An Initial Report Re: Our Recent Trip To Cameroon

My nephew Aaron Waite and I (Mark) just returned Sunday evening from an exciting 18 day scouting trip to Cameroon where we traveled hundreds of miles via slow moving vehicles, on motorcycle taxis, and by train in order to minister the Gospel and gather the necessary information to select the place where my family and I will move to next September (2011). We traveled, visited, and lived exclusively with Africans on this trip in order to get a first hand indigenous perspective of what the needs really are and how to best meet them in a way that honors the Word of God, makes much of our Great Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and best benefits the people we are going to serve in Cameroon.

Our trip was successful in many ways as God revealed opportunities of service and avenues by which to engage the Fulbe people. We were able to get into the North which the churches in Cameroon call "the regions beyond" due to the scarcity of Gospel witness and the overwhelming Muslim population. We were able to stay with a small church in Ngaoundere and experience as close as I think I have ever come to seeing the NT lived out in a culture hostile to the Gospel. To be in a church where as many of the people as possible gather between 5 and 6 am to gather strength from the Scriptures, prayer, and singing hymns before they go out into a Muslim city where mosques outnumber churches probably 25 to 1 is impressive. To encounter college age believers who besides going to class from 8am to 8pm (yes--there system of education is quite a bit more strenuous than ours) are also reading through there Bibles--some at a rate of 14 times per year is almost unbelievable. We also met believers who had converted from Islam as well as some who were demon-possessed and serving evil spirits before being rescued by Christ. The demonic world is very much evident as well as alive and well in Cameroon.

From Ngaoundere, we hired a truck and a driver who took us further North to the town of Tignere (pop. 20,000) which is west of Ngaoundere and closer to Nigeria. We saw hundreds of Fulbe camps and in talking to a pastor in the town heard of hundreds more in the bush--all of which are without a Gospel witness. We tried to reach the town of Kontcha but couldn't due to the road being completely washed out. To get there we would have had to go through Nigeria which would have been impossible without visas. The appealing thing about Kontcha is that according to the church in Tignere (like the church in Ngaoundere--surrounded by Muslims) Kontcha has not even been engaged with the Gospel. On the way back to Ngaoundere (a 7 hour drive to cover about 70 miles) we had two flat tires and ended up stranded on the road for about 5 hrs. after dark which is not a good situation for Americans on roads that are patrolled by bandits rather than police. God protected us and we eventually got back to our home base in Ngoundere. On another day our vehicle was hit by a small bus and again God protected us and our vehicle so we could get back to Ngoundere.

We spent a couple days and nights at an orphanage near the village of Bossa (30 miles west of Bamenda) and saw much potential for ministry there as well as using it for a means of taking the Gospel to the Fulbe. Known as the Grace Tait Children's Shelter, this orphanage is home to 37 children ranging in age from 4 months to 16. It was started four years ago by Grace Tait a retired Chicago school teacher. Grace is now 82 years old and no longer able to provide leadership to the home. Her teacher's pension is the shelter's sole means of support. We have committed to going to the orphanage next September/October and beginning the work there of providing leadership and working to help it become self-sustaining. We will also be coming alongside the current small staff of five Cameroonian adults to help them in caring for and nurturing the children. The big challenge is to not Americanize the kids as we minister to them and help provide for their needs. In essence, the orphanage is in need of continued visionary leadership that will move it to being a true self-sustaining and safe home for orphaned children which will provide them with a Bible-centered, God-prizing, Christ-magnifying, spiritually vibrant and loving place to grow up and be developed into the adults God will use to positively affect their culture for the glory of God.

Another major challenge we have this year is raising more funds to help pay for some of the projects that need to be started once we get there as well as to replace Grandma Grace's pension as the sole support of the orphanage. We hope to visit more churches and interested individuals this year even as we try finishing the task of raising our own personal support.

As it stands now, our plan is to finish raising our support this year (ca. about $1000 more per month is needed) and then ship our things including a vehicle to Cameroon in mid to late summer. We will then hop on a plane in early September if God permits and begin our work in the orphanage soon thereafter. While at the orphanage we will also begin the work of establishing relationships with some of the Fulbe camps nearby so as to learn Fulfulde, better understand their culture, and ultimately to share the Gospel with them. We will also take trips into the North in order to establish a beachhead to work from in the future as our desire is to ultimately move into the North (the regions beyond) to share the Gospel with those Fulbe people who have never been engaged with the Gospel.

I had the opportunity to do a great deal of preaching while in Cameroon and finished the last week preaching twice a day. God blessed with many professions of faith in the town of Buea and Ngoundere. Over 200 committed their lives to a deeper and more intentional walk with the Lord in one place and in Ngoundere many believers committed their lives to missions and reaching many of the unreached people groups around the world and in their own country. For two days I counseled with people (mostly college students and young working people) from morning until late in the evening who were seeking God's will in regard to future missionary service. I was also asked if I would consider becoming an adjunct professor at a Bible college in Bamenda about 30 miles away from the orphanage to teach expository preaching and other subjects relating to biblical studies.

Aaron was a huge help and encouragement on this trip. He took over 3000 pictures and much video footage. He was also able to encourage many young people as they saw him devoting his time to serve and minister to them.

Well, there is more--much more to tell but this gives you a sense of what we did and are looking to do in the future.