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

Centenary

Today was the big day, the 100th year celebration for the Archdiocese.  The preparation for this event was like no other.  There have been 20-30 men a day working on the grounds for the past month.  The big deal was a Cardinal and Bishop from Rome came.  It has been interesting to see the progression of the work and the final product.  I will say I was pretty nervous that the event would have plenty of mix ups and unprepared happenings but the celebration went perfectly and the weather was good (it was outside).  9 deacons and 9 priests were ordained along with the anniversary celebration.

We knew in order to get seats we would have to go save seats very early-6 am.  I did not feel like getting to a 5 hour event 3 hours early to save seats but I was also concerned we would not be able to see anything.  Around 7 am I thought I would walk around the grounds while Maura made breakfast.  It appeared there were several open seats so I was more relaxed.  Then I ran into a neighbor who asked if we had gotten seats and said I better get them quick or there would be none.  I went to the giant pile of plastic chairs and got some down.  As I went to get more down my initial chairs were taken.  I could not remove the chairs and keep people from taking the others.  Finally I managed to get 7 chairs-we had 15 people coming but I knew I could not save 15 seats.  Fortunately my neighbor helped me save the seats while I called for help from Joy Newburn.  People were getting very aggressive and insistent about getting our seats.  After about 40 minutes of struggling with people and with Joys help we were able to maintain our seats and get her and my family seated.  Then I left to go get breakfast, hats, sunscreen and water.

After eating and coming back I ran into the other family that was to sit with us, the Hamms.  The only problem was the aisle I used to get out was blocked with people sitting so I could not get back to Maura and the kids.  After awhile I got brave and decided to push my way through to the seats.  I am not a fan of crowded events, saving seats and being trapped in by people everywhere.  There were probably over 3000 people crammed into a relative small area.  Once I sat it wasn’t so bad.  After a little while Joy took 2 of our kids, Hamm’s 3 kids and 2 of hers to her house.  We stayed until the  offertory which was 2 hours and then we figured after sitting in the sun that long it was time to rest a bit.  The mass ended up being 5 1/2 hours long. The picture is of the men being ordained as deacons and priests.  The white guy sitting down under the yellow tent is the cardinal from Rome.

It was powerful being with that many people so excited about being at a mass.  Everywhere we looked we could see people.  They were sitting and standing in any place possible.  The best part was how it brings the community together for such a wonderful event.  I went back for the final 15 minutes of mass and walked around after it was finished.  It was fun visiting with people and everyone was fed which is amazing.  I was told to go to CATUC to eat with my coworkers.  Even though I had lunch I thought it would be good to visit.  Mostly I sat and listened to the conversation in pidgin.  Pidgin is still very difficult for me to understand.

The rest of the day was spent at our house with constant visitors.  People kept coming over which means Maura had to offer them food.  Thankfully we had leftovers we could heat up.  The day really seemed like a celebration with people talking with one another and sharing food.  I must say we are all pretty tired tonight so we are headed to bed early.

-Ryan

Action Packed Weekend

We had a wonderful action packed weekend.  The adventure started with me driving for the first time on a long adventure (about an hour).  We met up with the other three LMH/MDA mission families on Friday morning at a pottery studio-PresPot.  We feel so blessed to have the other families in country to periodically meet up with for support and good times plus lots of kids. 

PresPot is an amazing place.  All the clay is dug by hand close to the studio.  We were able to see the many processes the pottery must go through to complete a piece.  The process is labor intensive but well worth the end result.  Surprisingly with all the kids we managed to not break any pottery.  The visit made all of us appreciate pottery much more.  From there we headed to the retreat center where we were to stay for the rest of the weekend.

The retreat center was very nice and we had the whole place to ourselves, so no need to worry about the kids being quiet.  The second we arrived the kids played nonstop.  We are still in awe that 15 children can get along so well.

On Saturday our adventure was to a tea estate about 40 minutes up into the mountains.  We arrived and realized the staff at the tea plant were a bit nervous with so many white people with kids.  After talking with them for a little while they agreed to take us on a tour. 

The plant was huge and produced all parts of what it takes to make tea.  The tea is handpicked, dried, chopped by machines and then packaged.  The tour took about 2 hours and the kids (and adults) were very interested.  It is a miracle that a factory so large could be operating in the mountains of Cameroon.  At the end of the factory tour we were given a case of tea. 

Then we went to see an animal sanctuary on the property.  The grounds were beautiful with cows, horses, peacocks, ostriches, bunnies, four enormous python snakes, monkeys and chimpanzees.  Everything but the cows and horses were behind bars.  Thankfully the pythons were well secured.  One of the pythons was aggressive because they had just caught it in the jungle so it was moving around quite a bit. 

The highlight was the chimps.  The handler brought out two of the chimps for us to meet.  One of them was not friendly so we didn’t get too close to her but the other one, Billy, loved the attention so we were able to hold him.  Patrick was not happy being too close to Billy.  The handler tried to pick Patrick and Billy up together but Patrick just cried.  We all took some great pictures with Billy and he was very friendly.  It was an adventure we will always remember.

We ended the weekend by going to Palm Sunday Mass together.  The interesting part of Palm Sunday was that we were to bring our own palms.  Palm trees are everywhere so it is not a big deal but everyone had fresh cut palms.  Someone cut ours for us so we didn’t have to collect them ourselves. 

Between all of the adventures the kids played nonstop and were very sad to go home.  We said our goodbyes and headed home.  The drive was pleasant and we were able to pick up some mangoes on the way.  The season is just starting so we were super excited plus we got 15 mangoes for $1.  Life in Cameroon can be pretty good.

-Ryan

Wedding Day Adventure

Today was no different than any other day, a big adventure.  A coworker of mine got married today and invited us to it to see a traditional Cameroonian wedding.  He wanted to be sure Keith (Maura's brother) was able to see one. 

We decided it was going to be a bit adventurous so only the boys would go - Keith, Patrick and myself.  The biggest adventure was getting to the wedding.  I thought I knew the town where the wedding was but it turns out it was a bit further than I expected.  We had problems getting a taxi to take us there for a reasonable rate.  I thought the ride was going to be about 20 minutes but it turns out it was over an hour.  So I was negotiating the fare with this mindset and finally paid up to get a driver to take us.  The difference in fare was minimal but it’s the principal of overcharging us because we are white so I sucked it up and paid $2 instead of $1.20 that the fare should have been. 

After being smashed in the cab with 5 other people for an hour we got to the edge of town where the police check vehicle papers.  Our driver said he did not have his papers so he pulled over and yelled to another taxi.  He said we should pay him and get in the other taxi.  After another 30 minutes we finally arrived at the church where we were to meet our ride to the house.  The very first thing Patrick said once we got out of the taxi was “I want to go home.”

Due to our travel fiasco we were an hour late so I figured we missed the event.  Turns out we were still early by 15 minutes.  First, there was mass.  Traditional weddings do not have a Catholic mass but the couple wanted to have one to bless them.  The mass was not for marriage, they will do a church wedding in July. 

After mass we all gathered in the house for the traditional wedding.  Each family has an elder representative sent from their perspective tribes.  The representatives speak for the people getting married.  The bride’s representative is the head of the wedding.  He started by asking why she has brought all these people to the house.  They pretend as if they don’t know what is going on.  The representative of the groom played along and said he happened to be driving by and saw a ripe guava on a tree he wanted to pick.  A big jug of palm wine was then unplugged and a cup of it was given to the bride.  She is told to give the cup to the person who has brought all these people.  She was to search for the groom and finally she gave him the glass of palm wine.  Then the couple talks with the bride’s representative to explain their intention.  Finally, the bride representative talks only with the groom giving him advice.  The groom was told he had other people to talk to that could not make it that day to get their approval.  Then everyone gets a glass of palm wine and a kola nut.  And, of course, we ended with a big meal.  

I had fun watching Keith taste many of the foods for the first time.  He was brave enough to eat cow’s skin and drink the palm wine.  Patrick made friends with a baby.  The parents were trying to get him to hold the baby and he refused so I was able to hold him for awhile.  We socialized a bit and we found a ride home so we were excited.  When it was time to go, my coworker wanted to take a picture of us with him and his wife but she was nowhere to be found.  We found out the elder women took her and locked her up from him.  He was to pay to get her back, like a dowry.  

 We left before he paid up so we don’t know the outcome of that situation.  The ride home was much nicer in the air conditioning and only 3 of us in the back seat.  By the time we arrived at home all three of us were exhausted but it was a wonderful day to be a part of.  We are grateful for the generosity of our friends here that allow us to participate in their lives.

Peace-

Ryan

Campus Ministry

The Catholic University of Cameroon, Bamenda (CATUC) has never had a campus minister and I have never been a campus minster at a university so we both are learning.  The university is in its fourth year which means it has dealt with a lot of the initial growing pains but still faces the joys and challenges of an educational institution that is expanding.  I was able to attend the first graduation of CATUC students in December.  Every day at the university is one of continued learning from the new opportunities that are constantly popping up.

My role of Campus Minister was not clearly defined to allow for ultimate flexibility for my gifts and the needs of CATUC.  I am grateful for this flexibility.  Much of my time thus far has been trying to get in touch with the culture of CATUC and student life.  The students are impressive in their drive to acquire knowledge and be innovative.  Living in a place with limited access to books and unreliable internet, I am impressed how the students are able to be kept up to date on information.  They are aware of the disadvantage they have to a lot of the world so it seems they work that much harder to keep up.  There is very little taken for granted by the students due to their hard work and determination.

The privilege I have as Campus Minister is to provide a place for students to speak to someone who may be able to provide a new perspective to their life situation, a spiritual perspective.  It seems each time a student walks into my office I learn more than he/she learns from me.  My most important role is being a listener so it is natural I learn from them because often I find myself saying very little.  The faith life of the students is rich and comprehensive.  Many have been on a dedicated faith journey for several years.  The most common request I get is for something to help them through their current situation; scripture, prayer or advice.  My response is simple, for them to ask for help each morning to do the will of God and to review their day with gratitude before going to bed.  I believe it is too easy to complicate our prayer lives looking for the ultimate answer.  God just wants us to be in dialogue with us.

The biggest challenge I face is listening to the pain and suffering the students have endured in their short lives.  Navigating between cultural differences and being a source of support can easily get confusing.  In these times I reach way down to seek the most compassionate and loving thing I can do, be present to the child of God before me.  This is not easy for someone that has little patience and likes to avoid pain.  I must constantly remind myself I am here to be a servant.

This blog has turned into something different than I anticipated.  I had planned to write about my work in a more general form.  The gift in writing blogs is it can quickly turn into time to reflect.   The wonderful blessing and an absolute need for me being a missionary is reflection.   The goal of my simple guidance to the students of asking to do God’s will and expressing gratitude is to provide a moment in their busy lives to see the greatness of God’s love and mercy, something I need to do more often.

-Ryan