The Letter

Happy holidays to our family and friends!

The year 2010 is quickly coming to a close. We hope you will enjoy the pictures as a nice recap of the year from our perspective. For additional details, I have written the outline that follows.

On December 4, 2009, Bill and Trixy arrived to their new home in Cameroon, Africa. Slowly they began to adjust to their new roles. Trixy began working as the sole physician for Buea 7th day Adventist Health Centre and Bill began working as development officer -- a title that includes supervising reconstruction of the hospital building, public relations locally and internationally, planning, infrastructure, and more! He is also trying to continue working on his PhD in leadership through Andrew's University.

Jordan, our dog-child extraordinaire, came with us to Cameroon. She enthusiastically adapted to chasing lizards instead of squirrels. She also enjoys the goats and chickens encountered on her daily walks around Buea.

In March, Trixy went for a walk down to the local bakery for peanut butter. On the way home, she encountered a local kitten and soon became the proud owner of her. The kitten was soon named Milo (pronounced "mee-low" by Cameroonian standards). Jordan and Bill were aprehensive of this new creature at first, but they have both come to friendly terms now!

April, May, and June were spent trying to solve the many structural defects in the hospital building in preparation for opening to in-hospital admission of patients. In the meantime, more and more patients came for daytime consults.

July and August are the rainiest months in Cameroon. Between heavier rains, the days consist of a steady drizzle. Bill wisely chose to return for 2 weeks to the States. He crammed in a condensed statistics course at Andrew's University there.

September saw our first student missionaries come to the health centre: Cherilyn Clayville and Moriah Ward. They are nursing students that have chosen to take a year to volunteer their service with us. With their arrival, we were able to open the hospital building for simple admissions. We are still trying to obtain hospital equipment for a theater (operating room), infant deliveries, and more intensive patient care. In the meantime, we are now admitting patients for IV fluids, medicines, and closer monitoring than is possible on an outpatient basis.

October flew by in preparation for our annual leave. Eleven months since leaving our home in the States to start our 5 year mission term in Cameroon, we are back in the U.S. visiting family and friends for annual leave. The time gives us a chance for reflection. So much has changed in our lives over the past year. We have met people from all over the world in Buea -- from many parts of Africa, Norway, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Romania, Switzerland, the UK and of course the USA. Each person is unique and comes from a unique culture.

We are all on a quest for something larger than ourselves - something to give meaning to our life. Our prayer for our friends and family this year is that you will find that meaning in your life and be filled with the joy that comes from living it.

Happy Holidays and Peace to all.