Freedom

I was in the middle of teaching about Evangelism when my phone rang. It was a strange number and I picked up the phone and put it back down without answering. A few seconds later, I decided to answer.

The voice on the other side was a strange one but they kept shouting, Mama Yaya, Mama Yaya and something else that I could not understand. I finally asked, "Who is calling?"

"Mama Yaya, It's Schwartz." I only know one Schwartz in Cameroon and he is one of the juveniles we minister to inside the Prison. My heart started racing because they are not allowed to have phones and I wasn't sure what to think.

"Schwartz?? Are you ok?"

"Mama Yaya, I'm out, I'm out!"

"What do you mean you're out? "

"I have been released, I am no more in Prison!"

Now I started screaming and tears began to flow! My poor students looked at me in confusion and asked, "What is it? Auntie Yaya are you ok?" I told them that Schwartz had been released and they joined in the screaming. All of us began dancing. (literally - these students have been working with me in the Prison and know him.) Schwartz told us where he was and we made a beeline to his location. 
                                                                                 

                                                                                     

Schwartz asked us to come to his home and meet his family. He introduced us and then began to tell us and his family what God has done for him in the last few years. He apologized to his family for what he has taken them through and thanked us for what we have taught him and explained to his family how we impacted his life. He pledged to all of us that he was truly a different person and we would see the "fruit" of not giving up on him. He gave a very powerful testimony. My Mama heart swelled and threatened to burst.

The next day Schwartz came to Bethel Cameroon for our family fellowship and he brought a friend with him. HAPPY does not begin to describe what I felt. I could barely sit still the entire night and it was so difficult to focus. It was hard for me to believe he was actually there. The Lord continues to blow my mind.

Our team will begin spending time with Schwartz and his family weekly on Friday. Our goal is to provide he and his family love and Discipleship just as we did with him when he was incarcerated.


Our next meeting with the Youthful Offenders in Prison was a true celebration. In addition to celebrating Schwartz, 2 others were made aware that they would be released the next afternoon.

We were able to bless the Youthful Offenders Ward with 2 Good and Evil comic book Bibles and an electric shaver. The boys will be establishing a business within the prison. Other inmates will come to them to have hair cut. They will save the money and once a month they will all decide how to spend the profit. They may choose to buy food, soap, toiletries etc. that will benefit all of them. The Cameroon prison provides one meal a day for inmates and that is it. Any other food or necessities must come from your family and friends. Sadly, many inmates are abandoned by their families and friends. Our hope is that they will all learn a new skill that will benefit them when they are out of the prison as well. 

Schwartz desires to finish High School. He is 18 and has a few years of school to complete. Would you be interested in helping to sponsor his next year of education? $250 will help to pay his tuition, purchase uniforms/books and provide a bit of transportation money to get him there.

Thank you all for everything you do to make my life in Cameroon possible. Without you, stories like this would not told. Your prayers, your gifts and sacrifices changes lives around the world on a daily basis.

Flashback Friday (a tad bit late) and Random Facts about Yaya

If you know me at all you know that I'm not your average bear. I used to love to say that I'm FAR FROM NORMAL and quite ok with that. Since the Lord has invaded my life, I find that most Christians don't like to hear these types of things. In fact, they tend to think that people who use language like this are a tiny bit weird!

These days I'm on a journey of self discovery - as in who God says Yaya is and not who people say she is or even the person I may have created. Through this blog, you will get a bit of insight into who  God created when He made me. Buckle your seat belts, this is a chance to see into me, the good, bad and ugly!

I'm grateful to have found a church full of others who are FAR FROM NORMAL as well. My awesome not so normal, Pastor's wife, Missy, has challenged some of her friends to blog for the next 30 days. She has come up with topics that are sure to let you in on the "secret" that I'm not your average Missionary! Since I was so far behind with my normal blog, I accepted her challenge. My blog will take on a different feel for a bit. In an effort to catch up with her timetable, I'm combining Friday and Saturday's topics in one blog post.

Flashback Friday was supposed to talk about our very first celebrity crush... Here we go... No judgement allowed, it was our FIRST crush remember!

The first crush that I remember having was "Leroy" from FAME! Leroy's real name is Gene Anthony Ray.                                                              

        

I was obsessed with his corn rows, muscles, and his dancing ability. I thought it was so cute that a boy would have braids and dance... I can't stand guys with braids today! Interesting how things change! Now that I'm looking at these pictures, I'm wondering where the muscles are that I was so in love with????

Random Facts about Yaya...

1. Since we are talking about crushes... My "dream" guy is 6ft 4, 220 lbs, Dark Chocolate and Bald! Those of you who know me well, saw that coming, didn't you?? I'm not sure he actually exists in Yaya's world because I haven't met him yet... Are you keeping an eye out for me? :-)

2. I love music and dancing. I don't have one particular genre of music that is a favorite, I can fall in love with ALMOST any music. While dancing isn't my greatest skill, I'm sure my love of dance is from my rebellious nature... I grew up in a very strict Pentecostal church where dancing and listening to secular music was forbidden! My friends and I (friends from said church) secretly recorded music from the radio and danced ourselves silly when our parents weren't around! Thank God for FREEDOM and TRUTH! As an adult, I took various dance classes off and on for years.

3. I love, love, love monkeys and would have one as a pet if I could.

4. I once kissed a random salesman during a mission trip when bargaining for one of my kids! Catch your breath, it was a kiss on the cheek!

5. I'm terrible at card games. I can never remember the rules and mix up different games in my head!

6. One of the things I miss the most while living a life overseas, is Live Music and Theater. I would skip 10 movies to pay for one good Broadway Show anytime!

7. Despite what people think, my natural personality is quiet and shy. I'm a serious introvert and I HATE public speaking! In small groups of people that I know well, I can talk your head off!

There's a tiny peek into the not so normal world of Yaya. I would love to hear random facts about YOU!

For those of you that are curious, here's a link to my Pastor's wife's blog. You can see for yourself just how not so normal we all are!  http://www.joyfulnonconformist.com/2014/08/august-insanity-blog-challenge-because.html

Updates and Prayer Requests

Hello Everyone!

It has been so long since my last update but hopefully as you read this you will understand why!

Things have been extremely busy here in Cameroon and one of the biggest reasons is because I have a baby in the house!

Emmanuel aka Moose is 8 months old today and has been with me since April (off and on) He was kidnapped or sold from Nigeria and was placed in the custody of the orphanage pending child trafficking charges. He became ill and the orphanage asked me to keep him so that we can keep him safe and his medical needs would be well taken care of. A few months ago the orphanage asked me to keep him indefinitely while the case is being heard in court because he is thriving while in my care. The orphanage doesn't have the staff to adequately care for him and he would spend all day in a crib. When I took him, at 4 months old, he could not lift his head or turn over etc., he would only lie on his back and cry. Today, he is a healthy, happy boy who is lifting his head, has learned to sit up and loves to "dance." When we have our devotions in the morning he goes crazy for the music! I love him dearly and will seek to adopt him if his parents are not found and he is released for adoption by the Cameroon government. Please keep Emmanuel and everyone involved in his case in your prayers. 

Ministry Updates:

                                                             

Our Ministry name in Cameroon has changed and we are finally registered with the government as a legal ministry in Cameroon. Our new name is Daughters of Destiny International. We have the equivalent of a 501c3 in America. I'm thrilled! We will be changing things in America soon.

                                                                               

We started the restaurant portion of Destiny's Delights in April at a place in our neighboring beach town of Limbe. We began with selling meatballs, scotch eggs, burgers and cake. Unfortunately, the place was robbed shortly after we left one night so for the safety of my girls, I stopped sales there. We have been in negotiations with the Council of Limbe for another location that we will pursue after the rainy season is over.

Cake sales have been good, we were averaging 200 or so a week, but with the arrival of rainy season and the students from the University on break, things have slowed down tremendously. This is NOT a surprise. The rains are so heavy June-Aug that everything in the city slow down. I am sure that we will see a big change when students return to town and the rains have ceased.

The owner of a local ice cream shop that sells our cake is in the process of building the first "Mall" in Buea. She has asked if Destiny's Delights will manage the food court! We are still negotiating prices and space but I am excited about the possibilities. Will you be praying with us?

Our students and I went to the orphanage 3 days a week to help with the children and providing some basic medical help. We did this until June when we needed to prep more for KLA and when the kids finished school. We bathed the kids, fed them, helped prepare additional meals, swept, mopped and cleaned the mattresses in all of the dorms. We also passed out drugs and took many children to the hospital. We are desperately praying for the ability to hire a nurse full time (or 2 part time) to assist with the kids. This would cost about $200 per month. We are also looking for sponsors for vitamins, iron, and de-worm medication for the kids. This is $500 for a 3 month supply of all and transportation for someone to administer the meds.

Our Prison Outreach has changed and we now have permission to provide a non denominational church service for the Juvenile's that are incarcerated and anyone else who wishes to participate. We are working on a plan to minister more to the wardens within the prison as well. They have asked for this and so have our students. Through our partnership with Bethel Cameroon, we have trained students to work within the prison, hospital and orphanage. The fruit we are seeing from this partnership is AMAZING!  Please be praying with us as we begin the new Sunday Fellowship next week!

Our Kingdom Leadership Academy (also in partnership with Bethel Cameroon) started on July 11. 8 Graduates from BC are living in a dorm and we are providing Leadership training 10-4 Monday - Friday. This is true Discipleship. We are teaching them how to lead in the areas of Teaching/Administration, Worship and Outreach(Missions)/Community Development. In addition, all participants are being coached for their personal goals and receive counseling for their inner healing. The students have to "work" to pay for their training and they are providing the weekly baking for Destiny's Delights as part of their work. When they graduate in Sept. they will be eligible to work for Bethel and/or Daughters of Destiny in various capacities. We are excited to be part of raising up the next generation of leaders. I am teaching 2-3 days a week, it's challenging but good.

Personal updates and prayer requests:
My health is so much better. I am not experiencing the high levels of pain and fatigue and I am almost functioning at 100%. I still need more sleep than I used to but that may just be a part of getting older.

My father has been hospitalized a few times in a few weeks and I am a bit concerned about him. My family and I are trying to make plans for his future because he is not currently in a safe place. I would like to make an unexpected trip home to help care for him and decide what to do. The flight is about $3,000, would you be willing to help with financial assistance or airline miles? My church has raised about $1100 to help with this. I would plan to be in the US about a month unless his health dictates me being there longer and I would like to leave mid August. If you can donate, hit the donate button in the upper left hand corner of the blog or message me for where you can send a check.



Thanks as always for all of your prayers and support! I love and appreciate you!

Red and Yellow, Black and White, They're all Precious in His Sight...

I heard the lock on my door clicking in the wee hours of the morning, daybreak had not yet come. My first thought was, Something is wrong, very, very wrong! I jumped out of bed and ran to the door. My room mate was standing there with her phone in her hands. "The Orphanage called, " she said. My heart sank. I frequently turn off my phone as I'm going to bed because in Cameroon, it's customary to call ANYTIME of the day or night, and sometimes it's just to say hello. As most of you know, I get very little sleep as it is, so being woken in the middle of the night or early in the morning for a non emergency just isn't fun for me. Most people that know the roomie and I will call her if they can't find me...

The past few weeks have been hectic with numerous calls from the orphanage about sick children. There are so many children and not enough workers or resources for them to handle everything that they need. Medical Care and Nurturing care for children in general is close to my heart and I would give my right arm for just about any child who needs help so...

This morning was no exception. There were 2 children in need and one child in serious condition. He hadn't eaten for 2 days, was refusing drink and had been up the entire night raging with fever. His care giver at the orphanage was beside herself. She has 10 other children 2 years of age and younger as well as several more that are 5 yrs. or younger and many of them were sick as well.

I immediately called our favorite driver and asked him if he was available and how quickly he could come pick me up. He said 30 minutes. The roomie and I chatted about a few other things and asked each other, "What are we going to do? We can't keep going like this and we need to figure out some solutions. Why are so many children sick? How do we cut down the malaria diagnosis? God, What do we do?" I finally got dressed and out the door.

As I approached the door to the baby unit, the primary caregiver says to me. Auntie Yaya, "What do we do? Look at this one, and this one. See, he has not moved since morning." Our little patient was lethargic, non responsive and burning up! His temp was 103.1.  I went through the list of questions I knew they would ask me at the hospital. As she gave her answers, my heart started beating faster and faster. I began to pray in my mind. Lord, please don't let us be too late. Please let him be ok. At some point I switched from asking to declaring. I had to declare life over him as much for my own sanity as his well being.  He is new to the orphanage and I didn't know much about him. When I asked his date of birth and they gave a date that was 2 years ago I stopped in my tracks. "What did you say? Are you sure? Repeat! She gave the same answer. He is 2 years old.

How can he possibly be 2 years old? This child doesn't walk, talk or do anything that I would expect of a 2 year old. He looked like he was 9 or 10 months tops! I had observed him on previous occasions and noticed that his arm didn't quite look right and that he had hardly any use of his legs. I stood in shocked silence for a minute or two before I grabbed him and ran down to the Administrative Offices to get the documents I needed to take the child to the hospital. As I waited on the Secretary, tears began to stream down my cheeks. I must be dreaming. This child can't be this sick and have major delays in his growth. My emotional roller coaster began with a vengeance. All I could do was weep and pray.

Part 2 coming soon.

In the meantime, please join me in praying for our kids at the orphanage and children everywhere that don't have access to quality care and adequate medical care. Children around the world are being neglected, abused and forgotten. This IS NOT OK. Something MUST be done and if you haven't already started asking, Please ask the Lord, "What is my part to help eliminate all of this?"  "What can I do to make a difference in the life of a child?"

Exciting News!

Hello everyone!

My whirlwind trip to America ended on Jan 21 and I made it safely back to Cameroon on Jan 22. I can't deny that I am delighted to be free of SNOW, SLEET and FREEZING RAIN!

Our internet was out city wide when I arrived and it is still out at my house. We are hoping to have a solution this week. 

It was a beautiful 85 degrees when I landed in Douala and I hit the ground running. Sherri and I made a trip to the orphanage the afternoon after our arrival and we spent the following day in the hospital with two different people. School has been great and I have also visited the prison, our single mom's in the village and my students that I'm teaching ESL. Don't worry, I am pacing myself...

Many of you heard about our dream to open a small restaurant here to help begin to sustain the ministry from this side of the ocean and to provide jobs for some of the locals. My team has been so faithful and they have found a beautiful building in a GREAT location. It's a bit smaller than I had hoped and we will have to do some tiny renovations to make a workable kitchen but I think it is a great possibility. I am still in the process of praying but it surely seems like God is opening some great doors. Would you pray with us? Will you also consider giving? We need approximately $1500.00 to purchase tables, chairs, umbrella's for outside and to install a workable sink. If we take this building our goal is to open sometime in March. We have just about everything else we need begin.  I have to make a decision in the coming week if we will take the place or not. My team has been looking for several months and this is the first place in a good location that we can afford. Real Estate is SCARCE in Buea but I don't want that to pressure me into making a quick decision.  I welcome any feedback from any of you. Feel free to email me and if you would like to give towards this project, you can do so by clicking the donate button in the upper left hand corner of this blog. Your gift is 100% tax deductible and will help us to continue to share the gospel in Cameroon and help change lives.

My volunteer staff was so faithful to keep all of the baking business going while I was away and they were able to make a good profit. I'm confident with some additional training  and a few more locations to showcase our goods, Destiny's Delights will soon be a hit all over Buea!

I will be BUSY in the next few weeks with additional training and preparations for teams and visiting missionaries.

Please continue to pray for us and all of our endeavors in Cameroon.

I have a few unspoken prayers that I would love for you to lift up as well.

Thanks for all of your love and support!

2014 Ministry Goals

Hello everyone!

I have been in the US for the past few weeks and my bones are rattling with the bitter cold! :-) I wonder why I am here during one of the hardest winters ever but I trust that God knows what He is doing. 

It has been a blessing to see so many of you. I have been to 6 states already and will be traveling to a few more. There is no way that I will be able to see all of you on this trip but I hope to see as many as I can. 

I have been able to be seen by some medical personnel and have a follow up appointment this week. Please be prayerful about issues regarding my health. I am trusting God for complete and total healing of malaria issues and a few other things.

I want to take a moment to update you on some of our goals for the upcoming year! 

Dreams and Visions

Restaurant In order for the ministries in Cameroon to become self-sustaining, we are proposing to open various businesses that will generate revenue for ministry and will provide local employment. One of the first businesses will be a restaurant. Our simple menu will include: Hamburgers and fries Roasted fish and chips or dodo Pizza Roasted chicken and french fries or fried plantain, cake, Sorbet, Natural juices, Lemonade and limeade. The restaurant would ideally be located between Molyko and Bonduma in a high traffic area where there are plenty of University students. The restaurant would have weekend activities such as live music, movie nights, sports viewings, date nights, etc. The estimated start up costs are $20,000.

FARMING PROJECT Land has been offered for use for a farming project. It would provide many needed items for the restaurant and for home use at a much cheaper price. It would also provide a home and work for a couple in hopes that they would also be able to sustain themselves and their family. In order to start the project, we will first need to complete the caraboat house and build a pit toilet for them to live on the land. The land will have the house, a poultry, a goat fence, milking stands and then the land to be planted and harvested. We eventually will want to add a greenhouse. Costs are yet to be determined.

Leadership Academy Our Leadership Academy will be an intensive training program for people that would become future leaders. All will have core curriculum training and then will be able to pursue a particular track that fits their calling and interests. We will have a residential component to allow some trainees to optimally focus on the training course.

Ways you can help 1. Monthly support - My yearly support goal is $15,000. 50 people giving $30 per month will help take care of living expenses, ministry needs, and one plane ticket per year for me.

2. Education Scholarship - Education is actually cheap in Cameroon but many families still can't afford to send their children to school. $100 a year can send a primary, high school, or college student to school with attendant fees, books, and uniforms. You can also save your change and encourage your friends and family to do the same for the next 6 months to help someone attend school!

3. Medical Scholarships - a significant portion of our budget has been diverted to cover medical costs. Emergency appendectomy, life saving breast cancer treatment, biopsy of a suspicious nodule, malaria medication, eyeglasses - all necessities but unexpected. Help us build a financial reserve to cover the medical costs of our Cameroonian "family". Any gift you would like to donate can help save a life. You can also save your change and encourage your friends and family to do the same for the next 6 months to help save a life!

4. Staff - 3 beautiful young women have been volunteering their time, energy and love tirelessly to enable ministry to be successful. Please help us to financially bless them for their dedication and hard work. Our goal is to raise $100/month per woman, for a year. The success of the restaurant will continue their salaries in the future.

5. Kingdom Cafe - we're launching a restaurant project to help financially sustain our ministry projects. Start-up costs for phase 1 of the project is estimated at $10,000. You can give a one time gift of $500 or $1,000 or you can purchase and decorate a restaurant table for $100.

6. Come help us!!! There are multiple ministry projects that would benefit from your expertise. You can help teach children at the orphanage or in the prison. Come help build a house for our farming project. Come help us farm the land or raise our chickens and goats. Let us know your passion and talent and we can find somewhere to make use of them.

7. We are always in need of unlocked used cell phones. These are helpful to us when we have teams visiting and general use with our volunteers.

8. We are also looking for manual meat grinders, juicers, and coolers to be used with our restaurant project.

9. Host a bake sale or other fundraiser at your church or workplace to benefit our restaurant and/or farming project! We are always looking for ways to fund raise year round to help offset ministry costs. If you have other ideas, please let me know!

In order for these dreams to become a reality, we need you. Will you pray about how you can be a part of this vision? Do you give? Do you come teach? Do you provide resources? Do you continue to pray and champion our cause in your sphere of influence? Please join me in praying for this dream. I am certain that where God provides a vision, He provides Provision. He has begun with showing us the need and giving more workers to help. We will go where He leads us and do what He says to do.

Please email me if you are interested in helping in any way or if you have questions about anything!

If you would like to give, you can click the donate button in the upper left corner of this page!

Thanks again for all of your love, support and encouragement. You are invaluable to me and the ministry that God has blessed me to be a part of.

Yaya's Coming to America!!!!

Hello everyone!

My apologies for not updating sooner. Our house has been full of visiting missionaries and our schedule has been CRAZY! In addition to that I had another round with malaria and needless to say, I haven't quite been myself lately. Thankfully, this time around, we caught the malaria quite early and it wasn't anywhere close to being as bad as the last time. We aren't sure whether this was a relapse or a new infection. Either way, I'm fairly certain it's over and for that, I am GRATEFUL! I will have lab work done next week just to be sure but I'm not sleeping the day away anymore and I can almost eat like a normal person again so we are praising God!

Enough of that! 

Our home has been full of guests since August. There literally hasn't been a day without at least one guest since August 29th. (and generally there have been more than one)  I have been playing musical bedrooms since this started and it has been a blessing to have people around. The one thing that has been made abundantly clear is that we need to start looking for a place to rent as a guest house. We simply don't have space for everyone who wants to come and that is a wonderful problem to have.

Our days have been full with teaching at the school, home visits with people who are sick and shut in, Prison Ministry, counseling sessions, orphanage visits, hospital visits, teaching English classes and more! We literally had to schedule a REST DAY on the calendar... it hasn't happened yet, It's scheduled for November 30th! :-) We love being busy and most of us are work-a- holics who are still learning to balance work and rest. That is a SERIOUS prayer request. Pray for balance and that we rest well. The work is always here and the needs overwhelm us at times. It's difficult to say no to someone when you are aware of genuine need but at the same time, we have to take care of ourselves so that we can adequately do what we are called to do. This is difficult for us at best.

I am delighted to let you know that I will be visiting America in the next few weeks! When airline miles didn't work, my wonderful Rozetta Church family donated the money for me to come visit for a short time! To all of my Rozetta family who may be reading this, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU again! You all completely shocked me! I will be in the States from mid December through Jan 21st.

While this visit was mainly to get some medical check ups and some much needed rest, I will be making some whirlwind visits to churches and hopefully I'll get to squeeze some time in with my family. :-) I'll be updating you all as to what has happened in the last year and share some of our goals for next year.

Several people have been asking what they can start collecting for donations and I have sent out lists. Because of limited space and weight with what we can bring back on the plane, I am asking that you give Sam's/Wal Mart gift cards, Amazon gift cards, donate to my support account or our newly created Medical Scholarship or School Sponsorship funds. The last time I was in America you all gave so generously with items that we needed I was overwhelmed with joy.  I discovered that because my travel schedule is sooooooooo busy, we spent a lot of money transporting those things from place to place because you have to pay for luggage on domestic flights. If we can order online and ship to my church or I can simply pick up the items to pack and carry them ONCE, we are better stewards of the finances God is providing for us. This is NOT to say that I won't accept actual items. We just don't want to end up paying more to schlep things around than they are worth... I don't think God is pleased with that. Sam's and Wal-Mart gift cards also help with fuel for the people who are driving me all around America while I'm there!

The other thing I realize is that most of my financial support is used to pay for medical bills and school fees... There is a huge need for both of these here. Sometimes this can put us in some interesting situations financially, so the need to raise specific money to meet these needs is wise. My current monthly support (actually coming in) isn't enough to meet all of my "regular needs" but God is faithful and one time gifts always come when they are needed. I want to do a better job with planning and continuing to help others so changes need to be made. If you are interested in knowing more, please message me and I will let you know and I will also be talking about this during my visit home.

As we are looking at ways to provide income for the people we work with and help the ministry to become more self-sustainable, we are actively pursuing opening a restaurant in Cameroon. God has opened some interesting doors that I'll discuss with you later but if any of you have experience with running a restaurant and/or helping young people write business plans, I could certainly use your help. Please email for details. I have a LOT of questions and I need a LOT of help. We also need help with non profit law and taxation so if any of you have expertise or know someone who might donate their time to help, I would appreciate the connections. 

Exciting things are happening in Cameroon and around the world! I'm so grateful to be a part of God changing lives. Thank you for your help as I take this journey. If you are a giver, prayer warrior or simply one who "loves on me" by sending encouraging emails I am grateful for your love and support!

I can't wait to see many of you and hug your necks! My last request is that in my quest to take back my health, I am endeavoring to eat as healthy as possible... If I'm visiting you, please help me out by not being offended when I want to try to stick to eating my fruits, veggies, and high quality protein! I know it's going to be holiday time and there will be lots of yumminess around but I don't want to go back to Cameroon sick, nor do I want to have sick days while I'm in America!

Love and hugs to all of you!