We're in the midst of a honeymoon here at Shiloh.  It's such a special time for the new couple.  And we get to do lots of little things to make it extra special for each couple.  

Our current  couple is out on the balcony eating a lovely meal at this precise moment.  The table is set with our best dishes.  They've actually been on the balcony since lunch, talking, reading God's Word, praying, talking some more.  They are having a wonderful, relaxing time together.  We had to clear off the lunch dishes in order to set the table for dinner.  We don't normally do that right in front of the couple, but they didn't give us a choice.

The groom came downstairs at 7:30 this morning.  He found Papa Jim busy making breakfast for me.  When asked if he would like a cup of coffee, he said a resounding "YES!"  He was so cute.  He told Papa Jim that his wedding ring feels real good on his finger.  Said he's getting used to it, though he's clunking it into everything.  He went upstairs with his coffee and came right back down asking for hot tea for his bride.  

This particular groom is in our extended family.  We've known him for a lot of years.  In fact we all witnessed to him.  It was a thrilling day at Shiloh when we learned that he had given his heart and life to our Lord.  And we've loved watching him grown in grace and the knowledge of God.  And now God has blessed him with a lovely lady to walk through life with.  We couldn't be happier for them.

We actually never had a honeymoon when we got married 49 years ago.  But we've been on lots of honeymoons at Shiloh, so we're old hands at this now!

Mama Helen is so proud of her oldest son, Francis.  She pulled him aside the other day for a private talk.  She wanted him to know that he has taken his late father's place in every way.  He is truly the head of the family.  Francis was just a boy when his father dropped dead in front of his eyes.  While there was no autopsy, it surely must have been a massive heart attack.  Francis, his three older sisters, and his younger brothers and their baby sister have been without a father ever since.  

Fast forward all these years later to today.  Francis is a strong Christian and an elder in his church.  He is the loving husband of Ingrid, and a good father to their three young children.  Just four months ago, Francis moved his family into their very own home.  What a miracle story that is!  He has lots of space for the extended family when they come to visit him.  And now, tomorrow night, his youngest brother Donald is getting married.  Donald's bride is a strong Christian and a lovely gal in every way.  We are so happy for Donald, Mama Helen, Francis, and the entire clan.  

Francis just reported to us that Mama Helen is staying at his house right now.  All three of his older sisters are also sleeping at his new home.  As is their "baby" sister.  And his mother-in-law, his wife's older sister and her little boy, too.  There are also a couple of nephews sleeping with the clan. AND to top it off, Donald's bride and her older sister are also sleeping with her soon to be in-laws.  They are having a wonderful time all together as one big happy family. This is so very Cameroonian.  They love being together. His house is bursting at the seams with people, but everyone is so full of joy that it's not a problem.  He said that his wife and all the gals have set up several outdoor cooking stations in their new back yard.  Cameroonians love cooking outside.  Several of them went to the market together yesterday as well as the day before.  They came back home loaded with food.  They've spent this entire day cooking up a storm.  They will be working late into the night to get all the food ready for the wedding feast, which will be held tomorrow night.

Ten o'clock tomorrow Donald, his lovely bride, and a handful of family members on both sides of the house will go to the mayor's office for the civil ceremony.  Many will stay back at the house and keep right on cooking.  But at two o'clock in the afternoon the entire clan plus lots of friends will gather at Donald's church for the "Church Blessing".  This will be followed by the wedding feast.  Sometime around ten o'clock tomorrow night, and maybe much later than that, five or six of the clan, including Francis, will accompany the new couple to Shiloh for their honeymoon.  They will do what's called "install them in their room."  We've never witnessed this, though practically every honeymoon that takes place at Shiloh observes this ritual.  We're in the dark here.  We cannot tell you what they do.  Finally, finally, finally, the new couple will be left alone and nobody will disturb them for the next couple of days.

Weddings Cameroonian style don't have a whole lot in common with Western weddings.  It's a fascinating cultural experience which we have witnessed countless times down through these 27 years.

The morning of Saturday, December 29th the entire leadership team of a church in Daoula will be arriving here at Shiloh.  They will spend the day in meetings (either in our library or our living room, the choice is theirs).  They will be using all but one of our bedrooms, but they probably won't be spending a whole lot of time sleeping.  These kind of events tend to go late into the night.  Then before dawn they will load up their cars and pull out of the driveway, heading back down to Daoula (a 4-5 hour drive, depending on traffic).  They will drive straight to their church, arriving in time for their usual Sunday morning service.  Whew!  Cameroonians love these kind of marathon events.  As long as we don't have to keep their rigorous schedule, we are happy to make Shiloh available to them.  The Pastor, his wife, and various others from the church have been coming to Shiloh for many years now.  We know and love these people.  Shiloh exists for people just like them.

Merry Christmas from the Dark Side of the Moon.  How humbled we are to be able to pour out our lives for Cameroonians in order that they might know, really know the babe in the manger Who was born to die for their sins, too. 

With Christmas just two days away, churches all over Yaounde held special Christmas events today.  One church that is walking distance from Shiloh had a Christmas concert this afternoon.  Another church, also walking distance though in the opposite direction, had a lengthy morning service, complete with a special program put on by the Sunday School children.  Some churches ate a special meal together.  Each church celebrated Christmas in their own way.  This evening Papa Jim was invited to show "Jesus of Nazareth" at a church that is a ten minute drive away from Shiloh.  There were about fifty people in attendance for this special Christmas Sunday event.  The movie has a strong gospel message.  It was a real treat for this group to have an American missionary show them a movie.  And the American missionary was honored to have an opportunity to help spread the Good News in this Christmas season.

Our goal for the Church in Eyene for this year, which ends July 2019, is for the church to take on more and more responsibility.  In other words, we want to work ourselves out of a job.  We realize they may not be a fully functioning church able to stand on their own feet by July 2019, but we keep that goal ever before us.

So you can imagine our delight when we (minus me) were out in the village for a shorter than normal visit, and discovered what the Manguisa Church in Eyene was doing.  

Mama Clair's sister-in-law recently died.  Her older brother had died some years ago, and now his widow is gone.  They lived in the Manguisa village where Mama Clair was born and raised.  It is approximately four miles from Eyene.   On Friday the family sent a car into Eyene to pick up Mama Clair.  She spent the night with her side of the house.  But today, Saturday, the day of the burial, five men from the Church in Eyene accompanied Papa Pollycarp to the funeral.  All of these men are baptized believers who are active in the church.  What's more,  on their own they decided to give Mama Clair 10.000 F (approximately $20) from church offering money.  

Three of these men comprise a finance committee.  There is an offering box which is kept inside the house.  People know where it is and are free to give an offering or not, as they wish.  After the church service the finance committee open the locked offering box, count and record the money, and then give it to one man for safekeeping.  This is their system, their idea, their way of doing things.  They have the Holy Spirit.  They do not need us imposing Western ideas on them.  We give them teaching from God's Word, but the Spirit guides them into all truth.

In addition to the monetary gift to help with Mama Clair's financial obligations to a family funeral, the church leadership also decided to rent a car in which to transport Papa Pollycarp. This group of men hiked out to we don't know where to rent the car and then came back into the village with the car to pick up Papa Pollycarp.

This may not seem like much to Western ears, but this is HUGE.  We are humbled at what God is doing.  No outsider, not even Damien who is with them weekly, suggested they do this.  

God's Word says that it is by our love for one another that other will know that we are His true followers.  The Church in Eyene's love for Papa Pollycarp and Mama Clair was on display today for all the world to see!  We are humbled to have front row seats to this unfolding miracle.

A family member wrote today and asked me what I like about being a woman/feminine.  (HINT:  Never ask a question of a missionary unless you are prepared to receive a sermon in reply!!!)  So here's my sermon:

The thing I like most about being a woman and being feminine is that this was God's idea.  At no time prior to my birth did I say to the Almighty (or to anyone else for that matter) "Please make me female.  Please, please, please.  I don't want to be male.  I want menstrual cramps.  I choose morning sickness.  I'm longing to go through labor and childbirth.  I want to experience all the mysteries of menopause."  God didn't give me that option.  My Father, the Most High God, my Master, my King, made me female.  And HE NEVER MAKES MISTAKES!  Not ever.  This whole notion of male and female originated in the mind of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in Eternity Past.  I wholly embrace being female, a woman, feminine because I wholly embrace the One Who hand picked me to be a woman.  He could so easily have made me a man instead.  I love all the marvelous privileges I have as a woman. I have the high honor of being the wife of a man, according to God's holy plan.  God has blessed us with an ever increasing love in our marriage of 49 years, and that quite in spite of (and sometimes because of) all of our humanness, all of our faults, failings, and just plain old fashioned sin.  I have the  high honor of being a mother to three sons.  I mothered them quite imperfectly, but God in his marvelous grace, mercy, and loving kindness both for me and for them, carried them safely through their childhood and out into adulthood.  I am in awe of all the ways God has used me, a woman, in His service.  At no time and in no way have I felt inhibited, held back, or restricted in Christian ministry because I am female.  Quite the contrary.  I have always felt that my role in ministry, though not the same as a man's role, has been extremely fulfilling.  I look back over 48 years in full time Christian service with a heart overflowing with gratitude to my Lord and Master for all He has enabled me to do.  As I, a feminine female woman, turn and look back over 72 years of life, 66 of which have been lived as a Princess in the Royal Family of the King of Kings, I am humbled at all He has done in me and for me and through me.  To Him be all the glory and the honor due His lovely Name.  And as I turn back around and look ahead to the end of my life as a feminine woman of God, I can hardly wait for the day when He calls me Home.  I love the day, the month, and the year of my  birth because my Lord selected that for ME.  I love resting in the confident assurance that He also has the day of my death all planned out.  He knows the day, the month, the year, indeed the exact moment when my time on this earth place will end.  As a woman, no as HIS woman, I must be about my Father's business.  I must work while there is day.  The night is coming when no man works.  I want to end my race well.  I want my Father to be proud of His daughter.  I want to hear Him say "Well done."  Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.

We are blessed beyond measure with family in the U.S. and family here in Cameroon.  

Wish you could have joined us for our Shiloh Family Annual Christmas Party.  Our eight closest grandchildren (there are many others who call us Grandpa and Grandma) out performed themselves!  They sang, either individually or with their parents.  They recited verses.  Some of them had memorized entire chapters from the book of Psalms.  We're talking children ranging in age from one and a half to seven years of age.  They were adorable.  Each of them took the time to individually come and visit with Grandpa Papa Jim and Grandma Mama Alice sometime throughout the course of the four hour event.  Faithful, the little one and a half year old, chatted on and on in her private language.  We have know some of these children since meeting them in the hospital on the day of their birth.  What fun to watch them grow up in homes where God is honored and magnified.  

And our adult children and their spouses!  How they bless us to the very depth of our souls.  We watch them as the bring us the only gift we will accept from them:  the gift of music.  They sing solos and duets and entire family choirs.  You may be aware that the older we humans get the more we live in the past.  It's a fact of life.  So we spend our time remembering Christmas Programs past and marveling at how much our children have changed over the years.  All of them are becoming more and more like Jesus.  We are humbled.  We are in awe of the Almighty.  And we take no credit for what is happening right in front of our eyes.

Next came the banquet.  Everyone ate until they were about to burst. Meanwhile Mama Alice laid down in the living room to try and regain some strength for the last event.

Finally all twenty five of us gathered in the living room for the gift distribution.   Mama Alice remained in a pron position, but was so grateful to be able to be there.  

Over a month ago our next door neighbors invited everyone to their old fashioned American garage sale.  We wisely arrived first and were therefore able to buy some lovely American toys for our grandchildren.  Our neighbors asked incredibly low prices for their unwanted treasures.  

Wish you could have seen all the children's eyes bug out as they received an amazing American toy that was age appropriate for them.  Neither they nor their parents had ever seen such wonders in their entire lives.  

And all the adults received gifts too. We start right after Christmas planning for next year.  As we find things we can afford, we buy them and hide them in our room.  That's the only way we could possibly give useful things to twelve adults and three teenagers.  If we had to buy everything in December, it would never happen.  (Papa Jim is always glad he married an organized lady.)

While you won't be celebrating Christmas until the 25th, for us Christmas 2018 is over.  We are going to bed with wonderful memories plus many pictures that others took for us on our Smart Phone. We are blessed beyond measure.

Shiloh will remain decked out in all her Christmas finery until January 1st.  Drop over any time and enjoy.

Mama Alice is very weak.  We do not know why. It started right after Thanksgiving.  I get a bit better and then I get worse.  Sometimes I have dizzy spells.  Tomorrow is our annual Shiloh Family Christmas Party.  It's 7:30 p.m. the night before.  I have no idea if I will attend any or all or maybe none of the party.  This is me, trying to rest in the Sovereign will of my Father, Who does all things well.  The party will go on without me and it will be a smashing success.  That is not a problem.  How we praise God for our wonderful team who are well trained and able to step in and take over at any moment.

Here at Shiloh we get to do all sorts of things that are not, strictly speaking, in the job description.  Like right now for example.  Friends in the U.S. are considering coming out here to Yaounde and spending two and a half months exploring ministry opportunities.  They have called upon us to help they find some housing options.  Since Papa Jim and Mama Alice will never, ever forget being in that exact same situation back in 2002, we are more than happy to help others out.  We kind of had to discover things on our own.  It was a real challenge, but God was faithful as He always is.  We are eager to help others have an easier time of it than we had.

And of course there are the calls for Papa Jim's considerable Jack-of-All-Trades expertise. Unless he is out of town, he is most happy to drop everything and rush to aid or all sorts of people.  It could be a plumbing crisis, or an electrical crisis, or the need for a GOOD small or large appliance repair man, or maybe just someone needing a hair cut.  Make a note of this.  You may need his help someday.  Papa Jim is the man!

Currently we are helping a bride-to-be get a lovely wedding gown re-made to her size and shape. And we are also helping fellow missionaries who are living in exile right now due to the civil unrest, by letting them use our P.O. Box. They have one of their own, but it is in the heart of the war zone.  And of course there are the endless opportunities to counsel and encourage people of every size and shape, every walk of life, every color of skin, male, female, young, old, single, married, widowed.  Our door is always open to those in need of a listening ear, a hug, a word of encouragement, and someone to pray with and for them.

Well the list could go on and on, but you get the idea.  We have the high honor of doing all sorts of things here at Shiloh that are not, strictly speaking, in the job description.  And we are blessed beyond measure.

What a fun, fun day!  And what a rare treat.  I have been a bit under the weather all week long.  Plodding along but not up to snuff.  They call it "change of season sickness" around here.  Most everyone is reacting to the start of the long dry season and the very beginnings of Harmattan.  The air is thick with dust.  Lots of coughing and respiratory illnesses.  A big increase in the number of malaria cases.  Lots of people dragging through the day.  That's me.  I fit nicely into that last category.

So I didn't make it downstairs today until 11:30 a.m.  And then I only made it to the couch.  I spent the next six hours laying down and visiting with various and sundry people who dropped in.  Some Sundays are bigger days for visitors than others. This was one of the big ones.  About half way through my six hour vigil on the couch, to my complete and utter surprise, in walks Stephanie with little 1 1/2 year old Faithful prancing along at her side.  At that precise moment there were three others visiting with me.  We all know and love little Faithful, but none of us had seen her since she started walking.  

Wish you could have been here!  You would have loved this delightful, happy-go-lucky child.  She sings.  She "talks" a lot.  She dances.  She walks.  No make that runs.  She smiles continuously.  She's not afraid of strangers.  She is happy all the time.  Well they did admit that she has learned to cry...but only when she is hungry or wants her diapers changed.  She's nearly perfect in every way.  And in addition she is downright adorable.

I know, I know.  We sound like all those other bragging grandparents.  But in this case, you would have agreed with us.  Sorry you weren't able to get in on the fun.  Maybe next time.

There is a pastor who is staying at Shiloh even as we speak.  He comes up from Daoula every year around this time and spend either two or three nights with us.  He seems to be a true man of God, from all that we can tell.  But we don't really know him all that well, even though this is the fourth year he has come to us.  

You see, this pastor, like a number of other people just like him, is here to spend time with his Lord.  He wisely makes a reservation in advance.  Not everyone does, and those who just "show up" run the risk of being turned away at the gate.  Shiloh is a very popular place.  

But I digress.  This pastor registers in the office and is then taken to his room (whichever room has been reserved for him) where he disappears.  We do not see him again until his spiritual retreat is over with.  We can hear his room door open and close and the bathroom door open and close, but that is all.  We never see him in the library.  He never searches us out to interact with us.  He does not eat while he is here at Shiloh.  He is here fasting and praying and seeking God's face.  And typically, when we let him out at the gate at the end, he will have spent a wonderful time in the presence of his Lord and Master.

Shiloh exists for pastors just like this man, for church leaders, and for ordinary Christians who want to spend time with the Most High God.  And since we are not allergic to missionaries, they are welcome, too on a space available basis.  What a high honor to provide this place of spiritual retreat for pastors like this dear man who traveled all the way up here from Daoula.

We have had a lot of fun watching the Miracle Worker in action today.  

Here in Cameroon when a young man wants to marry a young lady, he knows it is going to be pretty costly.  He has to pay the bride price which is set by her father and uncles and other members of the family.  They can basically ask for anything they want.  All young men are trembling while they wait for the "Dreaded List" to arrive (as it is affectionately called). 

But in our friend Donald's case things were different.  The lovely young lady he has fallen madly in love with turns out to be an orphan.  She is the youngest of seven children.  Her mother died when she was just a tiny tot.  A few years ago her father also died.  So Donald and his family members went before her five older brothers to ask for their little sister's hand in marriage.  They were very sympathetic as they are all young men who have not been married that long themselves.  They have no desire to be hard on Donald.  So they have (quite amazingly) told him that there will be no bride price.  A handful of years from now, when Donald is established in marriage, they will expect him to contribute to any and all future family crisis.  This is do-able.  Donald had no problem accepting their condition.  What a blessing.  He does not have to struggle to come up with lots of money before he can marry his beloved.  

We have known and loved Donald for over seven years. During that time he gave his heart and life to the Lord.  And now God is blessing him with a godly young lady to be his wife.  In a giant step of faith, Donald selected Saturday, December 29th for his wedding day.  (It's the Groom's wedding out here...the exact opposite of weddings in America.)  Little by little they are watching God provide all the things they will need for their wedding.  

For example, last week he brought his young lady to Shiloh for us to meet her.  (I would tell you her name, but it is quite unpronounceable and I'm struggling mightily to learn how to say it.  Besides which, if I could pronounce it, it is a guarantee that I would not be able to spell it and you surely would not know what to do with her name!!)  We asked the bride-to-be if she had a wedding gown, which she does not.  So we told her that we have two here at Shiloh if she is interested in borrowing one of them.  Today she came back to have some fun girl time with we the ladies of Shiloh.  She was immediately taken with one of the gowns.  But the bodice is too small for her.  Well, Mama Alice has all sorts of ideas so we went looking in my supply of fabric and guess what?  We found a large piece of satin that matches the wedding gown color exactly.  And that's not all...we also found a large piece of very fancy lace this is the same shade of off white.  It's like God had these things tucked away here at Shiloh for just this occasion.  We are sending her to a godly widowed pastor's wife friend of ours who will do the make over for the wedding gown.  She is an excellent seamstress.  When Donald's future wife left Shiloh, she was floating on air.  Never in her entire life has she ever imagined that she would one day wear a very expensive looking wedding gown from America!  A poor orphan girl such as herself does not entertain such dreams, though even they, like all girls all over the world, begin dreaming of their wedding day when they are quite young.  

What a joy and delight for we, the ladies of Shiloh, to have a small part in blessing this lovely, godly orphan girl on her wedding day.  We serve an Amazing God Who can do all things.  Nothing is too hard for Him.

 

We've had an exciting day.  Too much excitement.  Way too much excitement for these elderly people.  (We know that we are elderly now because we recently heard an American newscaster refer to someone who is 72 years old as "elderly"...so that is our new classification!)  But I digress.

 The day started out here on our side of the Big Pond with the discovery that our U.S. debit card had been skimmed at an ATM machine that we sometimes use.  It's located just down the road from Shiloh, and because of its proximity to us, is the most convenient to use.  Not any more!!  We've used it for the last time.  

Fast forwarding past all that excitement...way too much excitement for these elderly people...the day is ending on a grateful note.   We're grateful for electricity.  Without electricity we could not be in contact with  the outside world.  We've had electricity from the time we woke up this morning and we still have electricity even now as we are headed off to bed.  We're grateful for Internet connection.  Without access to the Internet communicating with the outside world becomes much more complicated and much more costly.  We woke up today with good, strong Internet and are  going to bed with the same luxury.  We are grateful for our son who co-signs on our bank account.  Without him, resolving this particular problem becomes extremely complicated from this side of the Big Pond.  We are grateful for our American bank who quickly replaced all the funds that the skimmer got away with.  At days end we are going to bed resting in the All Sufficient One Who faithfully takes care of us in ways seen and unseen.  How grateful we are to be in His forever family.

A dear Cameroonian lady sat in our living room today and poured out her heart to Mama Alice.  What an honor to be entrusted with her story.  She was born into a large family in a remote part of Cameroon.  She got pregnant and delivered her first child when she was sixteen years old.  In shame she dropped out of school and raised her baby with the help of her father and mother.  Six years later she again got pregnant.  By this time she was active in her church.  Nobody could believe that SHE would do such a thing.  As with the first pregnancy, the father of this child vanished into thin air.  About a year later she came into contact with a family who were strong Christians.  The wife began leading her step by step into a deep walk with our Lord.  In addition to experiencing the mercies of God which are new every morning, she began basking in His everlasting love for her.  Today you would never guess that she is a lady with a "past".  She is full of the joy of our Lord.  She invests all her strength and all her energies in sharing Jesus with everyone around her.  She does not want anyone to have to go through what she has gone through.  Her passion is school children.  More than anything she wants to spare them the pitfalls that are just around the corner, as they enter adolescence.  What a trophy to the Grace of God.  What an honor to know her.  What a blessing to see a life becoming more and more like Jesus. 

Are things crazy busy on your side of the Big Pond, too?  Christmas has us running this year, even more than other years.  We started the end of November with four days of non-stop decorating.  As more and more missionaries leave Cameroon for good, we are GIVEN more and more decorations.  And occasionally we break down and pay real money for something they are selling that we simply can't live without.  Like our third (and final, I might add) Christmas tree which we bought from dear friends as they were leaving a short blur ago.  Not only did we know of the perfect place for it, but we knew it would be a lovely reminder of all those good times we shared together.  They would be prayed for more often during the season, we rationalized.  So we have installed our first and largest tree in the dining room.  And our second tree in the Library.  And now we have debuted our third tree in the living room.  (The prayer reminder tree.)  It is truly our prettiest time of the year here at Shiloh.

And then there are all the people who come to Shiloh on spiritual retreats during this season.  We're busy most any old day of the year, but even more so as the year winds down to a close.  Many like to get alone with God during this season.  Sadly, we have to turn several away. 

Romeo wants to lead the Friday night Bible study in Eyene this month.  We promised him we would all go to the village with him when Guy is on Christmas break from seminary.  Romeo is coming tonight to do a trial run with us.  Papa Jim, Mama Alice, and Dorothy will all sit down and listen to his Bible study.  Maybe Theirry will be back home from university by that time and can be part of the audience, too.  Romeo is scheduled to lead the Bible study on the 21st.  So we will be going out to the village for that eagerly anticipated time.

But first we will have our annual Shiloh Family Christmas Party on the 20th.  A lot of planning and preparation goes into this event.  We have a program, eat a Christmas feast, and give a gift to each one who comes. We send each family back to their homes with a shopping bag full of all the fix-ins for a Christmas dinner at their house.  This enables them to put on a feast at their place.  And each year our team comes back to Shiloh after Christmas full of stories of how they were able to share the true meaning of Christmas with their friends and family members.  

To make this Christmas season extra special, one of our many Cameroonian children is getting married on the 29th.  We are giving he and his soon to be bride the gift of a three day honeymoon here at Shiloh.  We have known and loved this young man for over seven years.  To say that we are overjoyed with his choice of a wife is to put it mildly.  She is lovely in every way and a perfect match for him.  Cameroon needs more godly couples like them.  We are rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord.

We're sure enjoying having our dear friend Dorothy living at Shiloh.  

Shortly after arriving out here in Cameroon more than 27 years ago we began learning that there are differences between the English sector and the French sector.  Cultural differences.  Language differences.  All sorts of subtle differences.  Some of them are actually visible to foreigners such as ourselves.  But it is only now with Dorothy living with us that we are seeing life in the French sector through her eyes.  We are amazed at just how many distinctions there are between the two groups.  

So here at Shiloh we are a mixture of Americans, English speaking Cameroonians, French speaking Cameroonians, young people, young families,  singles, old grandparents, a middle aged widow lady, people with black skin, people with white skin, males, females, to say nothing of all the different tribal groups represented in our Shiloh Team.  But God has put us together.  We are a family.  We are one.  Our commonality is found in our relationship to the risen, living Lord of Lords and King of Kings. All Glory and Honor and Praise be to His lovely Name!

We met him for the first time seven and a half years ago.  The occasion?  The wedding of his oldest brother.  Donald, their mother Mama Helene, their little sister, and a couple of other people all stayed here at Shiloh during the days leading up to the wedding of Francis and Ingrid.  Donald did not yet know the Lord, but there was just something special about him.  We began praying that he would join God's forever family before it was too late.  And we can honestly say that we loved him right from the start.  A handful of years later he DID give his heart and life to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  And he's been growing in grace ever since.  In addition we began praying for a wife for him.  And today, this very day, Donald brought his future wife to us.  We have been hearing good things about her from Francis, but we have finally seen her with our own eyes.  She is everything we have been praying for and more.  She completes him.  We couldn't be happier for him if we tried.  And on December 29th we will be at their church for their wedding with bells on our toes!