Cameroon Kids Camp...Holy Smokes!

Dear Friends and Family,

What a great week! On Tuesday I had the opportunity to travel to a nearby village for the annual Cameroon Baptist Convention Kids Camp. Over 1000 kids gathered together for three days of worship and bible study. I had the privilege of addressing all the students in the church upon my arrival. Basically, if you find yourself visiting a church or home for the first time it is required that you give a word or short message. I love this aspect of Cameroon culture. Anyways, I encouraged the kids to seek Christ with their whole hearts and to really dig into His word. During the mid-afternoon break I was literally swamped by a wave of little munchkins. They all wanted to shake my hand or touch my hair--the kids here are very interested in white man hair--they compare it to dog hair. I would randomly pick up kids who came at me giving them an East Texas battle cry which may have indeed frightened a few. Before our arrival I had eaten lunch and was therefore not very hungry. However, if one is ever offered food in a Cameroonian setting it is rude not to accept. Some of the leaders invited into their home for a small linner (lunch plus dinner). If you would have seen what was placed before me you may have ran. However, as mentioned above I did not wish to appear rude and so I did what I had to--I scarfed it. Our journey home was probably the highlight of the trip. Taxis here are known for taking on more passengers than anyone should ever dare to put into one vehicle. In our taxi, purchased for the 40 minute drive back to Ndu, we had 10 passengers. The driver shared his seat with a passenger as did I in the passenger side of the small two door car. There were five in the back seat and one man actually held on to the back of the car for a good 15 minutes. He didn't fall off, we simply reached his destination on the way to Ndu. Also, I must report a recent tradition that I have grown accustomed to. Almost every day children visit my home to see the white man, their friend, Uncle Creez. Anyways, for a while I would simply provide them with cookies and play football with them in the yard. Finally i decided it would be a good idea to attempt a bible study with these little guys and gals. Something pretty hilarious and awesome has resulted. One little guy, Jesse, who is probably just barely 4 years old, appears at my door several days a week requesting Bible study. What is amazing, is that each time he brings with him a little buddy. Yesterday it was a little girl named Kinaise (probably 3 years old). Some days I find myself extremely busy with studies and then all of a sudden I hear a knock at the door. Who could it be, I wonder? It's little Jesse and his kid brigade. I just can't turn the little guy away. This morning, little Macron came by the house with two friends for bible study (Caleb and Benjamin). I asked little Macron to pray and he acquiesed praying the Lord's prayer. It was the coolest thing ever. This weekend has been very productive as I been preparing to finish Matthew in my gospels classes and Isaiah in my OT survey class. It's hard to believe that this Sunday will mark 3 months. The Lord has been so good and I am constantly encouraged by my students. While here my desire to pursue further studies has grown. I am hoping to engage myself in some sort of GRE boot camp when I arrive back in the States in prepartion for PhD applications. I have been contacting professors at differnt schools in the States expressing my interest to pursue gospel research. These programs are extremely competive, and therefore I realize that I must really prepare well for the GRE when I get home this summer. Please pray that the Lord would direct me in this matter. Also, I'm still debating whether or not to attend the 4AM sunrise service tomorrow morning prior to the 9AM service. At this point I think I'm going to go for it. Alright, time to go. Thanks again for all of your prayers.

For His glory,

Chris Taylor