Bafut and beyond..

We woke in Bamenda this morning. Our accommodations at The Baptist Mission are nice.. just some bugs :) Our guest house overlooks the hustle, bustle.. pollution of the city. This city sits in a valley surrounded by the most beautiful mountains I've ever seen. Sidenote: they say 1 in 3 woman in Bamenda have AIDS.. sad truth.

We hit the road to Bafut today.. a village just north of Bamenda. There we visited the Bafut Royal Palace.. beautiful history of this still traditional region of Cameroon. Many here still practice and worship false idols and gods. Sidenote: the last known human sacrifice done here was in 1914. Crazy truth.

We then continued northeast another 2 hours.. this is the bush! Vast valleys of rainforest, rice fields, large rivers, rough dirt roads, and small villages. The children, some half naked, run after us shouting "white man, white man". We are always on guard.. never afraid, just aware of our surroundings. These roads are known for crime.

We arrive at one of the biggest most beautiful waterfalls in west Africa. It was here that we truly believe the Lord quickened and protected us. As we came back to our vehicle (we were the only ones there), a car with 6 men pulls up, parks in front of our vehicle, and 4 passengers jump out.. the driver and passenger riding shotgun remain. 2 of the 4 men then stand in the middle of the road behind our vehicle, the other 2 approach us while trying to make small talk about the area. It was during all of this, that the Lord seemed to speak to us.. "Get in the car!" We did. Bro. Riddick had opened the back of our vehicle where Todd had his hand on our "back-up".. just in case. We drove away safely. We really feel that the Lord protected us from robbery and, Lord forbid, maybe even worse.

I thank the Lord for "Sheaves For Christ" who purchases, through the giving of our students, vehicles for our Missionaries. They would not be able to do God's work without them! In this region it is really rough and remote.. and we travel fast. Just like the US military, once we leave areas of safety, we go with purpose and go fast!

Bro. Riddick has all symptoms of Malaria.  He is taking treatments and feels strength already. We will stay another night in Bamenda.. preaching here Sunday. It was another splendid day in Cameroon. Love you.. miss you..

 Bafut Palace courtyard.

 Bafut Temple. They would do human sacrifices here. Last one was 1914.

 Typical mud block dwelling.. this one is in great shape.

 Man bathing in the river.

 Handmade canoes.