Palm Sunday, Easter and Priestly Ordinations

Palm Sunday was a festive celebration.  We started outside and processed in. The last two years we have not had palm branches because here you have to bring your own.  Of course it is not hard to find palm branches here - you just have to think ahead.

We celebrated Easter weekend with the other two Missionary families in Njinikom. I really enjoyed the whole-hearted exuberance of the priest and the congregation as we sang joyfully of the resurrection of Christ. It is so amazing when you feel the power of the Holy Spirit when such a large number of people are worshipping authentically.

It was nice to see the Hornes and how quickly their Cameroonian baby, Gabriel, is growing.  We were fighting for chances to hold him.  The kids had a blast playing with each other and we adults always have lots to discuss and process about our experiences here. We also brought a young German girl with us who is coming back for a visit after having lived here as a child.  She said that little has changed since she was here 20 years ago. All that is added are the cell phones and motorcycles.

While in Njnikom we also got to stop by the Orphanage and drop off some cupcakes that Jennifer had made. One of the girls was wearing a skirt that was donated by the Martins when they left Cameroon. The Martins live on in Cameroon in many ways. They touched so many people here and gave fully of themselves.

While we did not attend the 5-hour ordination of 7 priests in Bamenda, we did attend the first Mass of one of the priests. Pete has him in two classes. It is exciting to see them ordained and ready to serve. Pete has truly loved his time at the Seminary and has learned as much as the students he taught.

-Joy

Life in Cameroon

(By Emily Newburn, Age 9)

Here in Cameroon, I have learned a lot. I have especially improved on my spelling, grammar and vocabulary. But that’s not the only thing that I learned about. I learned so much about Mathematics and other things that I needed to know about. I have much better handwriting and I have found that I really enjoy learning new things.

Not only have I been learning a lot but I have been enjoying my three years here. I’ll be sad to leave. I will miss family and friends back in the States. I really want to stay here but I also want to be in America. It’s been really exciting being a missionary here.

Don’t worry about me here. It’s not as bad as you may expect but it’s different than in America. A few of reasons why it is different are;

The roads (have a lot of pot holes)

The markets (you can’t get everything that you want in just one store.)

The schools (aren’t quit as nice as American schools.)

The people (different culture, not as many white people, and different way of speaking.)

Those are just a couple of things. There are other things I have not mentioned. Sorry to leave so soon. I’ll try to blog more often.

Love you all.

Impact of Boko Haram in Bamenda

So we are getting pretty regular emails from friends from the US who have heard about the attacks from the Boko Haram and are wondering if we are safe.  The short answer is yes we are very safe.

The long answer is that safety is relative. In history, there have been many who felt very safe and yet within a minute their whole world change.  Others live in perilous situations for years and come out without a scratch. Last week, I watched as a dear friend, two inches in front of me, get hit by a motor cycle and fly at least six feet down the road.  She stood up praising God, with only a cut foot from the accident.

Our relationship with the Muslims continues to be friendly and peaceful. Jessica has weekly horseback riding lessons from a Fulani (Muslim) man and we live just a short walk from the beautiful Mosque and Muslim quarter. We walk through there and are greeted warmly.

One Muslim said to me “They are not even Muslim. They burn down our Mosques and they do not kill in self-defense, they just kill”.

Another factor for us is that it is about a twenty-hour (or more in bad weather condition) drive from Bamenda to the Northern area where the fighting is occurring.  We do border Nigeria in the south west of Cameroon, but there has been no violence there.

What will happen here in the future we do not know.  But we know that the safest place to be is in the hands of God and so we feel we are exactly we are supposed to be.

I do not agree with some of the customs of Muslims, but to lump all Muslims into one category is more extreme than lumping all Christians together. This last picture looks like a Muslim with a gun, but in fact it is an umbrella for protection from sun and rain. It is so easy to see what we see in fear - not reality.

-Joy