Week 1 in Cameroon

Dear Friends, Family and Supporters,

My first week in Cameroon has been incredible. After landing in Douala, the largest city in Cameroon, I had a two day trek across the country (south to north west). It was an adventure. We drove through many villages, across large plains and over mountains. My final destination was Ndu, located in the NW province. We are about 7,000 ft up, located in a lush mountainous region. It is simply beautiful. Upon arrival I discovered that Dr. Thomas Schreiner and his family were here teaching for the duration of one week. If you are not familiar with that name, Dr. Schreiner happens to be a stud in the world of NT studies. He is a professor at Southern Seminary in Kentucky and has written many wonderful works on Paul. Him and his family were the most wonderful people. I was blessed with the opportunity to have community with the Schreiner family, along with another brother, Jason, a worship pastor at Bethlehem Baptist (John Piper's church), for three days. The Schrein-dawg and I had some sweet talks late at night--it was awesome. My living quarters are more than sufficient. I was surprised to find myself living in a home built for five, a missionary family presently in Chicago on furlough. I have the house all to myself, well, in about a week. Currently there is a church group from Michigan serving here for about 10 days. They are wonderful people. The Yongs are the missionary family who live beside me. They have a daughter Anna, about 12 or 13 years of age, who is hilarious. She has a pet goat named, Billy-Bob. I myself have a wild guard dog named, Scamp. He is definately wild, but has taken to me quite well--of course I feed him so that helps. I take him on a daily walk (sometimes twice a day) around campus and through the village of Ndu. The Cameroonian people seem very afraid of dogs, especially wild dogs. If he was a bit larger I'd make a saddle and ride him to and from school. The people here are beautiful. God has definately given me favor with the village children. I have about 35 friends thus far, ranging in ages from 3-15. I play soccer with the children daily, sometimes 3 times a day. The children are incredible, and extremely mature in their playing. Also, when we play on an old basketball court many of the children are not afraid of doing bicycles kicks on the pavement. I tried, but soon realized it would not be wise to risk getting seriously injured this early into by trip. This past Sunday I attended my first Cameroonian church service. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. During worship I could not help but weep at the site of God's kingdom at work in a part of the world so different from my own. The gospel is truly making a difference in all parts of the world--Praise Jesus! The music was so lively--I was dancing with the people in my pew and clapping like a wild man. Also, the sermon was one of the best I have yet heard on the book of Esther. I must mention--yesterday I took my soccer ball to the court for a friendly match with the children. The children typically play with round objects that resemble a soccer ball--some are as hard as a rock, others more like a balloon. When they saw my nice american soccer ball they came running towards me, screaming with joy. They were hugging me and cheering with excitement. I was so pumped and literally played for 3 hours with the children. I am especially fond of the little children--they are the cutest little turte-heads (my word for young children) i have ever seen. My favorties are Benias and Macron. They have so much personality for their age. The little girls have the most beautiful voices i have ever heard. In the mornings they can be heard singing on the way to class--there is a elementary school on campust across from the seminary. I have already met some of my students, and they all seem very eager to begin class. This encourages me greatly. I am still preparing my classes, a work which is slowly moving ahead. Please pray that God may grant me wisdom and favor with those i will be ministering to. I must also mention my cook Pa, aka Zachaeus. He reminds me of the Cameroonian version of Clint Eastwood. He is a cook by day and patrols the village by night--He is sort of like Batman, i guess. Anyways, he is extremely friendly and a skillful cook. So far I have eaten elephant brains with rice and snake knee with fried banana--just kidding. The food is actually really good. My favorite thus far is jamba-jamba, a spinach like vegetable with onions and tomatos. I met a man my first day who said, "You are very powerful, big man, very strong." I responded by saying, "I'm a Texas boy, that's how we do things in the south." I'm totally kidding about my response. I truly love the people here--they seem so very content in the midst of their poverty and simple living. That seems to be enough for now. Thank you everyone who is praying for me. My health has been good so far. I am very thankful for good health. I have to be very careful. The water has to be filtered and the food washed a certain way before I am able to eat it. My electricity goes out a few times each night, but running water has been consistent. It's all part of the experience. I look forward to teaching. I begin on the 28th. I'm teaching two classes on the gospels, introduction to Hebrew (6 hrs a week--they are combining two semester into one for this course--Lord, help me!) and introduction to biblical Hebrew. It shall definately prove to be a difficult semester, but such difficulties drive us to cling to Jesus. May I cling to Him daily and teach and preach in such a way that others are encouraged to do the same. I am very thankful for my time here thus far. I love all of you very much and will try to post at least once a week.

For His glory,

Chris Taylor