Tree Climbing, Dennis the Menace, Battle-Beard!

Dear Friends and Family,

Praise God, I survived another week--and what a wonderful week it was. My preaching went well on Tuesday and classes are progressing beautifully. We completed the Pual Stem (Passive Intensive Action) in Hebrew, Luke in Gospels and Habakkuk, Zephaniah and Haggai in OT Introduction. Wooooo! Only two weeks left of classes until final exams. Time is moving rather quickly and I am doing my best, always by God's grace, to stay caught up. I was just thinking this morning how blessed I have been the past 3 years concerning ministry opportunities. While in seminary I had the opportunity to live and serve at the Boston Rescue Mission, following seminary I had the opportunity to serve the best group of youth ever in my hometown, and now I am in West Africa serving as a seminary professor, youth pastor and kids pastor. God is so good. I still have days where I find myself holding on by a thread, but the Lord has continually provided me with His grace, love, comfort and strength to endure. I must bring you up to speed concerning my adventures with the Cameroonian kids. Last weekend about 12 kids came by the house wanting to play. It began to rain and I yelled out, "To the trees." There is a beautiful orchard of some exotic type of tree directly in front of my home. The trees grow close together and the branches intertwine allowing one to climb from tree to tree. The kids (4-5 year olds) spent about an hour just climbing and laughing. A new kid appeared that day, one that I had not yet had the privilege of meeting. His name is Dennis, and yes, he is a menace. However, he has the best laugh I have ever heard; it's infectious. He would laugh non-stop which would cause me to laugh--it was awesome. On Tuesday of this week the same group of kids came by the house wanting to play. I walked outside and immediately took off running with 12 little ninos behind me. Behing my house there is a small stair-like cliff which is perfect for "King of the Hill." I would race them up the hill--this lasted for sometime. Later on little Jesse came by with a friend for Bible Study. Ok, so on Tuesday I informed all of these kids that due to my busy schedule the next few days I would not be able to play again until Friday. I even had Anna, a missionary kid and little sister from another mother, communicate this to them in Pigeon English. On Wednesay I was in my living room studying for Thursday's classes when all of a sudden I heard a faint cry outside my frontdoor: "Uncle Creez." I stood up, a bit flustered, and approached the door. When I opened the door I saw little Jesse staring up at me with a new friend by his side. "Uncle Creez, we beg for Bible study," he said. I sighed an impatient sigh and then slowly began to smile. I rested my head against my forearm and said, "Ok Jesse, I cannot say 'No' to Bible Study." I told my class the next day and they laughed hysterically. Ok, now to the "Battle-Beard." For the past 8 years of my adult life I have suffered from a condition known as the "beardless man syndrom." I'm not making this up. I'm 26 years old and still unable to grow a beard, well, until now. Now I know what you are thinking, "There is no way!" Well, before you get too excited, understand that when I say "until now," I simply mean that the peach fuzz has evolved into something much more substantial. What I presently have attached to my face may only be considered a beard by Native Americans, but I'm pretty excited all the same. Anyways, I have not shaved for a week and will be playing in the final football (soccer) match tomorrow armed with my 'battle-beard.' In other news, I'll be preaching next Sunday in a village chruch nearby where one of my OT students serves as the senior pastor. He will serve as my translator. Also, I must mention a comment I received from one of my OT students following class. Hanson, a fellow teammate and student approached me after class as I was walking home, tired and exhausted, and said, "Professor Chris, I just wanted to let you know how much I have enjoyed our Old Testament class. I truly feel prepared to now preach through the Old Testament." I think I almost started crying. I walked home with my hands lifted high, praising God for his goodness and for the opportunity to be used for His glory. It's such an excited thing to hear that you are being used by God to edify His people. I it is only by His grace and by the power of His Spirit that such things are happening, and to Him be all the glory. I'm not sure if I mentinoed this, but one of the rats has died, and yet one remains--He must be an a lab-rat who escaped from MIT, because he has evaded every trap I've thrown his way. Don't laugh, but twice now I have thrown my knife at him in the kitchen--I'm currently 0 for 2. Anyways, I continue to ask for your prayers as we move into the final two weeks of the semester. Tomorrow will mark 4 months that I have now been in Africa. It's a bit hard to fathom. Part of me is ready to head home, but I would not trade these past 4 months for anything. God has been faithful, and again I know that it is due to your prayers that I have been mostly healthy and have remained encouraged throughout many difficult nights of study and preparation.