Minotel Vallee des Princes Douala

... once again, and I was sure it was lunches that were causing the problems. The ladies do their best, I don't fault them at all, but there seems to be something around here that is causing internal discomfort more frequently than it used to. It happens to the local people too; they just have to live with it. It's not often that we would pray for someone with Typhoid Fever in the West, but I've had to do it here ...

... s in my honor), greens sauce and hot sauce, and a glass of wine. Alcohol of any kind is a luxury most people can't afford here. So where there is a chance, which is rare, many people love to have a glass of beer or wine with a meal. (In fact, folks who don't share our beliefs love to have many glasses of wine or beer...) I told Mr. Mabout to only serve one glass of wine per person, so people wouldn't get any more sleepy than usual in the ...

... scheduled to begin. I chatted with several members and got my laptop and projector set up and ready. Moïse gave a sermonette and trusting God: "Seek the Lord While He May be Found", and then I gave some announcements. There was to have been special music but the singer had fallen ill. We moved right into the sermon. I again spoke on the chronology of the crucifixion week and used the PowerPoint presentation ...

... know how one celebrates those occasions, right?" he hinted. I knew where he was heading, but I didn't want to go there. -The right way to celebrate religious holidays is with prayer" I told him with a straight face. -Yes, yes, of course, but after you pray... He made the motion of tipping a bottle up straight. -I'm convinced God doesn't want us to celebrate religious holidays by drinking a lot... He didn't like this line of conversation and got ...

This morning Moïse came back to the hotel to take the Harpers around to see some of the church members in their homes. Most of them live in ramshackle houses of concrete, though some are of wooden boards. Two or three own their own home, most rent for 15 or 20 dollars a month. Most families live in a two room apartment: one living area and one bedroom, no matter how many are in the family. The cooking is always done outside over charcoal. It was good for ...

Today was the last day of the camp. Everyone felt pretty good in the morning as we met in the hotel Lobby. Cindy was feeling much better. She had not eaten at the camp on Sunday, and only ate a little salad at the hotel for dinner. The strategy seemed to be working. We drove out to the hall, leaving the hotel at 7:00 to avoid at least some of the morning traffic. We started promptly at 8:00. I gave the PowerPoint presentation on the ...

Today was another full day of activities. Cindy wasn't feeling very well in the morning. Even under the best conditions in sub-Saharan Africa one has to expect the possibility of some intestinal distress. It's a generally dirty, unhygienic place. The ladies in the kitchen at the hall do their best to maintain good hygiene with the meals, but they don't have a great deal with which to work to start with. All four of us have dealt with this issue to one extent of another ...

Today was a full and useful day. We started a little later than usual in part because we wanted everyone to be able to rest. At 11:00 Mr. Hongerloot gave a seminar on Proverbs. After a break for lunch, we had our Sabbath service. Daniel again gave a sermonette and I the sermon. In between, the Douala chorale sang a beautiful piece of special music. Following services, I asked Mr. Hongerloot to take a baptismal counseling ...

Today was like Dickens' description of the French Revolution in A Tale of Two Cities: "It was the best of times it was the worst of times." The worst of times came first. The Commissaire Premier Adjoint had told us to come back to the airport before 8:00, and that the Commissaire, the decision maker, would be at the airport during the night, but would be leaving at 8:00. It was all false, but we didn't know that at the time. So we left the hotel at 7:00 and ...

Today was not the pleasant kind of African adventure. We were up at around 4:30 and checked out and ready to go at 5:30. It was still the African night as we left, cool, humid and full of mystery. We drove through the thin traffic of outer Abidjan to the airport where we arrived as dawn was barely beginning to color the sky. We checked in quickly with Kenya Airways. I have a frequent flyer card with their group: Flying Blue (which can be construed several ways), so after check ...