between 2 and the rooster | An Update from Our Cameroon Mission Team

Hello all,

I’ve written another brief update this morning.  Soon we will go for breakfast and then to church.  Please pass on to many who are interested.

Our experiences in Ndop and with the people have left burning memories in our minds and hearts.  From the motorcycle taxis carrying up to four people, including infants…

to the two people whom we have met and talked with who have no money to buy food (not to mention the other multitudes that have approached Edwin at other times in recent days)…

to Jim’s best sleep the other night coming ‘between 2 and the rooster’…

to the pastors and elders of the church who humbly submit the direction of the church to God and to each other… (I commented that after being here I have to wonder if I have ever observed humility demonstrated as vividly as it is here).

These are a sampling of the surroundings that we are taking in.  Yesterday we attended the wedding of one of Edwin’s sons in the faith.  In lieu of describing every detail of the ~4 hour wedding celebration in the church, I will describe it this way:

Here, a celebration is with the whole body.  The people worship in abandoned voices accompanied by dancing in abandoned excitement, people embracing in abandoned elation, praying with abandoned hearts to a loving God, preaching with abandoned conviction that God is moving in the hearts of the people and bringing new lives into the kingdom.  

Edwin preached on living into the fullness of who God has called man and woman to be.  He asked those in attendance at one point, “Are you a runaway man? Are you a runaway woman?”  He followed it by saying, “You cannot hide things from God.  He knows and He is calling your name.”

I will close by describing one part of the wedding ceremony that we do not practice in the States.  As part of exchanging the rings the bride and the groom also gave each other new names.  This was deeply moving as naming someone is an intimate part of identifying them as part of you, as in parents naming a child.  For an example, the groom said to the bride, “I knew you as sister Sidone.  You are so special to me.  I now know you as my princess of love.  You are my lovely baby.”  He then gave her a ring.  She then said to him, “I knew you as brother Immanuel.  You are handsome.  I love you. You are super handsome.  From today I will call you my dad.”  She then gave him a ring.  (Note: her reference to him as ‘dad’ is like a deep recognition that he will care for her and protect her, as a physical representation of God’s care for her on this earth)

This wedding celebration experience was one for which a line from the Jesus Storybook Bible describes it best: “He fills my heart so full of happiness I can’t hold it all inside.”

And this describes our hearts as we experience so much of God’s goodness here.

Nathan