A Summer Adventure

Bryan, Cherie, and Michelle. One of Michelle’s souvenirs from Cameroon was having her hair braided Cameroon-style.

 We were able to enjoy an amazing family reunion that spanned the end of June and beginning of July, as we visited four countries in Africa and Europe.

First stop:  Cameroon

Cherie and I were able to return to Cameroon after 12 years away from this beautiful country.  We were able to meet our daughter Michelle as she finished her second year of teaching at the Rain Forest International School and said her goodbyes to students and friends.  It was amazing for Cherie and me to see friends and colleagues that we had not seen for many years and hear updates of their work.  It was fun to meet language teams that were just beginning their translation projects when we were there and are now finishing their translations.  It was encouraging as several Cameroonians shared stories of ways we had helped or blessed them over a decade earlier, sometimes in ways we did not even remember.   The branch even put me to work for a couple of days, updating a program I had designed 15 years ago that was still being used.  It was a time of gratitude as we remembered where God led us to live, and work, and raise both Bryan and Michelle.

On to Europe

When we left Cameroon, Michelle traveled with us to France where our son Bryan, also joined us.  We were able to spend several days there seeing the sites of Paris and the beautiful town nestled at the base of the Alps where we had studied French 20 years ago.  We then turned northward to visit London and then into Scotland, stopping to visit some dear friends from Cameroon along the way.  But we agreed that the most beautiful part of this trip was its finale in Ireland as we had amazing weather when we visited the lush green western coast and walked along the cliffs of Moher (shown in the photo on the right side).  On the average, we walked 7 to 8 miles each day.  We saw some amazing places.  We ate some really fun food as we sampled the specialties of Cameroon, France, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.

But what was perhaps most gratifying is that Bryan and Michelle still wanted to spend their vacation with us.  In addition we discovered the joy of having an adult son who is not a missionary and who wanted to cover much of the costs of this trip with us.   So we had a great trip, and three amazing weeks with both Bryan and Michelle.  And by the time we did all that together, we were ready to return home with lots of good memories and lots of work waiting for us.