limbe for roasted fresh fish and plantain. It was delicious and the fellowship was sweet.

We haven't seen any black cobras in our compound since Jeremiah left but we have seen 2 black mambas on the road since then! 

Thanking God for His protection from these beautiful but extremely poisonous creatures.

The kids helped me make pizzas on Friday. Family night was just not the same without daddy.

About 2 weeks after Jeremiah left Brian, Jael, and baby Zeal returned to Cameroon!

Brian's mom came with them and will be staying in Cameroon for 6 weeks all together. She is enjoying extra grandma time with baby Zeal.

Hannah, Jonathan, and Carys are totally in love with her as well. <3

Brian and Jael basically hit the ground running as they quickly started helping the the school and other aspects of the ministry. Here Jael, with cute baby Zeal, is working in the learning center.

Brian leading the morning devotional in school.

Brian teaching our Sunday night home Bible study.

We are thanking God for His protection on the road as well. I drove Brian and family to Douala to get some items for settling in their house and on the way, through a toll, a bus went into our lane heading right for us. The bus swerved a bit bumping our car as well as some others but thankfully no one was hurt. When they stopped people rushed to see why the driver went into our lane and we found out it was due to brake failure! It was especially frightening for Jael, as baby Zeal was in the car, but we are all very thankful it didn't turn out worse.

I am so happy to have my hubs back! I want to say a special "Thank You" to all who helped out with Jeremiah's medical care, prayed for him, and the encouragement you gave us. Words can't express our gratitude towards you all and we pray God continues to bless you.

Eye Update

Hey All!

It has been a week and a half since I told you all about the problems that I was facing with my eyes. As a reminder, I was told by the eye doctor in Cameroon that I had a retinal detachment that required surgery to repair, and was advised to do it ASAP. I decided to come to the United States, as medical care here is very advanced and eye surgery is quite delicate. So, here is what has happened since.

• I did NOT have a retinal detachment! This was great news! I got in on the 4th of October and by the 5th, was in to see a retinal specialist. They could find no detachment. Now, here is what is thought-provoking. The eye doctor here in the States said that a retinal detachment is pretty difficult to miss... while it is possible that the doctor in Cameroon was just completely incompetent, I think we shouldn't rule out of the power of prayer. So many people were praying for me, I think it is entirely possible that I DID at one point have a detachment, but God answered prayers. Anyways, we will have to wait for heaven to know for sure, but in any case, PRAISE GOD! 
• I did have retinal tears and weakness. (For more on retinal tears see here.) This means that a retinal detachment was very likely. I have very bad myopia, and this is a major risk factor for retinal detachments. Since a detachment while in Africa would necessitate another emergency trip, the retinal surgeon recommended that I have laser surgery to repair some of the tears and holes and essentially tack the retina more firmly to the wall of the eye. This surgery took about 25 minutes and was an outpatient procedure. 
• What was causing my loss of vision was a different problem however. I suffer from a condition called Keratoconus. This means essentially that my corneal wall is weak and a part of the cornea is bulging outwards abnormally. This was responsible for the loss in vision that I had experienced. In order to solve this problem, I am making a switch from soft to rigid contact lenses. This should help my condition stabilize, and this is something to pray about, as if it continued to worsen, it might eventually necessitate a corneal transplant. The chance of this is slim though, and through your prayers, unlikely. 
• I picked up my contacts yesterday and head back to Cameroon on Tuesday of next week. Thanks for all your prayers and concern. I believe it made the difference between major surgery with extensive down time and a simple outpatient procedure and speedy return home. Thanks for also keeping my family in your prayers. They continue to do well and I am very much looking forward to seeing them next week!

Some of you have asked about expenses and costs involved in this situation. Here is a brief breakdown of what we have had to spend so far. Any help that you could provide would of course be appreciated, as this was an unplanned expense. Thank you and especially thank you for your prayers! 

• Plane tickets, plus changes to return on the 20th- $1,594 + $380. 
• Laser surgery to repair holes and reinforce retina- $4449
• Corneal specialist for the Keratoconus- $74 (The doctor waived his fee (a couple hundred dollars) since I am a missionary... we only had to pay some of the administrative costs. Praise God!)
• Optometrist for the rigid contacts- $250
• Semi-rigid contacts, specially made for me- $450. 
• Total:~$7,197