2007 Cameroon Backpack

2007 TMI CAMEROON BACKPACK TEAM

Hurry to get everything packed up at our home at the Cameroon base, back into the States, work at the office in Florida for a week, around the country at churches for 5 weeks, get boot camp set up and prepare for our team. Whew! That is the life of overseas staff at TMI....busy, but fulfilling! We had our biggest team this time. We had 29 teens (although one left after boot camp), 2 assistant leaders. Boot camp was boot camp...hot, sweaty (and stinky), busy, crazy and fun. We were early boot camp this time so we were back to Cameroon earlier than the 2005 team. This time we did project time and then helped with the Cameroon boot camp. Our project was helping to set up the Impalim rescue unit (the first for the country of Cameroon). We worked hard! In the kitchen we prepared food for 35 people (and we were sure they seriously had hollow legs, for the life of us we couldn't fill them up!). So instead of our regular 2 kitchen helpers we had 4.

But the main reason for 4, was that KP had to haul water from a spring that was about 1K away. They made many trips per day and filtered the water for drinking. It was a challenge. Our first order of business when we landed at our Impalim home was to dig a pit toilet for the team (lovely, but necessary!). One of Sara's favorite (and difficult) memories was an EV trip to the nearby farming village of Chat. When we asked a man how to get there he said.....down, down, down, down and down...you no wanna go. We were...."yes, we do"...he replied, "okay, the....down etc....", ha-ha. We thought he was exaggerating...he wasn't. The paths were steep, windy and oh so slippery. So we were so careful. We would have these people passing by us kind of doing a half run/hop down these steeps inclines. We thought they were crazy until Sara felt her knees almost to the bottom (they hurt so bad!). It was so bad that this old woman handed Sara her walking stick to aid her.

How embarrassing...and yet, how much like the Lord to provide for her need! We arrived in the village, spent 45 minutes doing puppets, music and drama and headed back...up, up, up, up and up. It took hours to make it back. Tim and Sara sent the team ahead because Sara had to stop frequently because of her knees (and breathing issues). First the Lord sent a boy and his dog to walk with Tim and Sara who helped keep thieves away (we learned later that they frequent the path we were on), then when it started to rain, the Lord kept the rain to either side of the path....they saw provision after provision on that trip....WOW!! We got a good start on the Aids Orphan Rescue Unit buildings which one of the Cameroonian teams finished later. The team then headed back at the Nsongwian base camp we were busy judging the obstacle course, teaching classes and EV, doing presentations during the rallies and just enjoying the last of the team’s time in Cameroon. During Boot camp the assistant lady leader and Sara taught the team a lesson in gratitude.

Cooking for a team is difficult, for 35 even harder, doing it out in a remote village with the type of equipment they have was really hard! Well....many in the team seemed to take to complaining about never having enough (even though there were times when there was enough for them to come back for as many as 7 helpings...not of everything but of something). When we arrived back to the Cameroon base the staff there prepared our first meal back. The team members who had been complaining raved about how great the meal was etc... So, it was decided that if it was that great and the stuff in the field was that bad that we would add money to the boot camp budget and feed the team what the Cameroon boot camp ate. Well....they lasted all of 5 meals....haha. The night after the 5th meal during our evening team meeting the team members sang Sara and Rachel an apology about how ungrateful they had been. Well....a lesson learned indeed! It was a great team despite these little incidences. We got a lot of work done; saw the Lord work in the hearts of the team members and leaders alike. We saw much fruit in the Cameroonians that we were privileged to minister to also. Praise the Lord!