- This video shows the children of Cameroon as they play with a frisbee, bubbles and look into a digital camera…many for the first time.

(This is the welcome that Cara and her team often got when they arrived in a village in Cameroon).

Dear Melissa,

We are really here. I was hoping to get to see a few huts if we were lucky, but they are everywhere. Everyone here lives in a little subdivision or suburb made of connecting huts with adobe walls surrounding them all into little clusters, containing a courtyard, storage hut, huts for different family members & sometimes a place for the livestock. The people here are not as poor as I suspected. They are certainly not rich, but they have cattle, goats & pigs & crops in their fields. Many women are regaled in the brightly covered fabric that shows that they are well off in their community – (comparatively, of course). I don’t imagine that the people here often if ever eat 3 meals a day, they have no furniture, running water or belongings & there are many children wearing old adult clothing that is covered in dust & holes. I also see that many homes are using old burlap sacks that once contained government issued millet to help supplement their diets. They seem to be making do but I am sure there could be many days where food is scarce.

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.