Cameroon At Last

Birds are chirping bringing in the new day.  In the distance I can hear the music from the chapel playing for morning meeting. I look out my window and tropical plants are all around me.  There are palm trees and a hedge of Lantana perfectly framing my yard with a mountain backdrop.  It truly is prettier than any place I have stayed since Hawaii. We have been at Mbingo in Cameroon for 6 days now and there have been so many positive things and to be perfectly honest some negative things since our arrival. 

I had so much fear and anxiety about us arriving in Douala and the process of going through customs, getting our bags, then getting to the vehicle that would be transporting us to Mbingo before we arrived.  But this process like the entire journey here was smooth and without stress.  We were greeted by George in the baggage claim and he helped us load our 21 pieces of luggage onto carts to be taken out to the van.  George spoke with a gentleman that was there and who was in charge of customs.  This allowed us to pass freely when there was a very long line that was having every bag opened and gone through.  We then loaded into the van and were taken to eat pizza at a Greek restaurant before arriving at the guest house.

We traveled all the next day to Mbingo and when we arrived we were in awe of the beauty and the welcome provided by all those who were there.  We carried in our luggage and the kids quickly claimed their rooms and began asking if they could begin unpacking right then.  We were fed well and then visited with Dr. Palmer and his wife Nancy.

Since that day we have been warmly welcomed by everyone here.  Dinners and visits have filled our evenings.  Then we took an intense trip to the city of Bamenda to shop for household items, new phone service, and went on a quest for a printer.  We succeeded in the purchase of the printer only to attempt to load the disk on our laptop computer and it completely crashed the hard drive.   Thankfully there is a brilliant IT guy here named Josh that was able to salvage a couple of the important files we need but the “drive is finished.”  Downside is that we are now going to have to purchase a new computer.  The positive side is that we have been graciously loaned a computer in the meantime. 

It has been like that the whole time.  We have something that would completely undo us in the U.S. to have it salvaged in another way.  It may not be the way we would choose or how we wanted it, but the alternative still gets us to a place where we can function.

The kids are doing really well.  They have found more ways to entertain themselves without electronics since we arrived. I have not heard them complain once when I say, “Well, go outside and play.” If your children are like mine this would have followed with grumbles and moans. Here though they simply go outside and find something to do.  I never imagined that they would be adjusting this well. Micah and Micaja have made friends with some local kids and have played both yesterday and today for 2 hours each time. They take a ball or paper with colored pencils and they all play, play, play.

We are truly thankful to be here and be in the space that we knew God was leading us to.  We still have more things to learn than I can even count, but we have already learned some things that we did not know before.  Please keep us in your prayers when we come to your mind.  Pray that Chris will find his place in the hospital that is beneficial to the people at Mbingo and also for him. Please pray that the kids continue to do well and flourish in their new environment. Pray that I figure out how to keep moving forward and taking in everything that is coming my way with a peaceful heart.  My next post will simply be things we have learned that are vastly different to the U.S.   I will also post pictures at that time, but as I said above with the computer going down we have been having some challenges. 

In Christ, 
Ashley
" The Will of God will not take you where the Grace of God cannot protect you."

The Longest 30 days

Our journey since 8/12/2016 in calculated terms for the last 30 day period.
1 job left
59.25 hours spent behind the windshield of a Chrysler Town and Country
5000 miles driven
14 states seen at varying miles per hour
4 churches/organizations visited to discuss our mission work in Cameroon
15 homeschool lessons from a hotel room, back seat of the van, or a picnic table
1 house sold
1 son that turned 11
1 van repair done
Innumerable amount of memories shared with family and friends.

I look at this list and realize why I feel as though our world, is not completely upside down, but definitely at a sideways slant. We have slept on beds with varying degrees of comfort.  Had our ups and downs emotionally. We have spent hours in the company of those we love so much and have missed spending time with.  We have met new people, and have been encouraged by them that we are on the right path to serve God to our fullest.  We have shed tears saying goodbye to those we hold dear with hearts breaking. Then step back with heavy hearts and realize that this is only the beginning of the goodbyes to come in the next 3 months.

The first part of our journey led us to a place we call our spiritual home Warren, OH. We spent time with our church family there and were able to present our mission work to them at St John the Baptist. We were delighted to hear all about the lives of those we have missed so much and to be able to reconnect with them.

We left OH and drove to St Augustine,FL. Upon arriving we were amazed to learn that the beginging of our nations history was there to be seen after just learning about it in the previous 2 weeks of homeschooling. It was a real life touching, seeing, and smelling history lesson! We were also able to meet with OCMC regarding the mission works they are doing around the world and were able to share some of our vision with them as well regarding our calling as a family for the future.

We then drove to Sarasota and were able to spend 2 days with my brother and his family.  We attended church with them and heard a message from Roberts Liardon about leaving everything and following Christ just as Abraham did.  What an amazing message and encouragement it was for us! That evening my brother and wife shared about their lives and the things God is doing for them.  I was thankful that again I was shown that if you are willing to serve, God will use you to do his work.  Before we left they prayed for us and my oldest niece Carmen prayed for us as well.  It was truly the most beautiful prayer I have ever heard.

We then climbed back into the van to travel back to Kansas City to close on the sell of our home.  We arrived safely and exhausted. Once there we had cleaning, papers to sign, tears to shed, and goodbyes to say.  This part of the past 30 days was probably the hardest.  My children both said goodbye to their best friends and cried and grieved for the past memories and future time that has been lost in their minds.  How was I to truly explain that the call to missions is one for the entire family and that they will be changed forever by this life in ways they could never imagine? The answer I am finding is that I cannot.  I can only love them and support them and allow that sadness and grief for a time.   I then try to show them Christ any way I can by reading scripture and discussing it, praying with them, or just holding them when they need held.

As soon as the house sale was over we were off to Branson to play on the water and spend time with Chris's parents.  We went to Tablerock Lake and were enjoying the day until we pulled into a cove where Chris, Micah, and Caja went out to some small cliffs to jump off into the water. While they were swimming over to the cliffs we heard a bump......bump..........bump.  My mother-in-law and I looked off the side of the boat and saw that there was a large tree limb or stump in the water hitting the boat.  My father-in-law started the engine and began moving the boat to get away from the tree, but found that the anchor was stuck. Let me tell you one thing..... We were going nowhere fast! He shifted to the the left and to the the right and then tried again and again. We were stuck.  He then tried to pull the anchor up, and it stayed unmoving in the same place. Meanwhile the kids and Chris had a blast leaping into the water.  They completed their cliff jumping and swam back to the boat and climbed aboard.  I took the kids below deck to make sandwiches and to get them out from underfoot.  My father-in-law worked and worked.  At this time it had been about 30 minutes and as I was below deck I could hear creaking and popping sounds that were concerning to say the least.  I said, "God,  we really need this boat to be freed from this tree. We need to keep the anchor and not have any damage to this boat.  Please Lord help us. Amen."  There was a course agreement of "Amen" from Micah and Caja.  Within the next 15 sec we heard a "clunk" and the boat began moving freely!  God  set the boat free with the anchor attached and no damage to the boat!  How amazing is that? It may seem like a small thing, but this was a real life example of God's power at work for my children to see first hand. Awe---some!!! We then left that cove in a rush and did not return there to play anymore.

After a couple of days our extended family went back home and we stayed in the Ozark's to have a couple of days together.  We relaxed, canoed, swam, and did some homeschooling also.  Sunday we drove to Springfield and attended church there at St Thomas. We saw some familiar faces and were also able to meet some new people.  We then drove to Kansas City to grab the last of our things from our friends garage, and then made it finally to our resting place for the next 2 months in Wichita, KS with our family.

Overall we are doing well and have learned a lot about ourselves, others, American History, and about the nature of Christ.  Please keep us in your prayers as we continue on this journey to Cameroon.  A few things you can pray for us about
-Our visa applications go through without any issues.
-Our faith and trust in Christ will continue to be unwavering.
-That Micah and Micaja will thrive in their homeschooling.
-That I will have the patience and ability to teach them.
-That Chris will be safe in this travels for work as he is still working in MO.

As always we would love to hear from you and would love to pray for you about anything we can.

In Christ,
The Gifford Family

"The Will of God will not Take you where the Grace of God cannot Protect you."

Where's the strength I should have?

Have you ever picked up items in your home and are instantly transported to a place and time in your past?  Such as a little blanket that is no longer in use because your child has grown too large to use it. As you brush your fingers over the stitching you remember the smell of your baby after they got out of the bath.  The smell of baby lotion fills your memory.  They would stretch out that little arm as far as it would go and yawn as big as they could.  The sound of the wind exiting their lungs fills your ears and just as their arm would drop down to the blanket they would fall asleep.  A little coo warms  the heart.  Then you nuzzle your nose on the top of their soft head and your lips remember the feather soft fuzz tickling them.

These flashes happened in rapid succession for me over the past week with the numerous items in my home until my mind was in a state of being stress paralyzed.  Thankfully my mother-in-law Della, father-in-law Daniel, and brother and sister-in-law Matthew and Amber came to KC this last weekend to help us get everything either out to the garage, into a moving truck, or to Goodwill.  Words can never completely express my gratitude for them during this time.  I do not know how I would have ever been able to get it even halfway done if they had not been there.

Sunday I woke with a terrible cold and feeling like I had been in a car wreck my body ached so much.  The kids and I rested on Sunday while Chris worked a 48 hour shift at the ER in the hospital.  Monday the work week started and I was still sick, but being the last week of work I could not justify missing any days. Tuesday on the drive to work I was still not improved and really struggling with all the things still left to do at the house and working full time.  I was listening to the local Christian radio station and the verse of the day was Psalms 73:26- My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart: He is mine forever.  Immediately I was encouraged and thought about how this is so true.  I thanked God for putting that out there for me to hear and know that once again He is my strength and portion. 

I want you to encourage you saying the same thing. Christ is with you! Even if you are selling/getting rid of the majority of your things to follow Him.  Or if your health is failing you to the point of exhaustion and irritability is abounding.  Christ is your strength and HIS strength is unending and in abundance!

As always please continue to pray for us.  We thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers as we continue on this journey to Cameroon.   Please feel free to email us at emergent2016@gmail.com if there is anything we can pray for you about or if you just want to say, “Hey”. 

Ashley and Family

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

Are We Really Safe?

I thought I was prepared for the upcoming moments of the day.  They told me it would be this way. And yet the moment the AK-47 and the shot gun fired I jump out of my  seat and hit the floor face down.   Heart racing, pounding in my ears, hands shaking I sneak a look at the one’s firing the guns.  They yell, “Don’t look at me!!  Give me your phone and money!”  I slide my bag as gently as possible across the floor and with trembling hands reach into my bag and get out my wallet and set it on the desk for the ones that are robbing me.   I rest my head on the floor and wait for it to end.  The yelling quiets and I hear, “Let’s get out of here! The cops are coming!”  One guy flies by me and then………SILENCE.

“ACEDEMIC MODE!”

This was the first of many situational role playing models that were simulated during the next 6 hours for our safety /security training.  They explained the importance of being prepared and not paranoid.  The goal is to know that we are able to go to Cameroon with a plan of action and awareness of situations that may occur.  We were told over and over again to remember Matthew 10:16- Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

This was just part of the 11 days in training with CMDA and Samaritans Purse for our medical mission work.  Chris and I were taught about cultural awareness and the differences that we may experience while abroad. We were given a tour of Samaritans Purse and shown the many aspects of the organization that is sending us.  Let me just announce that we were given wonderful training and information, and  I personally came away from the experience encouraged and at the same time slightly overwhelmed by the gravity of moving. 

I am extremely thankful that we are going with an organization that tracks their Missionaries and makes safety a priority.  This gives me great comfort as that is one concern that not just myself but almost every other family there expressed.  I know that ultimately safety can be an illusion, but in Christ is the safest place anyone can be.  I found this scripture; or rather this scripture found me and it brings me back to place that I can be assured.  Joshua 1:9- Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. Isn’t that awesome!! 

As always please keep us in your prayers during this time of preparation and transition.  If you will look to the right column there is now a space where you can enter your email address and it will add you to the loop to be notified when a post is made.  Please feel free to enter your email address there.  If you have any questions or things that you would like us to join you in prayer about you can email us.  It would be our honor to pray for you. 

The Giffords

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

June 2016 Update

The past month has flown by in a rush of activity.  We have done some travel for a wedding of a family member and were able to speak with the pastor of a church in the town we were visiting.  This was an enjoyable time and we were encouraged by the words that were spoken during our time together.

We have put our home on the market for sale and have had several people come to look at it.  There are not any offers on the table as of yet, but we know that God has a plan and the house will sell the moment it is supposed to.  However, let’s be honest the waiting, for Chris and I, has been trying.  We are people of action, and are once again reminded that we are not in control and reminded to Be Still and Know that He is God.

Raising financial support continues to be a slow process, but we are moving forward and know that what we are doing and where we are going is the plan and will of God for us at this stage of our lives.  We continue to pray that we will stay in line with that and keep our hearts open to the will of God and leading of the Holy Spirit. 

Please continue to pray for us. This is one need that every person can meet. If you would like to email us please feel free to do so.  We would love to hear from you and stay in communication with you.  You can send a message to emergent2016@gmail.com . Also if there are any of you that would like to meet up with us before our departure please let us know via email. We would love to discuss our plans and future with you. Thank you for your love and support for us.

 

The Giffords

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