This is an attempt to chronicle the last 4 days of the Cameroon Sonlife GT looking back so you can have the full journal/blog experience!
Monday was a very early morning and an even longer trip as it took 9 hot, sweaty, dusty long hours to retrace our steps all the way back to Bamenda from Allat. Allat really was an awesome experience and we were sad to see it all come to a close, but we also knew that we were beginning to make our way home as well. We did have 3 mishaps on the way back to Bamenda as well….1) one of the rear brakes gave out on the car and we watched (and were watched by many in ‘Songkolong’) as a 14 year old fixed it! 2) we got another flat (very rough roads) just as we came back into the Ndu tea fields region and 3) we were held up by the Gendarm in the exact same spot where the customs guy held us up on account of my guitar 5 days earlier. The Gendarm guy made issue of Victor’s (our driver) expired insurance the day before, so we “bought enough insurance for the day” from the guy (yeah, right J, paid him off is more like it!).
It was nice to get back with the rest of the team and exchange stories of our experiences. They had the chance to speak in the schools among other things.
Tuesday meant a number of things because it was our last full day in Bamenda (and the country) before heading to the airport. We had a great dinner at the International Hotel (shrimp!), said our good-byes to Godwill and Richard, shopped for souvenirs, had a very important meeting with Godwill’s supervisor and the rest of us regarding the future of our partnership between CBC and NAB youth, said our good-byes and got coffee (!) from the Palmers (the Field Directors), had a great, final Cameroonian dinner with the Grobs, and did our major debrief of the entire mission as a team. This day was packed! And………. we had to pack J for our trip the next morning to the Douala airport.
Our 2 day trip from Bamenda to Chicago began early as we were given the ok to make a stop at the beach (black volcanic sand) in Limbe before getting cleaned up at the rest house, going out for dinner (pizza!) and getting to the airport. By the time our flight finally left at 11:45pm for Paris, we were all exhausted and slept the entire way. Because we had almost a 7 hour lay-over in Paris, we took the opportunity to take a train into the city. In 2 ½ hours there, we froze (man, the wind was cold!), saw the Eiffel Tower, froze, saw the Seine river, froze, saw the Arc de Triomphe and Champ Elysse drive (Paris’ main drag) and froze some more J. We had time for a ‘petit dejeuner’ (breakfast) and to buy a couple of souvenirs before needing to get back to the airport on the train. Our itinerary then took us to Frankfurt, Germany before the trans-atlantic flight to Chicago.
Unlike our arrival in Cameroon, all of our bags made it to Chicago. I was particularly excited to see my family who were waiting there; the other guys would have to wait until they arrived at their various homes later that evening or the next day (or in team member Mark Jaspers’ case February 3 – he went to Uganda from Cameroon).
THANKS! For following the blog of this mission in particular and Gateway Teams in general! So much prayer and planning had gone into this experience for 4 years and to see God’s hand bring it all together was, well just awesome to watch.
Here are the highlights from my perspective that we’re thanking God for –
- great turnouts and response to all 4 Sonlife Strategy Seminars (Yaounde, Kumba, Bamenda and Allat)
- the meeting at the Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary to discuss formal youth training for pastors and future modular classes taught by NAB youth pastors and others
- the meeting with Dr. Felix, Godwill Ncham, Richard Aponge, the Palmers and our team to discuss the future of youth ministry in CBC churches – (these 2 meetings were not planned but signified how our team’s presence was used to raise the profile of youth ministry in Cameroon)
- future partnership for NAB youth and CBC youth facilitated by Gateway Teams discussed:
o Follow-up Youth Worker Training - Sonlife Strategy/Foundations follow-up Gateway Team in July 2008
o Youth emphasis Gateway Teams - demonstrating the importance of youth ministry and discipleship by presence and example
o North American/Cameroon Youth Serving Together - Gateway Teams that will serve together with CBC youth on projects within Cameroon
- Validation and encouragement for Cameroonian youth leaders, but especially for Godwill Ncham (the CBC youth dept. president), Richard Aponge (Bamenda area youth president) and Daniel Wango (Yaounde area youth president)
- Health and safety for us the entire way!
- Lastly, a great team of youth pastors that I had the privilege of leading; their servant hearts and selfless giving of themselves made this experience a blessing that will have eternal significance to say the least –
o John Marshall – Bethlehem, PA
o Jud Stade – Edmonton, AB
o Paul Nather – Bismarck, ND
o Mark Jaspers – Beulah, ND
o Chris Borkert – Kansas City, MO
- And…I thank you for your interest, prayers and in many cases financial support of this Cameroon Gateway Team – please continue to pray for wisdom as we navigate the future of this partnership – also, thank you for your prayers for my family (Shelly and Kameron) as this was a tough month saying good-bye to our 11-year old dog Kodi – and please, continue to pray for John Marshall as he comforts grieving families of 2 girls that were in a car accident from his youth ministry; one girl was killed and the other is still in critical condition
Thank you again and please continue to check this blog as we update monthly on the ministry of Gateway Teams and us, the Schmor family! Blessings!
PS – a few pictures from Cameroon below!.....
