Hello again! Sorry I have not posted for the last 2 Fridays. I was off traveling with my family. We had such a great time together. They arrived 2 days after Christmas safely and with all their luggage. We stayed the first 2 nights at an apartment on a missions training center by my school. Then we flew north and traveled around there with a van and guides and stayed in 4 different places and saw many beautiful parts of this country. The landscape and way of life up in the far north is very different than here in the south and city. Here it is rainforest and there it is dry and hot and brown, but it still carries it’s own beauty. We went on a safari and saw African animals in their real habitat. It was lots of fun. Then after a brief stop back in Yaoundé, we headed west to the beach. There we stayed in a nice hotel and spent our days swimming, reading and relaxing. We also had a very interesting bush taxi experience on the way back. A bush taxi is a big bus or van that you buy a ticket for, but they sell way more tickets than actual seats, and every ticket owned gets on. On our 30 person small bus we counted about 40 people plus the back row full of luggage! This is the Cameroonian way of doing things. It was crazy, but we made it. Praise God that he kept us safe the whole time with no major illnesses or injuries. A few colds and stomach problems, but we all pushed through. It was a short time with a lot of traveling, but it was such a blessing. I am so glad they could come and see where I work and live and meet some of my friends, both missionaries and Cameroonians. I will send out my next newsletter with more stories and pictures at the end of January.
Now it is back to school. This semester seems so much less intimidating to me! I now know people, the culture, some of the language, my students, how to teach, what to teach and other things that I didn’t know starting off last semester. I need to remember to still seek God’s strength in all I do and not my own. It is a lot easier to depend on him when I can’t depend on myself. But when I gain self confidence it is easier to try to do things in my own strength. I do still feel stretched and challenged in what I am doing. I am not a pro at living here or teaching yet. You can still pray for wisdom and discipline to learn and be organized as I teach.
Today I have a big challenge in front of me. I wrote a while back about the running club I am in. We run together twice a week to train for climbing the tallest mountain in western Africa, Mt. Cameroon. While the climb is on the 25th and 26th of January, so it is coming up. As a test of endurance we are supposed to successfully complete at 10k run round our dirt driveway/circle/track here on campus. They have a whole event to cheer us (10 students, 4 adults) on. They play music, make a slip-n-slide and provide food for those who come to watch and cheer us on. This event is tonight at 5:30, which is 11:30 east coast time. I have to run 23 laps around, which makes 10k. I am a little nervous and anxious. So if you read this in time you can pray for safety and endurance for me and the other runners. With God I can do all things! Right?

Well, I hope this finds you all well and refreshed and blessed after your Christmas and New Years. Seek God and be blessed!
Peace,
AMY