Nyo tumte mongkum yi ye le. God heaps blessings on our skin.

Pastor Kinyang

In 1972, a Noni man, Pastor Kinyang, wrote to S.I.L. (affiliated with Wycliffe Bible Translators) asking them to send a missionary to translate the Bible into the Nooni language.  17 years later, my parents packed us up and we headed to Cameroon to translate the Bible, assignment unknown.  My parents made trips to several villages and we ended up settling in one of the Nooni speaking villages called Lassin.  Pastor Kinyang was our landlord :)  In the last two decades, Nooni has gone from being a strictly oral language to now having an alphabet, primers, dictionaries and books of the New Testament.  It is now taught as a subject in Noni schools and the community has pulled together to offer adult reading and writing classes.  THIS IS BEYOND EXCITING!!!  The first copies of the Nooni New Testament are on a ship RIGHT NOW headed to Cameroon and are scheduled to arrive September 2nd.  Sometime in December or January there will be a huge celebration to celebrate the culmination of the development of the Nooni language into a written language and to formally dedicate the Nooni New Testament.  All of the Nooni speaking villages, dignitaries from the country, fellow missionaries, and some friends in America who have been supporting the work, will be coming.  This is called a New Testament Dedication.  I am hoping to go and celebrate with the Noni people on this day.  It was my whole reason for having grown up in Cameroon and it is Sam and my whole passion for going back.  A JAARS aviation mechanic recently told us that in 35 years of serving Bible translation through aviation, he has had the privilege to attend one New Testament dedication in Indonesia.  Seeing people receive the Word of God in their own language for the first time on that day put flesh and blood to the reason behind his work.  I am excited to be with my Noni friends on that day.  I know that it will not only be special on that day, but will be a marker in my walk with God to help stay the course on tough days in the future.  Sam would like to join me on that day, but to be frank, we can't afford to send two.  If you would like to see him join me, ASK HOW YOU CAN HELP!  If you are interested in coming experience this incredible day, ASK HOW YOU CAN COME!

One of the first pictures I saw of a Noni village before moving there.

Teaching Tic-Tac-Toe was a great ice-breaker those first few days in Lassin :)

Instant buddies

Making bread with Glory (by the way EVERYTHING is made from scratch!)

Several times a week was "Kitchen Night" where us siblings would hang out and eat with neighbors.

Banla, one of our close Noni buddies

Sam came to visit Lassin multiple times  while we dated and we even had our traditional Cameroonian wedding here.

Although Pastor Kinyang joined Christ in heaven too early to see the entire Nooni New Testament, he did get to see and read from the Nooni book of Luke.

Fun Fact:  Nooni is the language.  Noni are the people.