It has been a very long time since I have written anything on the blog. It was just two weeks after my last blog that we felt God drastically changing the course of our lives once again. Dale shared that we made an emergency trip back to the US to be with his family while his mother was dieing. She left her earthly dwelling to enter into the presence of her Savior early in May. We celebrated the life that God gave to her on Noah's 6th birthday.
It was almost exactly one year ago that God placed His call upon us to follow Him to Cameroon. On May 20th of last year, Dale received an email requesting for teachers to go for the coming academic year. We knew immediately that this was God's desire for us to pursue the possibility of teaching at CBTS. With a great deal of prayer and discussion, it was within days that things seemed to begin falling into place for us to follow God to a place we had once thought we may go to someday but had never before felt God's leading. Everything happened so quickly...we were about to begin our 8th year in ministry at Valley Springs, then suddenly Dale was resigning. We needed to raise support in record timing. God provided. Then we thought we would be leaving in August after a very busy summer of packing up and moving out of our home and lots of traveling: a drive to WI/IL to visit family, Jamaica missions trip, and a wedding in Australia. God's plan for us was again different from what we expected. We waited...and waited for Visas. Then in the middle of October, the decision was made that we would go on a six month Visa instead of continuing to wait for residency. Our flight left two weeks later. Looking back now, I can't imagine how two weeks could have possibly seemed to be a short amount of time to actually finish what we needed to do and go.
Our first semester in Cameroon was cut in half. Dale's teaching schedule was full, lecturing extra hours in the evening to make up for lost time. I tried to move more quickly in the English grammar course but just couldn't ever seem to get ahead. We looked forward to a change of plans for the second semester. We changed our flights and instead of leaving 6 months after arriving, we were going to finish out the semester and see some of Dale's students graduate the first week of June. The teaching schedule was more relaxed with no need to schedule extra hours of class time(though this meant Dale was able to pick up an extra course and teach 5 instead of 4.) We seemed to have relaxed a little too much. Just after mid-terms, during the mid-semester break, we learned that Dale's mother's condition was getting much worse. We thank God for the encouragement from TLI to come home. We considered whether Dale should come alone while I stayed in Cameroon with the boys. When the decision was made for us all to return, we thought we'd leave in about a week. Over the two weeks that followed, there was only one flight out with space for 7. We had one day to pack, and needed to begin the drive toward the airport the following day.
It's hard to say goodbye, but even harder when it doesn't quite go the way you thought it would. In the 36 hours between when we thought we might be leaving CBTS and our actual departure, we experienced an incredible love, care, and persistence in prayer from the CBTS students and staff. I cannot express the impact it had on our family to be on the receiving end of their heartfelt prayers and genuine concern.
I'd like to write a separate blog about other things...like the experience of leaving the country. I am glad we only had to do it once. Josiah will be very quick to tell you that the day we flew out was the worst birthday he has ever had. If we don't ever write the blog, you'll have to ask us when you see us.
When we got back to the states, Dale's mom almost seemed to improve. She ate a few meals in the first week we were here. We are thankful for the time that we had with her during that week. Though she did not remember what we told her, she was very responsive and God blessed us with several opportunities to talk with her. Since her health seemed to be more gradually declining, Dale made plans to return to Cameroon to finish his courses during an intensive two weeks of teaching. The afternoon before he was to leave, her condition seemed to drastically change. The decision was made to cancel the flight. That night she passed away. Dale was able to be with his family during this time and also to proclaim Christ through his mother's story during the memorial service. God's plan is perfect. Again things didn't quite seem to go the way we had planned them to.
Dale returned to Cameroon a week later than the first flight was scheduled. I drove up to Wisconsin to stay with my family during the time that he was away. We've enjoyed extended time visiting with family, but we also feel displaced. Our homeschooling became difficult to continue and our regular routines have nearly disappeared. After having no colds or illnesses our entire time in Cameroon, several of the kids were coughing just a few weeks into our time here. We've enjoyed many luxuries of American life, frozen pizza, parks, bikes, etc. Last weekend, Noah took a spill off a bike which landed him in the ER with 3 stitches on his forehead and glue on his knee. The rest of the adventures in the Mid-west will have to be told at another time.
This afternoon, Dale called to tell me he was on the plane and coming home. I think I am finally writing this blog tonight because today there was closure to our time in Cameroon. After 2 more weeks and 50 hours of lectures, Dale has finished his courses at CBTS. I am confident that God has used Dale to teach the students what they could not have learned simply reading the assigned texts or watching a video lecture. I also trust that as many of the students of CBTS have walked closely through this past year with us, their lives will also be impacted by God's amazing faithfulness and never failing plan. I am eager for my husband to return, and we are eager to begin sharing more with you of our delight in being a part of God's work in Cameroon. More than once over this past year, God changed the plans that we had made as we sought to follow Him. And we continue to stand in awe of Him as we look back and rejoice in the plans that He made and the confidence that He gave in order for us to be used by Him to proclaim Christ in all things and in all circumstances.
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