So Proud I Could Burst

Sometimes we wonder if we have made the right decision to have our kids in the local school. Today was a day I felt so proud of our kids for trying to integrate with the school culture here in Bamenda.

Jessica and Joshua were selected with ten other pupils from Pledge to participate in a dance competition.  I would describe it as half African dance and half Latino. At first I assumed it was like other occasions where are kids are selected to show off that Pledge has “white kids” at their school.  Josh last year was selected to participate in a bilingual performance even though he was one of the worst French students.  But when I saw my kids dance during practice, they were quite good.

The day of the performance, we had to go to a dusty parking lot and watched an hour and a half of traditional dance which was very interesting.  Then the “ballet” started which was what they were calling this modern dance.  Our kids were one of the last groups to perform and when they started dancing the crowd went wild.  The music was very cool and their dance was lively.  I hope you can see they short clip I sent. 

They danced as well as all the local kids Jessica and Josh both had huge smiles on their faces and I was so proud my eyes just teared up. Pete too was one proud Papa. 

Emily chose not to try out for the dancing, but she did hold the school sign. She is a bit more timid when it comes to public events.  

Our school “took first” as they say here. Pledge is only in their 3rd year of operation and I feel like they are really getting to be known as a school of excellence in all areas.  I am pleased that our family has been able to attend a local school.  We are the only Missionaries in Bamenda that don't home school and I am so proud of my kids for the sacrifices they have made and the extra homeschooling work they do.

Thank you for letting me brag about my kids a bit.

-Joy

Camping In Cameroon

By Joshua Newburn (Age 11)

Just recently my dad and I went on a super cool experience which every Cameroonian has done—sleeping in the wild.  Of course, most Americans know it as, simply, camping.  

I was allowed to miss school on an exam day to meet with some of my favorite missionaries in Cameroon—the Schilinski’s. My two friends Josh and Seth were there with their dad.  We were joined by another missionary from Sierra Leone (Phillip) and his two sons.  This was a pure man expedition.  Only fathers and sons were coming. 

From the “Ski’s” house we took an hour drive to the Mbingo Rest House.  We immediately saw horses standing and waiting for us.  They were being controlled by two Muslim Cameroonians.  These people were our guides.  We played around the Mbingo Rest House for a bit and then got ready for our long ride into the wilderness. 

Just to let you know, reader, I got a camera for Christmas!  All the pictures you see here are from my camera.  So I took so many pictures on the way that my battery was too low to take any more!  I only managed to quickly turn the camera on, press the take-a-picture button, and hope that the picture would turn out O.K. 

Anyway, we found a great place and started to set up camp.  While Josh and Seth broke off some pieces of wood, I started to make a fire.  I gathered some of the wood and put it together in a teepee type way.  Then I curled up a piece of paper like a small pipe.  I lit a match and held it underneath the paper.  Immediately, the paper caught on fire.  I put it inside a small hole in my stick teepee and put in more paper.  (This is how I usually build fires.)  The flame rapidly spread up the teepee, and we soon had a small fire.  But small wasn’t good enough.  We put more and more wood until the fire was so hot that it was challenging to sit by it.  It was a good fire.

While the fire was burning as brightly as ever, my friends and I explored around.  We quickly noticed that there were cow bones all over.  We collected these bones and assembled a skeleton of a cow.  It was like a real cow.  (Well, it was once!)

Soon it was dark, and Phillip (my dad calls him Samson) did something random and awesome.  He pulled down a tree!  You might think Oh, more firewood! right?  Yes, in a way it was.  But not around the fire I made.  We burned the whole tree.  It was blazing before we knew it and I got a few pics.  The fire was about three meters high, nine feet.  It was a highlight of the night.

We cooked some beans, potatoes, and tea-water in some hot embers and we were all full.  Some slept in the tent, but Seth and I were smart.  We slept by the fire. At around four in the morning, Seth and I were freezing cold.  We then started the fire back up and warmed our bodies.  We slept very well. 

In the morning, I woke up to see a blazing fire.  We ate, and then went down to a stream to get drinking water.  “What!  Unfiltered?” you might ask?  Nope.  Jake brought a hand-pump filter and we filtered the water directly from the stream.  It was so cold and fresh.  Yum!

Finally, we packed up camp.  We rode the horses back to the Mbingo Rest House and then drove home.  Reader, you’re lucky we didn’t stay another day—I might have written another hundred words!   So wow!  What an experience here in Cameroon!  Thank God everyone is safe and healthy.  It was super fun, but it sure feels good to have my nice warm bed!