Transitions

As I write this, it is 17 days until departure for Cameroon. Preparations are mostly under control. Visas are in progress, tickets are bought, sorting is under way, with much of the work done already. We have a few things to buy here that we cannot find in Cameroon, but mostly, we are ready to pack our bags. There are a lot of items that we have borrowed that need returning, and some things need to be given away. Traveling overseas has a wonderful way to de-clutter your life. Even so, we have a combined airline luggage allowance of 450 pounds in our family. That's lots of stuff! (Many families in developing countries have less than half of our luggage allowance...) Then there is carry-on luggage, car seats, and a stroller, etc... We are so happy to have someone to come and help us as we travel and work with the kids for three months as we get settled and readjusted to life in Cameroon.

We are indeed blessed. Returning to Cameroon means readjusting to filtering all drinking water, dealing with power cuts and water cuts, spending a lot more time cooking and cleaning. But it is the place that we are called to be, and so the inconveniences are easier to disregard. Nonetheless, we have been very accustomed to our modern conveniences in Canada and it will take some time to fully readjust to life there. Pray with us that the process will be smooth and safe. Pray as well for the transition that our kids will make. Even though Noah has been in Cameroon, he hardly remembers it. Saying good-byes here and moving to a new life might be a challenge for our kids, but I think they will mostly enjoy the new friends and new environment that is more in tune with nature (and more in tune with dirt!). We have been talking a lot about our life in Cameroon and what is there and what is not there. Noah is excited about all of the plane rides! It will be fun to experience life there through kids eyes.

How many people does it take to take baby passport photos?

A minimum of three: One to hold the back and front of baby's head so it doesn't bobble (the hands go under the clothes which open in the back), one to hold the baby's hands down and pat him on his back so he looks up to the camera with eyes wide open, and one to take the picture while trilling and making all manner of crazy sounds to get the baby's attention. With the able help of the photographer at the Walmart portrait studio in St. Albert, AB, we have passport photos of our little Joe at just over 5 weeks old! We have been sending out this prayer request for a couple of weeks now, and the Lord has delivered once again. We just walked right up to the place, no appointment necessary, went through our routine and 15 minutes later walked away with 6 passport photos. Praise God! Now the rest of Joey's documents can be processed which gets us closer to getting back to Cameroon. Now just to get to his Canadian passport application going, the US Consulate in Vancouver to process his Consular Report of Birth Abroad, US passport application, and Social Security Number, and get visas in all of our passports... no wonder we needed 6 passport photos!

The best kind of news

Of all the kinds of news you can get, this ranks fairly high up on the list: withdrawal of the Health Insurance case. We received a formal letter from the insurance company stating that they had reviewed our submission of evidence and found that we were indeed residents of BC and that they have reinstated our insurance and benefits. We do not owe anything. There is no need for a hearing. Everything has returned to normal. The waiting is over. We are thrilled by their decision and know that God had His hand in this. More details are in an email we sent out recently. If you didn't get this, just let us know and we'll send it to you.

This means that we can proceed with plans to return to Cameroon. At this point we are imagining a late August/early September arrival in Cameroon. Rejoice with us for this great news!

At last: a hearing date!

We've been waiting for this for more than a year. We now have a hearing date to present our case for residency in BC which is the heart of our BC Health insurance situation. July 27 we will be making our presentation before a panel of representatives from the Medical Services Commission (not a legal court hearing). Then they will make their decision and we will know the result and be able to move on. Having a date changes our lives in some ways, because now we can feel closer to being ready to go to Cameroon on assignment again. It means that God answers prayer - so many have been praying for our situation and that God would intervene. God is moving and we are happy to be a part of it. God bless you all for standing with us!

Prayer and Praise

Praise the Lord!

* Joseph Cameron Hamm is here and part of our family! We are thankful he is well and that Valerie is recovering well from the C-section, and we are adjusting to a new dynamic of having three kids!

* We are also thankful for the time that Valerie’s parents could be with us here, helping to take care of our two while we were in hospital, and then helping with so many things after coming home. It was a very nice time with them and a chance for them to bond more with their grandchildren.

* MSP has received the argumentation with 41 pieces of evidence for our residency in British Columbia. Let’s pray that it is well received and will lead to good results. Pray that the Lord would touch the hearts of those who make the decisions in our case. Now we are waiting for MSP to review our material and then we can start to make plans for a date for the hearing.

Lord, we need You . . .

. . . in Canada

* Pray for Valerie as she has less sleep than normal, and for Cam too as he is taking over cooking for a while. It is going to be a while before we can get into a “normal” schedule again.

* We are hoping to travel to Cam’s parents place sometime this summer. Pray for good decisions about travel dates.

* We have decided to launch a blog and become part of Facebook in order to increase our interaction with you, our supporters, and other friends. http://cameroonchronicles.blogspot.com . We await your comments there!

. . . in Cameroon

* A site for one new community well has been tentatively agreed on, not too far from our house in Bafanji. The chief needs to arrange details with the land owner and the neighborhood leaders, and then the well could be dug in August/September. We are excited about this possibility. More info coming...

* The first draft of the Bafanji transition primer is ready to be printed on an as-needed basis. The creators of these books received their first copies to start testing by teaching others who already read English to learn to read their own language. They were thrilled to see the product of their hard work.

Cameron and Valerie Hamm

18868 - 60B Avenue

Surrey, BC

V3S 7T6

phone: 604-574-1046

skype: cameron.hamm

Wycliffe Canada:
4316-10 Street NE, Calgary, Alberta. T2E 6K3 1-800-463-1143
http://www.wycliffe.ca
Wycliffe USA:
P.O. Box 628200, Orlando, Florida. 32862-8200 1-800-388-1928
http://www.wycliffe.org

One week old today

Joseph turned one week old today. He's doing great and so is his mother. God has blessed us with another healthy baby. That makes three kids. The older two are loving and accepting, but trying to keep Elly from hurting Joseph is not easy. She just wants to throw books (board books!) at him and smother him with blankets and get in his face (not so great since she and Noah have colds right now!). Everyone is adjusting to the new life in the family and mostly enjoying it. Joseph seems to be quite different from the older two in the area of physical looks. He's going to love his brother and sister, that's for sure.

Here's a thought - what would you like to see here? What kind of content? Maps, points for prayer, pictures, videos, what else?

This just in...

Our new blog is designed to take the place of our old web site (www.hamm.truepath.com) where we can more easily update you on what is going on in our lives, and hopefully, hear back from you more easily as well. I hope to be filling this out more in the near future.