It was 8 a.m. We stood outside Shiloh and took pictures of each other, formed a circle, held hands and prayed for safety on their long trip back home, said our final good-byes, and they were off.  Our stranded guests were finally able to find a way back home to the U.S. and to Canada.  The extra days we had together were a real blessing for all of us.  Truly, God does all things well.  We were once again reminded of that.

Turning away from the gate we hurried back inside and shifted into high gear.  Rooms had to be cleaned.  More guests were on their way.  Not a half hour after the downstairs bedroom was back in order, another missionary family arrived.  Having taken a long overnight train ride down from the North, they were exhausted.  All of them, even the little children, gratefully fell into bed and took long naps.  After catching up on their sleep, the kids were ready to play.  The four year old remembered that the American grandpa at Shiloh knows how to make paper airplanes.  What a treat to have little substitute grandchildren here at Shiloh.  Tomorrow this dear family will take the bus down to Daoula, pick up their luggage, and attempt to fly back to their home in Switzerland via Brussels Air.  Will Brussels Air be back in service at that time?  They are still trying to find out.  For the last four days they were cut off from the outside world.  God is still in control.  They are resting in Him.

 It was 8 p.m. After a long and eventful day we climbed the stairs to go to our room (hopefully) for the night.  Checking emails for the first time today we discover a lovely note from one of our guests.  He had written hours earlier while sitting at his departure gate at the airport, with an hour to spare before take off time.  So far, so good.  The only snag was that security didn't let him keep his wonderful (expensive) protein bars he had brought from the U.S.  We assume all is well for the Canadian family and the American man with his portable recording studio.  We continue to pray for them.  We are very well acquainted with the long trip they are in the midst of.  It spans two days and there is nothing glamorous about it!

Time has been speeding by at a faster rate of speed than normal. Pastors wives coming from all over Cameroon for a three day retreat came and went in the blink of an eye. Before they left Shiloh, our next guest had arrived. Being a very gracious man, he patiently waited for us to clean his room. All but the lingering perfume odor, that is. There was no time to air out the room.

The following day we welcomed a man coming from America, meeting up with his Cameroonian assistants coming from Bamenda. They quickly transformed Shiloh's library into a recording studio and began working on their project. As we tip-toe past the library we peek in to see what is going on. It's a rather fascinating process of re-recording certain voices on a movie they produced out here earlier.

We are feeding three meals a day to all of these men. At days end we join them at the table and relax a bit. One of the perks of running Shiloh is the fellowship around the table.

Tonight we welcome a Canadian family coming down from Bamenda. They will fly back home tomorrow night. Our American friend and his portable recording studio will also fly out of here tomorrow night. Or maybe not. You've heard the news about the terrorist attack in Brussels this morning? It's having a ripple affect here in Africa. Will Brussels Air fly tomorrow night? And if not, will we have rooms available for these guests to extend their stay? We wait and watch and wonder how God will work things out. He does all things well. 

It's nearly midnight and I'm too tired to think, but wanted to let you know about the group that is here.  20 ladies were slated to take over Shiloh at 4 p.m. today.  While it has never happened like this in ten years and countless guests coming and going all the time, the first ladies arrived at 1:30 p.m.  Since we are veteran missionaries in Cameroon and know practically all there is to know about the local culture and customs, even we were taken off guard.  The culture runs on what is affectionately called "Cameroonian Time".  Events start when they do, and not a moment before.  They end when they do, and not a moment after.  Nobody, and I do mean nobody gets places two and a half hours early.  Needless to say, for the first time in ten year we were not ready.  While I sat in the parlor and chatted with the early birds, the rest of our team were busy little beavers, running around behind the scenes.  So by the time these ladies were thinking about finding their rooms and settling in, everything was perfect.  They never knew.

Ladies have come from the Far North Region, from Daoula, from the Northwest Region, and from many other parts of Cameroon.  All of these ladies know me as I have spoken at their conferences and other events.  I am scrambling to remember their names, but I do recognize their faces.  One lady reminded me of the last time I spoke at this particular retreat, two years ago.  She recalled that I had the ladies go around the group and each one tell what village they came from.  Then I proceeded to talk about the village I am on my way to, my real home, Heaven.  I'm two years closer to Heaven and I can hardly wait to get home!

 

It's one of my favorite times of the year.  I have several other favorites, but this ranks way up there on my list.  It began yesterday and will continue for an undetermined length of time. Weeks, possibly a month or longer.  We work as hard, if not harder, than we do at any other time of the year.  And yet I love it.  There's such a good feeling at the end of every day as I drag my exhausted body upstairs to bed.  And each day's efforts bring us that much closer to our goal.

We always start in the living room (or parlor, to use correct Cameroonian English...remnants of the British Colonial Era.). The night before I spend time alone in the parlor, take a mental inventory of all there is to do tomorrow, and promise myself that we can easily finish this room in a day.  Silly me.  I never learn.  It will take at least a day and a half to do all there is to do in this one room.  Our team is prepped. They know what's coming.  

Day One of our annual Spring Housecleaning Event.  We gather in the parlor and I, the Shiloh drill Sargent,  pass out jobs.  Curtains are removed and taken out back to be hand washed.  We attack cobwebs and mud dabber wasp nests that have been started and abandoned.  Harmattan dirt is removed from ceilings, walls, baseboards, and every other surface. Furniture is vacuumed. All wood carvings are oiled and brought back to shiny newness. Absolutely everything is cleaned, scrubbed, polished, and put back into service.  In addition to parceling out jobs and supervising everyone, my job is to sort through all cupboards, closets, drawers and shelves, making each item justify its existence.    As I ferret out unnecessary goodies, they make their way to the giveaway pile.  People all around us can make good use of our unwanted treasures.  

Day Two one person was sent to finish cleaning the parlor, while the rest of us advanced to the dining room to begin tearing it apart.  In spite of our best efforts, we were less than half done by days end.  It's a big room.  We feed 30 people for sit down meals and over 100 for buffets.  We do this many times during the year.  Two large hutches are filled with dishes, silverware, serving bowls and platters.  Everything, absolutely everything, must be cleaned inside and out.   

Tomorrow is a day off.  Well not really "off", but just moving to other types of work.  A group of 20 Cameroonian pastors wives are coming for a three day retreat. 

The Spring Housecleaning Event will recommence next week.  And that explains why this event will continue for an undetermined length of time.  We tuck it in and around the edges of all our normal activity.  And when the inside is sparkling clean from top to bottom, we will move outside.  Porches and balconies are everywhere. An outside storage room and the carport are begging for our attention. 

Progress updates will be available as often as both electricity and the internet cooperate. We still live on the Dark Side of the Moon.

 

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GETTING LAB WORK DONE MADE EASY

Day One - visit doctor to obtain prescription for needed lab work
               - return home
Day Two - arrive at laboratory well before 7 a.m. to get a good place in line
               - wait in line outside until gate opens (one to two hours depending)
               - pass through security check
               - enter building
               - take a number and find seat in crowded waiting room
               - listen for your number to be called (one to three hours depending)
               - advance to next waiting area and hope to find a seat (30 minutes)
               - wait your turn to enter small room where cashier calculates your bill
               - pay bill and receive paperwork authorizing needed lab work
               - return home
Day Three - return to laboratory at 7 a.m. 
                 - go through security check
                 -  enter building
                 - walk through crowded waiting room
                 - walk past second waiting area
                 - go directly to third waiting area and take a seat
                 - wait patiently for 8 a.m. precise
                 - enter next available room (your name will not be called)
                 - hand paper work to lab technician and take a seat
                 - blood will be drawn, band-aid applied
                 - return home 
 Day Four - return to laboratory at 2 p.m.
                 - go through security check
                 - walk around to the back of the building
                 - enter small office
                 - present paperwork
                 - receive lab results
                 - return home
 Day Five - return to doctor with lab results

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The rains are starting to come back.  We've had several sprinkles.  Even a couple of light rains that didn't last.  And finally (finally, finally) we have had two (count them two) big rains.  I am personally thrilled, ecstatic, overjoyed, and delighted.  But my patience is wearing thin as I wait for that third big rain to come blowing in.  Day by day I long for that storm that will mark the official end of Harmatan, the only bad time of the year out here in Cameroon.  It's not the endless days without rain that I mind.  It's the dust that covers my whole world.  I am sick to death of grit and grime everywhere I look.  Soon, very soon I will be able to declare Harmatan over for another year, and then comes one of my favorite times of the year.  It's the big annual deep cleaning.  All five of us will tear the entire house apart, cleaning every nook and cranny.  And when we are done the house will be it's normal pristine self once again, and I will go back to living happily ever after.  I can hardly wait. 

Transportation Cameroonian Style.  Predictably unpredictable.  Adventure filled.  Often overly exciting.  Our sometimes unatainable goal is an uneventful trip.  This can best be illustrated by the following story.  We only have a bit part in this story, but you will get the idea.

Two German nurses boarded the train in the far North for an overnight trip to Yaounde.  The train was scheduled to arrive at 6 a.m.  They were spending the night at Shiloh and catching the night plane back to Germany the following day.  Well, that was the plan anyway.  There were many set-backs and delays with the train, and even a breakdown thrown in for good measure.  The 6 a.m. train finally rolled into Yaounde at 8 p.m.  The two ladies were safely tucked into their beds here at Shiloh before 10 p.m. and enjoyed a good night's sleep.  They ate breakfast the following morning, complete with Jim's famous eggs and all sorts of other goodies.  They spent a relaxing day at Shiloh and were grateful for our hospitality.  The taxi picked them up at 7:30 p.m. and off they went to the airport.  One of the nurses was flying on Air France and the other on Brussels Air.  And thus began phase two of their predictably unpredictable trip back home to Germany.

Just to give you a little background information, the Daoula airport is closed for three weeks (or so they say...three Cameroon weeks can stretch into an uncounted number of weeks.)  They are re-paving the runways in Daoula.  All the airport staff has been sent here to Yaounde to help out, and all flights have been re-routed to Yaounde.  So overnight our relatively small airport turned into a major airport with flights coming and going at all times day and night.  Truthfully we are not equipped to handle the big influx, but everyone is making an effort.

So back to the story of our two nurses.  The Air France flight  took off as scheduled.  The Brussels Air flight was the next one in the line up.  The baggage was loaded and the passengers had all gone through the final security check point at the gate.  Just to help you have the full picture, there is only one gate at our airport.  That is to say, there might be a second one, but we have never seen it in all these years.  The waiting area at the gate is a very large room with lots of rows of chairs.  Fortunately for our story, there are also restrooms (an extremely rare phenomenon here in Cameroon.)  Just as it was time to board, the announcement came on, informing the passengers that the plane had some mechanical problem. A part would have to be brought in from Belgium. Everyone would have to spend one more night and another day in Yaounde.  Chaos broke out as the hours slowly drug by.  Nobody was permitted to leave the boarding gate.  Children were crying because they were hungry and thirsty.  There is no such thing as a drinking fountain in Cameroon.  Parents were getting upset.  There was only one employee among all these people.  A crowd of angry people surrounded him, each one shouting their complaints.  It was getting ugly.  Finally it was time for the next airplane's flight.  Those passengers began arriving and going through security.  Soon they added to the confusion.  As that flight began boarding, it was time for yet another planeload of passengers to come through security.  The once large room was now getting quite crowded.  Finally our German nurse was able to secure permission to leave the room and try to get back to Shiloh somehow.  At that moment a fellow passenger (also a German woman, but a complete stranger to her) had a melt down.  She began screaming and crying in utter despair.  It was awful. Our nurse made her way through the crowds over to this distraught woman, put her arm around her and began praying for her. It  turned out that this lady had been in Cameroon for two weeks.  She did not speak of a word of French and she had nobody to help her.  And thus it was that two German ladies arrived at Shiloh at 3 a.m. today.  They slept a few hours and then ate breakfast.  The new lady was so grateful to be with us.  She speaks fairly good English so we could communicate.  They spent the day on line and making phone calls.  They took naps and went on a walk.  Finally they got word that the airplane was fixed and scheduled to take off at 11 p.m. tonight, just 24 hours late!  So once again they left Shiloh at 7:30 p.m. hoping to actually take off this time around.  Our nurse promised to send us a text message when they were actually flying.  We trust they have an uneventful flight back to Germany.

We are grateful to be staying here in Cameroon while the Daoula Airport repaves their runways.  May we not have to take any flight to anywhere until things settle back down to normal.  "Normal" is exciting enough!

Twenty five years. It has flown by in a blink of the eye. How well we remember our arrival. Unfortunately we arrived four days before the fax informing our mission of our travel plans. That meant that nobody was at the airport to meet us. We collected our luggage, went through customs, and waited in vain for someone who looked like they were there to pick us up. Finally Jim asked for that little booklet our mission had sent us. There was a map on the back. After studying it he felt he could find the mission headquarters. It shouldn't be too far away. I didn't want him to leave me, but he insisted, so I told him that if I never saw him again, I had enjoyed being married to him. I settled in on our pile of luggage and waited and waited. I was hot, tired, dreadfully thirsty, didn't understand a word of French, and saw only a sea of black people. I tried not to be scared. After what seemed like an eternity, Jim showed up with a car and a bottle of something cold to drink. We were taken to someone's house and given a meal, while others were scrambling to find housing for us. We liven in three locations our first month in country.

Twenty five of us gathered together at Shiloh to celebrate all that God had done during these last twenty five years. Our pastor brought a devotional. Actually there were many pastors among the guests. Each one had to say something. One pastor talked about how Abraham waited twenty five years for God's promised son. He related that to our ministry. Referring to one and another he said they were the son of promise whom God had birthed. He stated that God has more sons to give us. We shared some of the highlights of these last years. We talked about problems and set backs. Health problems, financial problems, interpersonal relationship difficulties. Our focus was on God and His faithfulness.

And then we ate. What a feast we had! We started with potato soup in bread bowls. Then there was our favorite Cameroonian salad, fish, brochettes, fried chicken, rice, fried plantains, plantain pile, folong, and a five layer cake.

As people left we gave them a market bag made by the prisoners from the Fomban Prison. Later while we were doing the cleanup, Doris told us a story. Just the day before her good friend's brother (who is a pastor) was visiting. He saw her market bag and was interested in it. She decided to give it to him. He was so excited! He said “May God repay you with another market bag and may He bless you abundantly!” She was thrilled! She could hardly wait to tell her friend how God DID replace her bag. Right away, too!

What will the next twenty five years bring?

He was brought to Shiloh by a lady who had been here before.  This pastor came for eleven days.  Said he would be doing a dry fast for three days, he would eat the following day, then have another three day dry fast, followed by another day of eating, and then finish off with the final three day dry fast.  As near as we can tell a dry fast indicates that you are extra spiritual.  Today being day four, he surfaced for the first time this morning.  Papa Jim has spent the entire day with this man.  Pastor though he is, he is quite mixed up on doctrine.  Jim has a real gift for helping men like this.  He has poured his life into the lives of many over the years.  And we have seen the fruit of his efforts.  Not every time, but often enough to keep him going.

It was forty some odd years ago when I first tried to make sauerkraut.  I mean, how difficult could it be?  I'd watched one of my old aunts make some.  But my first efforts were an abysmal failure.  Next I borrowed a crock.  That's what my old aunt had used.  She was from the German sector of Switzerland and knew all the recipes from the old country.  Our old aunts were really our mother's aunts.  We knew them all, Sophy, Lizzy, Anna, Emma, and I forgot the fifth one.  It was fun going to their houses.  It was like stepping back in time.

I quickly learned that using a crock was not the solution to making perfect sauerkraut.  And so I abandoned all hope of becoming the Sauerkraut Queen.

The years rolled by and then last year I met an older woman who was talking about a new recipe for sauerkraut that  didn't require soaking in brine for weeks on end.  It was made in a jar.  Very simple.  Sounded like something I could do.  So I came back to Cameroon and tried it out.  It worked perfectly!  I was amazed and delighted.  We are just finishing our first batch, so today I made some more.  One good size head of cabbage makes seven quarts of sauerkraut.  I let it soak in salt water in the canning jar for a week and then seal and can the jars.  We've added sauerkraut to our menu and it is a real hit out here in Cameroon.