Weekly update 23 Feb

Good Day All

 

The absence of a weekly letter last week was a silent tribute to Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. No, actually we were at the Annual RFIS High School retreat at a place called the Rock Farm. Our day started with a 7am Tuesday arrival at school to get things set up for the baggage loading and checking of essential supplies of the students. We had to make sure they all had plenty of Coca-Cola, candy bars, DVD’s to watch and IPods to listen to music instead of conversing and sharing. It was tough getting them all to understand why we do NOT bring along these items but rather we insist upon 2 bottles of water, a valid ID and a malaria treatment. IPods and cell phones are not permitted. I know a few brave souls went against the grain and brought their phones but failed to think ahead that there are no cell towers 2 hours into the rainforest, thus no signal. The plan was to have students arrive at 730, be checked in and bags ready by 800 and load up for an 830 departure. There were about 80 kids and 20 adults going so this seemed like an easy task. At least a dozen kids were still not at school by 800 and 3 had no ID. It is a gigantic pain in the rear to be stopped by the gendarmerie (cops) and have no ID. They look for any excuse to nail you for a bribe and they rarely write tickets. They simply keep you there until you cough up what they ask. Sometimes they will just haul you down to the station if you don’t have money and leave you there. Even Cameroonian kids have to have ID. So instead of leaving on time like we had threatened those who failed to come prepared, we waited for all 3 to get home and back. It was 920 before we left. We had 4 bush taxis filled to the brim and the ride was nice. After we got settled in and room assignments were passed out we had some free time. There was volleyball, soccer and a pool. The place is a kind of resort in the middle of a palm oil plantation and is really nice. There are little gazebos all over and plenty of spots up on the rocks to sit and read or talk. We had 5 sessions with a speaker all about biblical change and stripping away your earthly flesh. He is a pastor from the US who is a coordinator for a bunch of missions in Africa. He has a fantastic way of reaching to teens and has a warehouse of anecdotes that illustrate his points. Everybody thought he did a great job. After each session the kids were broken up into small discussion groups to reflect on his words. I was a leader of one group of 5 10^th grade boys. I was worried they would be hesitant to open up and talk about this stuff but I was pleasantly surprised. I kept it loose and let them do most of the talking. Betsy had a group of girls that did really well, too.

Day 2 and 3 started with individual quiet time before breakfast. Everybody found a nice spot to read or whatever. Most kids really liked that the first day but were not as easy to awaken after that. After breakfast we had some class sessions. I co-taught a 2 hour Economics simulation game all about producing goods and selling them on the market. 7 countries compete with each other to sell and buy. Deals are made and tariffs applied. It was fun to see them barter to make the best deal. They all did well and they thought it was fun. The other half of the kids did an hour of macramé and then an hour of ASL (American Sign Language) taught by my lovely bride. The next day they all swapped classes. We had our Olympic Games on Thursday. 4 teams of about twenty competed in the Cheering Contest, banana eating, a swim relay, obstacle course and 4 way soccer. The soccer has 4 goals with each team going a different direction at the same time with 2 soccer balls. It was crazy. We also had some individual events like the limbo, coconut put, Frisbee golf and the water balloon toss. Every kid had to be a contestant in at least 1 event and they all did great. The most impressive was a 5’6” 140 lb. Korean kid peeling and eating 5 large bananas in 60 seconds right after lunch. He was not in the swim relay. The retreat was successful in that many kids really found out a lot about themselves. They looked at things in a new light and many really grew closer to the Lord. Even our 2 Hindu students admitted they have real concerns about salvation and are asking a lot of questions about Jesus. That’s cool. There were a few kids who decided to sneak out of their rooms at 2 am and wander around the compound. They were caught and reprimanded. If it was a secure facility it wouldn’t be as big a big deal but there is no fence and the security is so-so. There were a couple of drunk guys snooping around that evening oogling the teenage girls. There were thankfully no reported conflicts but it is still a serious matter. They may not be invited to future retreats. (neither the girls nor the drunk guys) I learned a lot about how to reach out to teens through God’s word and I also had a good time. Betsy twisted her ankle a few nights before so she was hobbling around the whole time but seemed to manage nicely. We got home late Friday night and we were so wiped out that we managed to do a whole lot of nothing on Saturday. It has been so hot here the last few weeks that daytime activities produce little interest. I think we hit 94 on Saturday with humidity. People say that the rains will some back soon and whenever they do come it is not soon enough. My desk at school is next to the windows and every car that drives by kicks up a cloud of dust that inevitably ends up on my stuff. I have to wipe everything down every morning.

 

The big news around here is that Rachel Ekstrand, a former RFIS alum who is back as a bible/math teacher who was in our missionary orientation class with us announced that she is no longer dating the music teacher. After 2 months he asked her to marry him and they will tie the knot in her home church in Iowa (only about 70 miles from us) in June. Rachel works very hard here and has kind of been adopted as our little sister. Her parents are the Covenant Regional Coordinators for Africa (our bosses) and they live here in Yaoundé. Ryan Einfeldt is an MK from all over and a real nice guy. We are very happy for them.

 

That’s it from here. We have been invited over for dinner tonight by an SIL family. Ken is from the US (Texas I think) and Marta is Portuguese and their 2 oldest boys go to RFIS. We don’t know them real well but they are really nice folks and it should be fun.

 

We are gearing up for more fundraising for next year. We are still short of our goal and ask that you all pray for us and if you know any organizations or individuals who wish to partner with us in our ministry, send them our way.

 

Thanks and God Bless.

 

Brian & Betsy