Finally in Bamenda

We are here!  I think I can safely say that the feeling is quite surreal, which may or may not be a factor of the extreme fatigue that we are all experiencing.  

To quickly recap the events of our day...

We arrived this morning at Bamenda around 6:30.  It was humid and there was no doubt that it was Africa.  We all easily passed through immigration and Chris Jackson was eagerly awaiting for us as we entered the terminal.  To our GREAT surprise, all 16 pieces of our baggage were already waiting in the terminal.  While Air Maroc could not figure out how to keep 6 passengers on schedule, they did an excellent job of keeping every piece of our luggage on our original itinerary.  Chris already had the luggage loaded and we headed for the customs checkpoint with a number of local workers carrying our baggage.  To our chagrin, the customs officer started to give us a hassle about the large quantity of luggage.  Chris went and spoke with the manager and was able to get all of the bags cleared without paying a single franc - which is really what they were looking for.  We loaded up the baggage and went to the Baptist Guest House to have breakfast and repack for the trip to Bamenda.

We had an incredible 5 hour trip from Douala to Bamenda with Sue, Susanne, Amy, and Tom squeezed in the back seat and Chris, Colin, and Philip squeezed into the front seat of Chris's Land Cruiser - with all of the luggage strapped to the roof and stuffed in the back.  We got stopped by several police road checks and also stopped to enjoy some fresh bananas and a round of raw sugar cane.  The country side was beautiful and everyone took turns napping during the trip.

Upon our arrival in Bamenda, we checked in at our guesthouse and went for a late lunch with the Jacksons.  There were lots of hugs and praises as Karen, Amy, and Sue realized that there longstanding prayer request had finally been fulfilled.

After lunch we headed to the church, put up the decorations up, and - although we were 24 hours behind - we were finally ready to start the VBS.  It was only at this point that we headed back to the guesthouse to finally get cleaned up from our trip.  We then headed to the Jackson's for a big group dinner with many of the team that will be assisting us during the VBS.

We just finished our final group preparations and we are heading to the guesthouse to get some much needed rest.  There are 1,000 stories and praises that we want to share with you, but we are going to wait until tomorrow to gather our thoughts in a manner that does justice to the experience that we had.

We are so thankful for all of your prayers and support.