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Devotion |
Steff's News 5 - October 2001
Hi everyone!
It has been so long since I have written a news-email that I can't even remember what number I am on!
I can't believe it is already October. Since the sun rises and sets at the same time every day here, I really don't notice the changes in the seasons so much. Since I can't remember when I last sent an update, I will take you right back to July...
A VISITOR, TYPHOID, AND LOTS OF TRAVELLING
The highlight of July was a visit from my friend Leanne. She came and
spent 3 weeks with me - 2 weeks in Mamfe where she helped teach the Jackson's
two girls, and then we left Mamfe and travelled to Bamenda for a few days,
and then to Yaounde. It was wonderful to see someone from home and I was
really blessed by her visit. It was interesting too to see how much of
Cameroonian (and American!) culture I have adopted. Leanne was quick to
notice changes in me. Unfortunately she arrived just as Mamfe was in the
throws of a typhoid epidemic and almost all of us (including Leanne) tested
positive, although not all of us were sick. I felt pretty ill for a day
or two, but thankfully I didn't get the real typhoid. After she got home,
Leanne had to stay in the house for several days until she tested negative
again. I guess Northern Ireland wasn't too keen on the thought of an outbreak
of typhoid! After I left Leanne back to the airport I spent a long weekend
in Yaounde which gave me a much needed break and an opportunity to catch
up with my friends there and eat ice-cream (mmmmm...) :) I figured out
that my little Suzuki and I did over 2000 km and travelled through 5 provinces
of Cameroon in July and early August. God really looked after me on all
my trips, and I praise him for his love and protection. Almost everywhere
I went I had to have some work done on the car, but God always provided
the necessary parts and someone to do the work, often at a lower price
than I expected.
THREE GIRLS ALONE IN MAMFE
The Jackson and Beyer families spent August in Yaounde. SIL runs an education
programme for all the children and twice a year they have a 3-week school
session in Yaounde so that all the children can get together and go to
'normal' school. So Rita and Kelly and I were out in Mamfe on our own
for most of August. It was a daunting prospect, just being here without
the support and security of having our colleagues nearby, but God really
looked after us and we had no problems.
MUD!!
August and September see the height of the rainy season, and this year
the rains caused real chaos on the roads. All the roads in about a 100-mile
radius of Mamfe are dirt, and so large sections of the roads turned into
pure MUD! The worst parts are actually in Mamfe itself. I continued to
use my car up until the end of August, but after getting spectacularly
stuck several times I gave up and started wading through the mud in a
pair of green wellies (a real fashion statement!). The car is still in
the garage even now. It has become almost impossible to reach Mamfe by
road. People are walking for about 2 hours before they can catch a bush
taxi from the next village.
OUT OF CONTACT
The rains also caused problems with the telephone lines. For some reason
when it rains, the phone doesn't work, so sending and receiving email
has been difficult. E-mail is like my umbilical cord to home and all of
you, so I felt a bit cut-off at times.
SO, HAVE I BEEN DOING ANY REAL WORK?
Work was also slow during August and September. My Ejagham translators,
Michael and Charles, have been staying in their villages and with the
roads being so bad I have not been able to meet with them as much as I
would have liked. My Western mind-set tells me I have to be always working
in order to be really fulfilled, and at times over the last couple of
months there has not been a whole lot to do. I saw the translation of
the first Maths book in Ejagham through to the final consultant checking,
and did a stock-take of all the literature in our office and set up a
basic system for keeping inventory. I also completed two little Ejagham
reading booklets for children which will soon be ready for sale. I guess
I did achieve something in those two months after all!
LOOKING AHEAD...
It's looking like the pendulum might swing the other way this month as
far as work is concerned! I am currently working on getting the Kenyang
Maths book ready for consultant checking, then I will soon begin work
with Michael on the second Maths book in Ejagham. Charles has been working
on adapting the Ejagham transition primer (to help people who can already
read English to learn to read Ejagham) so that it can be better understood
by speakers of another dialect of Ejagham (Ejagham has three dialects,
kind of like the differences between Cockney, the North of Scotland, and
inner city Belfast!!). I'm also going to start tutoring a friend, Asem,
who is taking her GCSEs this year. My church is starting a small choir
and they have asked me to join. We had our first rather tentative practice
yesterday and it looks like it will be a lot of fun.
MORE VISITORS!
I am really looking forward to my parents' visit in November. They will
be in Cameroon for 3 weeks, and I am hoping to spend some time in Yaounde
with them, then take them to stay in a house up in the mountains near
Bamenda (where the climate is as close to that of Northern Ireland as
you can find in Cameroon!) for a few days, and then come to Mamfe to celebrate
Thanksgiving with my colleagues. One of my concerns about their visit
is the condition of the roads here in Mamfe. It would be ideal if I could
travel to Yaounde by car to collect them, but that will require the roads
to be in much better condition than they are right now. Please pray that
the rains would only fall at night so that the roads will have a chance
to dry out during the day, and that somehow I will be able to get the
car out of Mamfe at the start of November!
KELLY AND RITA
Kelly left at the beginning of September to teach a course in Bamenda
and then move on to Yaounde to carry out some work there and also get
us restocked with all the goodies you find in Yaounde but not in Mamfe,
cheese for example! I am expecting her back in Mamfe on the 6th or 7th
of this month. Rita left Mamfe on the 29th for Yaounde. She had been in
Mamfe since May and so she was due a break. She will spend a week and
a half in Yaounde and then travel to Kribi (beautiful white sandy beaches)
with some of the younger single branch members for a few days of sun and
relaxation. In my last prayer letter I told you about Cecilia and Rita's
efforts to start literacy and Bible study groups for women in several
Ejagham villages. Rita held a week-long training seminar in August for
women (and a couple of men who didn't want to be left out!) from 4 villages,
and now each of those villages has a group of about 10 women meeting each
week to study the Gospel of Luke in Ejagham. Please pray that these groups
will continue to meet and grow and that their eyes will be opened to God's
amazing gift of salvation as they read His Word in their own language.
FINALLY...
Thank you all for your contined support, both in prayer and financially.
My prayer for you is that God would richly bless you in all you do.
Love, Stephanie
PS. If you would like to receive my future circulars by e-mail or you know someone else who would, or if you would rather not have your inbox filled once a month with details of my life if you already get them by e-mail (!), please feel free to contact me at stephanie_angus@sil.org - see note below first!!
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VERY IMPORTANT!! Please could I ask that you
do not send me any attachments, photographs, html enriched
email, or forwards. I mentioned that we have been having problems
with our email, and receiving large emails only adds to the difficulties.
Only send personal emails or prayer letters and please keep them text
only. 10k is a good size - that's a lot of typing! Thanks! :)
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