Grace tells us of God's Providence

A young girl of 13 years becomes very sick in her grandmother’s home.  She is running a high fever and is having fatigue to the point that she is unable to get out of the bed.  Her parents and grandmother collect her from bed and decide it is time to take her to the hospital to be evaluated.  They leave in a van which is public transport to go down the mountain from their village. The young girl is checked into Mbingo Baptist Hospital and is found to have a hemoglobin that is very low.  She is in need of a blood transfusion quickly.  The girl receives 2 units of blood and spends some days in the hospital treating some other infection that she has made her very sick.  After a short time the girl becomes well and is released from the hospital.

The family returns to the house of the grandmother to find that very shortly after they had left for the hospital the roof directly above where the young girl had been resting had collapsed and everything in the room is destroyed.  The home is not able to be lived in any longer.  Many people in America would be devastated at how things were going in their life.  They would complain and say, “Why God?  Could you just give us a break?  It is almost Christmas.” However, instead of great sorrow this family rejoices for the providence of God to save their daughter from what would have most likely killed her.  They praise Him for the gift of the healthcare that she received due to the hospital being close enough to their village to travel to quickly and the medical staff there that provided her with care. 

This is the story Grace, the cook in our home, told me this week. Her daughter was this young girl that was ill and was saved not once but twice by God due to his providence.  Her daughter’s name is Lovette and is now 14 years old. This happened one year ago, her family spent this last weekend celebrating the amazing gift of God of sparing her life. I sat and listened to her story and she was praising God and telling how great He is.  I looked at her and said, “Did you mother get her home repaired and is able to live there again?”  She said, “No mum. She now stays in my home.  It is fine!” I was so encouraged by her! I told her that it was so wonderful and such an amazing thing to celebrate.  I asked if I could share her story and she then gave me permission.

Left:  Kids and Gardner Leonard.  Right: Kids and Cook Grace

I find that I am learning more about the love of family and community by the people of Cameroon. They desire to know how we are.  They want to shake our hand and welcome us everywhere we go. When they see us they stop to see if our family is well.  Even if they just saw us yesterday.  They celebrate with their family and friends when a special time has come such as a retirement, anniversaries, etc. They do this by going to the event then to the persons’ home to eat and visit.  This is not just 1 or 2 people.  This is 50-100 on that day!

We are quickly learning that the people here are showing a better way of loving the body of Christ, and what it is to invest in someone, not financially but emotionally. This is also not just some of the people here.  It is all the people!  How refreshing to be shown such love!  Chris and I are finding that they are showing us so much about how to love God passionately and fervently as well through their witness and actions. 

Retirement for 7 Workers at Mbingo

I thought that with Christmas being here I want everyone to know that we are blessed to be at Mbingo, and are thankful for the opportunity to serve in a place that needs us.  Mbingo has shown us astounding love and care.  We are thankful that our Savior came to earth to redeem us from Hell and the grave in the form of a baby being wholly man and wholly God.  We pray that you have a wonderful weekend with family, friends, and those that love you.  Have a blessed Nativity.

Kids decorate Christmas Tree

Caja makes bread from Scratch

In Christ,

Ashley

“The Will of God will NOT take you where the Grace of God cannot protect you.”

A Few Lessons Learned Since Arrival in Cameroon

      We have been here almost a month and have been so blessed by the community around us at Mbingo.  The other missionaries are truly full of wonderful and extremely helpful information. The local people of Mbingo are also helpful, kind, and patient with us when we say things in a way that does not make any since to them.

I thought I would write a short post about some things that we have learned here since arriving.

1. You must hit the shower curtain before getting in the shower. 

a.       Micah had a terrible fright by a HUGE, I am mean HUGE, spider that decided to join him for a shower.  Which resulted in him running to his room stark naked and dripping water across the hall making me laugh. I then screamed when I saw just how big the spider was that I had to kill. (I did kill it!! But left it for Chris to clean out of the bottom of the shower.)

      2.You should check the toilet for spiders as well by looking in the bowl and lifting the seat.

a.       Caja had a similar story when a spider was in the bowl of the toilet when she went to flush the toilet.  This spider was fast however and took us 1 week to dispose of.

      3.  Lizards are not mean, for the most part, and can stay in the house per Chris.

a.       Some of you saw that we had a small lizard in the kitchen that was allowed to stay the night. I was   pleased to see that it was gone in the morning. 

b.       We had another one in the house on Sunday. It was caught by Micah by placing a bowl over it and sliding   it out of the house. Thank goodness for boys!

     

      4 .  Cleaning your own eggs is not fun and can lead to disappointment or great joy.

a.       My first time purchasing eggs was quite different than purchasing them in the U.S. I had to walk to the hospital shop to purchase then walk home.  I then had to scrub them clean to remove chicken poop, and other things I did not recognize.  While doing this I broke 1 egg.  Chagrined I very carefully wiped each egg off and placed them in a holder to go into the fridge.  I went to put them in the fridge and as I placed them on the shelf it fell to the floor breaking 5 of my remaining 11 eggs.  I literally threw the towel on the counter and cried.  However, Chris helped me clean the mess up while a pouted on the couch.  After 15 minutes I got up and prepared the eggs that remained for breakfast. I could truly enjoy the fruit of my labor.

      I am sure there are plenty of other lessons that I have learned, but I should save some for another post.  We are adjusting well and have not experienced culture shock to much yet.  I am sure that our time is coming, but we would be blessed beyond compare if God would see fit to spare us from this.

      Please pray for the people of Cameroon.  They are having strikes in the school systems and also in the court systems.  This is causing all the schools in the English-speaking areas of Cameroon to be closed. They have now been closed for 4 weeks. There have been some riots in Bamenda which have resulted in violence. This has not reached us here in Mbingo and we are safe, but it is affecting the people we are serving greatly. Chis is working in the hospital as the primary maternal care provider. Pray that he will make good decisions for his patients. Also, that he will have a positive relationship the staff that he works with where they can mutually gain skills and knowledge making the Maternity Ward a wonderful place to receive care and work. Please pray for our family as we continue to adjust to life at a different pace and in a new community. Please pray that I am able to teach the children during homeschooling all the material that they need to know in order to stay up to speed with other kids at their level.

                                                    We pray you all have a blessed Nativity.

In Christ,

Ashley

“The Will of God will not take you where the Grace of God cannot protect you.”