Church

We wanted to introduce to the churches around Mbingo.  We primarily go to church a few houses down from where we live, but like to visit some of the other local churches when we can.

 This is Mbingo Baptist Church on a typical Sunday as church is finishing.  We officially joined this church a few months ago, so it is where we go most weeks.  You can see all the people in this picture crowded on the front lawn to fellowship after the service.

This is the inside of Mbingo Baptist Church.  The service lasts 2 hours or so and includes plenty of singing, some dancing, and a sermon from the pastor.  The service is in English, which makes it easy to listen and enjoy.  We have many hospital employees, some patient caretakers, and other visitors attend each week.  It truly is an extension of the ministry of the hospital.

Isaac usually cannot make it through the whole service, so he gets to go outside and play with the other children.  This is him running with two of his Cameroonian friends.  They love to just watch Isaac and touch his white skin and blonde hair.

Some Sundays, we take the walk to the Mbingo II Church.  Mbingo II is the nearby village where many of the hospital employees live.  It takes about 30 minutes to walk there along the path.  This picture is the view as you approach the village.  As you can see, things are still very green here as the rainy season is just now coming to an end.  As we walk through the village, we see many of our coworkers at their houses and greet them.

This is the Mbingo II Church.  It is basic and still under construction, but it has a roof and some chairs and is a truly African service.  You can see all of the produce to be given in the offering outside the door as people head in for the service.

This is the inside of the Mbingo II Church.  The service is in English and Kom (local dialect).  The music is a mix of English and Kom and there is always plenty of dancing.  This usually occurs around the time of the offering.  They are all certainly cheerful givers!

This is what you get when you try to get a 2 year old to pose.  Angela was taking the picture and asked Isaac to smile.  No matter how many times we tried, his "smiles" involved opening his mouth and closing his eyes.  We thought it was funny anyway.

We always look forward to sharing with you all about our lives here in Cameroon.  If there are other things that you would like to know about or have questions, don't hesitate to email us and we can try to add it to the blog.