I apologize for not posting any updates. We did not have internet access during the trip, but here is a short summary of what the Lord did during our time. We are about to get on a return flight to the states, so you should hear from all of us soon. Thank you for your prayers...
10/5/09 the team started the journey to EG. Praise the Lord He provided for all of our flights. On the 6th we all connected in Germany with Marlene arriving literally 10 minutes before our plane for EG started boarding.
10/6/09 - the group arrived in Malabo to a flurry of things. Pastor Juan Sima from the church there was trying to help get us to Bata and the last flight of the evening as boarding as we go to customs. It was interesting to see the look on people’s faces when we started rushing through customs and grabbing our luggage to try to make our flight. As it turns out, Candy’s ticket had been cancelled and there was no room on the plane for luggage…so I ended up staying with Candy in Malabo at Pastor Juan Sima’s house. We also had 20 bags with us that were about 50lbs each!! Praise the Lord, the rest of the group was able to get to Bata safely and stay at ACTB. The unfortunate thing was that Candy and I had their luggage in Malabo, so the group ended up no being able to put on a fresh change of clothes for 3 days.
10/7/09 -Candy and I got up with Pastor Juan Sima at 4:30am and went to the airport. Praise the Lord all of our luggage was loaded on. Candy was able to get on the first flight. I unfortunately was not able to make that flight and so caught a 10:00 flight to Bata. So…we all finally arrived in Bata the afternoon of the 7th. Almost all of our luggage made it though we lost one of Candy’s bags and one of Erika’s bags. Both bags were mostly donated supplies for the trip. It was unfortunate that we lost them, but it was also a blessing that we arrived safely and will all of our other supplies and clothes and that none of the main luggage with clinic supplies was lost. That evening the team got together at ACTB where we were staying and we had a short meeting to discuss the coming days of work. I could tell this was a new experience for many in the group, but people were doing a great job of trusting in the Lord’s provision and taking everything in without injecting negativity. I am truly blessed to be joined by the members of the team we have here.
10/8/09-10/9/09 - Thursday - our first day of work. Since we were missing some supplies, this was a hectic day as we were scheduled to do work and yet still needed to buy some basic supplies for the clinic. We ended up not going to the jungle, but instead went to the sight of a new school just outside of Bata in a village called Ncombeng. Mario and Irma were recently approached by the government and leaders of this village concerning starting another school because the teacher of the school had quit. This was a recently blessing as that village had heard of the reputation of the school in Bata and so had taken the steps to seek out Mario and Irma. The timing of this trip was the Lord’s in that we were able to go to this village, hold a medical clinic, fix up the school house, and teach VBS for 2 days. The people of the village were truly blessed and were a blessing to us. Some of them even brought the team bananas and mangos as gifts. Before we started the work, Mario had told us that the goal of us being there was simply to love people in the name of Christ since the village was not familiar with any of us. The amazing thing was that after the first day, the leaders of the village approached Mario and asked if we would be providing any spiritual services as this was a great need of the village. Praise the Lord! So Friday evening, after clinic, we were able to show the Jesus Film in the school house with about 30-40 people in attendance. They filled up the room! God is so good and it was a blessing to see this work come to pass even in only a few days. I should also note that we were blessed with the arrival of Mark Lowe this day as well. Mark is the field director of West Africa for Nazarene Compassionate Ministries. Mark had not previously been able to make a connection with Mario because of language barriers as he speaks French and English. He was able to make it out to the work site in the afternoon and see what the Lord is doing there.
10/10/09 - Saturday - the group was invited to attend the wedding of a local church leader named Santiago (James). It was a beautiful wedding and a blessing to be able to experience the culture of EG in this way. The team was treated as special guests, and during the reception we were invited to sit up front with the couple. We also enjoyed music from two different churches and a lot of local foods. That evening the group visited El Paseo Maritimo, it was very peaceful and beautiful.
10/11/09 - Sunday - I knew this would be my favorite day of the trip. Ever since leaving EG in 2007 I have been yearning to worship with the church again. There is no describing the power and passion of African worship, we have tried to take some videos, but this is something you have to experience for yourself in order to understand. The team members were able to share a short testimony with the church and the sermon was given by Pastor Mark. It was a beautiful service and the church members were so gracious with us. Sunday evening about 7 of us ventured into downtown. We took a cien-cien which is basically a large van that only costs 100 francs to ride( a taxi is 300 francs), it is a cheap and easy way to get a group of people from one place to another. It was fun. We were dropped off in the city at the top of the hill and wandered the market a little, unfortunately there were few shops open and so we did not buy anything. We also went to a local Café which was an experience in itself. In short, we were there for about 1.5 hours and ended up with 3 croissants, two chicken sandwich wraps, drinks, and ice cream. Our order was messed up multiple times, it was quite an experience. But we had a great time and I was glad that the group was albe to experience a little of downtown Bata. Be sure to ask people about this experience in the Café when we get back:-) We actually ended up walking all the way back from the Café to ACTB where we were staying because the cien-ciens were just full of people and so a group of 7 was not able to squeeze on. The walk was about 2-3 miles, and although it was dark, it was a blessing to be able to see more of the city.
10/12/09 - Monday - this is the independence day for EG. Because of this, the group could not do work this day. We spent the day in reflection and relaxation at ACTB. In the evening we had a wonderful international service with local and international church leaders. There were many missionaries in attendance from Mexico, the USA, and other countries representing many churches. As well, the local church choir sang some songs for us and the women prepared some wonderful local dishes. The meal was quite extravagant and such a blessing. The people here are so gracious.
10/13/09 - after a few days of rest we finally got back to work this day. We went to el Colegio Nazareno and hosted a medical clinic, VBS, talks on HIV, and talks on intestinal parasites. The day was a blessing. In the evening we were scheduled to host an evangelistic service, but the rain started and was very strong so the service was canceled.
10/14/09 - the rain continued today and school school was canceled. This is unfortunate in the sense that I know we had all been looking forward to gifting the t-shirts to the children. As well, the clinic and other presentations were scheduled. But, with the heavy rains we now have a little down time and it is nice to be able to reflect a little…
