Shortly after Joseph came to work at 6 p.m. he asked if we had water.  As I was telling him that we did not, he reached over and turned on the kitchen sink faucet.  To my complete surprise and amazement, a full, steady stream of water came pouring out!  What an incredible sight!  Since I was getting ready to have my weekly book study with Theirry (we're studying an excellent book on purity) I asked him to run upstairs and let Papa Jim know that the water was on.  Before long I could hear the washing-machine, which lives in our bathroom, humming away.  Joseph was outside busily filing our large water barrels.  The sound of running water was music to my ears.  Later, when I finally made it upstairs for the night, low and behold, the water was still on.  Papa Jim had been a busy little beaver.  Our toilet had been flushed.  Multiple times.  Our water barrel was full.  To the brim.  The washing-machine was running (what music to the ears!).  It is now 12:58 a.m. the same night.  You better sit down for this one...you aren't going to believe what I am going to say.  WE STILL HAVE WATER!!!  Amazing!  Astounding!  Still able to flush the toilet!  Such luxury!  The laundry is caught up!  What a treat!  Our water barrel is still full to the brim!  WOW!  For those of you who live in the Land of Plenty, water is one of your inalienable rights.  But we who live on the Dark Side of the Moon understand very well that water is sheer luxury.  And we're praising God for blessing us with this luxury for however long it lasts.

She's a beautiful young lady.  Has two children, 3 years old and 2 years old.  He's a handsome man.  Has a good job in Bamenda.  She finished her education after they married and while having the babies.  A year ago she began searching for a job.  A Christian lady she knows came to her one day and said "In four months God is going to give you a job."  A short while later her pastor asked if he could pray with her after the church service.  He felt God had given him a word for her.  Told her God was going to give her a job soon.  Later a strong Christian at her husbands work gave her a tract that talked about God giving us whatever we ask for.  And so it was when she came down to Yaounde one day and bumped into a Christian friend of theirs, and when that man asked what she was doing these days, and when she told him that she was done with her education and looking for a job, she was all primed and ready to fall into the trap the enemy of our souls had laid for her.  The friend offered her an exciting job on the spot.  It was in her field of training.  Came with a good salary.  She could start immediately.  And when she counted the time since the Christian lady had said "In four months God is going to give you a job," it had been exactly four months.  She returned to Bamenda, talked it over with her husband, even spent time praying.  Well mostly praising God for this fantastic answer to prayer.  And thus it was that she took their two little kids and moved down to Yaounde to start her wonderful new job.  An entire year has passed.  He in Bamenda and she in Yaounde, they pray all the time that God will keep them true to their marriage vows.  They are trusting God to fortify them.  And as often as they can (not nearly often enough) one or the other makes the six hour drive to visit the other.  

And then God brought her to Shiloh.  And there was Mama Alice.  And what a time we've just had looking into the Word of God to see what He has to say on the subject.  The tears flowed as she realized for the first time that she is in direct violation of God's plan for marriage.  In God's good plan, she arrived at Shiloh about an hour before her husband.  And Mama Alice spent every moment of that hour teaching her deep truths from God's Word.  Not this "In four months God..." nonsense.  Mama Alice doesn't mince words.  If you don't want to hear the truth, better you go somewhere else.  Shiloh is not for you.

It's for people like this that Shiloh exists.  This is why we keep on keeping on no matter what the enemy throws at us.  It is our deepest joy to be able to be used by our Father to impact people for the Kingdom. What a high honor is ours. 

We're still going through the water outage problem here at Shiloh.  What has it been?  A month now?  We've lost track.  Our newest new norm is that water comes back on for about two hours in the wee hours of the morning every other night.  Our guard wakes us up when this happens and Papa Jim fills our water barrel and toilet tank (to be able to quickly start flushing the toilet) and Mama Alice starts the washing machine.  Since the water is not a strong flow, we seldom get more than one load through the machine before the water is cut off again.  A couple of times Papa Jim has had to finish filling the rinse cycle from our newly re-filled barrel so we could get our one load of laundry finished and out on the line to dry.  Meanwhile the guard is busy filling every other water barrel and water container inside and outside the house.  If he has time before the water is cut off again, he also fills a couple of basins for the day crew to use when they wash dishes, etc.  So we are managing just fine and are grateful for a bit of water every other night.  

Others do not have it so easy.  Our cook Francis reports that  when the water comes back on in their area, they have to stand in a very long line and wait their turn to fill their water containers.  They do not have running water in their home.  Their closest water source is an community water faucet not too far from their home.  So you see, we're practically living in the lap of luxury by comparison.

Well this is a first for Shiloh!  A Cameroonian group reserved the whole house for their week long conference, starting from last evening.  Their people will simply sleep at Shiloh, while eating meals and participating in the conference elsewhere.  This happens all the time.  We're happy to accommodate their needs.

So there we were on Saturday and Sunday, busily cleaning Shiloh, filling water barrels in the middle of the night (we're still going through the water shortage phase of life) and getting everything in tip top shape for this group.  We even had to ask two guests to vacate their rooms early in order to give us time to do all these preparations.

Saturday afternoon two local people came to Shiloh to discuss the final plans, give a non-refundable deposit, and look at all the rooms in order to know whom to place where.  They promised that the younger of the two men would bring their guests over one by one as they arrived in town on Sunday evening.  They anticipated that the earliest ones would arrive at 7:30 p.m. and the latest ones would be at Shiloh by no later than 10 p.m.   

By 6:30 p.m. we were good to go.  The last of the last of the last minute things had been done.  Now to wait around for an hour for the doorbell to start ringing.  

So here we are, nearly 4 p.m. on Monday afternoon and we are still waiting for them to ring our doorbell!  The entire group is a no-show.  No doorbell ringing.  No phone ringing.  Nothing.  We've had numerous individuals change their plans without bothering to phone and cancel their reservation, but this is the very first time that an entire group just disappeared like that, without so much as a by your leave.  Amazing!

Imagine that!  We've just discovered that someone living a mere ten minute walk away from Shiloh is renting out their two little furnished apartments to anyone in the mission community on a daily basis.  In other words, if you have to be in Yaounde three or four days for dental work, let's say, you can stay there on a space available basis.  Or your car broke down and you have to delay your return to the NW Region, but where you were staying while in town cannot let you extend your stay, due to prior reservations from someone else.  

Or let's just say that you are a little old grandmother missionary lady who runs a spiritual retreat center along with your husband.  And let's just say that this little old grandmother desperately needs some down time of her own.  Finally, at long last, after over eleven years of serving others, there is an affordable place where the little old grandmother missionary lady can go.  She just needs to pack the essentials:  a Bible, a couple of changes of clothing, a toothbrush, a laptop so she can keep blogging, a favorite book to read, her own pillow cuz you cannot trust a furnished apartment to have a good one, and some food.  That's all.  She can leave the phone at the spiritual retreat center.  And she can hide away for two (or dare we dream of three or four) days.  She can sleep in.  No alarm going off early in order to let the guard out.  She can go to bed early.  Zero demands on her time.  She can take one, two, three naps during the day.  Who's counting?  And she can imitate so many others who come to the spiritual retreat center.  Arrive exhausted from heavy ministry demands, and leave renewed, refreshed, restored, and ready to plunge headlong back into ministry.

Imagine that!  It almost defies imagination.

He moved in two weeks ago today.  Seventeen year old kid.  Son of a man from Daoula who frequently stays at Shiloh as part of an evangelistic team.  Overnighting on their way back home after yet another outreach to a particular village.  We don't know Dad individually and personally, but as part of the greater whole.  His wife has stayed at Shiloh a couple of times a long time ago.  Recognize her, but can't say we know her.  Their pastor, into whose extended family we were "adopted" over nine years ago, approached us about the possibility of permitting this teenager to stay at Shiloh while attending university here in Yaounde.  

Objection number one:  We're not running a dormitory for Christian university students. Could fill Shiloh many times over if we were.

Objection number two:  Off and on throughout the year, Shiloh is filled to the max.  There's not room to put another person sideways.

Objection number three:  This is a poor family.  They cannot afford to pay what it costs to stay at Shiloh.  Not even the greatly reduced spiritual retreat rate.  The small contribution they could make would not cover our out-of-pocket expenses for taking in their son.

While "No" was the obvious answer, we have learned a long time ago to let God have the final decision.  After considering this request from every angle, after spending time in prayer, after including our entire team in the discussion, we all felt at peace about it.  Clearly this was of the Lord.  We would say "Yes".  With some conditions.

Condition number one:  The son would stay in our only downstairs bedroom which is our least used room.

Condition number two:  He would move to a mattress on the floor of the living-room any time we needed that room. 

Condition number three:  He would clean his way out of the room and leave it "guest ready" every time he moved to the living-room. 

Condition number four:  He would attend our church and NOT the crazy church (which is closer to Shiloh).

Condition number five:  He would meet with Mama Alice once a week for a Bible study.

Condition number six:  If he was at Shiloh when we were eating, he would eat with us.  Otherwise he would prepare his own food or buy food on the street.

Condition number seven:  His parents would be responsible for all his expenses, including medical and a generous reduction on the price of staying at Shiloh.

Condition number eight:  This offer is good until Christmas break at which time he returns home for the holidays.  If this has been a mutually compatible relationship, the offer may be renewed.  If not, the parents will find other living accommodations for their son.

Dad and Mom were so grateful for this wonderful answer to their prayers.  They brought their son to us two weeks ago today.  It did not take an entire week for us to realize that he is a gift from God.  Polite, respectful, eager to pitch in and help out wherever needed when not in class or studying, a strong Christian, serious, brilliant, neat, clean, tidy, orderly, obedient.  In short, a real credit to the way his parents have raised him.  He's out the door at 6:45 Monday through Friday and back home around 5 p.m.  We have very quickly come to love him.  And are already wondering how we ever got along without him before we knew him.   

And thus our hearts have enlarged to include yet another son. What a blessing.

Dear Blog Followers,

On 13 September I promised you lots of stories from our time in the village.  I have since reneged on that promise.  A word of explanation.  It seemed more appropriate to write a lengthy prayer letter to all our prayer partners.  Said letter contained all the promised stories.  My assumption is that if you read this blog, you also receive (and maybe even read) our prayer letters.  If this is an incorrect assumption, let me know and I will happily send you the prayer letter in question.

I blogged on 15 and 16 September and have not blogged since.  A word of explanation. In addition to our normal busy life here at Shiloh, we have been addressing security issues.  (If you do not receive our prayer letter, you do not realize that we had yet another attempted break-in a week ago.)  Each robbery, each attempted break-in, makes us increasingly vigilant.  The "Bad Guys" teach us much.  For many years there was no obvious drug problem here in Cameroon.  But in recent years, drugs have arrived with all the attending problems.  Since the drug problem is here to stay, we will continue to experience more and more attempted break-ins. So we've been trying to think like a druggie, and trying to anticipate and prevent their next move.  We know we will not enjoy 100% success in this endeavor, but we must be wise.   We must be vigilant.  We must do our part.  And above  all else, we must continue to put our trust and confidence in Almighty God, Who is our Protector.

Saturday, September 16, 2017

5:45 a.m. Alarm rang

Papa Jim downstairs to let the guard out.

Mama Alice headed for the shower.

First hot shower in ten days.

Had almost forgotten what this luxury felt like!

6:15 a.m. Dressed and downstairs to make lunch for six of us.

Papa Jim will stay at Shiloh and be the guard.

Will fend for himself when he gets hungry.

7 a.m. Began making breakfast for all seven of us. 

7:55 a.m. Francis and his youngest sister, Corine arrived.  

(She's been working with us during her summer break from University.)

Turned the cooking over to them.  

Table already set.

Coffee already made.

English muffins already toasted.

Just the eggs left to cook.

Started gathering cleaning supplies.

8:05 a.m. Guy arrived.  

Asked him to open the house.

Seven outside doors.

Twenty-three windows.

8:10 a.m. Doris arrived.

Asked her to finish collecting cleaning supplies.

8:20 a.m. Sat down to breakfast.

Well, as soon as the prayer was finished, Mama Alice popped back up.

While they ate I showed them our lunch.

No sitting down to eat lunch.

Will eat while working whenever anyone gets hungry.

Made six quesadillas.

We each get four quarters.

A slice of banana bread apiece.

Five small bottles of soft drink.

DON'T TOUCH LITTLE WATER BOTTLE.

That's mine!!!

Next passed out job assignments and showed cleaning supplies that were going with us.

Ate my breakfast.

9 a.m. Collected our cleaning supplies and lunch bag.

Papa Jim let us out at the gate.

Walked passed the little studio apartments next door.

Arrived at our destination, the big house on the corner. 

Introduced our work crew to new missionary neighbor family.

Had received permission the day before to clean their house for them.

Been in country six weeks.  

Mom fell sick with chikungunya two days later.

Our David had chikungunya twenty-six years ago.

Dreadful, unrepeatable illness.

A week and a half later (Mom still sick, but slowly recovering) had a big robbery in the middle of the night.

Lost three laptops (one brand new) and two I-pads.

Very traumatic for all.

Mom relapsed. 

Relapse of any illness always harder to recover from than orrigional illness.

Turns out their domestique (highly recommended by the previous missionaries to rent the house) is not worth having around.

Takes all morning and then some to wash dishes.

Seldome sweeps the floors.

Forget mopping.

In six weeks has cleaned the master bath one time.

Cleaned kids bathroom three times.

(Getting the picture yet?)

He does not work Saturdays.

Thus our offer to clean the whole house from top to bottom.

Showed Francis the kitchen.

Had received permission for him to cook the noon meal for them.

Helped him look in fridge, freezer, and cabinets for what the possibilities might be.

Showed Corine the dining room and living room windows. 

Cleaning them was her job.

Showed Theirry the dining room railing.  

(Seventeen years old son of Cameroonian friends who is living at Shiloh while attending university.)

It's filthy dirty and it buggs Mom to have to look at it but she's not be able to do anything about it.

Told him when it was sparkeling, he would help Doris with sweeping and mopping.

Showed Doris the large living room that is down a level (more than a sunken living room, it's a whole floor below the rest of the house).

Showed her the large entryway, hallway, powder room, and dining room.

Sweeping and mopping and scouring the bathroom were her jobs.

Showed Guy the upstairs.

Large master bedroom suite.

Three bedrooms and an office.

Kids bathroom.

Asked him to start with the master bath and then advance to the kids bathroom.

Guy could only work until noon as Marie is sick.

Had to get back home to take care of his family.

Since Mom has been continuously sick, unpacking and setting up the house has been done in fits and starts.  

I searched for and found clean sheets and clean towels.

City water had been off since 7 a.m. so I could not do laundry for them.

Back downstairs to wash the mountain of dishes and help Francis find things.

Periodically checked on my crew. 

1:00 p.m. Insisted that Guy go home. 

Wanted to finish but wouldn't let him.

Sent Theirry up to sweep and mop the office.

Aside from all the unpacking and setteling in left to do, the upstairs was sparkling clean.

Family sitting in their clean dining room, at the table set and decorated by Mama Alice, eating yummy lasagnia made by Francis. 

Also had a nice salad, freash pineapple slices, and cold filtered water to drink.

Mama Alice ran out of steam.

Turned the rest of the dishes over to Doris.

Theirry swept and mopped the stairs.

Corine finishing up the last living room window.

Can actually see outside!

Amazing!!!

Francis cleaning stove and all counters.

Theirry gathered all our cleaning supplies and set them outside.

Then he swept and mopped the kitchen.

One by one we went outside and began eating our lunch.  

Corine finished last.

Asked Dad to let us out at their gate.

Returned to Shiloh.

Mama Alice went to bed!

Our team finished their lunch.

Took the five loads of laundry Mama Alice had washed through the night, and Joseph had hung out at 5 a.m., off the lines.

Folded and put everything away.

Everybody went home.

Except for Theirry who lives here.

 

 

 

 

  

Tomorrow we are going next door to clean house for our new neighbors.  They arrived in Cameroon about six weeks ago.  Just a handful of days after their arrival, the wife fell sick with chikungunya, which is a type of dengue fever.  While she was still quite sick, their shipment arrived from Togo, where they had previously ministered.    Without mom to engineer setting up their new home,  things have become quite higgelty-piggelty. Dad and the four children can only do so much.  About a week after the shipment arrived, they had a big robbery.  Someone was inside their house while they slept, going through their unpacked boxes.  The thief stole three laptops (one brand new) and two I-pads and I don't know what all else.  The military police came and conducted a big investigation and it consumed several days of their lives.  In the process mom relapsed.  They have not yet been able to find a good domestique to help them with housework.  So I am taking our team over in the morning and we are going to attack their house from top to bottom.  We don't know if we can get the whole house cleaned in one day, but we are going to try.  Our cook is going to take charge of their large kitchen, make a meal for them, and leave the place spic and span.  Our assistant will go upstairs, strip all the beds, put on clean sheets, clean all the bathrooms, and sweep and mop the entire upstairs.  I will start doing laundry as soon as the beds are stripped.  Our domestique will attack their dining room and living room, dusting, sweeping, and moping everywhere.  We have had a young lady (university student) working with us during her summer break.  She will be washing as many downstairs windows as she can.  And I will try to organize as much of their unpacked boxes chaos as I possible can in the time allotted.   Jim will stay back at Shiloh (we cannot leave our place unprotected).  He's working on a big project with our vines.  He is training them to grow up and around all our arches.  It will be quite breathtaking when he is done. 

We have several guests in Shiloh at this time.  One couple who comes regularly is quite musical.  They always bless us with their singing. (You can probably hear them singing in the background.)

Back from the village.  Tons of stories to tell.  Too exhausted to think.  They will have to wait until later.

Did I ever tell you about the time I had an infestation of mango fly worms?  This is a true story.  It happened approximately 22 years ago.  One day my back began feeling itchy.  Before long it felt like something was crawling under the skin on my back.  Finally I complained to Jim and had him look at my back.  He said I had lots of insect bites.  Surely the discomfort would go away in a few days.  But it didn't.  I became more and more convinced that something was alive and crawling under my skin.  Finally we began asking around in the mission community and learned there is such a thing as mango fly worms.  Never heard of them before.  A knowledgeable lady took a look at my back and showed Jim the proof that this is what I had. She told him the best way to rid my body of them was to put a coating of Vaseline on each red spot.  There was actually a small breathing hole in the middle.  I never saw it, but they described it to me.  Shortly the grubs began popping their head out through the Vaseline, searching for air.  Jim grabbed one with the tweezers and gently pulled it out.  Time graciously dulls the memory, so I can no longer accurately report how many there were.  Probably ten or twelve.  They didn't all come out that first evening.  It took two or three days to rid my back of my unwanted, uninvited guests.  To this day, it makes my skin crawl to think about it.

So how does one get mango fly worms, you ask?  All too easily as it turns out.  Mango flies do not lay their eggs on humans, but on damp grass or damp clothing hanging on the line to dry.  If said clothing is brought in before it is completely bone dry, the eggs not only live, they hatch and burrow into the nice warm flesh that is next to the clothing they are on.  So we became very vigilant about our cloths.  All these years later we still insist that things have to be bone dry before they come off the line.  Even if they have to be hung back out tomorrow, they must be dry.  Since the domestique who worked for us back them was not  one of the most educable people we've ever meant,  we gave her the task of ironing every article of clothing she took off the line, including our underwear.  And thus we have managed to live happily ever after.

Tonight Romeo asked me why God chose the people of Israel to be His chosen ones?  There were many other people all around them.  Why them?

Oh Romeo, what a question!  I asked him why God chose him to be His son?  Why Romeo and not one of the many others all around him?  I'm certain he knows ones in his age bracket who have not been chosen by God and have already died and gone to hell.  Why Romeo?  Why not another?  

The answer to these questions are known only to God.  He has the right to make His own choices.  I shared with him that God chose Romeo before the foundation of the earth.  The Bible makes that very clear.

God did not chose Romeo or Mama Alice because we merit it.  He chose us for reasons known only to Him.  We can only humbly praise His holy Name that He chose us.  And we will spend all eternity praising Him, adoring Him, worshiping Him.

We are in the book of Numbers now.  Romeo says this study is rich.  He is learning so much.  What a precious time I had with Romeo.  I wouldn't trade this life for anything.

Samuel.

Two years, eight months old.

Precious little pumpkin.

Naughty as all get out.

A little pistol.

100% boy.

Was upset one year ago when his big sister set off for her second year of preschool.

Thought he should be allowed to accompany her.

Was his frequent topic of conversation all school year long.

Recently learned he would be going to preschool this year.

Could hardly believe his good fortune.

Talked of nothing else.

Would have counted the days if he only knew how to count.

Monday morning proudly marched off to school with his big sister.

Had a glorious first day.

Practically perfect in every way. 

Eagerly returned on  Tuesday.

And then it happened.

Near the end of his school day he ran out of his classroom.

Tears streaming down his darling little cheeks.

Ran as fast as his little legs would carry him.

Finally found his  sister's classroom.

Ran inside and planted himself right next to her.

Glued to her body.

Enough of this grown-up school stuff.

He just wanted to be a little boy again with a big sister who would protect him.

 

Did he know when he came down with both malaria and typhoid that these would be his final illnesses?  Did he know when he recovered from both but couldn't get his strength back that the grains in the hourglass of his life were rapidly running out?  Did he know that day when he walked into the hospital for tests to determine what (if anything) was wrong with him, why he was so weak, that he would never walk back out the door.  Did he know when the doctor ordered a battery of tests that Friday that he would be dead on Monday?  

He didn't know.  He couldn't know.  Life is fragile.  One moment you are here and the next it is all over.  We have no promise of tomorrow.  

Death is stark and real out here in Cameroon.  It is all around us.  We learned many long years ago that if we are not prepared to die, we are not prepared to live out here.  But we ARE prepared to die.  We know of a certainty that when the sun sets on our lives, the sun rises for us in Glory.

The mission community suffered a great loss on that Monday.  This one who left us so quickly had helped virtually every missionary out here in one way or another.  We will look long and hard before we find another Cameroonian so skilled, so full of integrity, so willing to help.