Life at CBTS so far

Hello from Ndu! Here is an excerpt from an e-mail that I sent to my family earlier today:

So, life is a little different here. We flew into Yaounde on Saturday the 12th, and on the 13th we left at 6:30 am to drive cross-country all the way to Ndu. When we arrived, there was a large crowd gathered to welcome the president and his wife back (they had been on sabbatical in Minneapolis), and to welcome the "three new missionaries" (a title I would happily jettison had I the chance).
So, from then until now, well, we have been doing odds and ends. We had a fridge shipped to our house, then it broke. We bought a bunch of power adapters, then they didn't work. Our water has stopped twice now for a couple of days. Etc., etc. But life is at least progressing in a routine manner: we eat three meals a day (all very large), and go to bed around 9:00 each night, and wake up about 6:30.
My body isn't really sure what's going on, but I think it is pleased with the new schedule--sleep, not too much coffee, good food.

We have shaken more hands than I could hope to remember, and nearly everyone here goes by their "Christian name," like Emmanuel, Divine, Grace, Mercy, Hope, Godwill, Godwin, Spinoza, Goodness, Patience, etc.
One of my students this year is named Corinthians. Dead Serious. I have also met an Ephesians. I thought about making up a Christian name for myself like 2 Chronicles, but then I realized that I already had one! It has been pointed out to me on more than one occasion that my last name is Shepherd, usually said in an informative manner ( i.e., "In case you didn't know it, your last name is Shepherd"). Yep.
Yep it is.

One thing I have thought about a bit this trip has been the health of the Church in Africa. I know that a lot of people say that the Church in the third world is flourishing amidst her poverty exponentially faster than the Church in the West amidst her affluence (see our May 6 post). Christ's power is really displayed and seen here, while it is somewhat removed in western churches. Well, so the argument goes. I think I like it, but I always wondered how CBTS fit into this. We don't see anyone here being raised from the dead or anything, and no one really speaks in tongues or prophecies too much. So is CBTS the exception to those sweeping statements about Africa? And then last night we were out chopping wood (or learning how to...) and another young Cameroonian teacher came to our house with his wife--Joshua and Patience (!) Webdna. They walked all the way across the muddy campus of CBTS to pray with us and to encourage us. And man, were they encouraging. After their visit I couldn't help but reflect on the number of people that we had/have met of this caliber. It really is amazing. Christ is central in the lives of these students and teachers in a way that I have not previously known. For them, Christ is everything. He is everything. He defines the world they live in, and defines them amidst this world. I know, we have only met a small sliver of people here, but that seems only all the more telling. So maybe CBTS isn't such an anomaly after all to those generalizations about the growth of the Church here. Maybe we are actually in the midst of it. I think I could certainly say that along with the roads, food, smells and culture, the health of the church here is something I hadn't seen before (well, I guess that's not entirely true...right Blake?).

Well, I have heard from some missionaries here that we are in the "honeymoon" phase, and soon enough frustration will set it. Maybe.
But we'll enjoy it while we can!!

Charlie, for the team