Good morning from Los Angeles! 
Yesterday, Wednesday, our groups served at Hollywood Healthcare Partnership and Project Angel Food in the morning. HHP serves meals and offers medical services for those in need. The group made and served a meal. Max enjoyed making the spaghetti and commented on how grateful the recipients were.  Micah helped an elderly lady with her cane and received and appreciative kiss on the cheek for his thoughtfulness.  Stefan enjoyed talking with the folks and even got to speak a bit of German with some. The overall sense was that these are not homeless people they are "people!"

The group at Project Angel Food helped to prepare and package over 1,500 meals which were to be delivered later that day.  Aidan cooked!! Zaria liked the packaging machine.  Maria was open to talking to others in the kitchen and met some really kind volunteers - even the cookie lady, Erma.  We will add photos soon. 

In the afternoon we went to Home Boy Industries.  The tour guide, Gabrielle, shared his story of being out of the gang and sober for nine months. It was emotional and inspiring.  Olivia and Tori were moved by his admitting that even after being shot four times it never occurred to him that he could change.  Nick was impressed at how dedicated he is to changing his life now that he has a support system to help him. Mindy met Father Gregory, the Home Boy founder, and felt like she had just met a rock star. 

We are looking forward to our service assignments today. 
#doorstories14 or our Facebook page. 

Youth Group at DOOR Hollywood. #doorstories14

Arrived safely at DOOR's community house Sunday evening. Monday some of us went to Project Angel food who prepare and package and deliver meals for cancer and aids patients. The other group worked on the community garden and then to Alexandria House to help with the day care and camp programs. Great Day #doorstories14

On Tuesday we worked hard at the food pantry sorting food-some not fit for human consumption .  Later we sorted apples apples and apples. And peppers too. 

 

Coming Home!

Our team is heading home on Monday.  Assuming that they followed past tradition, they ate an excellent meal at the Hilton in Yaounde and then headed to the airport.

Shuttle Back to Church: Because the final flight is coming in so late, on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, this year they don't want anyone to come to the airport.  Instead they are getting their luggage and taking shuttles back to the church.  If all goes well, they should arrive between 1:00 and 1:30 a.m. at Incarnation.

Please pray for:

• Safe travel and that they easily make all of their connections.
• Minimal jet lag
• Adjustment back into American culture (often it is much harder to come back than to go because you see the US differently)
• For the travelers and their families understanding as they adjust to each other again

Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer.

From Elias...

We arrived in Yaounde this afternoon. The group is tired but satisfied with the work we managed to finish. Most members of our group cleaned and repainted rooms in the pediatric ward of the hospital. Jonah and Kyle fixed an ambulance and made/installed new playground equipment at the hospital. Also, Elias and Antoine painted pictures of animals from Noah's ark in the newly painted rooms. All in all, the work was fulfilling and challenging.  (Pictures to come.)

Update for Friday, 7/11

Friday 11:20 am here - 7:20 pm Cameroon

The Africa Team has safely arrived in Yaounde from their flight from Ngaoundere.  It sounds like they are settled into their hotel and were off eating dinner.

They will fly out from Yaounde to Istanbul on Monday evening.

Please be praying for safe travel and especially as they start to process all that they have done and encountered in the last 2 1/2 weeks.  ~ Joan

Happy 4th of July!

Hey!   Chloe, Eli, Olivia, and Mizpa here.

     We are taking a break from painting the pediatric ward after a day of cleaning out 4 rooms. It seems no one has been blogging,(due to our spotty wifi) so we thought we would give it a try.  We were given tips (steps) by “elders” so here we go :)

Step 1: Describe our work-  In the past few days we completed 5 rooms free of bugs and new paint jobs that create a "get well" atmosphere. Eli and Antoine have been painting many, many animals. Jonah and Kyle are installing a new clutch and fixing the motor in the ambulance. Chloe, Catie and Mizpa are working on a map of the hospital to guide people as well as painting.

Step 2: Our impressions-  We are so glad to be here. In the beginning it seemed as though we weren't making an impact or really helping much but as of now we are hopeful and genuinely happy to be making a huge difference.

Step 3: Funny story-  Insecticide is useless against the “Battlestar Gallactaroach.” I'm convinced they will take over the world. When we sprayed the beds an army of cockroaches came but we had the higher ground and big feet! Also I would like to add that the drivers are a little unaware at times.

     "Every time I ride with Jonah I hit my head on the ceiling. " (Chloe)

     "Kyle forgot that I was getting inside the car and drove off. "(Olivia)

Sharayah, Catie, Mizpa, and Natalie have been getting their crunk on every night at Diamant Noir Bar and even took Pastor Luther whose dance moves are... Something!

Step 4: Future plans-  We are having a bonfire tonight. Happy 4th of July!

Corn at the compound.

Step 5: Quotes-

   "I'm not going to pretend my hair isn't beautiful in this humidity... It is"- Eli

   "I don’t want to die yet"- Natalie on a wobbly ladder

   "Sorry" -Sari

   "I just got stabbed in the eye" -Maria (don’t give your toddlers knives)

   "Mosquitos suck"-Luke

   "I guess I’m a Smurf today" -Katie

Needless to say the trip is going well. And we are excited to finish up at the hospital.  Miss you all! 

View of the area

Update from our travelers...

The blog updates will be fewer this year as there is no internet at the mission compound where the group is staying.  Joan Bohnstedt spoke with Sharayah this morning and learned the following:

Sari got the router working, but the modem is shot.  The hospital's internet is also very sporadic so most communication this year will come through phone calls and texts.

Luke and Eli are healthy again and so is everyone else in the group.

Sharayah and Caroline received their bags, but Pr. Luther's box remains missing. It may be gone forever as it had some electronic equipment in it that was supposed to be left there.

This year they are painting and redoing the pediatric portion of the hospital. (This is the same section of the hospital that they put the mosquito screens on the windows three years ago.)  They are painting the pediatric ward in a Noah's Ark theme. The rooms are now very dark.  They are painting each room a different color of the rainbow, including the ceilings, to help lighten up the rooms.  They will also be painting animals in each room to continue the theme.   After the inside is painted, they will paint the outside of the building. They got the supplies yesterday (Monday) from the hardware store in town and started painting today.

Three members of the team are redoing the play structure by adding the swings and some other pieces, while others are working on the ambulance. Additionally, some of the other team members are shadowing a few of the hospital personnel. 

These pictures of the pediatric ward, the ambulance and the cooking area are from the trip two years ago.

 

A little background on how the hospital is set up from Joan:

The hospital is set up quite differently from an American hospital.  Instead of being one big building, it is more like a compound with many smaller one or two story buildings. There is a pediatric building, a surgery center, a maternity ward, pharmacy, admin building and some others.

Another huge difference is that in Cameroon, is that the families of the patients are responsible for feeding and taking care of the patients such as giving meds.  It's also a pay as you go system meaning that a patient gets a booklet that is their medical record.  After the patient registers and pay the admittance fee, s/he goes to the area where they need to receive care.  Then they are looked at and diagnosed. Afterwards the patient or a family member goes back down to the cashier, pays for the supplies/medicine and then takes it back where the patient is being treated. Hospital staff then use the supplies/medicine to treat the patient. 

If the patient's care requires an overnight or longer stay, there are buildings out back where family members may stay (often times with most of the family including the kids).  They remind me of quonset huts with a room for each family.  There is also an area to do laundry by hand (no machines) and a building for cooking (over an open fire).

Thank you for your continued prayers.  Please pray for the team as they work and interact with hospital personnel, patients, and others in the community, continued health, and energy and fun as they do their projects.

June 26th - Update!

    We made it to Yaounde and we leave tomorrow morning for Ngaoundere. We've spent the day here catching up on some rest after getting in late last night. So far everything's gone fairly well... minus some trivial details like: 
 -Boarding a plane, waiting an hour, deboarding, waiting 2 hours, and then boarding the same plane again to get to Houston. 
-Once there, we bolted across to the complete opposite side of the airport to make our flight to Istanbul (but luckily had 45 minutes to wait as that flight was also delayed). 
 -Luckily, our flight to Yaounde was also pushed back so we didn't end up missing any flights. 
 -Once we finally made it to Cameroon, a few of us were left with the unfortunate surprise of not having our bags. Caroline and I (Sharayah) are both missing our bags, as well as Pastor Luther missing one of the boxes he sent.  We are all waiting on any word from the airport to see if they show up, so PLEASE keep that in your prayers.
   Other than those flooks, we are all doing well and are very excited to make it to Ngaoundere tomorrow. We miss you all, and to all a goodnight!!
    ~Sharayah & Catie~

2014 Incarnation Mission Trip to Cameroon

This morning we sent our mission team off to Cameroon, Africa.  They are scheduled to arrive in Yaounde, Cameroon on Wednesday, June 25, at 11:05pm.  On Friday, June 27, they fly to Ngaoundere where they will stay and work until July 10.  They will return to us on Tuesday, July 15, just before midnight.  

 Check back regularly over the next few weeks for updates from our travelers.  Share this blog with others!