Dear All:

Only 104,403 seconds before I see Linda! Well, I am in the airport. Just after I told you that Jean Claude was feeling better he began to hurt real bad and needed to go home and rest. Louis stayed with me and we discussed a number of things regarding the future of the church. Left for the airport at 5:45 and arrived by 5:55. Got in with no problem into the area where you obtain your boarding pass. It did not open until 7 but it does have A/C. The problem is this: picture a room that requires a 30,000 BTU A/C and you have a 5,000 BTU unit. Obviously, it takes a bit of the heat away but not all. Was the first in line so got my bag checked quickly. I had printed out my boarding pass last night so sailed through that. You next pay your airport tax of 10,000 ($21.98) and then go through customs. The procedure is simple and does not take long. Then you have to go through the X-Ray machine and I am not supposed to do that because of my Pacemaker. The first time I did this in Cameroon I spoke to the man in English and he spoke as much English as I do French. I pointed at my Pacemaker which meant nothing. Finally I told him not to worry and I walked on in with no problem. Tonight they actually asked to see my card that shows I have a Pacemaker and they patted me down. Not nearly as thoroughly as in the States but that is OK. Got down to the gate and they went through my bags. In the past they have been very extensive but they only looked in a couple of pockets this time. The reason was that usually it is Air France employees who check you out but I got down so early that only natives were there. I then wanted to use the computer and the gate has some nice A/C outlets. I counted 8 in all and tried all of them as they were very pretty. Unfortunately, none of them worked. Well, one of the workers let me plug in to some real electricity that the workers use when you are boarding. I am surprised they let me but that is OK. I only have 4 hours to kill and I will be ready to take off. I may write some on the plane.

Friday, November 04, 2011 7:30am-1:30am CST

Well, we are in five figures as I will see Linda, Lord willing, in 59,387 seconds. Once you get to 4 figures you are only hours away! I got on the plane with no problem. It appeared to be full. I had decided to eat supper and then try to sleep for the balance of the time. The food was great, of course, because it was airplane food. Its only rival is hospital food. I was able to get about 4 hours sleep. Landed at 5:45 which was a few minutes ahead of schedule. When your connecting flight leaves at 11:20 you would actually like your first flight to be late! You descend down a flight of stairs from the airplane and then ride a bus to the terminal. I then had to get my boarding pass and then go through security again. This airport is not like airports in the States because if you are connecting, you do not have to go through security again. Got the ‘pat down’ job again but everything is OK. I found some electricity quickly so am typing with a full battery. On the plane I am supposed to have electricity so I will be able to be on my computer for the vast majority of the flight. Have over 3 ½ hours to kill so will watch a movie.

Friday, November 4, 2011 12:40pm-9:40am CST

If all goes according to schedule I will see Linda in 19,783 seconds! I don’t know if you pay any attention to the times I write. If so you can see that we have crossed at least 2 time zones. I don’t know exactly how far we have gone but know we have been in the air for about 4 hours. It is sad when you have been flying for 4 hours and you are not half way there! Watched the movie I mentioned above and then walked down to my gate. Plane took off on schedule and it looks as though we will arrive 30 or so minutes early. All of the flights have been smooth with very little ‘bumpiness’ and all of the flights were basically on time. I had my last ‘plane meal’ on this journey. I won’t eat supper because Linda expects me to take her out and I do not want to disappoint her. It is somewhat sad that it will be 3 full months before I get another of these marvelous meals!

Let me summarize my thoughts on this trip and where this ministry is at the present time. Some of this, perhaps most, will be things that I have stated in the past. Due to the slow nature of ministry, you do not see dramatic changes in a short period of time. When your 1^st grader begins school, while they do increase in their knowledge during the year; at the end of the school year they have not mastered Physics, Chemistry, Spanish, Calculus and World History (just to name a few subjects). Now I must throw in one caveat; my 4 grandchildren who have already completed 1^st grade have mastered the above subjects but it must be remembered that they have me as their grandfather. They have also mastered humility! This trip was divided into two parts with one being evangelism in the North and South and the second being our seminar. From the beginning my focus has been on the seminar. That is not taking anything away from the winning of souls but if we can help the natives grow in their Christianity, the numbers will follow. A seminar (or campaign for that matter) can never be fully judged at its completion. I am, however, completely happy with what took place. When you look at the small number of congregations and brethren in the North, it was astounding that we averaged 72 brethren for the 3 days. In Douala we only averaged 12 more this past February and that is from a much greater number of congregations and brethren. Numbers, of course, do not tell the story. Their response, however, told a marvelous story. I am eager, in the months ahead, to see how they are doing. Lord willing, we will bring 10 of them down to Douala in February as we did this past February. That requires a cash outlay of $1,000 as the transport for one person is $100 round-trip. We do not fund any food money on the way or any lodging once they are in Douala. I am prayerful that their level of discipleship will increase and the time that Gisele and Linda had with the sisters will have a long-term impact on the children. As far as the state of the ministry: I am completely satisfied. Now, do I mean that our ducks are in perfect order and that the church is now a well-oiled machine that can operate independent of us? Not at all! I believe that there is still much that we can do to assist the church in Cameroon to move them towards independence. As I have stated before, the job will not be finished in my lifetime. My primary concern is always direction; are we making progress and headed in the right direction and I believe the answer is a definite yes.

I understand that the physical is not dominant but I still believe we need to thank God for any and all physical blessings. This trip was without incident. The one exception is the ongoing Kidney problems that Jean Claude is having. My health did not even have a slight hiccup. When you think of all of the hours of travel on different types of vehicles and in varying types of traffic and roads, we did not have a single problem. The hotels were the best that I have ever stayed in with only 3 minor and short electrical outages. The rain never did interfere with our work and even when we were caught in rain on two occasions it had no adverse effect. The food was delicious throughout and most of all, the incredible fellowship that I had with the brethren was a joy. I simply thank the Lord for His care and protection. I also thank Him for you. Only He knows but I would love to know how many prayers were uttered on our behalf. I do know that some of you were worried about both my health and the fact that I traveled to and from Cameroon alone. Any worries you had were misplaced. I do thank you, however, for your love and concern.

Saturday, November 05, 2011 5:55pm-5:55pm CST

I am sorry it has taken me so long to write this. Landed ahead of schedule and once I had cleared customs and gotten my bag my son-in-law was waiting for me. Made it home with no problems and got to see Jose Luis. He is a little boy that Linda babysits and we were glad to see each other. Linda was fine and we went out to eat. Went to bed and slept until 2 this afternoon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had been up 46 hours with only about 4 hours of sleep on the Douala/Paris flight. Slept 17 hours and can’t ever remember sleeping that much. Well, things will be back to normal soon. Once again, thanks for all of your prayers.

In Christ,

Jim Corner

Dear All:

I will write this ‘Next To Last Howdy’ in 2 installments and send it before I leave for the airport tonight. That is the plan at least. I will then write the FINAL HOWDY in several installments and send it from my house on Friday or Saturday. It is now approximately 136,817 seconds before I see Linda! I will see my son-in-law before then because he is picking me up at the airport but with all due respect, he is not in Linda’s league! I hope he does not see this before he comes to pick me or I may be walking home. I am meticulous in my packing (comes from being an overly neat person which all who know me can attest to) so it takes me longer than many. The next time I will see a bed will be in about 42 hours so I was hoping that I would sleep till at least 9 this morning but I woke up before 7 and could not go back to sleep. Jean Claude is at the hospital and is feeling better. Please understand that when an African is at the hospital it is not the same as in the States. That is where the doctors are so if they are going to see a doctor they have to go to a hospital. Last February I had to go as I had some problems and it tickled me that there were about 20 hearses lined up outside the hospital! I guess all businesses hope for plenty of business! I have been reading notes from CDLP regarding both the internship of Fossi Etienne and the hope of the printing operation. Have checked email and written many. I have a few things I want to give to Gisele so she will be over directly. Louis will soon follow and we will go out to eat. To my knowledge, all errands are caught up with so the balance of the day should be slow. I will take a shower this afternoon so I will be ‘fresh’ for my journey to the airport. Don’t exactly know why I do that since I will be sweating once I get outside. Thankfully I have a pleasant odor that I discharge so people like to be around me even when the perspiration is flowing. That is all for now.

4:00pm-10:00am CST

Had a luscious hamburger for lunch. Don’t you love spellcheckers? I did not know exactly how to spell luscious but knew I could get close enough that the spell checker would know what I was after and it did. Went down to a grocery store and bought some candy and Oreos for Louis’ kids. Have dispersed everything and am now waiting to leave. Jean Claude got back from the hospital and he has to go back tomorrow to repeat his blood work. They had not told him he was supposed to fast and he ate breakfast. Once the technician starting looking at the blood he saw the bits of eggs and bacon in the blood and knew that Jean Claude had eaten. I think there was also a residue of grits. I plan on leaving for the airport at 6 with the flight scheduled to depart at 11:30. I NEVER miss airplanes; especially the ones that are headed for Linda. Below is a picture of the Two Stooges. I only consented to take the picture because the trip is over and if the camera got broken I would still be OK. You should get this immediately and then wait with baited breath (Teresa will not find that hard to do) for my Final Howdy. Jean Claude is feeling better right now. He says there is a possibility that the surgery could be moved up but he won’t know until he pays. Here you pay 100% up front or you stay home.

In Christ,
Jim Corner

Dear All:

This was a GREAT day and primarily because of tonight. I will go into deal below. Will see Linda in about 158,400 seconds! She is such a good girl and truly is as vital to this mission as I am (actually, more vital). Without her willingness to sacrifice this could never take place. It has been both a relaxing and profitable day. I was hoping to sleep until 8 but woke up at 6:45 and my mind would not stop working. That is just one of many ways in which Teresa Blaisdell and I differ. Her reliable husband says that her mind is never working! At any rate, I got up and started to work on the computer. I also finished packing a bag that I leave with Jean Claude. It has many things that I do not use in the States so he ‘babysits’ it. Yesterday the hotel said they were sending a technician to check on the fact that the internet was not working but they never did. This morning they did send a man and he fixed it fairly easily. Something about my settings (that is what I thought it was all the time) were not set on Automatic so he changed it. He says that when I get back to the States it will not need to be changed and I hope he is correct. However, this afternoon it stopped working again so I am back on my modem. Jean Claude and I went to the bank and to the Post Office. Actually, I went to the P.O. while he was at the bank (they are only about ¼ mile apart). I love crossing streets here because it demonstrates my quick reflexes. Also, the hotel has two elevators which almost always work. The operative words are almost always. At any rate both were down so we have to climb stairs. I am thankful that I am both young and strong as it is no problem for me. They finally fixed one of the elevators but tonight when I got home there were a bunch of people with bags and all kinds of stuff so I just took the stairs. Louis came by and he and I visited for a while as Jean Claude had an errand to do. We then went out to lunch and had a nice time. I was able to use the afternoon to get everything done as far as any current loose ends. I was able to start working on my PowerPoint Presentation and have all of the pictures chosen. I plan to show more pictures than usual in this presentation. I know tomorrow there will be more but everything is OK. Tonight I taught the class at Cite de la paix which is Jean Claude’s congregation. Let me tell you about my ride on a machine tonight. It was one of the most fun trips I have ever had. I planned on taking a machine anyway because the traffic is murder between 5 & 7. If I had taken a taxi I would still be on the road! Well, Jean Claude sent a brother named Martin to pick me on his machine. We started off with no problems then the traffic got severe. He crossed over the median and started doing his Salmon routine as he went against the grain. I have been on more wrong sides of a road on this trip than ever before but it is really beneficial. You might try that the next time you are in traffic! We were weaving and bobbing all over the place but he knew what he was doing. We then hit a traffic jam that even the machines could not master. There were about 30 of us and one by one they evacuated in different ways. Martin did a U-turn and went up aways and did another U-turn. About this time it started raining very slightly. When we left the hotel it was not dark and I could see some serious clouds and was hoping they were going away from us but that was not the case. At first the rain was so slight you hardly knew it was raining. It began to pick up and by the time I got inside the church hall all I needed was a bar of soap and I could have had a good shower. The crowd was down because rain really effects movement in Cameroon. This is the start of the dry season but evidently it has been postponed! We sang and then I taught. Was supposed to teach for 35 minutes but I held it to 30. Then we had questions and answers for another 35 minutes. It was good to see so many that I have known for a long time. Then afterwards I met with the leadership to discuss two things: 1^st, the progress of the internship with Fossi Etienne. He has been used to a small church with no male leadership (I discussed that yesterday) and he is truly being blessed by his exposure to CDLP and Jean Claude. They gave me a report on his progress and he is doing good in some areas and in others he needs to improve. I really believe this congregation will prove beneficial to him. 2^nd, we are thinking of putting in a WBS office here with a printing operation. If that comes to fruition Don Fuller will be the ‘big dog’ regarding the matter. I am hopeful that such an office can be built. We would be able to print our own WBS material as World Bible School has given us permission. We would also be able to print jillions of tracts for distribution on both the English and French sides. Please pray that the Lord’s will will be done in this matter. Don needs to come over here as quickly as possible to look the situation over. At the end of the meeting I was truly humbled. Robert Mebune who is 73 and the oldest brother in the congregation said to me: “often times we wait until someone is in the casket before we say good things about them. I do not want you to be arrogant or get a big head (his words) but you have helped the church so much in Cameroon.” He realizes, as I do, that God is the one at work but He uses Human vessels and I was encouraged by Robert’s words. On the way back Martin carried me and it was no longer raining. However, he has the biggest umbrella over his machine that I have ever seen. This thing is about 7 feet long!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unfortunately he did not have it mounted when he picked me. Jean Claude says only a few machines have such umbrellas and they can charge passengers more. Below is a picture of Douala from my hotel room. Oh, the Scriptures teach that we are to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. We are told to bear one another’s burdens and to pray for each other. Well, I have a problem to share and this is a REAL problem; my Fridge is freezing my Coke Lights and I am having to make adjustments! The temperature control on my Fridge ranges from 1 to 10 and I had put it on 10. Well, I am having to scale it back to 8. I had a light supper of pudding, Snickers, Pringles, Beef Jerky and Coke Light. I think that covers the 5 food groups! I am looking forward to tomorrow. Louis is coming over at noon and we will go get a hamburger. I hope to make some progress on my trip report tomorrow morning. Please pray for Jean Claude as he has not felt good today. He goes to the hospital tomorrow to do a battery of tests. He will get there @ 7 because it is first come, first serve. He told me that he hopes there was a cancellation of someone else’s surgery so they can move his up. The lights went out a couple of minutes ago but the hotel has a generator so the juice is back on. Thanks for your continued prayers.

In Christ,

Jim Corner

Dear All:

I am safely in Douala and just waiting to see Linda. Actually I am not that excited but I will see her in about 259,200 seconds but who’s counting! Got up at 5:50 this morning and headed out at 6:15 for Yaoundé. We have been on nothing but good roads throughout this journey with the small exception of some back roads to get to the church hall in Garoua. Our driver had a speedometer that worked and I noticed that at times he reached up to 125. Don’t get too excited because that is Kilometers Per Hour and translates into about 80 MPH. I do not know if I will ever stop being amazed at the traffic here. From Yaoundé we took a big bus (Greyhound size). I have only ridden a bus twice in my life but I have seen the bus station in downtown Dallas. When they pull out they are on at least a 2 lane road and sometimes 3. Here there is one ‘lane’ each way and I use the word ‘lane’ very loosely. As you navigate you deal with taxis, machines, pedestrians, animals and non-motorized vehicles that they use to transport stuff. At times the distance between you and the next vehicle would allow you to slide a Kleenex in between! I know that you must get tired of hearing this stuff but I would give anything to be able to video the bus station. I did find out that the distance between Douala and Yaounde is 174 miles and the trip took about 3 ½ hours. We did not have to wait long in Yaounde for the next bus so we made it back here by about 12:45. I think I told you yesterday that I was going to take a taxi back to the hotel (it is only a couple of miles away) while Jean Claude went home to see his family. I am a slow ‘unpacker’ but that is OK because I had plenty of time. The hotel’s connection to the web is not working so I am still using the modem. Some guys came up here to fix it but were unable to do so. Don’t know what the problem is but hopefully it will work tomorrow because it is much faster than my modem. I am going to check with Verizon when I get back to see if one of those things you stick in the side of your computer to access the internet would work here. My fear is that even if it does the cost will be astronomical so I will continue to cope with what I have. I did not want to take Jean Claude away from his family (ain’t I a nice guy) so I went down to the local grocery store to get supper. I am a stickler for eating healthy so I began with a salad of cheese and Sour Onion Pringles. For my main course I had cashews, caramel pudding and Oreos. Yes, I had Oreos. It is one of the few times I have seen them here. Then for desert I had a Mars Bar. You can’t get much more balanced than that! I have already spoken to Linda and my daughter-in-law, Jennifer. She got a job yesterday and starts tomorrow. She is the one who does all of my Powerpoint stuff as well as other computer related issues. Hope the job doesn’t get in my way or she will have to quit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a few things to do tomorrow but Jean Claude will not be here until 10:30 so I am going to relax and see some episodes of the Rockford Files. Jean Claude felt bad all morning (he didn’t tell me until after the fact) but he says he is doing fine now. Please continue to keep him in prayer. Oh, I didn’t take any pictures today so I thought I would show you my beautiful daughter. Thanks for your continued prayers and emails.

In Christ,

Jim Corner

Dear All:

We have once again come to the end of a journey. The last two days have seen no seeable fruit but both were good days. Today I was able to study with another prospect named Joshua. I do not have a ‘feeling’ one way or the other about him. He seemed to understand but was not prepared to give his life to the Lord. This was a somewhat slow day but not without benefit. Jean Claude and I had an extensive conversation regarding the church in this country and the direction it is going. Whenever I get discouraged I look at the church in America and realize how far we are from being what we should be. We have far more members, more and better leadership, and more ‘pew’ knowledge than the church in this country and yet the church in America is not growing. The church throughout the world is badly in need of more and more brethren who are true disciples of the Lord and not simply ‘church attenders’.

I had a good night’s rest last night. From a physical point of view, this trip has been without flaw. Some were worried about my health and concerned that I was traveling alone but I had the Lord as my companion and He has taken good care of me. Jean Claude is having some Kidney pains today so please keep him in prayer. He is scheduled for surgery on November 16. Was able to access my email this morning and send some more email via Gmail. I am prayerful regarding the church in Ebolowa but realize it has a long way to go. One of the problems is virtually no male leadership. There are some strong sisters but really no men who are good leaders. I was able to get a lot of work done on the computer today. I am basically caught up with the exception of a couple of things. Had our final supper tonight and I have had either chicken or spaghetti for the past 2 weeks and have enjoyed each and every meal. Don’t know if I want to go to KFC or Olive Garden when I get home! Have taken my shower and will go to bed within the next hour. Thus far I have spent about 103 hours traveling! Traveling is not something I enjoy but the end result is well worth it. Tonight Etienne and Maciana came over for me to show them a couple of things regarding the Cameroon website. Their picture is below. I am packed and we plan to leave around 6:30 in the morning. If we connect OK through Yaoundé I hope to be in Douala by 2. Jean Claude is just going to get me a taxi to go to the hotel and he will go straight home. His children really miss him. Most, if not all of you are aware that he lost his wife this past spring. Junior who is 4 still does not understand and asks Jean Claude often when Mom is coming home.

Several misc items:

1. Have had two brief power outages here. One was a few days ago for about 5 minutes and the other was this morning for about 15 minutes. Nothing to complain about.
2. Oh, the girl that made my bed this morning had a new design and I really cannot explain it to you. I mentioned this to Jean Claude and he said that he also had a new design each day.
3. Maciana (the wife of Andenge) is teaching school. They call it ‘part-time’ although she teaches every day. The ‘part-time’ is her salary. I don’t quite understand all of the details but after you are accredited to teach and you begin teaching, you do not receive a full salary at the beginning. Right now she has been paid nothing for the past 2 months.
4. Please pray for Mike Ripple. He is the brother-in-law to Richard and Teresa Blaisdell’s son-in-law. Do not know any details but know that he is sick in some way.

I continue to thank God for each of you who are keeping us in prayer.

In Christ,

Jim Corner

Dear All:

I could start out each ‘Howdy’ with another great day and it would be apropos. I have to write things when I think of them or I will forget. I am not going to bore you with another picture of my bed but whoever made it up this morning used still a different design.

I got up around 7 after a good night’s rest. I did have somewhat of a nightmare as I dreamed of my return flight and I landed in Paris (or somewhere) and ended up far, far away from the airport. It was going to take me 12 hours to get back and my plane was taking off in 2 hours! If that ever happened it would be a real ‘day mare’ to Linda! There was no network this morning so could not check email. After the morning worship the network was working so I did check email. Please pray for Josh Hardy. He is a young man of 22 years that went with me to Cameroon a few years ago. His mother was sick with Cancer at that time and she passed away yesterday. Jean Claude and I took machines to the church hall. It was actually cool this morning! Attendance was 34 but average attendance is about 19 (including children). We planted this church about 8 years ago and it has been a struggle. After worship I had a meeting with the brethren to map out the future. I simply pray that more and more of them will become serious. There is a severe problem in the church in Cameroon with brethren who believe that church attendance is what Christianity is all about. I realize that many of our brethren think the same way but here is the difference: you can have a congregation like mine that has over 300 on the rolls (maybe 400) with a weekly attendance around 280. If 10 or 20% of us are working we can still do a lot of good. If your adult attendance is around 8-10 then the 10-20% number cannot do a whole lot. There are approximately 150 congregations in the country with only 5 or 6 having a morning attendance of 100 and only one with 200. The majority of the congregations number less than 30 so you can see the problem. Bible class and sermon went well. Only time will tell if the meeting was productive. We had a study with one prospect after the meeting. He has studied with Andenge (one of the preachers) for over a year and yesterday studied with Jean Claude. He seems to be a serious young man and I can only pray that he will make a good decision. His name is Joshua. We came back to the hotel for a short break and ordered our supper. We then headed back to the church hall at 3:30. There were supposed to be 2 prospects but they did not show. They have told us tomorrow so time will tell. Below is a picture of the hall on the left. As you can see, it is a wood structure with a dirt floor. The government does not consider a wood structure to be a permanent building and they have ordered the church to erect a permanent structure. There is writing on the outside wall by the city council saying that if work does not begin on a permanent structure by June of this year they will ‘bull doze’ the building. I realize that June has come and went but Jean Claude says they will give some time but he believes it will be destroyed in 2012 or 2013 at the latest. You see, when this land was purchased it was not on a main road but now they have put a nice tar road right in front of the building. In such areas the government demands permanent structures. According to Jean Claude the cost would be somewhere between $6,000 and $8,000. There is no way that this congregation could begin to erect a permanent structure because their monthly contribution is about $40. I do not know where they will meet if they have to lose their building. The other picture is of the church itself.

Here are some miscellaneous items:

1. A kid about 10 years of age was ‘babysitting’ another kid who was about 2 or less during my Bible class. He dropped the kid twice during my class!
2. It is common to see lizards and spiders in worship. They are totally harmless but it is interesting to watch them.
3. One of the big struggles I have is knowing how much to help a congregation and when to let go. The vast majority of you would absolutely cry if you could sit in on some of these meetings.
4. My hotel room number is 264 and Jean Claude’s is 268 so you would figger that we are close. You would be wrong! I am on the first floor and he is tucked far away on the second floor. Hey, we once stayed in a hotel that had a basement and the numbers down there were in the 400s.
5. We turned in our dirty laundry just yesterday and it was cleaned and pressed today! I usually give whatever sister does the laundry 5,000 ($10.99) and they are truly happy as that is a significant amount of money.
6. My hotel room has a tile floor and when I returned my shoes had dirt on them that I got on the floor. Fortunately I know how to handle such a situation. I simply kept my socks on and used them as a broom and they did quite well. I learned that trick from Linda because that is how she cleans our kitchen! You just kind of pretend you are ice skating.

We enjoyed our supper tonight and I will be able to get some more work done and still have time for relaxation. Please pray that tomorrow will bring forth positive fruit. I never pray for baptisms but for conversions. We have too many brethren in the church (in Cameroon and America) that have been baptized but never converted. You will recall that Peter says in II Peter 2 that the person who becomes a Christian and falls away is worse off than if they had never become a child of God. We are both doing well and continue to thank you for your prayers. I also enjoy all of your emails.

In Christ,

Jim Corner

Dear All:

This has been the first day that has truly been relaxing. I intended to sleep in today but I got up around 8. Spent quite a bit of time on the internet and was able to do some emailing. As I said yesterday, I am starting to use Gmail and while it is slow, it does work. Not much in the way of pictures but I did want to show you that great shower I spoke of yesterday. The only reason I showed my bed is that the girl today used a different style from the one of yesterday. Jean Claude informed me that I am teaching the Bible class at his congregation next Wednesday so I spent a lot of time working up a class. We are going to look at the ‘call of God’ and how it should manifest itself in our lives. With the exception of spending a bit walking outside, I have been in my room all day. Also had some reports I had to respond to as well as some other emails pertaining to the work in Cameroon. Jean Claude and I enjoyed our meal. Took our ketchup and butter with us to the table. We split a chicken and you have heard of the ‘tough old bird’ (not referring to Teresa); well, we got it. Jean Claude did go out to wire some money to a number of village preachers that we support. These are not full-time but brothers who go out each weekend to strengthen the local church. I will be teaching Bible Class and sermon tomorrow morning. I also need to work on finalizing that stuff. Will call Linda later and hopefully get in bed early. Jean Claude and I are both doing well. Thanks for your prayers and emails.

In Christ,

Jim Corner

Dear All:

I am on the train and we will leave soon. One thing I want to say before I forget and that is that the electricity on the train is powerful enough to run my computer. When we came up it would not do the job. Well, just had a big jolt as we have started.

Got up at 7 to be ready to leave for the bus station at 8. Got loaded with no problems and made it to the station in 10 minutes or so. Here there is no such thing as a schedule. When Jean Claude went to purchase our tickets there were only two remaining seats so we had to wait. A brother named Oliver was going to purchase our train tickets in Ngondere but they refused without seeing my actual Passport and their ID cards. Jean Claude was worried that we wouldn’t make it to Ngondere in time to get tickets for the Sleep Wagon and we would have to settle for 1^st class. Well, we waited a long time at the bus station so I decided to go ahead and have my breakfast. One of the sisters had prepared hard boiled eggs and I had bought some bread. I had some Mayo from Chick-fil-A and I had put a bottle of orange juice in my freezer overnight and it was rock solid. By the time I got to the station it was beginning to thaw and was wonderful. Finally a big bus came and we began to load our stuff and then ourselves. This driver was rude (Jean Claude’s words meaning he drove too fast) so we arrived about 20 minutes earlier than when we had went.

I must insert this: I am wearing an African shirt which is really nice for a couple of reasons. One is that they are long and if your ‘fly’ is open no one will know which was really good because I just discovered that my fly was open! Also, I think I may go to work for Terminix because we have some crickets in here and I have been slaying them. Oh, one more thing: we spotted a bunch of goats that were making their first and final train trip (if you know what I mean). A picture of some of them is below. I think this train driver is rude because we are really shaking as we go down the tracks. Hopefully our 14 hour journey that was 17 coming can be reduced.

Back to the trip: after we collected our bags we took them to the train station (right next door) and deposited them as we wanted to go to a grocery store and to Oliver’s house. There was no one at the place where you lock the bags and they just put them over in a corner. Jean Claude assured me they would be safe and he was correct. I just bought some chocolate and cookies for my supper. As I write the chocolate is nothing more than a wonderful memory and I am working on the cookies. Never ate these kind before but they are really good. Don’t figger they will last long either. We went over to Oliver’s house and his wife Margaret cooked lunch for us. The picture below is of Oliver, Margaret and their 4 month old child who is a girl named Danielle. Had a good visit and then we headed for the train station. Got on board and discovered they had put us in one big room with 4 beds. Well, we didn’t want to go with that so we pleaded and they gave Jean Claude and I our own room and Gisele and Linda theirs. Before we left I showed all of my pictures of the trip to Gisele and Linda along with some pictures of my grandkids. The 3^rd picture below is of Gisele and Linda at Oliver’s.

A couple of misc items:

1. The bus we took to Ngondere seats 70 although I am sure in America it would be closer to 50. Also, as we traveled we took on 5 more passengers and they just sat in the aisle.
2. When we were talking at Oliver’s we were discussing a Christian couple in which she lives and works over a hundred miles away. That is not uncommon at all in Cameroon.

We just stopped at our first stop and I was hoping to send this but there is no network. It will probably be at least 24 hours before I can send. Will write more before that time. We are all doing well. Thanks so much for your prayers and concern.

Friday, October 28, 2011 7:05am-1:05am CST

Well, have been riding the ocean waves all night. Do not know what a Pullman is like in the States but this train moves up and down a lot! I was able to get about 6 ½ hours of sleep so that is good. Jean Claude says we have 3 more stops before Yaoundé but I do not know what that translates into regarding time. I am assuming that we are going to arrive no later than 10am and hopefully much earlier than that. At any rate, we are not pressed for time. I have already shown you a picture of the room and there ain’t much more to show. Quarters are confined but still nice. Will not write again until Ebolowa and will then send, Lord willing.

Friday, October 28, 2011 7:20pm-1:20pm CST

Arrived in Yaounde around 8:30. The girls took a taxi to the bus station to go back to Douala and Simon picked us and took us first to a grocery store. I bought 2 things but primarily wanted to get a few things for his family. He has been such a help to us. The fourth picture below shows what a bus/van is like in Cameroon. You get the ‘sardine’ treatment but the ride was fine. Only took 2 hours. A brother that I had taught and baptized last year picked us in his taxi. This hotel has something that no other hotel has that I have ever stayed at in Cameroon. Not good A/C (has but have had that before); not good Fridge (has but have had that before); good bed (has but have had that before); good lighting (has but have had that before); toilet seat (has but have had that before); nice waste paper basket (has but have had that before). This bathroom has a real live shower with a glass enclosure and the water does not flow on the floor! Note the picture of my bed; the reason I took it was this; if you travel much in the US you know that for a decade or more hotels often have the toilet paper in a ‘v’ shape. Well, my bed was made like that. I am not impressed but did think it was interesting. Jean Claude and I went to see if we could find someone who would help me send but to no avail.

OK, it is time for me to send my tri-annual message about your high speed internet. Do not, I repeat, do not take it for granted. I have been working for about an hour and a half on some things that would have taken 5 minutes at home. Someone has sent me an attachment that is 23MBs and I am at 16 or so right now and only hoping that my connection will hold in time for the attachment to come. I want to know who to ‘bad mouth’!

Got unpacked and Jean Claude and I had a lovely supper. I switched from chicken to spaghetti and it would have put a smile on the face of Chef Boy-Ar-Dee (or however his named is spelt). I am going to hang in with this and hopefully be able to send. Oh, I did copy and paste some replies to some of you. A couple would not let me do so. I went to my Yahoo account and they did not recognize my password and/or user name. Finally was able to launch using Gmail. My plan had been to get everything done early and then relax but so much for that. I will call Linda and then see where I am at regarding the attachment. Jean Claude and I are well and the girls made it safely to Douala. I just finally got the attachment to come through and it was from some goober who I don’t even know. One more thing I forgot to tell you. Simon, the brother who picked us is really good at going against the traffic. I had mentioned that in a blog last week and once again it proved to be very beneficial.

In Christ,

Jim Corner

Dear All:

Well, the seminar is finished and it was a great success! Will go into more detail in a minute but first want to walk you through the day. Got up at 7 after another good night’s rest. We have been blessed from a physical point of view (all others as well) in that we have had zero disruption of electricity or water. I checked my email this morning as I can still receive but not send. I think the problem is with the modem connection as I had no problem sending in Douala when I was wired through the hotel. Our driver had a neighbor die and according to their custom he stayed to mourn with the family. He sent a friend and we made it to the church hall with no problems. The attendance was incredibly consistent as we once again had 43 women and 30 men today. The women did presentations of a class this morning and Gisele and Linda said they did well. Some better than others but overall the girls were pleased. This afternoon they finished presentations and then handed out the children’s material that we had brought with us. We gave one book to each congregation and they were very happy. My class went well and I pray that good was done. The preachers wanted to meet with me at noon and I anticipated what the meeting was about. They are pleading for financial help and that is simply not possible. I will supply them with some tracts that I will order and send when I get back to the States. The picture below is of all those who attended the seminar. We had our final supper together tonight. I am thankful that I can eat the same thing over and over again and enjoy it as I had chicken and rice for 6 straight nights and it was good each time. The other night I had a bit of free time and so I watched an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger. Well, a bad guy mentioned that there are people who eat airplane food and ask for seconds. Surprised he did not mention me by name. At any rate, he said it in a negative way so he was not only a bad guy but one with bad taste. Will pack tonight and get ready for some more serious travel tomorrow. We will leave the hotel at 8 and hope to get out of Garoua by 9. Should arrive into Ngondere around 2 or 3 and then the train leaves around 6. Hopefully this will be a 14 hour and not a 17 hour trip. Then when we land in Yaounde the girls will continue on to Douala while Jean Claude and I will go to Ebolowa. Please pray for Mary Hassell. She is a dear Christian sister in Ferris where I preached for 13 years. Her husband Billy died of a heart attack yesterday. Also pray for Mary as she has been diagnosed with cancer.

A couple of miscellaneous items:

1. This morning Linda said that the ‘sun is strong’ which simply means it was hot and going to get hotter. Unfortunately she was correct.
2. I am the oldest person at the seminar. Just think, if Teresa Blaisdell was here I would be the second oldest!

Thanks for your continued prayers. It will probably be a couple of days before I will be able to send another blog.

In Christ,
Jim Corner

Dear All:

I suppose that one day I will have to write that we had a ‘bad day’ in Cameroon but I can’t write that today. While I am thinking about it; the brethren here want me to come every year which is simply not possible. There are many other French areas that we need to work with but hopefully I can return in 2013. We will see if that is the Lord’s will. We also have about 15 refugees from a camp about 70 miles from here. They are from Chad and that countries civil war ended about 2 years ago (according to Jean Claude) and they may be able to return within the year. They walked the 70 miles to come to the seminar. Not only is that a looooong way to walk but the heat during the day is very active. I am going to pay their transport back so they can have an easier time. The amount for the entire group will only be $33. When Linda and I came here in 2008 we were impressed with the many who travelled great distances to come and I am astonished once more. It is fascinating to know that this seminar will have an impact even on another country one day. The girls were very pleased with the presentations. Like any seminar, some do better than others but they said that all in all things went really well. I am enjoying my class. I told Jean Claude that in my teaching I am not simply trying to get the material across. I want to help them grow in their ability to think. So many Cameroonians simply accept blindly whatever is taught and too many of our preachers are happy with that. A couple of years ago I was having a discussion with John Reese who is the director of WBS. He grew up in Africa and told me that they are taught by rote alone. One of my foremost aims is to help them learn how to critically think. We are seeing great progress in this area and Jean Claude says our seminars have had a very profound impact on the church in this country. I understand the limitations of a 3 day seminar but I am in prayer that it will make an impact. We have had the same driver pick us each day but today he misunderstood the time to collect us so Linda and Gisele took machines to town. They wanted to know if I would like to go so I asked them how long they would be there and they told me an hour. That helped make my decision easy. Ultimately they were gone 1 ½ hours so I was really glad I stayed in the hotel. I took a machine back to the hotel and had a relaxful break. My spell checker says that ‘relaxful’ is not a word. Can you believe that? Linda was worried about me yesterday because I told her that I had one small piece of cheese for lunch. She informed me that that did not constitute lunch. Well, today I thought she would be happier because I had one small ‘slim jim’ and ate it but that did not impress her either. The afternoon class went well. It is hotter in the afternoon but I really don’t notice it while I am teaching. We had another nice supper and I truly enjoy the fellowship with Jean Claude, Gisele and Linda. The pictures below are of the church hall where the men are meeting and the canopy under which the women are meeting. It has many holes but no rain so no problem. Oh, one sweet young sister emailed me and wanted to know if we had babysitting for the small children. I nearly fell out of my chair with laughter. I still need to call Linda and will do a few other things. I am really pleased with this effort and pray that the Lord will bless the seed that we have sown. Please continue to pray for us. We are all doing well.

In Christ,

Jim Corner