Ramadan

On July 20, the chief and religious leader of Meskine saw the crescent moon in the night sky and he proclaimed the beginning of the month of Ramadan. To Christians and much of the Western world, this means little. But to our Muslim neighbors, it means that the month of fasting and abstinence from worldly pleasures has begun. As one of the Five Pillars of Islam, the fasting month of Ramadan is considered the highest form of worship. During this month, Muslims will attempt to suppress their earthly desires as an act of spiritual piety in order to atone for their sins (make right with God).  By not eating or drinking during the day (the people here, won’t even swallow their saliva!), Muslims believe their sins are scorched away sins like the sun burns the ground.  Their stomachs ache with hunger in an attempt to please God and gain rewards.

While Christians value fasting as a way to intensify our prayers, we do not do it so that we may persuade God , to ensure our wrongs are forgiven, or to gain rewards. God does not desire religious duty. Christ desires our heart. So much so that he gave his life as an atonement for our sins. All we have to do is believe and assurance of salvation is ours. We are free from doubt, the unknown, and retribution. This is a freedom our Muslim friends do not know.

This Ramadan, please join the millions of Christians around the world in praying for our Muslim friends or as we call them in Meskine, “our cousins.”  By setting aside these 30 (or 20 something- if you start now) for prayer, we will be better able to relate to our Muslim cousins as they are also praying. Pray specifically for greater breakthroughs for the Gospel among Muslims, an increased commitment to prayer by Christians, and for more missionaries to work among Muslims. To help you each day, there is a free prayer guide (there is even one for kids). Each day highlights a different people group or region- with information, statics, and ways to pray.  And just in case you think your Muslim cousins only live in countries with names you cannot pronounce, tomorrow’s location is Nashville, Tennessee!

But before we can plead for our cousins, we must be intentional about making our relationship right with our cousins. On the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that before we come to the altar we must go and reconcile ourselves with our brothers and sisters. I encourage you to sign the Radical Love Pledge:

Challenging followers of Christ to love Muslims as He does.

Christian relationships with Muslims have often been characterized by conflict, fear and lack of love. This is the opposite of the way Jesus taught his people to live. As his followers, we are promised a love that casts out fear. We are commanded to love neighbor and even enemy. Therefore we resolve to imitate and obey Jesus by making the following pledge:

• I will repent of any hateful feelings toward Muslims and pursue love.
• I will pray for Muslims that God will bless them and that they will experience His peace.
• I will do at least one act of kindness for a Muslim in this next year.
• I will respectfully share the good news about Christ.
• I will not spread negative stereotypes about Muslims but will season all my words with grace.

Rhumsiki

One day a seasoned missionary here in Meskine declared that we need to see more of Northern Cameroon than just the village we are in now. After much debate in the Shinar household (is it a wise use of our money/time?), we decided to join the group of fellow missionaries and go to Rhumsiki- a tourist destination in the far North/West part of Cameroon (on the border of Nigeria).

The 3 hour drive was very bumpy and Charlie was strapped into her car seat for the first time in 2 months and she had just eaten before we left. Yep, a recipe for disaster! Poor little thing threw up everywhere! Thank God, it happened at a spot on the road that was right next to a well. As I cleaned up her clothes and car seat at the well, a ton of kids came to play with the Nassarra bebe (white baby)!

This is what the drive looked like- kind of reminded me of prehistoric times- just needed some dinosaurs!

When we got to Rhumsiki, we had a guided tour of the village. 

This is Mount Rhumsiki. The legend goes that a long time ago, a hunter (Mr. Siki) from Nigeria came over to the area and loved it so much that he stayed in a cave in this mountain. He had so much meat that he had to smoke it. When a Nigerian chief saw the smoke from the mountain and sent people to check it out. They loved the land and were happy to find a place where they could escape from the invasion of Islam in Nigeria.

It was nice and chilly in Rhumsiki as evidenced by this cute little thing in long pants and a jacket.

On Saturday morning, we went hiking. Here are some pics..

Just like home- agave

Every African hike has to have at least one cow (look on the right)

Here is a close up.

Here are his friends.

At night, we enjoyed the sunset, played games and music, and ate yummy food (TONS of fries!)

On Sunday, the group hiked this mountain (the local guys must hike to the very top before they are allowed to get married- our group hiked half way).

While they hiked, I read this book. It is amazing, but read it if you dare- it will challenge every part of your life! (it is only $1.99 on Kindle!)

We had a fabulous weekend full of rest and fellowship. Now back to language learning for us!

The Burn Bug

Our first week in Cameroon, a missionary told us, "You better just get used to the bugs- they had their house here first!" It took a while, but I have finally stopped freaking out when ants are crawling on my legs, I don't swat at flies unless they are in my eyes, I am used to my legs looking like a connect the dot picture with all of the mosquito bites on them, and I can kill a two inch roach without a single gag. Just when I thought I could deal with any tiny little insect creature...

The "Burn Bug" or 'Nairobi Fly" got me.... or actually I got it.

The "Burn Bug" does not sting or bite humans, but if you kill it kill it and crush it against your skin it contains a toxin that will do this to you....

I didn't even know this little bugger existed! One morning I woke up with what I thought were scratches on my face and chest. After a day, they did not go away. Instead, they got worse! When a seasoned missionary saw them, she told me about my new little friends the "Burn Bug." I think what I did was swat it on my chest and then touch my face. The marks have been here since Wednesday. They look so much better now and feel much better too! The ones on my face are almost gone and I can't feel them, but the chest one feels like I burnt it with a curling iron and it ITCHES like crazy- but I cannot scratch because the skin is raw and oozing! There is really nothing to do for it other than creams and there is no long term complications othern than some unsightly "burns" for a couple of weeks. The Fulbe (Fulani) women often scar themselves as a sign of beauty- well now I have my own set of African beauty marks!

Josh's trip to the marble mine!

The following is a link to Josh's facebook page where he took a trip to the marble mines in Northern Cameroon.  It was an opportunity to see the local industries and visit with various people in the community.  Check it out:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4267567372227.176547.1377334713&type=1&l=6e1564de97

 

 

Kala Salasa fuu bee jemma, nasaara'en njehi haa lopital ngam do'aago bee nyawbe.

Kala Salasa fuu bee jemma, nasaara'en njehi haa lopital ngam do'aago bee nyawbe. For those who have yet to master the Fufulde language, this means “Every Tuesday night, the white people go to the hospital to pray with the sick people.” (I only say “white people” because that is what everyone calls us- “nasaara’en!”)

I promised my mother-in-law that I would blog more, so since today is Tuesday I thought I would blog about our weekly prayer rounds.

For the first three months of our stay in Africa, we are in Meskine, Cameroon. (It is right next to Maraou on the map). In this area, Fufulde is the main language people speak- so it is an ideal learning place for us. We are staying on the hospital compound. The hospital was started in the 90’s by Medical Centers of West Africa- a Louisiana based ministry with the mission of reaching the unreached Fulbe (Fulani) in Cameroon. It was decided that a hospital would be built in order to build relationships with the Fulbe with the hopes of planting a church.

The hospital is in dire need of a surgeon (or even short-term volunteers), and has advertised on the Samaritan Purse website. I got this description from there:

“de Meskine is a 100 bed hospital located in a remote area of Cameroon. This is a challenging mission location with few expatriates. The hospital provides surgery, maternity services and general medicine along with treatment in the outpatient clinic. French is the primary language along with the local Fulfulde dialect. Few patients or staff speak English. Over 90% of the population is Muslim.”

It is impossible really to describe the hospital. (I didn’t take pictures because it seemed rude when we are there to pray, but I stole these pictures for you off of someone other peoples’ blogs).

There are 5 wards- for women, for men, for children, for people with contagious diseases, and the maternity ward. On Tuesdays, we divide up into pairs and go onto the wards to pray. Tonight, I went to the women’s and the maternity.  The wards have about 20 beds in them. The beds are about a foot apart- if that. They are so close that when we pray for one person, we sit on another person’s bed!

The first thing that hits me when we arrive on the wards is the smell! Most hospitals have their fair share of body fluid smells, well imagine that smell in an open ward with no circulating air on a hot evening.  Also if you have ever spent any time in Africa, you know the people have their own special smell- it is kind of like campfire smoke and musky body odor combined (by the way, they think Westerners smell like soured milk!). So you have body fluid odor plus the smell of 50 musky campfire b.o. people and the fumes from cleaning products and now you can almost imagine the smell of the wards!

The next thing that strikes me is the condition of the medical equipment. Everything is glaringly sparse, outdated, or dirty. To go from the Mayo Clinic to here is quite a shock! I have to remind myself what an amazing blessing this hospital is to the people! Without this place, they would have no medical care at all. People come from Chad and Nigeria for the medical services of this hospital. It is not so much that this hospital is lacking, it is more that I have taken for granted the over abundance of goods and services in Western medicine. Over and over again, the patients thank God for this hospital!

After the sights and smells, I focus in on the people. (I pray one day I will be able to overlook such superficial things and they will catch my attention first!).  Tonight we prayed with a woman that had been in the hospital for weeks with a wounded foot, a woman with severe malaria, a woman with recurrent ascites (fluid in her abdomen), a woman who had abdominal surgery, a man with an extensive wound in his groin that caused his penis to fall off (seriuosly- I am not even joking), and a woman in her 7^th month of pregnancy that was having contractions.  The one patient that touched me the most was a young lady that had a miscarriage in her 4^th month of pregnancy. It was her first pregnancy. Although she was trying so hard not to cry I could see the tears in her eyes as her mother talked with the other missionary. I started crying too. Even though we could barely communicate, we silently cried together. Our tears connected us together more than words ever could. Then we prayed over 2 week old twins that were barely 4 pounds each, but are doing so well! I am learning a lot here about suffering and blessings!  

So, that is my Tuesday night!

Shopping Spree

So as soon as we got off the plane in Meskine, I noticed all of the missionaries were wearing African attire. As if I didn’t stand out enough as a white person, my clothes were glaringly different too. I was in need of a makeover shopping spree.  Well to my dismay, there are no Targets in Meskine or even a shop that sells premade clothes. So just in case you find yourself in a similar situation, here is how to get clothes in a rural African village-

Step 1- go to the weekly market with your Fufulde teacher to “practice greetings, “but really with the secret mission to buy cloth. Get her to haggle the price with the sellers. The cost of cloth for an outfit- about $10 each

Step 2- Soak the cloth in vinegar in your cement “shower”. The vinegar is supposed to prevent the colors from fading.

Step 3- spread the cloth out on your porch because it is monsoon season and it looks like this outside

Step 4- take the cloth to the tailor. (I went to 2 in town as to spread around business. This is Christine). Have someone translate for you what you want and hope that they are actually telling them what you want. (I wanted some dresses- they actually turned out to look like HUGE muumuus- not my favorite).

Step 5- wait 1-2 weeks.

Step 6- Either your domestique (house help) will bring the finished outfits to your house or you take your whole family and bike about a mile to the tailor in 95 degree humid weather. Very important- do not wear a wrap skirt while biking. You will flash the people in the village- trust me- been there, done that!

Step 7- Get lost biking and have to call for directions because every mud hut looks alike.

Step 8- Pick up clothes and literally drip sweat on the tailor as she fixes something on the dress. Then ask how much you owe only to have to ask her to write down the price because you have no idea what she said. Each outfit cost between $3-$10 to have hand made for you.

Step 7- On your way home, stop at your Fufulde teacher’s house because she lives next to the tailor and it is rude not to. Also, play with her cute baby. (Daada Esther also made me an outfit that I picked up)

Step 8- Bike home and drink a big glass of iced tea because you are sooo hot and the electricity is off which means no fans either.

Step 9- Look at your new dresses in a mirror and realize you could sneak an entire family into the movie theatre underneath it because it is a HUGE muumuu!

Step 10- Wait another week and get another missionary who can translate for you to go back to the tailor to see if she can make the HUGE muumuus into a less huge version of a muumuu- only to find out that the tailor is not there.

Step 11- Get another missionary to make the journey with you a few days later. This missionary will yell through the open window in order to get the tailor to open the door for you.

Step 12- Try the clothes on in the tailor's house only to realize when you are naked, that you are not alone in there. Thank God that it is only a teenage girl and a few mice- and not some man!

Step 13- Finally 5 weeks later, return home with some new clothes! Christine made dresses for Charlie also! Isn't my "mini-me" cute?!

A day in the life of an African missionary

Ever wonder what missionaries do? Well, me too. I guess I will learn soon enough. But here is a sample of what we do so far.

Today for example
-6:30- wake up to Charlie popping up in her pack and play saying, "Hi!"

-6:45- take a cold shower because I am too lazy to wait 15 minutes for the water heater and I don't want to take a bath (the only way the hot water really works). The water is luke warm so it is not that bad.

-7:00- Get dressed. Hmm, what to wear? Oh the choices- always a skirt, t-shirt, and head scarf.
-7:10- Get Charlie ready for the day and wake up Josh.
-7:30- Breakfast. This morning was granola and mango. Charlie LOVES mango. She would eat 20 of them if we let her!

-8:00- Fellow missionary Carrie comes with Dada Dorkus (mother of Dorkus- my name is Dada Charlotte!). She will be our domestique (aka- life saver). Everything takes FOREVER here and there would be no way to learn Fufulde and do the house chores, cleaning, and cooking. Also, it provides much needed employment for the people. (I am trying to convince myself of this. It is still a really weird concept, but when in Africa...). Anyway, Carrie comes with Dada Dorkus to translate because she does not speak English which makes things fun.
-8:30- Fufulde lessons begin with Dada Esther and missionary Dave. Lessons are three hours and by the end I literally have trouble remembering my own name or should I say "ingaago."

Charlie plays with Jennica and Linda- her nanny and nanny's three-year-old daughter. Or Charlie is carried around by other people on the station while they work.

-11:30- come home and complete Fufulde homework- write and conjugate 20 sentences. Read them to Josh and have him try and translate. Give up and go eat lunch.
-12:30- LUNCH! Oh my goodness! Josh and  I were hoping to loose weight here, but Dada Dorkus is an amazing cook. We had hamburger steak in the most wonderful gravy with mashed potatoes and green beans. I mean we were licking the plates! We invited Dada Dorkus to eat with us because after I gave her a plate of food, I realized that she was eating on the floor in the kitchen. Did I mention she is 8 months pregnant with baby #7?! Bless her soul, she deserves a chair. So then we practiced our Fufulde on her- most of which she eventually understood.
-1:00- brain break (aka facebook)
-1:30- clean up house and put away laundry
-2:00- put Charlie down for nap
-2:15- make kettle corn for missionary get together night. Burn first batch because not used to overly dramatic gas stove. Burn 2nd batch. Give up. Move onto pizza making for the get together.
-3:00- skype with my dad
-3:45- pizza making
-4:45- shower again because some days are a 2 shower kind of day! This time I choose a red shirt and green scarf. I kind of look like a Christmas pirate!
-5:00- "graduation" ceremony for 4 of the mission kids on their last day of school with Miss. Laura.

-5:30- bake the pizza

-6:00- going away pizza party for Miss. Laura complete with Coke, charade's, andJenga!

-7:30- bathe Charlie in the cement tub which is loads of fun now that she hates bath time. Maybe it is the cold water.
-8:00- Charlie bedtime in our room with the AC. Take down laundry from the line that Dada Dorkus washed and hung up. Spray ants in bathroom and in kitchen. Step on ants in dining room. Sweep up dead ants.
-8:30- blog :) and kill more bugs
-9:30- relax!
-10:00- Take malaria medicine, use light from phone to check bed for bugs, crawl under mosquito net and go to sleep!

Well, now you know!