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
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Latest Newsletter
To All Family and Friends
Praise be to Him! I think every day to myself, "You,You are the one
who is in control, who is taking care of Your children." This
frequently comes to mind anytime I am in a car or near the road. It
feels as if Jesus has just been sending me love note. Due to my
frequent feeling of helplessness, I have been forced to stress and do
things on my own or turn to Him in such a different way. As school
has finished, I have struggled with sadness due to the loss of a few
staff that will be leaving along with students. Even though it is a
Christian school, a relationship with Jesus is not a prerequisite for
parents or students in order to attend RFIS. Some students are
Christian; however, their parents are not. As a few of the students
leave, I pray that they will truly see the light of Christ through the
community of students and teachers.
We will be meeting with Peggy about what she has been coordinating for
summer village teams. I think there are 3 options, so we are seeking
direction as to where we will spend a few weeks serving. It has been
really amazing hearing many different missionary parents share about
how they are reaching people with God’s Word here. There have been
different missionaries who use audio recordings of scriptures when
they are working with language groups who are from oral cultures along
with writing God’s Word in their own language. One of the parents of
our students shared how they had been working on translation and often
would read back what they had translated, and the language helper
would fall asleep. So one day he decided to read a translated passage
in cultural fashion, the way the people group actually tells true
stories. They were so excited to hear God’s Word in their own language
and storytelling form.
The plans for next year - we will no longer have our school counselor,
so Mark has been asked to join a group of staff and students to insure
that students will have someone to talk to. That being said, it is
crazy to think we have been here 4 months! That’s the longest I think
either of us has been away from The States, but time here has gone
quickly.
Just as we are finishing this newsletter, we have finalized plans for
moving into another missionary family's house while they are on
furlough until January 2012. We are very excited because we had begun
to look into housing options outside of our mission organization’s
housing. We began this for two reasons: the first was we heard we
could save money by moving into the local community, and the second
was to join the surrounding local community and to live by
Cameroonians. We found this opportunity with the Gaults as they are
missionaries that just left for 7 months to help their daughter that
just graduated from RFIS settle into college. As we mention below, we
hope that this can help extend our stay with the combination of a few
more monthly financial partnerships.
Fundraising update
We have approximately 85% of our full support for our original 2-year
assignment, but to stay the additional 4 months they have asked of us
we currently are only at 70%. Please pray and share with your family
and friends so that we would have enough support to stay until June
2013.
Praises
That staff and students have survived another school year!That transition in Cameroon feels completeFinding housing that allows us to save money
Prayer Requests
Decision on where to serve for a couple weeks during the summerSafe travel for staff that are flying home for the summer or leaving Cameroon for goodSmooth transition for all the staff and students that are not
returning to CameroonMoving into the neighborhood - for safety and to bless othersJoy and Peace in Christ,
Mark and Leah Janowiak
Praise be to Him! I think every day to myself, "You,You are the one
who is in control, who is taking care of Your children." This
frequently comes to mind anytime I am in a car or near the road. It
feels as if Jesus has just been sending me love note. Due to my
frequent feeling of helplessness, I have been forced to stress and do
things on my own or turn to Him in such a different way. As school
has finished, I have struggled with sadness due to the loss of a few
staff that will be leaving along with students. Even though it is a
Christian school, a relationship with Jesus is not a prerequisite for
parents or students in order to attend RFIS. Some students are
Christian; however, their parents are not. As a few of the students
leave, I pray that they will truly see the light of Christ through the
community of students and teachers.
We will be meeting with Peggy about what she has been coordinating for
summer village teams. I think there are 3 options, so we are seeking
direction as to where we will spend a few weeks serving. It has been
really amazing hearing many different missionary parents share about
how they are reaching people with God’s Word here. There have been
different missionaries who use audio recordings of scriptures when
they are working with language groups who are from oral cultures along
with writing God’s Word in their own language. One of the parents of
our students shared how they had been working on translation and often
would read back what they had translated, and the language helper
would fall asleep. So one day he decided to read a translated passage
in cultural fashion, the way the people group actually tells true
stories. They were so excited to hear God’s Word in their own language
and storytelling form.
The plans for next year - we will no longer have our school counselor,
so Mark has been asked to join a group of staff and students to insure
that students will have someone to talk to. That being said, it is
crazy to think we have been here 4 months! That’s the longest I think
either of us has been away from The States, but time here has gone
quickly.
Just as we are finishing this newsletter, we have finalized plans for
moving into another missionary family's house while they are on
furlough until January 2012. We are very excited because we had begun
to look into housing options outside of our mission organization’s
housing. We began this for two reasons: the first was we heard we
could save money by moving into the local community, and the second
was to join the surrounding local community and to live by
Cameroonians. We found this opportunity with the Gaults as they are
missionaries that just left for 7 months to help their daughter that
just graduated from RFIS settle into college. As we mention below, we
hope that this can help extend our stay with the combination of a few
more monthly financial partnerships.
Fundraising update
We have approximately 85% of our full support for our original 2-year
assignment, but to stay the additional 4 months they have asked of us
we currently are only at 70%. Please pray and share with your family
and friends so that we would have enough support to stay until June
2013.
Praises
That staff and students have survived another school year!That transition in Cameroon feels completeFinding housing that allows us to save money
Prayer Requests
Decision on where to serve for a couple weeks during the summerSafe travel for staff that are flying home for the summer or leaving Cameroon for goodSmooth transition for all the staff and students that are not
returning to CameroonMoving into the neighborhood - for safety and to bless othersJoy and Peace in Christ,
Mark and Leah Janowiak
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Mark's Birthday
Hello Family and Friends
So, life has been busy since the middle of May I have had little time to blog: projects, end of year school events, planning for next year, creating summer project lists, meetings with our administration team, and my BIRTHDAY! I will say I have been blown away by my wife for my birthday this year. This year Leah decided to have a 26 day celebration for my 26th birthday! SO, since the middle of May Leah has been giving me a piece of paper every day giving me hints of what I may receive, happen, or do for the day. I may be gushing, but I am very blessed to have such an amazing wife. Also, thanks to everyone that sent Birthday geetings to me!
Another year older and I pray that I am another year wiser. The day of my birthday was most excellent! I did have to work, but I do enjoy working on my birthday as you are able to enjoy your birthday with co-workers and friends. After work around 3:30 there was a planned soccer match between staff and students. I am not sure how it happened to be scheduled on my birthday, but it was a lot of fun! After soccer I was exhausted! I have played soccer here in Cameroon, but this was the first time playing soccer on a full size field for a full 90 minutes. After soccer, I came home for a quick shower and then Leah and I headed out with our friends Samantha and Jeongho to dinner. Leah had picked out a restaurant, but it was unknown to me until we arrived. Well, we took a taxi and we ended up at La Plaza (French/European food) which was a new restaurant to me. Dinner was excellent! I had filet minion of pork with mushrooms and a side of potatoes with garlic. I was stuffed and still had leftovers, but I had to have dessert and ordered THE BEST chocolate mousse! The waiter only knowing a little English came out singing the first line of Happy Birthday to me! It was great as everyone else chimed in and we all shared my birthday mousse. We ended the evening after I was more than stuffed and thoroughly exhausted after a long, but awesome birthday!
Then, on the Saturday after my birthday Leah bought me and two of my Cameroonian friend’s tickets to the Cameroon vs Senegal soccer match! It was the first opportunity I have had to watch a soccer match in person. This match was very exciting as it was a qualifying match for the African Nations Cup, which is a month long tournament next January 2012. We made our way into a packed stadium to cheer on the Indomitable Lions as they are called, and was greeted with lots of crowd chants and drumming. Once the match started everyone was on the edge of their seat, jumping up every time Cameroon had an opportunity to shoot! Cameroon quickly controlled possession in the match and had a few good shots on goal, but Senegal’s defense was good. At halftime it was 0-0 and my friends were disappointed as Cameroon had the strong advantage in the match. The second half started as the first did with Cameroon controlling possession and having all the opportunities on goal, but was unable to score. As the second half went on you could feel the tension as the urgency of Cameroon needing to score. Five minutes before the end of the match a Cameroonian player was tackled in the Senegal penalty area and a penalty shot was given! Everyone was so excited and full of suspense as Cameroonian’s famous striker Samuel Eto stepped up to take the penalty shot. As Eto took the penalty his shot hit the top of the crossbar and came back into the field (he missed) and was cleared! Everyone was in shock! The match ended 0-0 and we came back home disappointed, but thoroughly enjoyed watching Cameroon play!
Mark Janowiak
ps below are some pictures, but I forgot my camera for both my birthday dinner and when we went to the football match! :-(
So, life has been busy since the middle of May I have had little time to blog: projects, end of year school events, planning for next year, creating summer project lists, meetings with our administration team, and my BIRTHDAY! I will say I have been blown away by my wife for my birthday this year. This year Leah decided to have a 26 day celebration for my 26th birthday! SO, since the middle of May Leah has been giving me a piece of paper every day giving me hints of what I may receive, happen, or do for the day. I may be gushing, but I am very blessed to have such an amazing wife. Also, thanks to everyone that sent Birthday geetings to me!
Another year older and I pray that I am another year wiser. The day of my birthday was most excellent! I did have to work, but I do enjoy working on my birthday as you are able to enjoy your birthday with co-workers and friends. After work around 3:30 there was a planned soccer match between staff and students. I am not sure how it happened to be scheduled on my birthday, but it was a lot of fun! After soccer I was exhausted! I have played soccer here in Cameroon, but this was the first time playing soccer on a full size field for a full 90 minutes. After soccer, I came home for a quick shower and then Leah and I headed out with our friends Samantha and Jeongho to dinner. Leah had picked out a restaurant, but it was unknown to me until we arrived. Well, we took a taxi and we ended up at La Plaza (French/European food) which was a new restaurant to me. Dinner was excellent! I had filet minion of pork with mushrooms and a side of potatoes with garlic. I was stuffed and still had leftovers, but I had to have dessert and ordered THE BEST chocolate mousse! The waiter only knowing a little English came out singing the first line of Happy Birthday to me! It was great as everyone else chimed in and we all shared my birthday mousse. We ended the evening after I was more than stuffed and thoroughly exhausted after a long, but awesome birthday!
Then, on the Saturday after my birthday Leah bought me and two of my Cameroonian friend’s tickets to the Cameroon vs Senegal soccer match! It was the first opportunity I have had to watch a soccer match in person. This match was very exciting as it was a qualifying match for the African Nations Cup, which is a month long tournament next January 2012. We made our way into a packed stadium to cheer on the Indomitable Lions as they are called, and was greeted with lots of crowd chants and drumming. Once the match started everyone was on the edge of their seat, jumping up every time Cameroon had an opportunity to shoot! Cameroon quickly controlled possession in the match and had a few good shots on goal, but Senegal’s defense was good. At halftime it was 0-0 and my friends were disappointed as Cameroon had the strong advantage in the match. The second half started as the first did with Cameroon controlling possession and having all the opportunities on goal, but was unable to score. As the second half went on you could feel the tension as the urgency of Cameroon needing to score. Five minutes before the end of the match a Cameroonian player was tackled in the Senegal penalty area and a penalty shot was given! Everyone was so excited and full of suspense as Cameroonian’s famous striker Samuel Eto stepped up to take the penalty shot. As Eto took the penalty his shot hit the top of the crossbar and came back into the field (he missed) and was cleared! Everyone was in shock! The match ended 0-0 and we came back home disappointed, but thoroughly enjoyed watching Cameroon play!
Mark Janowiak
ps below are some pictures, but I forgot my camera for both my birthday dinner and when we went to the football match! :-(
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
What Do We Desire From God
So yesterday’s devotional was a difficult one for me. It asked what my desires are for God. I don’t think I have ever been posed this question before. I could tell you want I want in life, what things I think I need, what I think about buying or doing. What my heart’s desire from Jesus? What am I desperately seeking from God, what is it that I desire above all things in my life from God? Now as I reflect on it I think isn’t this the very prayer Jesus wants from us, what at our core do we long for from Him. I know typed this could come off as cheesy; well I guess I am then. But honestly we it got down to it would be I WANT TO BE CLOSE. The most desperate thing in my heart is to be close, I just feel like in the time of peace and calm I need to examine my relationship with Him. How does he show up when there is no big crisis in our life? How do we draw close to Him when things are mundane? So my desire is to be close, for Him to show up in little ways. Part of me longs for the spectacular but I think Jesus wants me to learn how to be close in the mundane. Because he has been so faithful, he has been pursuing and constant, why is it that our hearts always need reminding?
Leah Janowiak
Leah Janowiak
Monday, May 9, 2011
Thoughts After Three Months
Leah and I are now past 3 months in Cameroon. It is interesting to think about where I imagined us after 3 months in Cameroon, the expectations that I had of how much French we would know or how we may be involved in the community outside our full time jobs. Also, looking ahead to the summer here, we will be working less at the school in the summer so we look forward to helping Wycliffe with tasks in the villages or at one of the three branch offices.
But before I speak about that, the most striking and wonderful feeling in the past 3 months has been the complete peace in my soul that we are where God wants us. I will say that for most my life at varied degrees I have expressed some desire to speed life up and skip to something that I am looking forward to: getting my driver’s license, graduating high school, a trip to Europe and Africa, my wedding day, etc. But the last few months have been very different; I am not asking questions about what I may be doing when our 2 years are done here. I am savoring, exploring, learning, growing, and living each day. I feel Alive with joy and peace. I do not hope that I am content with just being here, but hope to continue to grow my relationships with Cameroonians, become more involved in my community in a tangible way, learn more conversational French, etc. I am, though, enjoying that God has brought Leah and me here to Cameroon in his timing and not my own.
In my discussions with Leah before coming to Cameroon, we hoped to speak basic, understandable French and to have a conversation with a francophone Cameroonian or comprehend French conversations, after 3 months. What we did not expect was that all the staff at the school would speak English, both missionaries and Cameroonians that work there. Now, I must say I am very proud of Leah as she is now able to greet, get a taxi, buy items in the market, etc. We both have our work cut out to become conversational French speakers, but we feel comfortable to go where we need to. Another expectation was to become involved in Yaounde outside of our work with Wycliffe. About a month ago we meet a young man by the name of Hugue that goes to one of the local churches that we visited a few times. Anyways, we invited him over to dinner, and he shared with us his non-profit that he and two others began to help serve the elderly, orphans, and people in prison. We hope that, as we have settled in and both of us now can speak and understand some French, we will begin to help them serve the elderly and the orphans. Also, now after three months here we have found a church that is near to us to call home. This has been a long awaited answer to prayer as we have been searching since we first arrived here in February. We look forward to building relationships with Cameroonians there and hope to explore some ways to join the church community.
Since we work at the school here, our summers are a mix of some projects I will be working on with the Admin team at the school, but also time to work on other things. Not to look forward, but as we plan our summer Leah has expressed an interest for us to explore some of the villages here in Cameroon. I also have an interest in helping Wycliffe’s IT department that may need someone to travel to the villages to help translation teams with their IT needs. Also, after we arrived we spoke to some people that work out of the US from Wycliffe that need some help as they work on a project to bring satellite internet to some of the Cameroonian nationals doing translation work. I hope to hear more about this opportunity as we draw closer to the summer. In conjunction, both of us hope to continue French study throughout the summer.
We have been surprised by some things we have seen here. Cameroonians' main struggle here in Yaounde is housing, jobs, and having access to clean water. High unemployment is not exactly a surprise to us, but so many Cameroonians are entrepreneurial! Many people we know that are struggling for work will be househelp for a handful of people, set up a vegetable stand in a neighborhood, make great fruit juices and deliver to missionaries, or bake great bread products (bread, rolls, bagels, tortillas, and cinnamon rolls) and come around the compound to sell. Cameroonians for the most part are very determined to carve out a living for themselves and their families. Our friend Silas owns a small store down the road (he sells basic items like soap, chocolate, and powdered milk) and had an opportunity to travel to the States years ago. Now he makes some great Mexican food locals can order from him in advance and to be dropped off at our house! One major area that I did not list above was food. Many Cameroonians, if they have even a little money or because they have a garden, are able to have great access to a large variety of produce for very little. Cameroon is abounding with fertile land and consistent rain to grow excellent produce including rice that makes it much cheaper to buy nutritious food than really anything else. One difficulty here in Yaounde is that, since it is such a large city, when the city water goes out people have few areas to go for water, so cholera quickly can spread if the water is off for more than a day (which has only happened a few times).
Leah and I are grateful for the warm people of Cameroon, friends, good climate, and great food here in Cameroon. We are blessed that the first 3 months here have gone extraordinarily well and look forward to the rest of the time we have here in Cameroon. We may not have the same comforts we did in the States, but we are truly blessed to have more than enough.
Joy and Peace in Christ
Mark and Leah Janowiak
But before I speak about that, the most striking and wonderful feeling in the past 3 months has been the complete peace in my soul that we are where God wants us. I will say that for most my life at varied degrees I have expressed some desire to speed life up and skip to something that I am looking forward to: getting my driver’s license, graduating high school, a trip to Europe and Africa, my wedding day, etc. But the last few months have been very different; I am not asking questions about what I may be doing when our 2 years are done here. I am savoring, exploring, learning, growing, and living each day. I feel Alive with joy and peace. I do not hope that I am content with just being here, but hope to continue to grow my relationships with Cameroonians, become more involved in my community in a tangible way, learn more conversational French, etc. I am, though, enjoying that God has brought Leah and me here to Cameroon in his timing and not my own.
In my discussions with Leah before coming to Cameroon, we hoped to speak basic, understandable French and to have a conversation with a francophone Cameroonian or comprehend French conversations, after 3 months. What we did not expect was that all the staff at the school would speak English, both missionaries and Cameroonians that work there. Now, I must say I am very proud of Leah as she is now able to greet, get a taxi, buy items in the market, etc. We both have our work cut out to become conversational French speakers, but we feel comfortable to go where we need to. Another expectation was to become involved in Yaounde outside of our work with Wycliffe. About a month ago we meet a young man by the name of Hugue that goes to one of the local churches that we visited a few times. Anyways, we invited him over to dinner, and he shared with us his non-profit that he and two others began to help serve the elderly, orphans, and people in prison. We hope that, as we have settled in and both of us now can speak and understand some French, we will begin to help them serve the elderly and the orphans. Also, now after three months here we have found a church that is near to us to call home. This has been a long awaited answer to prayer as we have been searching since we first arrived here in February. We look forward to building relationships with Cameroonians there and hope to explore some ways to join the church community.
Since we work at the school here, our summers are a mix of some projects I will be working on with the Admin team at the school, but also time to work on other things. Not to look forward, but as we plan our summer Leah has expressed an interest for us to explore some of the villages here in Cameroon. I also have an interest in helping Wycliffe’s IT department that may need someone to travel to the villages to help translation teams with their IT needs. Also, after we arrived we spoke to some people that work out of the US from Wycliffe that need some help as they work on a project to bring satellite internet to some of the Cameroonian nationals doing translation work. I hope to hear more about this opportunity as we draw closer to the summer. In conjunction, both of us hope to continue French study throughout the summer.
We have been surprised by some things we have seen here. Cameroonians' main struggle here in Yaounde is housing, jobs, and having access to clean water. High unemployment is not exactly a surprise to us, but so many Cameroonians are entrepreneurial! Many people we know that are struggling for work will be househelp for a handful of people, set up a vegetable stand in a neighborhood, make great fruit juices and deliver to missionaries, or bake great bread products (bread, rolls, bagels, tortillas, and cinnamon rolls) and come around the compound to sell. Cameroonians for the most part are very determined to carve out a living for themselves and their families. Our friend Silas owns a small store down the road (he sells basic items like soap, chocolate, and powdered milk) and had an opportunity to travel to the States years ago. Now he makes some great Mexican food locals can order from him in advance and to be dropped off at our house! One major area that I did not list above was food. Many Cameroonians, if they have even a little money or because they have a garden, are able to have great access to a large variety of produce for very little. Cameroon is abounding with fertile land and consistent rain to grow excellent produce including rice that makes it much cheaper to buy nutritious food than really anything else. One difficulty here in Yaounde is that, since it is such a large city, when the city water goes out people have few areas to go for water, so cholera quickly can spread if the water is off for more than a day (which has only happened a few times).
Leah and I are grateful for the warm people of Cameroon, friends, good climate, and great food here in Cameroon. We are blessed that the first 3 months here have gone extraordinarily well and look forward to the rest of the time we have here in Cameroon. We may not have the same comforts we did in the States, but we are truly blessed to have more than enough.
Joy and Peace in Christ
Mark and Leah Janowiak
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Branch Spiritual Retreat
Last week we had a 3 day branch spiritual retreat and I wanted to take a moment to share some impressions of the retreat. The topic of the retreat was pain and change. Currently the branch is about to embark on a season of redesigning some of the structure and makeup of the organization here in Cameroon. Over the last few years as everywhere money has been tight and this was no exception here. So, fittingly before we started our annual branch business meetings we first discussed the topic of pain and change!
One of the areas that I was reflecting on these few days was the irony that we cannot avoid pain and change. The more we try to avoid both pain and change the more we are trying to control things that which are not ours to control. Now, I am not saying that certain things that we do to ourselves cannot spare us some pain in life, but generally speaking we cannot stop change from happening. The beauty is that as we let go of trying to avoid and control these things the more we give them to God and the more he is able to work through these times in our life and allow us to fully experience the highs and lows in life. I call this choosing joy, as happiness comes and goes, but joy is a way to live life when you give your life over to Christ.
Another area that I don’t think I considered enough is if I don’t change I am no longer relevant to unbelievers. This for me has been and will be a fine line to walk in my life. As change happens to a culture or to a country that you live in, you must realize what the changes are and adapt in ways that allow us to be in the world, but not of the world. When I lived in the States I liked to call myself counter-cultural as I am against many of the ways that are “popular” or “normal” in our mainstream culture, but I must never disconnect myself from my culture. Let me explain this more. I must learn how the people in my culture are searching for the something to try to make them whole. If I can see what and how they are searching I am better able to: build a real relationship with that person, understand their pain and brokenness, and share with them a different way of life that can bring healing and wholeness to their life. I cannot connect and engage the person in a real relationship if I am completely disconnected from how they have changed and adapted to life in their culture over time.
These were just a couple of insights I had while at our 3 day branch spiritual retreat. I feel refreshed and renewed as we came through this past week as the retreat finished on Good Friday and then celebrated Resurrection Sunday. Such perspective and appreciation to prepare for Easter and to more fully appreciate the sacrifice of Christ as he willingly chose to die for my sins even before I knew him.
Joy and Peace in Christ
Mark and Leah Janowiak
One of the areas that I was reflecting on these few days was the irony that we cannot avoid pain and change. The more we try to avoid both pain and change the more we are trying to control things that which are not ours to control. Now, I am not saying that certain things that we do to ourselves cannot spare us some pain in life, but generally speaking we cannot stop change from happening. The beauty is that as we let go of trying to avoid and control these things the more we give them to God and the more he is able to work through these times in our life and allow us to fully experience the highs and lows in life. I call this choosing joy, as happiness comes and goes, but joy is a way to live life when you give your life over to Christ.
Another area that I don’t think I considered enough is if I don’t change I am no longer relevant to unbelievers. This for me has been and will be a fine line to walk in my life. As change happens to a culture or to a country that you live in, you must realize what the changes are and adapt in ways that allow us to be in the world, but not of the world. When I lived in the States I liked to call myself counter-cultural as I am against many of the ways that are “popular” or “normal” in our mainstream culture, but I must never disconnect myself from my culture. Let me explain this more. I must learn how the people in my culture are searching for the something to try to make them whole. If I can see what and how they are searching I am better able to: build a real relationship with that person, understand their pain and brokenness, and share with them a different way of life that can bring healing and wholeness to their life. I cannot connect and engage the person in a real relationship if I am completely disconnected from how they have changed and adapted to life in their culture over time.
These were just a couple of insights I had while at our 3 day branch spiritual retreat. I feel refreshed and renewed as we came through this past week as the retreat finished on Good Friday and then celebrated Resurrection Sunday. Such perspective and appreciation to prepare for Easter and to more fully appreciate the sacrifice of Christ as he willingly chose to die for my sins even before I knew him.
Joy and Peace in Christ
Mark and Leah Janowiak
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