Hey, here we are!!  I was able to get on to our blog with a friends computer - not yet our own!!!.  So I will cut and paste tomorrow.  But I just want to say, we think of  you all often.  I sent an email to many of you but will try to update more.  Our friends here are updating their blog regularly and they have a picture of me with the kids if you want to look them up.  They're blog address is
marieanddrew-petersensinaction.blogspot.com.  Check it out. 
Tomorrow I will try to download a few pictures and give a more thorough update.  We hear winter has finally arrived in Edmonton.  We are glad.  The weather here is very moderate.  Cool evenings, very warm days.  It is a bit decieving.  Ben just declared he has his second sunburn it two days.  He's excited to have a tan when we get back.  Well, until tomorrow, I hope.

DESIRE...

Delight yourself in the Lord; And he will give you the desires of your heart. Ps.37:4

For the past two weeks we have been winding all around Germany. The experiences have been comical, adventurous, and uplifting. Throughout the whole trip the word desire has been echoing around in my mind.  

What desire would a:

·         Family have to entrust their rambunctious kin to their vacant quaint Northern Germany home?

·         single mom and her daughter have in order to be open to host a family of six...including 4 very ‘alive’ kids?

·         What about 80 year old Tante Marta, who rode her bike for fifteen minutes each way to purchase a fifteen pound bag of potatoes from the store in time for the family’s visit ?

·         Then there is the young family just outside of Koln that take valuable time out of their pressed schedule to host this impulsive family from Canada?

·         How about the whole clan of Grabowski’s that open their doors and hearts wide open to make this past Christmas unforgettable for us?

The thread that ties all those together is love. Each of the homes that we have been in for the past couple of weeks have been immensely memorable because we felt very loved and cared for. I am convinced that each host had a desire to be sacrificing what they have in order to make our time with them very special. Their sacrifice was our reward. Their desire was our satisfaction.

Our trip through Germany also caused us to encounter the dark side of desire. The experience of the Dachau Concentration Camp, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_concentration_camp

and the Topography of Terror in Berlin, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topography_of_Terror
cannot be put into words. Here the desire to control; to inflict pain through power; to mercilessly cause suffering upon the lives of those that you have been entrusted to protect, was horrifically evident. Here we also witnessed desire. Desire for darkness, desire for evil. Desire driven not out of love and sacrifice for the other, but rather, by hatred, power and self-glorification.

Desire...it is a powerful emotion. One that has been evident from the first humans, whose children were even warned that ‘if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.’ (Gen 4:4).   

What a contrast this is from what our Lord desires for his people:

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6 ESV

When we desire the glory of God we are fulfilling our calling. We have shifted from the old self to the new self. This is not mere habitual sacrifice of time and our riches. It invites us into a life in which our hearts are alive in Jesus. Our hearts of stone are exchanged for a heart of flesh (Ezek 36:26). To try to be satisfied with anything less than the glory of God is only temporary and ultimately disappointing.

God desires for all of us to be saved.

‘...God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.’ (1 Timothy 2:3b-4)

To be saved is to lay our life completely before our gracious God. To find our self-driven desires repulsive (2 Peter 3:3) and to live in the freedom of being adopted children of the Lord Almighty. The thrill of following Jesus has no limits. His Kingdom continues to expand and includes the many that are otherwise neglected.

On Tuesday, we left Germany and arrived in Douala, Cameroon in the late evening. The heat, humidity and odours of this sea level city are wonderfully constrictive. The next morning the 6ish hour drive almost straight up over 5000 ft. to Bamenda was stunning. Interspersed by the buzzing of wasp-like motorcycles, plantations (pineapple, rubber, coffee, and papaya), security check points, and road side markets, are people. Lots and lots of people. I have never seen such an endless stream of people walking: children that could not have been four years old, walking on their own up the highway; old people, hunched over by the weight of the baskets on their backs; people of all ages pushing their carts up the endless hills; a seemingly infinite line of people, all going somewhere.

The road for us goes right into the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) Headquarters. This outstanding complex is the result of the desires of visionary leadership following the guidance of the Lord. The CBC is a daughter of the North American Baptist Conference (NAB). Many years ago, the desire to bring the grace of Jesus Christ to Cameroon resulted in this outstanding mission field. With some of Cameroon’s best teaching hospitals, health clinics, schools for children, seminaries and churches the current CBC is a beautiful testimony of effective leadership. Virtually the entire leadership of the CBC is now provided by the Cameroonian people.  

What is being provided is to be marvelled at; the need of the people is even greater though. In this land that is filled with suffering and warmth, there is a need for the desires of those that have, to give to those that are experiencing the pain of life. We are not able to exist abundantly with an ‘us and them’ mentality... we are all together.  

Our friends, brothers and sisters, I leave you with the question that has changed my life, ‘what motivates you? What is your desire?’ I urge us all to reach beyond our grasp and to be motivated by the cause of God’s Kingdom. Who is in your sphere of influence that you are able to touch with love as you surrender yourself to causing them to experience the hope that passes all understanding?

One of the beauties of a Spirit-filled life is that we do not need to conform to an outside of ourselves norm or set of rules. We have the Spirit of the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe within us, so that we can be fully alive in Him.

We have been advised that the internet connection will be very sporadic in Ndu (where we leave for in the morning) so please go ahead and join the blog as a member so that you will know when we have the chance to update. Hopefully, then we will also get some photos added to the blog.

We love you all

Dan and the family

On your marks, get set...

alright...that's it no more work stuff that needs my attention, I can focus on getting us out of Canada. So, drop off the kids, go to AMA, then RONA, insurance agent, bank...hmmm. how much in Euros? how about U.S.? I better run over and get some groceries...what was that?
'Daddy...daddy...how old are you?'
'Abi, sorry I almost forgot you are in the backseat...what was that you said?'
'Daddy, I asked, how old you are'.
'Abi, you ask me that everyday...you can't ask me the same question everyday...' long pause...
'Daddy, am I sophisticated?'...sigh..., I have not heard that question from her...or from anyone in my life before...it really is suprising how easy going the kids have been regarding this trip. They are taking it all in stride and have, for the most part, been fairly involved in the organizing.
Andrea and I are certainly busy, but not overwhelemed. In the past few weeks, many people have gone out of their way to prayerfully support us. Last Sunday, we had a very precious commissioning in the service. Our family, along with our good friends, the Peters family, http://www.4petersinthejungle.blogspot.com/ will be on sabbatical at the same time. Our church came around both families for a profound time of prayer. That evening, the Small Group that we are part of also dedicated an evening to blessing us as we launch out. So, between very public attention as well as very private gatherings, we feel very much in the grip of God as we entrust to him our future.
Over the next couple of days, we will begin our journey. First for our 2011 holidays, a whirlwind tour of Germany, and then on Jan.3, 2012, we will fly into Douala, Cameroon to begin the sabbatical.
This really is a privilege. As with most people, the last time I have been without work or school for four months is prior to Kindergarten...that was 44 years ago! Our church is remarkably generous and it is a pleasure to serve such wonderful people. It is with much gratitude that we receive what has been given,
“In normal life we hardly realize how much more we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich without such gratitude. It is so easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements compared with what we owe to the help of others.”  Bonhoeffer

Dear friends...sisters and brothers, we thank you for caring for us throughout 2011, it has been a very challenging year, yet, we have been sustained by your prayers and the mercies of God. As we launch this journey, we are immensely motivated to pass the blessings forward to the people that we can serve along the way. Having the opportunity to equip the pastors in Cameroon, so that they can more effectively and passionately serve their congregations will bear more fruit than we are really able to grasp.
To God be the Glory!
Love you all