January 9, 2008

Dear Friends,

Girls selling goods beside the road in Kumba.

New Year greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! I hope your holiday season was filled with meaningful encounters with God, the people you love, and the “stranger” in your midst.

Christmas 2006 was the first Christmas I spent alone without any family, and it was difficult. As Christmas 2007 and New Year drew closer, feelings of dread washed over me from time to time, like little waves lapping the shore. I wondered how I would spend the time. God heard the secret concern of my heart and gave me the most wonderful Christmas gift.

I had the privilege of spending Christmas Day and New Year’s Day with two different congregations here in Buea: Small Soppo and Bokwaongo. The two congregations are served by one pastor, the Rev. Mrs. Tebi Ngum Alice. She wanted both congregations to have a pastoral presence for such important days as Christmas and New Year, so she asked me to preach on Christmas Day in Small Soppo while she was in Bonkwaongo. We then traded for New Year’s Day, and I went to Bonkwaongo while she went to Small Soppo. It was a fun and interesting experience for me since I am here as a health consultant for the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC) and not as a local parish pastor.

Cameroon is a linguistically and tribally diverse country. There are over 240 languages and tribes represented in a space a little larger than California. With so many different languages, tribes, and cultures, one wonders how people communicate. The two official languages are French and English (8 of the 10 provinces are Francophone. The remaining two are Anglophone). Although English is the official language where I live, many people do not speak or understand it very well. The most common language of communication is Pidgin, which is a combination of un-conjugated English with some local phrases and a dash of French.

I don’t speak Pidgin, so I am always a little concerned that I will be understood when I preach. Fortunately, my Midwestern upbringing has gifted me with speech that is easily understood by most people. As long as I don’t get too excited, which causes me to speed up, people “get me,” as they say. The Christians in Small Soppo told me I was the first “white man” to preach in their congregation, and they were skeptical of my ability to connect and communicate with them. I felt much relieved when members of both congregations told me they would have me back again to preach. After each service, I was invited to share a meal in someone’s home. Holiday dread turned to holiday delight as I ate and laughed with sisters and brothers in Christ. I left both churches with a sense of deep joy in my heart for the time we spent together.

I’ve been reading a great little book (for the second time) entitled, The Twenty-Two Non-Negotiable Laws of Wellness by Greg Anderson. The first law is the “Law of Esprit,” living life with joy. “Esprit is shifting our awareness to look for the joys that come in small, precious packages. Once we discover those joys, it is then our privilege to make the most of them. Our focus moves away from looking for the big packages of joy, which are few and far between. Instead, we become aware of life as it is, here and now, and we celebrate” (p.11).

I want to adopt the Law of Esprit in 2008. It’s time to celebrate the great gift God has given me in life. The fact that I opened my eyes this morning is cause to celebrate. The fact that I can hear the birds singing is cause to celebrate. Reasons to celebrate life are all around us if we just open our eyes and ears to them.

Fishermen in Kribi.

These are turbulent times in history, as we read and listen to reports of death, violence, sickness, disease, and poverty all around us. May we all adopt the Law of Esprit in 2008 and celebrate the little things in life. To help us get started, I would like to share with you a couple of photos taken this last year. It’s a glimpse of what I experience in my little part of the world and what causes me to sing “How Great Thou Art.”

Enjoy!

Shirley

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 9