Wooooo! Wooooo! African Dress, Football in the Rain & Bear Grylls!

Dear Friends and Family,

The double "WOOO" battle cry signals the completion of the Spring semester. It has been wonderful. Last Thursday, my final day of class, as I walked out of OT Introduction I lifted my hands in praise and seriously considered doing 5 consecutive flip-flops down the dirt road in front of the seminary, but decided against it. Because this past Thursday was a national holiday (Ascension Day) most classes were canceled. However, because we only had two chapters left in the Hebrew grammar, I encouraged my Hebrew class to meet at 7AM so as to finish out the grammar (the dreaded Hithpael Stem). I also promised them snacks if they came for class--they were more than happy to. When I arrived, a bit groggy because the coffee had not yet kicked in, i noticed that my students were gathered together in a huddle. One of them left the group and walked over to me. "We have a surprise for you," said Lobe. I said, "Sweet, what?" He had me step into one of the classrooms and presented me with a gift from the class, an offical Cameroonian dress (understand that dress simply refers to what one wears, whether male or female). They said I had to wear it as I taught my final class. I was so honored and blessed by such a gift. It came complete with trousers, a shirt and hat, all with amazingly awesome African colors and designs. I decided to wear my outfit for the remainder of the day which resulted in numerous marriage proposals from some of the local ladies (lol). The Wednesay before was the semi-final football match for the inner-school league, a separate league from the one I have mentioned in previous blogs. I was picked up by one of the teams. We began the match about 5PM and I found myself playing with and against several of my students--how cool! Anyways, about 35 minutes into the match the sky turned to death--it became so dark that we could hardly see the football. And then the rain began to pound against us, relentlessly, and yet the game continued on. It was incredible. After halftime the skies cleared and visibility returned. Our team won 3-1, and I had two assists, along with a horrible miss right in front of the goal. The final match will be played in two weeks. The locals get such a kick out of seeing a white man play football (soccer) with Cameroonians. In other news, this past Friday, in celebration of the completion of classes, I had about 12 students over for a night of fellowship. It was quite a night. We met in my living room area, equipped with snacks, and students began to unleash a barrage of questions concerning difficult gospel texts we were unable to cover in the semester due to time. It was beautiful. Also, I received such encouraging comments from my students concerning my different classes--it was such a blessing. After our discussion time, I prayed for the students in preparation for final exam week and then played the movie, Luther (Martin Luther (reformation)) on my laptop. The students absolutely loved this film. Today i finished writing my final exam for gospels and tomorrow will be giving exams for my Hebrew and OT classes. I have an exam on Wednesday and Friday as well. The next two weeks will consist of much grading, papers and exams, and preparation for my summer 1 Hebrew exegesis intensive. Lastly, concerning the "Bear Grylls" title, this past week I was without cooking gas, power and water which resulted in the application of numerous "Man vs. Wild" content. I cooked over an open fire for a few days and drew water from a stream for bucket baths. Presently the power has returned and I have been able to buy more cooking gas. I am still without water, which really is not that bad because of a nearby spring that provides water for cooking, cleaning, bathing and drinking (filtered of course). My time here has truly been wonderful--I look back over the past 41/2 months and am so thankful. It has been difficult, but my time with my students, the youth group and the little munchkins from the village has been fantastic. I will greatly miss this place, but am looking forward to what the Lord has in store, post-Cameroon. I hope to come back some day, if not fulltime, at least for a return visit so as to teach intensives. I hope this update finds all of you well and rejoicing in the glorious grace of our Lord and Savior. Thank you so much for your prayers.

For His glory,

CT