Saturday, 1 August 2015

Picture Update!

Here are some photos from our rainy season so far! School's out but we've kept busy. Hope you enjoy:
This is my Sunday school class at Bolifamba C of C. The room is small so I can't get a picture of everyone but it is full of precious children!
This girl loves to be part of EVERYTHING!
My view outside the Sunday school classroom.
Rainy season is in full swing and it's rare to see the sun, though it does peek through from time to time.
The humidity and lack of sun causes mold to spread over everything.

In a city of about 200,000 there are no public playgrounds or parks in Buea for kids, but there is a hotel just outside of  Buea that has a little playground area that I take our kids to from time to time. I took them the other day and it was raining (rainy season it rains everyday, almost all day). The kids slipped and fell on the slimy concrete and got some scrapes and bruises but still had fun overall.
Jeremiah would love to buy a piece of land in Buea one day to turn into a park with some playground equipment for children. It will have to go on the already looooong list of things we would like to do! ;)
Every couple of weeks (though less often in the rainy season) we like to take a family hike. Here we went to a village outside of Buea where it was isolated. We got out of the vehicle and hiked to see a lava flow in our area.
I wore a dress not knowing the hike would be long and through thick jungle. It turned out it was nice though as it covered my ankles which prevented them from getting scratched and itchy. It was comfy too! 
It was pretty amazing seeing the lava flow and the plants that were growing that are not seen in other places.


We were able to poison the rats that had made our house their home and were rid of them for a while but the rains seems to have brought them back. Jeremiah killed this one by catching it's tail in the door and hitting it with a racket.
Chicken and goats are always roaming around our neighborhood but recently they have been coming in our yard. The chickens even ate the new lettuce that I planted! 
We sure do love our own kids, but also are blessed to have many other children in our lives. This boy, Emmanuel, is the brother Jonathan never had. He spends a lot of his time with us aside from sleeping... though he often spends the night here too!
There are no public libraries for children in Buea but from time to time a used book store will get a shipment from the States with used children's books. The kids love going there with their daddy and we can buy books for less than $1 each! 
If it's not raining, mommy and daddy are like "QUICK, GO OUTSIDE KIDS!!!" Haha! We let them play in the rain sometimes but being on a mountain it gets cold.
Jonathan drew this picture for me. He said, "I am superman and you are supergirl. I put a heart on your shirt because I love you." This boy melts my heart and he is going to make someone a very happy lady one day, just like his daddy. 
Poor kid is sick with malaria right now. Though malaria is no fun and you can have fever, chills, body aches, etc if you catch it in time it is pretty curable with the right medicine. The medicine for malaria does have to be changed after time as the parasites learn to adapt. With prayers and meds, Jonathan will be back to playing and running around in no time!
Sometimes I like to experiment in the kitchen. Sometimes it works out great... and sometimes I fail miserably but this time it went well. I like using fresh herbs but they don't last more than a couple of days so I decided to make sp'ice cubes! They have been easy to add to different dishes and add a nice flavor.
There is a store that gets shipments from America about every 6 months so if you don't get everything you want within a week (or less) of their shipment some of the hard to find stuff will be bought up. What do you do when all the peanut butter is gone?? Make some yourself! I used honey, oil and fresh peanuts and it turned out yummy!
I was blessed to be asked to teach a lesson about faith at the last ladies prayer meeting in the Buea Church of Christ. When we arrived they asked Hannah to lead the ladies in some songs. She did a great job! Though she keeps me on my toes, I am very proud of the young lady Hannah is becoming.

Auntie Kate can now see well enough to read her Bible. Thanks mom for sending the glasses!

We had to go to Youande, Cameroon's capital, to go to the American embassy to get Jonathan's expired passport renewed. I didn't take many pictures of our time there but we did go to the zoo, explore the city, and take the kids to a nice park with a waterfall and playground (which inspired the idea to get one in Buea ;) )!
Why is it that when we go to a zoo in Africa there is usually a monkey OUT of the cage running around? Carys wanted to touch it!
The gym ministry continues to go well though the population has reduced a bit since the starting up of rainy season. Some people travel, some take exams, and some just don't like to get out in the rain. But I'm sure it will pick back up as soon as school starts again. 
I love it when the ladies come eager to put in the work to be fit and healthy and come to be encouraged by the Word of God!


Hannah has been joining the ladies group these days, strong girl for Jesus!
It truly is a joy getting to work with these ladies. 

Please join us in prayer to sell my little car quickly. A brother in the Church who is also a taxi driver needs a way to support his family and we need someone to bring the kids to school who aren't in walking distance (the parent's will pay a transport fee). We are going to sell my little car and his broken down taxi (for parts) to get something reliable for him. 

Tuesday, 28 July 2015

A Surprise Party!

With the help of many a surprised birthday party was planned for Jeremiah's big 3-0! When Jeremiah  went to the gym the house was decorated and food was prepared. Jeremiah is always helping others so it was fun to see everyone working together to help make it a special day for him.

When he came home SURPRISE!!! We let him shower before we began...

Many people had different activities planned to entertain the group. Some sang songs...

While others wrote poems for him.



Gifts were given...

some were bought, some were made, and one was painted!
There was dancing, too!

We were given a speech by Fredrick Takem who Jeremiah has Bible studies with. The other man is a neighbor who gave a toast with sparkling grape juice. It was encouraging to hear the positive things everyone said about my husband to let him know he is appreciated.

 "
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord." I Corinthians 15:58

I didn't get a picture of the food but we had accra banana (banana and cocoyam that has been mashed and put into balls to fry), Auntie's special fried rice, chicken and cake! This is the clean up crew.

I tease Jeremiah about being an old man now but when I think about the many things God has accomplished through him already- in just 30 years on earth I am truly amazed. He is still goal driven and has written down goals for the next decade of his life and I pray I can be a good helpmate to him throughout. What an amazing husband, father, brother in Christ, and worker for the Lord!


Sunday, 26 July 2015

WE LOVE VBS!

 Something we have always enjoyed doing, since we were in Ghana, has been having Vacation Bible School for neighborhood kids. This year, we got to have a VBS again, and it was a great time.
George and Perla were of tremendous help with the VBS this year, with George especially being responsible for much of it. He helped teach the kids songs, did the Bible stories, lead the games and showed videos for the kids. We helped plan and organize things and pitched in to help, but  it was very encouraging to see George, who was a part of so many VBS programs in Ghana, be able to step up and do so much to ensure that the program was a success. 
Volunteer at work. We were very grateful for Brian and Jael's house to host the VBS in as it rained frequently during the time. Perla helped with crafts and snacks even as she battled a stomach bug. 

Teaching about Noah with the younger group of kids. We used the school library for the arts and crafts time. 

Some of the younger kids' class. 
Crafts time! We made paper boats for the lesson on Noah!


We had from 25-40 kids each day of VBS, in spite of frequent rains. What a great chance to teach these kids Bible lessons. As we always cheer- "We LOVE VBS!!!"