I spy..Twins!

Yes, they are just blurry dots but they are the first glamor shots I have of my twins!

On the bottom picture you see two dark sacs with little white blurs in them, they are baby one and baby two.

After seeing the condition of the Limbe hospital, which left me very disconcerted, we decided to look for other alternatives concerning my pregnancy. So on Tuesday, the 20th, Drew, the mission nurse, Veronica, and I loaded in the mission van and headed 45 minutes up the mountain to Buea. There they have what they call a reference hospital, that means that it is the hospital holding the best doctors and specialists in Cameroon. It seemed to be a mostly uphill journey and when we were just nearing the busy market section of Buea, the van quick. It was a frustrating 15 minutes trying to get the traffic to clear long enough to get out of the middle of the road but we finally were able to roll it back and out of the way. Veronica called her brother, a mechanic, to come and help while she and I went on to the hospital. Upon entering the gate I started to relax a little bit. It was clearly a much nicer and cleaner hospital than Limbe. As we neared the maternity ward there were already six or seven ladies waiting to see the doctor in the outdoor waiting room. We took a seat and heard that the Doctor was not yet in, he was teaching a class at the university. Soon he arrived and Veronica greeted him, she had recommended this Doctor to me and knew him well. I felt bad getting to see him right away but Veronica just laughed and said she had made an appointment with him.

The consult went very well. Drew arrived in the middle of it and was able to meet him as well. I had come in very nervous, but He was a very professional older gentleman and I soon relaxed and left feeling like things might be ok, after all.

The Doctor gave us a prescription for blood work and an ultrasound. I was ok to wait on the blood work, but asked if we could do the ultrasound that day. The hospital radiologist was out so we drove to a pharmacy in town that was doing ultrasounds. As my name was called, we entered a little room in the back. A doctor came in shortly and after typing in some information, pressed the "magic wand" to my belly. I couldn't see the screen, but Drew and Veronica could. I kept waiting for the heart beat but none sounded. I began to get nervous thinking something was wrong. Turns out his machine only did picture not sound, so in a few seconds he said, "Ok, here's one." then after a pause he moved it a bit and said, "And here's another." Moving the wand back and forth he said again, "One, Two. Twins!"

I was so shocked, I said, "are you serious?" He confirmed. I laughed and cried all at the same time. Drew gave me a big hug and kiss and we walked out to wait for our pictures and paperwork. Drew said when he saw the doctor moving the wand he saw the first baby then another little white spot appeared on the screen. It was a great moment. Veronica gave me a big hug as well and told me how happy she was for me. It was nice to have her along. She has been so great about helping our family out while I have been going through all the morning sickness and exhaustion.

SO back home we went and called the children in to show them the pictures. Kent stared but Katie was the one who saw the two. "You're having twins!" she cried. Kent was quick to remember that he had been the only one to guess right. We all laughed and began the contact list for home.

What an amazing journey this is, far more exciting than we could have ever planned. We truly thought our baby days were over and then for God to send us twins, it is stunning but exciting. We are all feeling that God does all things well and twins were the perfect gift to fill in the children's age gap. Of course this opens up many more questions and we want to be careful to be following in His will for our lives. We are trying to take things one step at a time and trust God to make the way clear. As always we are so appreciative of our family in Christ's prayers and support. May God bless you all.

We aren't at DCA any more~Owe School

This is grade 5 & 6. Notice the hanging ceiling.

Last week Drew and I had the privilege of traveling about 45 minutes north west with Pastor Eco and Joshua, the bus driver, to visit Owe's church school. Drew had visited the church a few weeks ago but it was my first visit. The drive was beautiful. The last 15 minutes of the trip involved us turning onto a bumpy dirt road. The van stopped in front of a small building in need of paint, we had arrived at the church. We were greeted by a couple of teachers and led around to the back. Here there was a small courtyard with the landlords laundry hanging on lines between the buildings. We were allowed to greet the classes. K1,K2, and Grades1&2 consisted of 18 children. They were crammed into a small 8' X 8' room. The only way for the far ones to get in and out of the class was to crawl across their desks/a small bench in front of them.

The second room held grades 3rd & 4th, same conditions. The last room housed the 5th & 6th grades. That class has only 8 students but the room was in the worst condition, notice the cardboard hanging from the ceiling to try to keep the rain off of them. One of my first thoughts about the conditions were that they could manage now in the dry season but what would they do in the fast approaching rainy season. The rooms have no electric lights, they leave the door and window open for lighting.

Now let me say with conditions as appalling as they were to me the attitude and orderliness of the students and teachers made a huge impression on me. They need a lot of help, they don't even have textbooks or paces for the students the teacher has one set of paces and rewrites it all on the blackboard for them. With all their needs and difficulties there are 4 teachers who stay to work there, come pay or no pay, to help teach these children. As we left there I felt strangely encouraged and in good spirits. It had been a very needed and good visit to meet the teachers and see what the needs were and how we could help them. Our goals are that the schools and churches be self supporting but this school first needs to be equipped with the proper materials. We are looking into getting more ACE paces and other textbooks to them as soon as possible. There are many other needs and I am asking if there is anyone out there who would feel a burden to financial bless the good efforts that are being poured into this school. For $150 dollars we could have paces shipped here for the Owe school. There needs also include school furniture, food to feed a small lunch to the children there in that very poor community, basic school equipment and better rooming conditions.

As I mentioned before we are working toward self-supporting ministries here but these teachers have shown they are willing to stick with it and sacrifice so we would love to help equip them to do their job to the best of their ability. So how about it? Is their anyone who could take on this project of equipping a Christian school in Owe? May God bless you as you prayerfully consider it. If you cannot give the Owe church and school would really appreciate your prayers. They are going through a transition time with their pastor just resigning. We believe God has a plan for this ministry and through prayer and support we get to have a small part of His plan, how exciting and blessed we are.

The Chocolate Tree

Money may not grow on trees but I found something almost as good.

While visiting the Owe school I was introduced to a delicious sight and smell, it was a chocolate/coco tree. As I stepped under the tree to take a picture of the coco "fruit" I could smell chocolate, the whole tree smelled like chocolate. I felt like I had stumbled into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory where everything you see is edible. I know I am ignorant about far too many things but just in case others have never shared the experience of walking under a coco tree I will explain. The coco tree produces "fruit" or pods that grow little coco seeds or beans in them. When the pod turns yellow it is ready to harvest. They cut the pod open and extract the "chocolate" and the rest is yummy history. I have never seen a land were things can grow so abundantly. Every tree that grows here seems to produce something that can be eaten or useful. This is an amazing land.

Baby Jerry

A couple of weeks ago we heard about a little 4 month old baby who was needing a home. Everyone scurried around to clean and prepare but the social services didn't come. Upon inquiry we were informed that the baby had been thrown away in the bushes and later found by a lady passing by. The police were investigating and trying to find out who the mother was and who had thrown the baby away before putting it in a home, so in the mean time the social services were taking care of him. If the police do find the responsible person they can be put in jail.

On Thursday, March 10th Mrs. Chamberlin and Bro. Peter took a taxi to the social service office and met the worker and baby for the first time. The baby had not been named yet so they were given the privilege of naming him. After several suggestions of long Biblical names Mrs. Chamberlin suggested Jerry, for Jeremiah, they all liked that and Jerry had a name. After some medical attention he arrived home, here at the orphanage, and was warmly greeted by Auntie Agnes and over 23 children.

Kent hasn't really gotten too involved in the orphanage but when he heard there was a baby boy he ran down as quickly as he could and introduced himself to little Jerry. He was feeling that three little toddling girls was enough and it was about time we got to have a baby boy. Jerry preferred to suck on Kent's fingers rather than shake hands but Kent didn't mind being drooled on at all.

As things stand for little Jerry right now we are being called a temporary placement because the lady that found him would love to adopt him. She will need to go through background checks and paperwork before that would be possible, but it is a possibility. We are loving having the little guy around, but if it is the Lord's will that he find a good home that is ok too. We are thanking God again for the privilege of being available for the homeless and cast aways. God is so Good.

Family Day was a Little WILD!

Cameroonian Pizza and Fruit Slushies

A mother and her baby Gorilla

A Suni, a small African Antelope

An African Antelope

The most colorful African Baboon

With Drew preparing to head off on a 4 day ministry trip to our sister church located about 6 hours away, we decided to do a family day with the kids. There is a Wildlife Center located right here in Limbe that is a refuge for monkeys and other animals that have fallen prey to "bush meat" hunters or illegal owners. It isn't a huge zoo or anything but it was nice. It held all the different types of monkeys one could find in Cameroon, which are a lot. It also held 2 types of African crocodiles, a python, a 116 year old tortoise, and two kinds of African antelope including one that was the size of a large cat. It was full grown but so small. The guide was very informative and interesting. They used to have low fences but the chimps would throw big rocks at peoples heads with great accuracy for their entertainment so the zoo doubled the fence height. After touring the zoo we treated ourselves to lunch at the zoo cafe which served pizza and fruit smoothies, um um. They were so yummy! The pizza was not quite like home but it was still good. we have learned that everything is at least a little different here so you go with the flow and enjoy. The smoothies were a real treat. Drew had strawberry and banana, Kent and I had strawberry, and Katie had chocolate. Once we all shared sips, Katie was lucky to keep hers, chocolate won the prize. It was a very nice day to enjoy each other and some new things. The cafe was right beside a Gorilla playground so we had entertainment along with dinner. The final surprise of the day was meeting a young man in the Peace Corp from Grand Rapids, MI. We enjoyed talking with him for awhile. What a small world and what a great day!