Monday, August 25, 2008
Coleman Cameroon Chronicles
August 2008 STATE OF THE UNION:
URBANITES SURVIVE FIRST YEAR!
The Coleman Family has come round the bend of their first anniversary here in the Cameroon capitol Yaoundé. They report it has been a year of transitions, settling in, and learning the ropes. Although only about 300 miles actual distance from their previous “bush” location, the lifestyle change was considerable!
Their sons have made the transition well, although both miss the open spaces and freedoms of the bush. Zac, now the tallest member of the family at 6’1” has found camaraderie among the Class of 2010 at Rain Forest International School (RFIS). To cap off their year, this resolute group of 18 terrific students weathered together a battery of tests, the legendary IGCSEs (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) which beset every 10th grade class at RFIS. Zac also took first place in a poetry contest at the school.
Noah stepped into the teen world in May, feted by seven of his friends at an all-night gala of video games, movies and masses of food. He and his brother performed admirably in their academic pursuits. Both enjoyed their stint on the RFIS Junior Boys’ Soccer team, their final record notwithstanding.
Dr. Arnie Coleman stepped up to the challenge of teaching Bible and Worldview to a group of forty-two 11th and 12th graders. Karen served the student body as Student Care Coordinator and Examinations Officer. Their roles may undergo some shifting in the coming 2008-09 school year as other staff come and go.
The other passion of their lives, the Esimbi Bible Translation Project, unfortunately experienced a slow-down this year, when the translation coordinator was drawn to another job a year ago. Recent meetings with project leaders served to take the pulse of the situation and encouraged them all to stay the course. There will be renewed efforts to secure cooperation and participation from various churches to continue to move the project forward.
Although the Colemans plan to minister in Cameroon as long as the Lord allows them to stay, their Yaoundé location will come up for review this year. There are several options under consideration and they will be reporting back in future State of the Union addresses as plans are firmed up.
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A few personal notes—
• We would like to express our deep and sincere appreciation to you for your prayers and support of our ministry here in Cameroon. We would not want to be here if people were not praying for us!
• We plan to be sending out these letters by post several times per year. We have also been sending email updates more regularly. If you would like to begin receiving those as well, please drop us a short email so that we can add you to that list. arnie.coleman@worldteam.org
• We do have a prayer request which may come as no surprise as you hear or read news reports on the global economy. The buying power of our dollars here in Cameroon has decreased at the same time prices, particularly for food, have increased. Our basic support needs also increased dramatically as we went from home-schooling the boys in a rural location to enrolling them at RFIS while living in this much more expensive urban setting. We would appreciate your prayers for our generous Heavenly Father to supply our needs.
• If you would like to join our support team, you can give either on-line at www.worldteam.org or by mail to: World Team; 1431 Stuckert Road; Warrington, PA 18976-2851. Please designate your contribution for Arnie and Karen Coleman. The office will send you a tax deductible receipt for all gifts.
Thanks for taking the time to get caught up on our chronicles. We are truly grateful for your part in our work here in Cameroon.
Arnie, Karen, Zac and Noah
URBANITES SURVIVE FIRST YEAR!
The Coleman Family has come round the bend of their first anniversary here in the Cameroon capitol Yaoundé. They report it has been a year of transitions, settling in, and learning the ropes. Although only about 300 miles actual distance from their previous “bush” location, the lifestyle change was considerable!
Their sons have made the transition well, although both miss the open spaces and freedoms of the bush. Zac, now the tallest member of the family at 6’1” has found camaraderie among the Class of 2010 at Rain Forest International School (RFIS). To cap off their year, this resolute group of 18 terrific students weathered together a battery of tests, the legendary IGCSEs (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) which beset every 10th grade class at RFIS. Zac also took first place in a poetry contest at the school.
Noah stepped into the teen world in May, feted by seven of his friends at an all-night gala of video games, movies and masses of food. He and his brother performed admirably in their academic pursuits. Both enjoyed their stint on the RFIS Junior Boys’ Soccer team, their final record notwithstanding.
Dr. Arnie Coleman stepped up to the challenge of teaching Bible and Worldview to a group of forty-two 11th and 12th graders. Karen served the student body as Student Care Coordinator and Examinations Officer. Their roles may undergo some shifting in the coming 2008-09 school year as other staff come and go.
The other passion of their lives, the Esimbi Bible Translation Project, unfortunately experienced a slow-down this year, when the translation coordinator was drawn to another job a year ago. Recent meetings with project leaders served to take the pulse of the situation and encouraged them all to stay the course. There will be renewed efforts to secure cooperation and participation from various churches to continue to move the project forward. Although the Colemans plan to minister in Cameroon as long as the Lord allows them to stay, their Yaoundé location will come up for review this year. There are several options under consideration and they will be reporting back in future State of the Union addresses as plans are firmed up.
************************************************************************
A few personal notes—
• We would like to express our deep and sincere appreciation to you for your prayers and support of our ministry here in Cameroon. We would not want to be here if people were not praying for us!
• We plan to be sending out these letters by post several times per year. We have also been sending email updates more regularly. If you would like to begin receiving those as well, please drop us a short email so that we can add you to that list. arnie.coleman@worldteam.org
• We do have a prayer request which may come as no surprise as you hear or read news reports on the global economy. The buying power of our dollars here in Cameroon has decreased at the same time prices, particularly for food, have increased. Our basic support needs also increased dramatically as we went from home-schooling the boys in a rural location to enrolling them at RFIS while living in this much more expensive urban setting. We would appreciate your prayers for our generous Heavenly Father to supply our needs.
• If you would like to join our support team, you can give either on-line at www.worldteam.org or by mail to: World Team; 1431 Stuckert Road; Warrington, PA 18976-2851. Please designate your contribution for Arnie and Karen Coleman. The office will send you a tax deductible receipt for all gifts.
Thanks for taking the time to get caught up on our chronicles. We are truly grateful for your part in our work here in Cameroon.
Arnie, Karen, Zac and Noah
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