Snyder World Missions Blog: Our Fulani Hike & Chapel

Yesterday, after lunch, Melissa and I along with our Swiss friends, Christoph and Sara went on a hike to visit with the Fulani Muslim tribe that I met the other day. As I mentioned before, these are a somewhat isolated people that do not mix much with other people of Cameroon. I have to say, that they are very polite people. Christoph and Sara have a burden for these people, and yesterday was an open door for them to hopefully begin a relationship with these particular compounds (each man has his own set of huts/dwellings with his wives/children and they call them compounds). The first compound that we came across was a man who would be considered a spiritual leader of the tribe, because he has been to Mecca, Saudi Arabia twice which is a Muslim pilgramage. When we arrived, one of his children greeted us and then went into his dad's room to let him know that he had visitors. I observed that the little boy took off his shoes and knelt down when he approached his father. I am guessing that it is a sign of respect. When the father came out, he recognized me and Christoph from the other day and eagerly invited us into his mud house. We made small talk, had tea together, and he showed us photographs that people had given him. While we looked at pictures, I asked him if I could "snap him" (that's how people here say take a picture). He was thrilled about it, so we went outside and took pictures together. After our "photo shoot", we went to show Melissa and Sara the views from the compounds that Christoph and I saw the other day. The views from the Fulani compounds are some of the best mountain views I have ever seen, and living in East Tennessee, I know a good view when I see one. We then headed over to the fish pound to see the progress of the water project that will give the compounds running water someday. At the fish pond Christoph asked me to pray for the project, so it was nice to pray for these people with one of them right in front of me! When we were done looking at the pond, we said goodbye to the first man, and proceeded to the compound of "Uguda", which is the name of the man that we intended to go to in the first place. When we approached Uguda's compound, he was sitting on a rug facing Mecca and praying, so we queitly approached him. He looked up at us and didn't say a word. He just pointed at one of the mud houses, so we went over in that direction. One of his wives greeted us and invited us in to sit down. We took our shoes off and went inside and sat down on the side of the bed. When Uguda was done praying, he came over to greet us. As soon as he saw me, he said "Docta!" (doctor) which is what native people call the white men here. We sat in the house and talked with him and his family for awhile. We asked if we could snap him, and he was happy to hear that. Melissa and I gave him some candy as a gift, and then we all went outside to take pictures. When we got outside, one of the other wives came out of another mud house with an elderly woman by her side. Uguda told us that the woman was 106 years old. I couldn't believe it! Here was this elderly woman living way up on top of this mountain in a mud house with no electricity or running water. We took pictures together then had prayer with the whole family. I noticed when I mentioned the 106 year old woman in my prayer that Uguda pointed at her to let her know that I was mentioning her in my prayer. Does this all sound unreal? I still can't believe it happened. It's surreal standing there with a primitive Muslim family in Africa praying for them! We are coming back next week to bring them the pictures that we took so they will have pictures of themselves and another chance to make more contact. After our hike to the Fulani compounds, we were invited to The Sparks' (Dr. Sparks is chief of surgery) house for pizza and a movie. This is a Sparks family tradition for visitors of the hospital.
This morning I spoke in chapel on Joshua 7:7-12 about the battle of Ai. I also sang a song and had prayer. Thank you for your prayers for us and the children here in the pediatric ward. God is opening up doors for us to minister in different areas across Mbingo. Melissa wanted me to let you all know that Jennifer (who you have been praying for) got to go home over the weekend! Praise the Lord! We were so worried about her, but her condition started improving because of the power of prayer! This week, on Wednesday, I will travel 2 hours outside Mbingo to do chaplaincy work at a clinic, so pray that God would prepare us for that. Then on Thursday, I will be doing some music for a bible study at one of the missionary's house. We love you all!