Journey in Educational Ministries: October 2014

Helping Hands Children’s Home, Bamenda School was out for the missionary children in Yaounde. Where does an educational missionary go on a missions trip when there is desire to serve beyond their assignment? There are various possibilities, but scriptures about caring for orphans kept coming to mind. My heart leapt at the idea of serving at Helping Hands Children’s Home in Bamenda, seven hours away. HHCH is a Christ-centered orphanage that provides a secure and loving home to orphans that have come from desperate and destitute situations. In July, I spent 2.5 weeks at this Christian orphanage (facebook.com/pages/Helping-Hands-Childrens-Home/273109682721899) assisting with summer school, tutoring children in reading, presenting a storytime on 5 days (4 days joined by two area missionary families), processed books and streamlined library organization. Other teaching opportunities included the neighborhood Kids Bible Club held at HHCH and Children’s Church at Calvary Chapel of Bamenda.
Reading Tutoring: Godwill practicing	Nkeh practicing reading		Sandrine practicing reading with canine companionship
Teen gals after African folklore session and little Willie	Monitoring math worksheets		Middle group using Tupperware stencils I donated
Storytime: dramatizing a story	Storytime: singing with frog puppet, seeing who could jump highest		Storytime: “Peter Rabbit” craft, book and stuffed toy Peter
Storytime with a fav book – “One Smile.” I shared African folktales and character building stories.	Storytime: “David” talking with children		Storytime “David” leading his fav song – “This Is the Day the Lord Has Made”. Glad that Boutwell and Hamm missionary family children joined four storytimes.
Baby Promise	Two youngest of HHCH family – baby Promise and “Willie”		Uh oh! Baby Promise is not a happy camper. She is so used to being held by children and staff from the front.
David following boy reading a Bible verse	Kids Club @ HHCH, with neighborhood children		Hanging with the kids and the canines
Taping code paper strip labels on spine for various genre while listening to some beautiful Christian music from an all-night wake down the road.	Boys assist me in put color code paper strip labels on spine for various types of books (board books, easy readers, chapter books, Bible/devotional, science, history, etc.)		Great fellowship with the Schliniski clan. Jake and Holly (2^nd and 3^rd from left) are the “Win Our Nations” Cameroon Coordinators in charge of HHCH. Holly’s dad visiting from FL, Malcolm Blowes is WON Director.
Around YAOUNDE
Three official checkout days were held at the Yaounde ERC, one including a storytime.		Lunch bunch at Istanbul Turkish Restaurant, Quartier Bastos, Yaounde. I had a shawarma (a wrap of beef, mixed with yogurt + fresh cucumber, tomato and onion). Delicious…just as friends had said.
Carolyn Partridge and I visited a Bible study at the Association La Solution, a center caring for children living in the street. This is a ministry of Hope Social Action Association, Odza Baptist Church.Please join me in praying for God's special blessings on the papa and mama of the center and on Nzeuga Lankio Hugue Robin, President of Hope Social Action Association who faithfully leads the Bible study and coordinates other outreach ministries. Also for needs of Hope Social Action: Bibles, food, clothes, meds, school fees and school materials, and professional training.		While waiting for the boys to arrive for Bible study, the ‘mama’ at the Association La Solution center caring for street children looked straight at me and spoke to me. Via translation I learned that she mentioned difficulties she experienced and that it was an encouragement to her to have another mama (older woman) to visit. Hmm…sometimes just our presence speaks volumes of caring support. Thankful God helped me push past two sets of circumstances that day which could have deterred me from getting there.

My African “David” who arrived early July in the suitcase of Carolyn Partridge’s parents. I felt like a child on Christmas morning with anticipation!	David wasted no time after his arrival at Odza Baptist Church in chattinng wuth the children.	David meets our neighborhood Bible Club and leads youngsters in singing “This Is the Day the Lord Has Made.”
I love critters. Feeding Lily, our local sitatunga (anteloge) after a game of playing pickleball with our 'Healthy Choices' group.	Lily the antelope likes big leaves.	A Sunday morning at church
Ex-Pats' Fourth of July Picnic on the fifth. Celebrating our homeland from faraway. Playing cornhole (corn or bean bag toss into holes of a platform.	Listening intently to fellow missionary share at our Fourth of July Picnic.	Making smores at our Fourth of July picnic. I managed to find some red, white, and blue to wear.
THANK YOU Esther Lawrence for working three days at the elementary ERC library and a week at secondary RFIS library. You were a real blessing! Esther also stayed @ the Schliniski home in Bamenda and assisted at Helping Hands Children’s home.	Enjoying a tasty, economical Cameroonian meal on CABTAL compound with my guest Esther Lawrence from Liverpool, England…thanks to Marie (standing)… available 4 days a week. Best endole I’ve ever eaten.	Celebrating a family getting to their missions assignment. Gabrielle Jones (3rd from left) joined me in welcoming Chris and Lori Gassler and children Noah, Ben, and Kristin to Cameroon following their language studies in France. We all participated in Wycliffe's Equip #10 Orlando training in spring of 2011...a mini-reunion.
Off for a Saturday with friends to explore some of God’s creation in Cameroon. Here we do the ‘packed sardine thing’ in a taxi.	Picnic in a city park with friends	At Mt. Febe overlooking Yaounde