Outside the Camp #6

Cameroon Update~got a chance to jump on a computer at a doctor's house here in Banyo. All of us are doing very well--tired but well. We have been on a whirlwind tour that has taken us from the jungle where the Orokolive to the rain forest where the Baka are. We spent Thanksgiving there among these people. Then we headed north for Banyo which took us 3 days over some of the worst roads you have ever seen. We spent the night in a Fulbe village and were welcomed with singing and much dancing. We slept in a mud hut with lots of huge spiders. Then the next night we made it to another village where again we were welcomed and invited to spend the night. We slept in separate mud huts this time--girls in one and Bob and I in the other. We ate their food and spent the night singing with them and dancing. These are two villages that have made the decision to leave Islam and want to follow Christ but have no one to teach them. The kids loved it and little Peter had more friends than he knew what to do with. The women braided the girls hair and they loved that. I was standing outside my hut in the morning and did not realize I had a scorpion (about 3 inches long) crawling on my sandle--this was a very poisonous scorpion. Anyway one of the men saw it and came up to me and crushed its tail before it stung me. Then finally we made it to Banyo where we have been made to feel very welcome by the 11 believers here--all who have been persecuted for their faith--some of the men have had their families taken away from them. Others have lost their cattle and jobs for following Christ. Bob and I were in the town a couple days ago and were called "Infidels". Anyway--the opportunities here are great and the opposition great too. I preached yesterday and my message was received well.

Well, we leave Banyo Friday morning to head back to Douala where we will fly out of Monday night around 11:30 pm. We should get back into Albuquerque Tuesday evening around 8:00 pm.

I better go--power is not dependable here. We are well and having the time of our lives--Nancy and I rode a dirtbike out to a village in the bush this morning on some winding, rough and overgrown paths and found a school-- under a hut with the kids all using slates. Then in the village we met the elders who invited us back to live among them. There are about 3 young men all believers who have asked me to come back and teach them how to be pastors so they can establish churches in their villlages. Bethany who was on another bike behind our guide--a young believer--saw a monkey on this trip.

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