White Christmas

A glimpse of what these last days have left behind.
We're happy to be safe and warm!

Lookin' like Christmas!

We're a little slow but are getting things decorated and ready for Christmas. We splurged and got a fatter (fake) Christmas tree. Got some new ornaments and some ribbon instead of garland. It looks fun and colorful. If you want to come and see, I'll make you hot cider or hot chocolate!

Serious about decorating!

The new look.
Sledding on top of the kitchen cabinets!

He's Home!

Wayne arrived back in SD on Sunday about noon. Flights were all on schedule, his luggage arrived (although damaged), and he is pretty happy to have slept in his own bed last night. He has over 1500 pictures, several short movies, and lots to tell. So I hope you'll have a chance to share some of those things with him.

For now, we're so happy to have him home and hope he adjusts to jet lag soon!

Please keep Lisa, Travis and Aubrey in your prayers. They drive to Rochester today for Lisa's appointments at the Mayo clinic on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Coming Home!

Its early Friday morning here in Watertown, but early afternoon (about 1:30 pm) in Cameroon. As I write this, Wayne is most likely in the air flying in a small plane from Ngaoundere to Yaounde.

At Yaounde the traveling group will gather again at the airport and fly Swiss Air to Zurich-- departing at almost 10:00 pm Cameroon time. The flight is 8 hours to Zurich.

They'll have just a few hours to wait and then will depart at 1:00 pm Saturday Zurich time for the flight to Chicago. They are schedule to arrive at about 4:00 pm Saturday afternoon in Chicago and will spend the night there. Hopefully that will help with the time adjustment!

If all connections go well, on Sunday morning they will arrive in Sioux Falls at about 11:40 am. yeah! I'm headed to Sioux Falls later today (Friday) to make sure I'm at the airport on time! :) And maybe pass some time waiting with Aubrey!

Wednesday in Africa

Internet was restored at the missionary compound, so I got a longer message today.

"We do wake up each morning at 4:30AM by the guy calling people to prayer over the loudspeaker at the mosque right outside the wall near the house. Other than supper at Bishop Nyiwe's home I'm not sure much is planned for the day. The train group will leave for the train station around 5PM. I may walk around near the compound and see what I can see. I would like to walk by the hospital to see it in operation on a regular business day. The day we toured was a holiday.

As I toured churches with Bishop Nyiwe and his assistant bishop I could see the pride in their faces for their churches. They were not proud so much for the building as they were for the people and leaders in their churches. We were standing in structures that ranged from mud brick walls with thatch roofs to pretty nice and large modern buildings. They are proud of the catechists, evangelists and pastors who are working hard to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people in the villages. Many of these people are Muslim.

Well, I'm looking forward to traveling back to you. See you soon!"

Tuesday news

I only got a brief message from Wayne today. He is doing well....says he has recovered from the "intestinal difficulties" he had. Bishop Nyiwe took Bishop Zellmer and Wayne on a tour of some churches in the area. They ranged from mud and thatch huts to a very large fairly new church at the university. I'm sure looking forward to seeing all of his pictures!!

Uh oh.... a little set back in Africa

From Wayne:

"Well I have developed intestinal difficulties so I stayed back from the trip today. I was really looking forward to seeing the sights up there but I know I need to take care of myself. I talked to Dr. Brown who lives just two doors down from the house we are staying in and he said I should start taking the Cipril I have right away and that should take care of things. So I'll just take it easy for the next few days and make sure I am ready to travel on Friday.

Today is another beautiful day. The weather here has been just wonderful. It gets into the 80's during the day and cool at night.

I asked people how many folks were in the church yesterday for the celebration and I heard estimates anywhere from 3,500 to 6,000 with an equal number of people outside. It is a huge church and the architecture is marvelous. The roof is low in the middle and rises in an arc on each side of center. The walls are made from individually carved stones representing the individual and unique people of God that make up the church. The pews are arranged in a half circle in front and around the chancel and there is a huge balcony as well. It really is a beautiful church. Of course it is in Cameroon so there is red dust coating everything!

Despite the setback with my stomach I am having a great time. I really wanted to see the school they have for the blind today and see what I could work on as far as assistive technology to help them out. I would like to bring them a laptop computer with JAWS screen reading software on it. Maybe that will be another trip. Well that is it for now. "

From Debbie: I had a follow up email that said the medication was helping and he was resting and reading. Unfortunately this is a common experience for visitors but I'm so sorry he had to get it. I'm not worried...thankful he has a good place to stay and is near the doctor!!