Dear Melissa,

I can’t explain why – maybe it’s because it’s Africa & there are no spare parts, & no Best Buys around the corner, but every film showing comes extremely close to never happening. I remember this from when I spent 3 months in Kenya doing this also. So tonight, our group lost an adapter so that the generator was African voltage & the projector was American voltage – so they didn’t connect. Finally one of the Cameroon team members cut the chord in half, stripped it & rewired it. Someone forgot the stakes to stake the screen into the ground so we found some government building to show the film on. Then, there was no audio chord to the speakers, so we had to take turns holding the mic next to the computer audio for the whole movie. Then they realized they had forgotten the gas for the generator, so a kindly African volunteer hopped on his moped to go find some. His motorcycle broke down on the way, so some other volunteer took over from there, while he got help. Eventually, & miraculously, with lots of prayer, it almost always seems to work out. Really I think it is because these African people just never give up no matter how long it takes. They believe there is a solution & they don’t quit until they find it. Also, it shows how important this film showing is to them. When they asked our Cameroon leader what we were going to do after he had cut and stripped that chord in case we needed it tomorrow, he said “But we need to deal with today.” Then he quoted us this scripture “Don’t worry about tomorrow for today has enough troubles of its own.” (Matthew 6:34)

This is a link to the Website for the hospital where Cara went to help out one of her team members who was sick. The people who run the hospital are from the U.S. and have been there for 17 years helping the people of Cameroon get medical aid. If you want to donate to the hospital, you can do so here. http://www.guidestar.org/pqShowGsReport.do?partner=justgive&npoId=584178

(Leah, who is from Lousiana helps run the hospital where Cara spent the night.)

(as an aside, when Cara showed me this video, she said “I know I look horrible in this video, but that was the least of my worries!”)

Dear Melissa,

One of the most amazing things about this mission is the amount of collaboration and cooperation we have with the local Christians, pastors, government officials, and even those of differing religions. Today we went to pay a courtesy visit of respect to the local Lamado or Muslim leader & chief keeper of the Gizega customs. We entered his courtyard and we all piled out of the van towards a large outdoor hut that was partially open to the air – honestly, it looked like a hut you would find at a Caribbean resort selling frozen drinks. In the hut, the floor was covered with sand, and a few rugs were on top of that, there were a giant puffy velour sofa & 2 matching green puffy armchairs. The Lamado was seated in one & his court of other men was on the ground. They were all wearing the special Muslim skullcap. Our leaders were led to the sofas & the rest of us removed our shoes & sat on the ground. The women had to cover up their feet so that no skin showed at all. Our leader John got up & made a big speech about how we had come to help the spiritual development of the people & that we had a movie about Isa (the Arabic name for Jesus – they actually have respect for Jesus).This was all translated by our Jesus Film leader here in Cameroon, in to the Gizega language. John complimented him on his country & people & told him that we both had similar goals in the spiritual development of the people & to preserve his tribal language. He also told him that we were people who respected all religions & glad for the work he was doing. We gave him his own copy of the film & the Injil (what they call the New Testament) & requested the honor of his presence at a showing. Then John asked to introduce our team. He asked use each to stand & say our name, occupation, & where we were from. In English, John reminded us to not look the Lamado chief directly in the eye, but to look off to the side as we spoke.

Finally, the Chief Lamado spoke. Through the translator he gave us an official welcome to his home & province. He said that he knew the work we were doing was good & was especially happy that his language would now be preserved & that we would all carry the knowledge of it & his people back – all across Europe & American where we had come from. He then gave us an invitation to a feast at his home, a great honor & John accepted on our behalf. We are going on Monday. Now that will be something. We are all trying to practice to make sure we don’t make any huge cultural faux pas.

Dear Melissa,

How can I even describe a film showing. I mean, we have only done the film showings for 2 nights to about 7,000 people & over 850 people have come forward publically to follow Jesus. On the other hand instead of being elated, we are all beaten down & struggling to survive physically. Our team members are dropping like flies. First 1 person, then another, then 3 more, then 5 more. Severe vomiting & dehydration. ½ the team got to stay back & rest today while the other ½ went to preach at church. mostly we are all a little scared & trying to just get back our energy so we can do this. But in the meantime, amazing things are happening.

Our 1^st night, we all piled into the van with our Cameroon partners. We piled the bus high with 10 mm reels of film, generators, speakers, projectors, gasoline & wiring. The Cameroon partners have planned everything ahead of time & know exactly where we are going – but we never know what is going to happen next. We drove for awhile on dust roads, past shrubs, rocks & boulders, & heads of cattle, goats & pigs – and many, many thatched roof huts. A few times the road was covered in deep mud holes & I imagined we would all be out pushing, but we managed to navigate through. At times we would see a lone child in the distance who would wave as we passed.

Finally we drove into a clearing & there ahead of us we saw the people. Hundreds of people. Drums were playing. People were singing. As they caught sight of the van, they let out a shout of excitement & began letting out their shrill tongue trilling of celebration.

As we piled out, and began unloading, the crowd got more excited. Several men with bows and arrows jumped out from the crowd signing and acting out shooting the weapons. Then several rows of women in matching fabric came forth singing and changing in procession. On their heads they carried handmade bowls full with sand, representing a bountiful harvest. The head drummer stepped up on a stool to reach the top of his very large drum & began beating out a rhythm for the singers. It was quite a welcome & display of celebration knowing that their home language would now be memorialized forever.

They provide school benches for the whole team and had seated everyone in the audience in a very organized manner, children on the side, teenagers next to them, then the women, then the men. Behind us & the projector, in several seats of honor, sat about 5 rows of village leaders, Muslim leaders & government officials.

Everyone was ready & waiting. Now we just had to get the thing to work.

Dear  Melissa,

Since I don’t journal, I thought that I might try to write you a letter or 2. That way, I can keep you informed.

1^st of all – the plane ride and jet lag almost killed me. I thought I might not be able to wake up in time for the trip. I prayed & prayed, & thank God today is Friday & I finally woke up feeling more myself. I really, really WANTED to be here because I WANT to be here & be at my top game.

So, day 4 and we are still travelling. Travel the Road was a very good name for a missionary reality show because that is like a huge part of missions – getting there. Then you are so depleted & are at your worst, but you have to suck it up & find it within you to be your best again because now you have to go & enter the culture.

So, this kind of will tell you how I feel. We got off the plane, got our luggage, took a van through the “city” to our hotel. Bam! We entered the culture. Mopeds everywhere, shacks & storefronts jammed together & on top of each other with not one inch of space. Trash in the streets, vendors selling bananas, homemade furniture, mangos, roasted corn, clothing, women dressed in full African colored fabric from head to toe & young boys in tattered clothes selling 100’s of bags of peanuts which they carry on their heads. The smell was the 1^st thing that hit me. It is the unique smell of Africa; smoke from burning coal & trash, people who are very hot, & various meats being grilled over open fires – even in the city. I breathed it in and smiled. I looked  around at all of the sights and honking mopeds swerving in & out of traffic, and I thought to myself “you know if this doesn’t kill me, it’s going to be awesome.”

Since then, we have just been having orientation and trying to get enough to eat, which has been difficult. Sweat is literally dripping off of us at all times. Tonight, a 4 hour van ride to our last & final destination far into the northern villages. And then, tonight it begins! We are showing the 1^st film show in Gizega tonight!

I picked Cara up at the airport today at 4:20pm – she’s back and she’s safe and sound. Overall, she seems happy but tired and dehydrated, which could have to do with the 4 days of travel or the illness that she picked up in Cameroon. (She’s fine, don’t worry)

When she was there, she wrote some posts for the blog and took a lot of videos…the first one is going up tonight if I can get it uploaded.