Hello Everyone We have returned from our trip to Misaje. We were able to complete our work on the Translation Center in Misaje: wiring the building with electric, running network cable, and setting up a solar panel system. Below are a few videos and hope to post more pictures soon.
View from the Banso Air Strip (Where we flew in from Yaounde)
Hope You Get a Sense of the Roads We Drove On
A View of the Translation Center
Joy and Peace in Christ
Mark and Leah Janowiak
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
The Good Shepherd
I wrote this before we left for Misaje, but was unable to post this until after we came back. My skills are mostly centered around Technology and one of the major projects will be to run and terminate network cables inside a new training center for translators and literacy workers both western and Cameroonian. Lately as I was reading in my Bible, I read the story that Jesus tells his disciples that he is the Great Shepherd.
John 10:1-21
1 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
19 The Jews who heard these words were again divided. 20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”
21 But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
As I read John 10:1-21 I enjoy the language Jesus uses to explain this parable to his disciples. First, the way Jesus shares the parable that sheep will only follow the voice of their shepherd and no one else. I hope that I can more clearly hear and follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Next Jesus says that the shepherd is willing to lay down his life for his sheep, but the hired hand will run. This is where I felt I needed to think about in my own life: Are we invested in those around us as Christ is fully invested in us? It is easy for me to say that I want to be, since Leah and I are here living in Cameroon and live in a neighborhood with many Cameroonians struggling to live day by day. I realize it doesn't take traveling to a village in Cameroon to feel like you are serving Cameroonians. My goal is to find tangible ways to help lift up certain Cameroonians that are willing to build and grow on ways Leah and I feel blessed to use to support them. Also, Leah and I have started to serve with three Cameroonians with their non-profit, helping those that are at a severe disadvantage in Cameroonian society, such as: orphans, elderly, and widows. We seek to serve them specifically because they are typically cast to the fringes of the culture here. We hope that, as we serve and help them, they will see that we serve them as Christ did 2,000 years ago. We serve them so that they will not be bitter about their circumstances in life, but they will learn that hope in Christ is more joyful and rewarding than having every material need met in life. Also, just as important is that I treat every Cameroonian I meet with the same level of respect as I would want. Many times as westerners come to serve in the developing world, we often give food or money but still may treat them as somehow below ourselves. But, no, Christ gave us the example that every person is worth the world to him and so I treat every Cameroonian the same as I treat anyone else. So, this is how I hope to grow and continue to invest in Cameroonians. I seek to give charity, hospitality, and most important is through that to share my story on what God has blessed me with a life that is full of joy, hope, and purpose.
Joy and Peace in Christ
Mark and Leah Janowiak
John 10:1-21
1 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
19 The Jews who heard these words were again divided. 20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”
21 But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
As I read John 10:1-21 I enjoy the language Jesus uses to explain this parable to his disciples. First, the way Jesus shares the parable that sheep will only follow the voice of their shepherd and no one else. I hope that I can more clearly hear and follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Next Jesus says that the shepherd is willing to lay down his life for his sheep, but the hired hand will run. This is where I felt I needed to think about in my own life: Are we invested in those around us as Christ is fully invested in us? It is easy for me to say that I want to be, since Leah and I are here living in Cameroon and live in a neighborhood with many Cameroonians struggling to live day by day. I realize it doesn't take traveling to a village in Cameroon to feel like you are serving Cameroonians. My goal is to find tangible ways to help lift up certain Cameroonians that are willing to build and grow on ways Leah and I feel blessed to use to support them. Also, Leah and I have started to serve with three Cameroonians with their non-profit, helping those that are at a severe disadvantage in Cameroonian society, such as: orphans, elderly, and widows. We seek to serve them specifically because they are typically cast to the fringes of the culture here. We hope that, as we serve and help them, they will see that we serve them as Christ did 2,000 years ago. We serve them so that they will not be bitter about their circumstances in life, but they will learn that hope in Christ is more joyful and rewarding than having every material need met in life. Also, just as important is that I treat every Cameroonian I meet with the same level of respect as I would want. Many times as westerners come to serve in the developing world, we often give food or money but still may treat them as somehow below ourselves. But, no, Christ gave us the example that every person is worth the world to him and so I treat every Cameroonian the same as I treat anyone else. So, this is how I hope to grow and continue to invest in Cameroonians. I seek to give charity, hospitality, and most important is through that to share my story on what God has blessed me with a life that is full of joy, hope, and purpose.
Joy and Peace in Christ
Mark and Leah Janowiak
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