Down Time

Having some down time has been really nice to be able to be more present to life around us.  One of my favorite moments of the past week was the kids and I went on a walk and upon our return the boys from the neighborhood were so excited to see the kids.  They were all so happy and saying they had something for the kids. 

One of the boys, Joel, we had not seen in awhile.  He is one of the sweetest boys.  He handed Patrick a sword he had made out of bamboo.  For the girls he built a race car for them.  Each of the gifts were personalized with their names and a message written on them.  Patrick’s sword said “Sword for Joy.”  Joel must be thinking Patrick will use the sword to bring joy, we are not sure that will be the case. 

Regardless, I was touched by his thoughtfulness.  I found out he had been on vacation to the village and while there he created these gifts.  It is remarkable the generosity people have here for us.  It is embarrassing at how little we give compared to how much is given to us here. 

Friday we drove to Kumbo, about 2 hours away, to visit the Horne’s (another family from Lay Mission-Helpers).  We lived with the Horne’s during our training in Los Angeles so we have gotten to know them well.  They have 5 kids the same ages as our kids so all 8 of them had a blast.  We had a nice visit Friday evening with them and the highlight was the fish tacos with homemade tortillas they made us. 

Saturday morning we drove about 45 minutes to Tatum to go to the wedding of Debbie, another Lay Mission-Helper who just finished her 3 years here.  Her fiancé is from the US and came to have the wedding here.  Debbie’s parents were the only family members that were able to come (they had never been out of the US). 

Three out of the four of the Lay Mission-Helper families were able to attend the wedding so it was special for us to be there to support her.  It was our first church wedding in Cameroon so it was a neat experience for us too.  The bishop was the celebrant of the wedding along with 11 other priests.  The bishop said in his 27 years of being a priest he had never celebrated a white person’s wedding so it was special for him. 

It was a true missionary moment for Debbie and James to share their wedding with the people she had been living with for the past 3 years.  They were very appreciative and excited for them.  

-Ryan