Dearest Friends,
Jesus Vous Aine!
Jesus a kong we
Jesus Loves You!
In French, in Libum (a tribal language) and in English we have been telling children how much Jesus cares for them. Now we are in the North West, 4 hours from any city, traveling to villages. Most of the children have never seen puppets, juggling clubs, a flute like Anna plays, or white people. Our whiteness instantly draws a crowd of curious onlookers. More important, too many do not know Jesus and they have no hope.
All of the comforts we hold onto in the West are missing from the lives of these village children. This area has many people with AIDS. These children are dirty and some come only with a shirt. I cleaned a little boy’s nose yesterday and he only stared at me with distant eyes. Many are sick. They respond best to smiles, a gentle touch, or music. They love to sing and surely their praises are some of the sweetest we have ever heard. This lack of things is their great blessing in one important way. They listen to stories about Jesus with hunger, usually responding in soft whispers. They are beautiful and each day we thank God that we are in Cameroon. Even the name of the country sounds like an adventure and by God’s grace, we are having a great one!
Each day, we return very dirty and very tired, but so happy to have this sweet privilege. These children have a great need. They need to be someone’s priority. Please pray for the new team that we are seeking to establish in Cameroon. They will make these little ones their first priority. More, they will see them, really see them.
The Journey
The trip to the North West was a journey that lasted 12 hours. The countryside was spectacular, changing from savannah to hills and then to mountains with forests. The roads changed from paved to dirt with lots of holes and rocks. Some hugged the sides of the mountain and gave us views that made us want to shout praise to our Father for the wonder of His creation. Mist hung over the mountains and made several of us think of Taiwan and our dear friends there.
We passed many sights that caught our eyes. Most people walk and carry their burdens on top of their heads, unbelievably large piles of sticks, sacks of food, or big baskets. At one stop we were offered gold and silver rings, bread, sliced coconut and Chinese herbal remedies including "miraculous mosquito chalk." All of these Vendors came to the window of our bush taxi. We passed a restaurant named Sweet Mother, a hotel named Melrose Place, The White House, and crossed the widest river in Cameroon, the Sanaga.
Men in long flat boats dove off the sides of the boat with a bucket. They scooped sand from the bottom and poled to the shore to dump their load.
Along the way, we shared Christ with a Muslim man that we bought hats from. When we told him that we were going to use the hats in a program to share Christ with children, we thought he would be upset. He surprised us all. As long as he had his money, he didn’t care. Still, we talked to him for a good time. Please pray for God to give him a love for truth, for Jesus.
Kenneth’s Story
The trip to the North West was very difficult for me physically and so I prayed constantly. That was wonderful because it enabled me to see a little boy named Kenneth that I would not have seen had I not been praying so much. He was selling sliced coconut on the side of the road like hundreds of other children. Why was I so drawn to him? The only answer is that God drew my eyes to him. I bought all of his remaining coconut and shared with him how I was doing this to teach him about Jesus who bought and paid for all of our sins on the cross. His eyes grew wide as I talked with him and he was so shocked when I told him to keep the coconut. I said it was a gift like the gift that Jesus gave us. Our friend Mary said he will never forget! Pray for Kenneth to hold onto Jesus!
In Jesus,
Linda for
Sam Shaw
Silvana Shaw
Anna McIllwaine
Heather Kelley
Silas & Mary Nfor