June 2015 in Florida & Ohio with 'Bump in the Road'

                       Furlough dinner with library staff, volunteers, and friends. THANK YOU!    Great evening of fellowship - catching up with former colleagues and chatting with a few of their friends.

What a delight to see a pre-pub copy of Diane E. Keyes' new book, Peas Let Her Be A Princess. Diane, YOU GO GIRL!

 

Women's lunch and Bible Study, most from Orlando First Alliance Church, the home church of my Orlando hosts, Wayne and Bonita Slaymaker. Such a privilege to sit under the teaching of 91-year-old Clara Lowe (top, center). It was great to chat with new missionary, Cambie Wilson  (pic above, beside me) preparing with husband, Greg, for service in Kenya via "Sports Friends."

Awesome weekend at a Beth Moore conference in Tampa with these ladies from Alliance Church,  Orlando. 

It was a real joy to visit with a dear senior friend in Hospice care (doesn't like her picture shared publicly) who remembered my using puppets during children’s messages at Orlando First Church  of God.  She smiled ear to ear and sang “This Is the Day the Lord Has Made” along with puppet David several times.  Friend, Marsha Hanshew, and I went to brighten her day, but she brightened ours!

Medical 

~Medical appointments in Florida -  two tests (including a biopsy) and two consultations with a previous surgeon yielded a diagnosis of breast cancer, stage one. That activated my contingency plan of accepting my sister, Juanita's invitation to come stay with her and husband Dick in Granville, Ohio and she take me to the renown OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center.  Both Florida and Ohio doctors recommend a lumpectomy and radiation -  surgery scheduled, radiation to follow.

This is a bump in the road. As God permitted the cancer diagnosis despite many prayers from both sides of "the big pond," I am expecting God to work good things through this situation. I hope during the upcoming medical recovery time to work on a book that has been on back burner, Interactive Teaching with Minimal Space and Resources for third world children’s ministry.

 

Please pray for successful surgery with no lymph node surprises, follow-up treatment, and that I may glorify God through the journey as family and friends have in their cancer journeys.

I am still aiming for returning to Cameroon in January, Lord willing. 

May 2015 in Cameroon

For the May 8th Chapel lesson at “The Greenhouse, A Learning Center for Missionary Children,” I shared a favorite Bible story using lesson 4 - "The Boy Jesus" Luke 2:40-52, from Lessons from Luke  (Teacher's guides, coloring pages, and big picture books).

It was a pleasant surprise when a student raised her hand to tell me that the 5th and 6th graders were studying the same story in class and learning the same memory verse - that the whole school was repeating in a variety of ways - Luke 2:52 "And Jesus grew in and stature and in favor with God and men." 

YES! I explained how this is an important story illustrating Jesus' obedience to his heavenly parent  and to grow as Jesus did - physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. The verse reminds adults to live balanced lives.

Teaching children the same story and verse at  Église évangélique libre de Yaoundé (Free Evangelical Church of Yaounde) before a review game. Hanging in the background are cards labeled 5-10-20-10-5. When a child answers a question correctly, they throw a ball (or choose teammate to throw after their first correct answer). My experience in Bible Club and Children's Church is that youngsters listen more intently when there will be a fun review game. 

Explaining the Educational Resource Center Summer Reading Program to grades 5 and 6. “David” sports his new Cameroonian soccer threads as he assists me in encouraging both summer reading and play along with hanging with family and friends.

A mid-May week was a great one for mail. Thank you cousin, Pam and husband Larry (KY) for this delightful librarian t-shirt, frog items (Fully Rely On God), and Christmas card which arrived mid-May via sea freight. THANKS sis, Juanita, and friend, Marsha Hanshew, for birthday and Easter cards mailed directly to Cameroon. TIA! ("This Is Africa.") We missionaries learn not to be rattled by timing...we just get excited when sea shipment and paper mail arrives and are grateful.

5/23/15 Neighborhood Bible Club - story of Elijah running from Queen Jezebel. I asked children what they were afraid of and pulled things from a bag I had been scared of as a child (toy snake, dog).

Celebrating with friends Dr. Eugene and Dr. Joelle Sobngwi their commissioning day  - he as a deacon and she as deaconess in charge of Children’s Ministry at  Église évangélique libre de Yaoundé (Free Evangelical Church of Yaounde).  I have been Joelle's English conversation and prayer partner. It's been a pleasure working with her in children's ministry at EELY and spending some time with their family. I so appreciate Joelle bringing her three daughters with her to my apartment and praying for me the day I left Cameroon for furlough and medical testing.

The visits and prayers of two other Cameroonian friends / community ministry colleagues who came by also touched my heart the day I left Cameroon. All three thanked God for me and asked Him to bring me back to Cameroon..."We need her." 

And away we go! Onward to furlough. Enjoying Sprites while waiting at the Yaounde, Cameroon airport for our flight to Brussels Belgium. I appreciated leaving with friends who are a bit more familiar with international airports than I - Christy Carmean and children, Karen Merry, and Elaine Bombay.

Other: 
~Visited a Bible study at Association La Solution, a center taking care of children (esp. boys) living in the street. This is a ministry of Hope Social Action Association, Odza Baptist Church. Took six boxes of our Educational Resource Center discarded books for their bilingual character building program and reading practice.

~Took discarded ERC books and arranged for other donations to be taken to nearby church, Mission Evangelical Church of Cameroon (Mission des Eglises Evangélique du Cameroun - MEEC), Tropicana. Worked with library coordinator Frederic OWONO MESSI to organize books books in age and subject categories in their new library for church members and the neighborhood.

Weekend in Bamesso Village Area

It was my privilege to join with Victory Vision Puppet Ministry April 10-12 for children’s ministry in the northwest Bamesso area prior to Vicky and Scott Satre doing a week of Spring Vacation Bible School there.

Visiting Scott & Vicky Satre’s 91-year-old Papa Pastor Tadzong Luc in his home where we were served a meal. He reminds me of my own Grandpa Snowden who preached into his early 90’s.	Hanging out at Pastor Martin Luther Tadjong’s house with his two young sons (left & center) and Destin, son of puppet team leader Silas Nfor.
Saturday afternoon ministry in yard of Poneki Eglise Evangelique du Cameroon.	Holly Emmerich and Praise Nfor lip sync a song with puppets on upper & lower levels of stage…as the crowd of children grows.
Silas Nfor shared the story of the boy Sammuel and invited children to pray with him to receive Christ as their Savior. More than a dozen did…PTL! I welcomed the children into the family of God and encouraged them to attend a Bible teaching church to learn more about Jesus’ plan for their lives. Via a papercut lesson based on Philippians 4:13, I told them Christ would help them stand strong for Him.	Holly Emmerich shared the Bible story of the boy Jesus growing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52) using Jacksons’ “Lessons from Luke” materials - (http://www.scripture-engagement.org/content/lessons-from-luke).
After Holly presented the story of the boy Jesus, I shared the meaning of our memory verse Luke 2:52. Monique Um translated my comments and shared the verse in French, inviting the children to repeat in various groups and ways (all, boys/girls, loud/soft, etc.).	Bamesso Eglise Evangelique du Cameroon Pastor then summarized the lesson and explained the memory verse in the village mother tongue Ngomba to make sure all children understood.
Lesson Review Game: when a child correctly answered a lesson review question, they got to throw a homemade ball at target with points, or choose a teammate to throw if they have already thrown the ball.	Sunday morning children’s teaching team  with Pastor Martin Luther Tadjong,  Monique Um (left), Holly Emmerich (right).