Minotel Vallee des Princes Douala

... and pieces were falling into place. It was obvious they were very enthused. We took a short break and then covered more fundamental beliefs. There were many questions on each item, some theoretical some practical: not only the "what" and the "why" but also the "how." At noon we broke for lunch: fish, rice, plantain and sauce. I skipped lunch today. Neither the night nor the morning had been very kind to ...

... Mabout and Mrs. Bikoé were also a little late; they were already cooking lunch for us. The morning was spent continuing to go through our fundamental beliefs. This is different from Togo. Some points we go through much more quickly than there, and others we take much longer to cover, depending on local situations and experiences. We stopped for a lunch break and ate in the main meeting room: chicken, fried plantain, French-fried potatoes ...

... markets and hawkers and taxis and motorcycles and transport-trucks and policemen and children-carrying-water and all the other things one sees here went by in a slow blur. The taxi driver was a little older than usual and drove well: cautiously, wisely, but not fearfully. The car itself wasn't great, but I hope we use his services more. We arrived at our church hall about 9:30, half an hour before services ...

... had reconfirmed at their office a few days earlier, I wasn't on the printed passenger list. They finally found me on the computer somewhere so I could check in. At the security checkpoint, the metal detector beeped as I went through, but rather than wand me or ask me to check my pockets or other similar actions, one of the two policemen at the security checkpoint hit me up for a "gift." -You know it's the holidays" he began "Good Friday, Easter ...

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 ...