Service with a Smile

Just as the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve...

Matthew 20:28

It is amazing to be part of the Cameroon Mission Team. The work ethic and joyful spirit of the members is incredible- there are no complaints to be heard, and the team works to find solutions instead of frustrations. It is our privilege and joy to work with the church to bring hope and the Lord's goodness to our brothers and sisters in Africa.

Today was marked by many accomplishments. The inside projects continue to bring about incredible results. We now have four of the five bedrooms completed, as well as, all three bathrooms. The girls are going to love the purple walls! Wanting the rooms to look perfect, we decided to take off all the doors and give them a fresh coat of paint. The room conversion is shaping up nicely, looking as though it was always a bedroom. Rachel finished up the step ledges to hide some uneven cement work and they look fantastic! 

Max and Tim spent time roaming around the attic to clean up the existing wiring and to run new wiring for the stove outlet. The hole was drilled through the wall for the gas line for the stove, as well.

The outside crew outdid themselves today, making incredible progress. Don continued working on the wall, adding a spike strip to ensure the safety of our little 'princesses'. Max and Tim devised a way to bend the rebar easier and faster, while Donald perfected his grinding skills to make dagger sharp points. 

The water system is nearly complete. No longer do we have to race up the boards of the tower to turn the water on and off. As fun as it might have been, it is far more efficient to have the valve within reach. The support beams were added to the tower, the leaks were fixed, and the filters were replaced. The water flow to the house has improved greatly.

The fun project of the day was the construction of a swing set. The main beam and legs are ready and the holes have been dug for placement. A friendly competition of pull-ups showed Tim as strongman with 10, Mike following with four, and Max getting ripped off as the support bricks started to crack after pumping out 5 superb pull-ups.

The dirty job of the day was the removal of the chicken coop. Stephan and Jake resembled wrecking balls as they were happy to get the job done as quickly as possible. All free hands helped to throw the remnants in the trash pile.

The younger part of the crew continue to be ambassadors of Christ by playing soccer and keep away with the neighborhood kids. Abbey has been a good sport in letting the little girls braid her hair over and over again.

Our kids are somewhat of 'Tom Sawyer's' as the local kids can't wait to help bend rebar or sweep the floor. Abbey had a line of girls sitting impatiently for their turn at the broom, while Connie took pictures as they posed with their best smiles.

Building both friendships and houses are true marks of serving others and living in imitation of Christ and our crew has done a fine job.

Today's post comes to you from Shelia and Mary