[Editor's Note: Blogs have been written/inspired by ALL the ladies on the Cameroon team. We all "holla atcha boi" etc.]
Updato Potatoe (in no particular order):
*Two more radio interviews -- sharing testimonies and the gospel...and beautiful, beautiful, BEAUTIFUL song. We may or may not have landed several recording contracts in this country. Errrr...
*Cameroonian Women's National Team takes on Ghana. The Cameroonian goalie is "DE BUERRRRE" (butter). 2-1 loss. Sad day.
*FRONT ROW SEATS TO A BOXING MATCH. We met some new friends from a public relations company here in Cameroon at one of our radio interviews. The event they had been working on was a super-welter weight championship fight (BELT IS ON THE LINE) between Cameroon's Issa Hamza and Thailand's Kaichai Sangwacha (sp? for both names). We were invited to attend and were given the VIP treatment. (Well, until the end -- when the raging public assumed we were Thailanders. Wah, wah.) Unfortunately Issa was KOed in the fourth round but it was still a fantastic experience and great to build relationships with new people.
*Football (soccer) game against Cameroonian National Track Athletes -- 51 people involved. We won in a resounding victory - 3-1. Their only goal was on a penalty kick. The best part was at the end we were able to share a testimony and the Gospel with everyone involved. (Oh -- and sodas.) Props to Jacenta for her testimony -- she rounded up our group today...now we have all had a chance to share our testimonies in front of a group of athletes. Exciting!
*Dinner with Ange (the President of Athletics in Cameroon) in a hospital. It was delicious but the highlight of the evening was Ange's final farewell as our van was pulling away. He saw Taylor in the window and shouted his nickname for her sadly..."PUIS J'ALLAIS AUX TOILETTES...." (Trans: Can I use the toilets?) On our final day we have been presented with some overwhelming gifts -- from AIA, from the track athletes and from the federation of athletics. Pretty amazing.
*Dinner at Bernadette's (an AIA volunteer in Cameroon, national women's basketball coach, and ex-national team member). The food was scrumdiddlyumptious. Our host is the greatest. We all wish to claim her as our African mother. The highlight was the homemade smoothie juice. We liked it so much that she showed up to Ange's dinner with some more!
*Church on Sunday. In all of our African garb glory. We were honored to witness a wedding -- in the church service!
Alright loyal blog readers. This will be our last address to you from Cameroon as we depart for Limbe tomorrow morning and then back to the states on Thursday/Friday. Thank you so much for your support both monetarily and prayerfully. God has blessed us so much on this trip -- as expected, we feel we are taking more away than we were able to give. Our time in Yaounde went so fast! We cannot believe that tonight is our last night at Silo/Shilo and we have said all of our "au revoirs" to the friends we have made here. Tomorrow will be our last breakfast of chocolate and bread -- some of us are more upset over this than others. We are certainly excited for our time in Limbe but it is difficult to come to the realization that all of this is coming to a close.
Upon our return to America please please ask us about our trip. We will probably be busting at the seams wanting to share everything we experienced -- all of the jokes, all of the funny cultural differences, and most importantly the new handshake we've learned and have pledged to spread across America. (Just kidding -- the most important thing is of course the many varied and exhilirating ways that God has worked in the lives of us and the athletes that we have met.) So, feel free to ask questions. We will be more than willing to answer. Thank you so very much for your support -- none of us will ever be the same.