The team returned to Minneapolis on February 2. Thank you to all of our friends and family for the prayers while we were in Cameroon and traveling. We are now gathering all of our pictures and thoughts to share. We are also trying to climatize our bodies to the -100 degree shift in outside air temperature that we experienced from Cameroon to Minnesota. Welcome back!
From almost the beginning it was clear that we would fare better if we said the words, “If the Lord wills. . .” AND if we really meant it.
We should have been saying, “If the Lord wills, we will arrive in Yaounde at 7:05 pm, Monday.” Instead, our plane had mechanical problems and our flight was delayed until the next day, so we arrived 26 hours later than planned.
We should have been saying, “If the Lord wills, we will rest Monday evening, check emails and post on our team blog.” Instead, on Tuesday, our arrival night was filled with unpacking and reworking our schedule to fit our work into one less day. And for some reason, the blog that had been set up never accepted the posts we tried to enter. And most times throughout trip, it was hard to use email for various reasons—electrical outage, no internet connection, no time, etc.
We should have said, “If the Lord wills, we will have a lighter schedule the first day, as we get into the swing of things.” Instead, since we arrived a day late, we packed 2 days of work into 1 day (until 1 am), so the rest of the time could remain pretty much on schedule (if the Lord willed!).
By the end of the 1st day we knew that we were on the Lord’s schedule. And he gave us his strength to do what he gave us in each day. If any of us had been tempted to think we had things planned and under control, he showed us from the beginning that this was his mission, not ours.
At the human level, we were bringing wheelchairs, walkers, and crutches to just a handful of the Cameroonians who can’t afford them, and thus offering them greater mobility to participate in their communities. At a deeper level, we prayed that families and churches would be more and more open to see that every person in their community is created in the image of God, no matter how their bodies or minds may be different.
The therapists and mechanics prayed with each person they worked with and each person received a Bible and/or other Christian literature and spent time with one of the local pastors who volunteered their time the days we were working. We were so thankful for this partnership. As I heard our team leader, Bob Horning, express it: We gave equipment that will last for a few years, and that is good. But vastly more important is what the pastors offered—eternal life with Jesus.
Now, back at home, if I can just remember in the midst of my everyday routine, it still is all “If the Lord wills . . .” – not just during extraordinary times.
Noël Piper
This will be my fourth wheelchair distribution; my first in Cameroon. On every trip I have been amazed at God’s provision. The right wheelchair or spare part or person “just happened” to be available. It has happened over and over. Maybe it’s because we’re looking for it more. Maybe God’s power is more obvious when we are weak and have so little to work with. Maybe there are lots of other reasons. But it’s always happened. It appears to be happening again already, even before we leave.
A couple weeks ago some friends gave us a wheelchair to bring up to the Joni and Friends office here in the Twin Cities. It belonged to Cole, but he had outgrown it. A nice pediatric chair, this is the kind that is always in short supply. The standard procedure would be that I would drop it off at the storage place, it would eventually get shipped to a refurbishing center, and then eventually find it’s way into a shipment to some developing country for distribution. Apparently not this time.
Last Tuesday I loaded it in my car and was planning to drop it off after work. Around noon I got an email from a friend of a Julie Anderson. They had heard we were bringing wheelchairs to Cameroon and knew of a little boy – Alex – who needed one and wondered if he could get one. The chairs that we shipped were already spoken for, so the answer was no. But I had that one chair in my car. After a few quick emails back and forth, and a trip out to the car to take a few measurements, we decided that Cole’s chair would probably fit Alex, and found that we would be able to bring it along as one item of our luggage. We have room, so Cole’s chair will be going with us. Only a few hours before I was to drop it off, the plan was totally changed. God’s timing never ceases to amaze me.
“We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) God had already prepared this beforehand, and we get to “walk in” what he’s doing and see it first.
-Bob
Disabled people in developing countries are marginalized by a combination of poverty, cultural attitudes and public policy. Their opportunities to be part of their community and their world are limited by their inability to even get out of their “house.” A wheelchair is a luxury item that most can’t even dream of affording, if they can find one at all. That opens the door for us. We can offer wheelchairs free of charge.
Giving away wheelchairs is much more than driving up in a truck, handing them out, and driving away. A wheelchair has to be properly fitted to each person so that it balances the weight and pressure on the body, and miximizes the mobility of the person. Our team of therapists and mechanics is able to determine what needs to be done, and how to do it (sometimes with a minimum of parts and materials) so that each person fits just right.
But there is another, even more important purpose of the trip. A wheelchair is a tremendous gift, but it will eventually wear out. It gives mobility and hope and freedom for a while but it won’t last forever, despite our best efforts. So we also give each person a Bible and share spiritual encouragement with them. “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesions 2:4,5) Our sin and theirs is a bigger problem than any disability. “And raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show us the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6,7). We will get to show kindness and seat 100 people in wheelchairs. God will be able to show immeasurably more, and seat them in heaven.
“The wheelchair is free, just like the love of God.” I’ve never seen anyone turn down a wheelchair; everyone accepts it. Many people will accept God’s love too, although probably not everyone. We’d appreciate your prayers that the harvest would be great.
Sunday, January 21
Flight to Cameroon leaves at 10:05 am.
Monday, January 22
Arrive in Yaounde at 7 PM
Tuesday, January 23
Get the distribution site set up and distribute 8 WCs in the afternoon.
Wednesday, January 24
Distribute 25 WCs plus a few walkers and crutches.
Pack up and prepare to leave for Bamenda
Thursday, January 25
Silas Nfor, a Cameroonian man, joins us as we ride a bus from Yaounde to Bamenda.
Friday, January 26
Get WCs moved to the distribution site, set up, and distribute 8 WCs in the afternoon.
Saturday, January 27
Distribute 28 WCs plus walkers and crutches.
Sunday, January 28
Church in the morning, free time in the afternoon, and maybe another service in the evening
Monday, January 29
Distribute 28 WCs plus walkers and crutches.
Tuesday, January 30
Sightseeing day. In the evening, pack for return to Yaounde
Wednesday, January 31
Bus ride to Yaounde
Thursday, February 01
Free day.
Pack and leave for airport in the late afternoon.
Friday, February 02
Arrive home in Minneapolis
We are now only 2 weeks away from leaving for Cameroon to deliver and custom-fit over 100 wheelchairs, walkers and crutches. The outreach dates are January 21 through February 2. Thank you for your prayers and support so far. Would you please continue praying for us? A few specific items are:
· The wheelchairs are still in port, and need to get through Customs and transported to Yaounde and Bamenda. Pray that the necessary clearances would finally go through.
· Pray for Magdalene, Monique, and Silas, our partners in Cameroon, who are doing so much to prepare.
· Pray that final preparations here would go smoothly.
· Pray for safe travel.
· Pray for strength and good health.
· Pray for God’s hand and protection to be on our families.
· Pray that we would have wisdom to select and customize each chair to each person.
· Pray that our words, actions and attitudes would be examples of Jesus to each person we are with.
· Pray that many hearts would be open to a new or a stronger relationship with God through this outreach.
· Pray that Magdalene, Monique and the churches participating with them will overflow with joy, love, and kindness as they follow up after we leave.
