Jesus Is My Superhero...

Being a Godly Superhero was the theme of what we tried to teach the children in Cameroon. After spending maybe 36 hours in Paris after Hungary, the 16 of us on the Cameroon team headed to the Paris airport. We wondered the airport for a while trying to meet up with our luggage...after a little confusion we finally got it!


We saw God working from the very beginning! Once we got to the ticket counter we were told that "The Quad" (the four of us who went to both Hungary and Cameroon) were flying standby and it didn't look like we would make the flight. Immediately the kids started praying, and by the time we got to the gate "The Quad" was welcomed aboard. Every flight I was lucky enough to sit with Trevin, Caroline, and Taylor. God knew that we really needed each other to survive the month away. Here we are on that flight...our 4th flight together on this trip...obviously we had trouble fitting in the picture! :)

We were very tired, but so excited once we landed in Yaounde. We were greeted by Wendy, Gilles, Peters, and some other new friends. I had been emailing and "g-chatting" with Wendy for so long it was so great to finally meet her in person! We spent the first three nights with host families, Jessica, Erin, Emma, and I were with Wendy, Gilles and their kids. The first day was an orientation day where Gilles shared with us some cultural things we needed to learn, and discussed what we might expect during out time there. We had the rest of the day to sort through our belongings and get ready for the conference. The second day was more orientation time...and then the zoo!! It was a random but very fun excursion! We saw lions, a Hyena, tons of monkeys and more!

On Thursday we headed to the conference which was being held at a boarding school. We were the first to arrive, so we had time to get settled into our "home" for the week. Here is a video of where the girls stayed...



Teaching the kids taught us a lot too. We split the kids into 3 groups by age, and had a somewhat structured plan for the groups. We started all together singing songs, sharing the skit, and the Bible story for the day. We would split the kids into their age groups to discuss the Bible story some more, teach memory verses, do crafts, and play games. These kids were not used to the structure, so
we had to learn to let go and adapt to the culture. The first few days were difficult, but we were starting to know the kids better and having fun with them.
Robyn wrote an amazing skit for the kids based on being Godly superheros. Super E is teaching T Boy Boy how to be a superhero, teaching all the different things a superhero needs, and that each thing has to be activated with prayer. The kids really loved the characters and the learned the lessons!


Soccer...or futeball...was the favorite game, especially by the older children. We observed that basically any open area would quickly become a soccer field. These kids were very grateful towards anything that they were given. We brought out blocks and a few other toys and the kids of all ages were so excited to play with them. They had never experienced making crafts as we do here in the states. We made kazoos, foam flowers (which they gave to their parents and their parents were thankful) superhero masks, and superhero capes!


The third day into the conference Peters, the National Director of Navigators for Cameroon, invited us to come and worship with the adults. Their worship is so raw and real, just their voices, clapping and maybe a drum. After the singing Peters got up and asked for people to share what it meant for us to be there. Parents were standing up thanking us for coming, telling us that we were laying down a foundation for the next generation of Navigators for Cameroon. Parents also shared how their kids were learning and becoming more excited about reading God's Word, and memorizing scripture. Husbands shared what it meant to have their wives there instead of leaving them at home to take care of the children. Wives shared that being there they were able to have their questions answered, they could understand more about the ministry that their husbands were so excited about, and they can do ministry as a couple together. One man stood up and shared how he didn't have any children but the thought that 16 Americans would give up 2 weeks of their summer to serve them was hard to understand. Once the sharing was over Peters said they had a song for us. The started singing Thank you for what you've done, Thank you for serving us, My God bless you my brother, my sister. All the Cameroonians got up and walked around the room to look in our eyes and shake our hands while singing this song to us. It was the most genuine, heartfelt thank you I think I have ever had...I was in tears...as were many of my teammates. An extremely humbling and encouraging time for us.



We fell in love with the kids! They were so fun to play with, and always so excited to play with us. How neat that love is a universal language that everyone can understand. Two kids that I wanted to take home with me were Marvelous Peace and Kurtis. Peace is Peters' youngest daughter and she and I had a blast playing peek-a-boo together. It was a new game to her, but she absolutely loved it! I told Peters that he had to keep it up with her once I left. Kurtis was a handful, especially in the beginning. He didn't want to listen to anyone, but by the end of the week he had stolen my heart! Just before this picture of Kurtis and I was taken he came running up to me with tears streaming down my face saying "Auntie, Auntie, My mother says that its time for me to travel, but I don't want to go!" That made me teary eyed as well!

God knew that I needed some time to process everything that I learned in Hungary before I came back to the states and the daily distractions here. Each morning I had some intense times with God, sitting on the rooftop of where the girls stayed. We also had our team meetings on that rooftop. My favorite time was when we had the students be in charge of the meeting. They shared scripture that meant a lot to them, we sang worship songs together, and had a lot of time of intercessory prayer. It was amazing to sit on the rooftop worshiping God with this amazing team and look up at the African Night sky.


Being so far away from our comfort zone we really learned to rely on God completely. Jessica was constantly reminding us to pray continually, and give everything up to God. We also were given a huge lesson in humility, from the school grounds we were staying, and watching the sacrifices the Cameroonians made for us. The women in the kitchen bent over backwards making separate meals for us, among other things. Gilles lived out what being a servant meant and was a huge example to us. The entire week he was away from his family making sure that we were ok. He would bring us anything we needed, check up on us, get a doctor when we needed one. He even brought us peanut butter and jelly so our bodies could take a break from the food! What an amazing family! I had so many great conversations with Wendy and Gilles. I am so thankful for everything that they did for us while we were there, and for the friendship that is carried onto today.