Before we left Yaounde, we helped Jana Puhl, the youngest daughter of Karin and Frank, celebrate her sixth birthday. Her “oma” (grandmother) called from Germany to wish her happy birthday, and we sang to her and gave her some candy. Jana was so proud of her new orange skirt and quilted purse!

One of the highest honors visitors can receive is to be invited into the home of a Cameroonian family for a traditional African dinner. We were invited to the home of Emile, who is helping to plant the new church we visited Sunday, and who is a part-time gate guard for the home and property

The meal began with hand-washing all around, as the meal is eaten with the fingers from a common bowl. No silverware or utensils are used. Here Greg Burgess washes his hands prior to the meal.

This family is living temporarily in the lower level of a house that is under construction. They will eventually need to move again as construction progresses. But the shady area, with a nice breeze blowing, provided a delightful setting for the meal and to get to know these courageous Brethren who have been involved in

The main course consisted of dishes of meat (beef and fish) in an oil base, into which you dipped chunks of the corn paste.

The meal concluded with servings of fresh fruit, a VERY sweet coffee and tea, and this kind of rice pudding. The leisurely meal ended with conversation about the growth of the Grace Brethren movement in Cameroon and some of the strategy to teach Brethren doctrine and heritage to new believers or those new to the

Dan O’Deens, pastor at Gateway Grace Community Church, the Grace Brethren Church in Coatesville, Pa., sent along withis update about their mortgage burning over the weekend. WOW….what a great weekend we just had….A mortgage burning! Less than 5 years ago we bought 34 acres of prime real estate in Chester County. We had a 15

We have received word of the death of Margaret Furness, mother of Margie Brubaker of Frederick, Md. Margie is the wife of Pastor Michael Brubaker of the Grace Community Church, a Grace Brethren church in Frederick. Mrs. Furness died on June 16, 2007 at the age of 88. Funeral information and an obituary are included

Driven, the annual conference for young adults, kicks off this week at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. There is still time to register for the conference. If you can’t make it for the weekend, a day rate is available. The theme for the conference, which begins Thursday evening (June 21), is “Making Our Mark.” Speakers

The sun shone brightly and the acrid smells of open fires were everywhere as Frank Puhl picked us up in the mission pickup truck on Sunday morning, June 3, to go to a newly-formed Grace Brethren church. We stopped along a busy highway, and filed down this pathway and embankment to the area under the