It is 5:30am. We are still having trouble with jet lag.
Yes the gospel is growing here. We hear that the branch in Youande is about to be split, and that will make 3 branches there. There are two groups here in Douala but they operate under the same Branch Presidency. One group (called the branch) is here in Bonapreiso. The other (called the group) is out in Boniberi. They are too far away to afford taxi fare. It is about 45 min away.
The branch Presidency takes turns going to Boniberi for church. Four Elders are in Boniberi and four here in Bonapreiso. They are very close to us, about 10 minutes or less. For certain occasions the Boniberi Elders take a taxi in.
District meetings (in our apt) and zone conference (our apt) and yesterday they all came in to bring the Elder that is going home today. We went to the bus depot, which is very close, to pick up the two who are going home from Youande. It was fun to see the excitement! Talk about great missionaries. They can teach all day so many want to hear about the gospel, however commitment is another story. Now the Boniberi Elders are a threesome until we get new ones in Feb.
We will be doing splits with them so they can keep up with all the appointments. Although you see a lot of poverty, shacks, and beggers, the people are at least fed. They eat a type of tapioca (a grain I think) and a cooked ground root. This is nothing like the "Haves" eat. 1000 FCFA is 2 American dollars. The guards for our complex are paid 1300 FCFA a day, about $2.50 for housing and food for a family. It makes you sad and grateful. Two of our toilet seats were broken, and it cost 15000 FCFA each to replace them. We had to get a new ink cartridge for the printer at 25000 FCFA or $50 American dollars.
There is a big difference between the Haves and the Have Nots. There is an American lady who was a friend of Sis. Coles, and she is taking me shopping today. She will be showing me the best places to get American type foods, and we will try to find a rubber bathmat for inside the tub. It is so slick with the rounded bottom. We would like someone to please save a copy of all our e-mails for a good record of events. We were going to do that ourselves but it is too expensive for ink.
Our project for now is to set up a contract to have the wheelchairs manufactured. We are working with church legal in South Africa. Money has been put in our account for 50 chairs but we can't start without a contract. We were told to come up with one so we are waiting for advice. The wheels turn slow here. The day after our arrival we went to the bank to sign for signature change on the account. One week latter still not done.
The heat is not as bad as we expected. In the 80's but very muggy. One does not buy a lot of food because it molds too fast. We refrigerate most everything. We bought what we thought was chicken breast. We didn't like it at all and wonder if that’s what it really was. Hamburger is good here, but it is very expensive at $8 a pound. A can of green beans is $3. However, the fruits and veggies on the street are very cheap. They also have wonderful pineapples and mango.
We miss all of you. Right now 18 mo. seem like a long time. Love to all of you. Sorry that the skype phone is such a bummer to work. We hope to work it out. E-mail all the family doings. Also any good national news and the Griz game.
Love
Dad and Mom
No comments:
Post a Comment