February, 2002
Gretchen
Harro (photo on right) and Nancy Haynes are Wycliffe
Bible Translators of the Yemba language in Yaoundé, Cameroon,
W. Africa. They returned after a one-year sabbatical and had to find
a new place to live. Here is Gretchen's tale of the Yaoundé,
Cameroon rental market:
Looking for real estate in a Cameroonian village is much like viewing
houses in the US, but without the help of the real estate agent.
You have to ask a different set of questions. Here are some of the
questions: Does the roof leak? Are the walls crumbling from moisture
coming up from the foundation? How bad is the road leading to the
house? Is there grass growing in the gutter, or on the roof? Are
the 'anti-vols' (burglar bars) well installed in the windows so
that you can't pull them off with a crow-bar? Are the windows larger
than your hand's width? Is the house built into the side of a hill
which holds the moisture? Does it look like a friendly neighborhood?
Is there electricity and a source of water, such as a well or a
cistern with a functioning pump? Then you take all this info and
hope to hear from the owner someday soon. How did we finally find
the right house and get in contact with the owner?
One day Dan Jealouse suggested we go together to look at some houses
over on the next ridge. We looked over the wall and through the
green gate of this one house, and thought it looked promising, but
how to find the owner? We learned he would be coming to the village
in the next few days, and could stop by the Jealouse's house. We
talked with him about the possibility of renting his house, and
were impressed with its large living and dining room, kitchen, pantry,
2 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms and front and back porches. The only catch
was that the inside of the house has not been painted, and the floors
are awaiting tiles. So, the scary part for us has been to advance
27 months worth of rent so that our landlord could buy the materials
needed for finishing the house.
We gave him a down-payment of the necessary money, and asked him
to use his own good credit rating to get the rest of the materials.
Not only did he consent, but he offered to give us receipts for
everything he would buy. (Amazing!) So today, when we return to
the village from YaoundŽ, we will give him another "tranche" (slice)
of the money.
Please pray that he will come through on his promises of having
the house done quickly. We're thankful that this new owner has brought
electric lines to his house, and that there is chlorinated water
actually coming into the house from a pipe. We're looking forward
to living in a new area of the village where others will know first
hand what is happening in the area of Bible translation in Yemba.
Thanks for your prayers and interest in this work, and in us.
Love, Gretchen
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Stanford University Update
Please pray for the numerous Christian groups on the Stanford University
campus in this new school year. The UPC Mission Committee sends
support to several of these groups.
Dan Clendenin, with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, leads
three Bible study groups for faculty and graduate students (medical,
general and physics). If you would like to know more about this
ministry, check out the Stanford
IVCF website.
Johannes and Christa Rusckow reach out to international students
and visiting scholars from over 100 countries and cultures. They
offer Bible studies, special outings and retreats. Visit
their website.
Alex and Susan Van Reisen are also with InterVarsity Christian
Fellowship. Alex leads the undergraduate fellowship group at Stanford
and reports that 150 students came to the IVCF Stanford new student
reception! Susan is the area director and oversees work at Stanford,
Santa Clara University, Ca. State Monterey Bay University, and U.C.
Santa Cruz. Visit their
website.
In these uncertain times, please pray that students will be drawn
to the message of hope that is proclaimed in these groups.
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