So, how was it?

Less than a week back, and we were asked to stand up in church and answer a few questions. It was a good thing we knew the questions in advance and could script our answers – else, we'd have gone completely off-topic and have been there all day. At that stage, we were still gathering our thoughts – indeed, we still are!

1 – How has your journey been (asked to Clarke)
Firstly, can I start by bringing greetings from Grace Baptist Church in the Tropicana area of Yaoundé, where Pastor Hervés will be closing his sermon after a 2¼ hour service!

In answer to your question, I'm not sure where to begin.

There are so many things I could talk about, such as: the complete contrast in culture between here and Cameroon; seeing literacy and Bible translation work first-hand and seeing the difference it makes in people's lives. We have seen people rejoice as the New Testament is given to them in their own language and exclaim that “I heard Jesus speak to me in my own language!”. We have met Christians from many other cultures and denominations, including happy and vibrant worship at Grace Baptist, all happily working together. We have been challenged by people living in what we would consider to be poverty showing perfect contentment and getting on with life. We have had a year away from western media with more time to think and to read, with no TV and more time to reflect on sermons, the Bible and our faith in general.

Already, we know we have changed in a number of ways and each day we are back in Coleraine we are noticing something that we are doing a little differently. We know we have a different perspective on life and on our faith. We have a lot to think about over the next few weeks and months as we digest a fantastic and eye-opening year.


2 – What is it like to be home again (asked to Alison)
Obviously, it's great to see family and friends again and to get back to a more familiar diet!

As Clarke said, we do have a lot to think about and are only now starting to consider the many aspects of what we saw in Cameroon, when we see the sharp contrast with things at home. The first thing that struck us on our arrival at Heathrow was the wall-to-wall advertising, for things we probably don't really need – this seemed strange as we haven't seen much advertising all year. By our standards, many people in Cameroon have very little, yet they wear a look of peace and contentment on their face that we already miss in the people we have walked past here.

So many people here seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere. There's a lot of pressure to either do something or to be something you aren't that we maybe didn't notice as much before. Our society says that unless you wear a certain label or have certain things, you are worthless. We need to remember that to Christ, each one of us is priceless.

When we arrived in Cameroon almost a year ago, we felt an amount of 'culture shock' and noticed how different, strange and baffling some things were. It is safe to say, to some extent, we feel the same in reverse.

3 – What was the greatest challenge of your time away (asked to Clarke)

There were many challenges – learning how to live with people from many backgrounds; dealing with the French language, which after a year remains a challenge for me. Learning how to deal with poverty that you walk by day after day. We had to choose between affordable local food that tasted odd, or paying far too much for European imports. We had to think about what aspects of our Christian lives exist because they are in the Bible, and what is simply due to NI culture.

The effect of these challenges will only be fully realised in the next few weeks and months as we return to situations that we were used to a year ago but now consider weird. Things like, wondering if we really do need to buy as many groceries, or simply dealing with people we meet in a different (and hopefully nicer) way.

A big challenge for both of us was learning how it is to be a foreigner in another culture. When you are the only white person in a street, people stare at you. Children sharing our taxi sometimes wanted to stroke our smooth hair. This is natural human curiosity, it wasn't intended in a bad way. Some people have had a bad experience of some white people and are wary of us, thinking that all white people are rude or whatever. It has made us realise how much like outsiders foreigners can feel and now we have a better idea how difficult it must be for people who arrive here and who simply want to be treated as equals. We've learned that a friendly smile and saying “hello” go a long way towards making someone feel welcome.


4 – What is the most valuable lesson that you have learnt? (asked to Alison)
Well, probably as we think and reflect on the year, the answer to this question will change.

We've learnt that we can survive and be happy with no TV and far less of the junk we clutter our lives with. We've learnt that we have as much to learn from other cultures, and possibly more, than they have to learn from us. We've learnt that God is just as present in Cameroon as he is here in N. Ireland. We've also learnt, that once you get to know them, people from other backgrounds and cultures are as much created in God's image as we are.

We've learnt that God seems to prepare us for events that we have no idea of, years before they happen. Both of us had skills and random pieces of knowledge that only became useful when we were in Cameroon. Likewise, we know the things we learned in Cameroon will probably be useful in the future, although right now, we have no idea how.

We've learned that our God is far bigger than we probably imagined. He can move people to different places where they can touch lives without knowing it – and we've come to realise how people here can touch others without knowing the full effect they have. The people in the congregation who sent us an occasional e-mail, letter or packet of Tayto or whatever were important in keeping up our morale, and we appreciate simple acts of kindness far more than before.

We've come to appreciate how much the church is one body, and how important it is for the members to work together for that body to work properly.

So, as you can see, we've learnt many valuable lessons which we hope and pray we well remember and apply to our lives as we settle back into NI.