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Dear Praying Friends,
Let’s get the weather out of the way first. I have been hearing the news about some of the struggles going on in North American this past while: major rains and floods, wildfires, and smoke-filled air. Sorry to hear all of that, and I pray you are staying safe wherever you are. Here in Banyo, we are in the middle of rainy season, which means right now I am enjoying a gorgeous day, and the sun is shining – but later this afternoon the heat will draw the clouds over us, and we will have a good drench of rain. This is not too bad; the rain is good for the crops, and as long as we don’t have to drive in it, it is beautiful.
Sonya is in Canada right now, and will be for the next month. She has taken some holiday time, and personal, plus she has done a little bit of work while she has been there, including visiting one of our newest supporting churches. She has just been visiting her family in Alberta, taking care of her father while her brother was on a short holiday. She is worried about his memory loss (her father’s, not her brother ☹), so that is a concern. She has had some good opportunities for shopping for some personal health and fitness care (White Cross stuff included!!) and to visit with both her siblings as well as a decent number of nieces, nephews, and old friends.
The big news, however, is our second grandchild has come! Baby Nyla entered the world on June 22, actually a fair bit ahead of the original schedule, so Sonya was glad that she came earlier than the due date. Mother and baby are healthy and happy, as are all the aunties and uncles – and Grandpa Jeff here in Banyo as well.
August is full of family birthdays, so Sonya is looking forward to celebrating lots of those, as well as hopefully(!) Sea Bears basketball playoffs!
When Sonya was still here in Africa in June, she was able to make a long-anticipated visit to Nigeria with our friend and missionary colleague, Walter Grob, to the community and small health clinic there. We were so glad that Walter was successful in getting his visa for that – not without a bit of struggle. Their trip was a great success, and they were able to get to most of the things they had hoped to do.
Walter is happy with the progress they are making in the accounting “department” there and was able to give some good advice and help. Sonya recently suffered a phone breakage, so all the photos from that trip have been lost.
In other (sad) visa news, our friend “S” was not successful in receiving his visa to come to Canada. We just got the news yesterday that the government refused him entry because they were concerned that he is a very poor man and might not want to return to Cameroon – once he experienced the cold October/November weather in Alberta? Go figure!
We are now busy making other plans for fall (which will include praying for all the missions events that will be going on in Alberta during that time). “S” is leaving on Monday to go to one of our diaspora villages, where they are completing building a new guesthouse (the picture is of the bedding and curtains for it).
I had hoped to travel with him, but they have told him that is not a good thing for now. They are being taken to court by a neighbour who is accusing them of killing one of his cows (since the cow had been destroying their farms), and they say it is not a good time for a white man to be seen in the village. That is fairly typical.
Also typical is the news that a nephew of my friend “S” has suffered a stroke, which fully paralyzed him on one side. The family are not believers, and they took the young man (c. 32 years old) to a “bush doctor,” since they were thinking it was a “bush sickness.” Of course, that did not help him at all, and he is just lying on his mat, unable to speak or eat much. “S” finally convinced them to take him to a hospital, and – because of your generosity in funding us – we were able to help a little bit with that; they will raise the rest of the money from the extended family. Thanks for your prayers for this young husband and father.
This year, also just before she left for Canada, Sonya was finally able to kickstart a “green” project she has been mulling over for a long time. This is a recycling venture, where thrown-away plastic bags are used in place of cement for making usable paving stones. It has been a
big job, with a lot of baby steps over the last two years, but recently our two workers were able to bring together around 50 kilos of garbage plastic and turn it into about 60 solid paving stones. These test bricks are now lining the way from our gate to our bukaarus.
They were working especially hard when the “Small Inspector” showed up one day.😊 I told them they should get the mayor of the town to pay them something for helping to clean the place up; they said when Sonya gets back, they will have her write a letter for them (seriously).
Sonya envisions a shredder to be able to make and use pellets from plastic containers and bottles at some point, but that is way down the line, within a business model she doubts she has time or resources for. For now, she was just delighted to hear and see the progress in her absence on a viable, locally produced product that will help clean up the plastic waste in the area. I am sure there is still a lot more tweaking to be done within the current model. When she gets back, I am sure she will try to post some on Instagram (@sonyakilmartin.com) or Facebook.
One of the questions we have been asked is whether we are open and able to host missionary interns here. I have spoken to our partners on the ground, and they are saying, “Jaɓɓaama!” (You are welcome!)
So, yes, missions interns, and other qualified visitors, are very welcome here, and we would be happy to see them.
Always more to say, but I will leave it there. Thank you for your support in prayer and in many other ways. May God bless and keep you there.