Jesus is the way the truth and the life! True worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth! We bring greetings from Central Africa and from Cameroon to be more precise. We are happy to bring to you, our big family of Christians, a briefing on how the on-going work is, in French Cameroon and French Africa at large.
Let us begin with the work of the Bear Valley Bible Institute that is situated in Mbanga Balong in the literal region of Cameroon.
Our weekend evangelism journeys have taken us to some far-away places for the purpose of studies and for future implantation of the church. Tracks are being distributed on every mission trip. People are also willing to listen to the gospel being presented by our students and staff. On these various evangelism campaign trips, prospects are being made, and eventually some prospects become converts who are happy to wear the name Christian.
We also take the students to various lectureships and seminar grounds where studies are being carried out and evangelism is abundant. Our students attended the last annual youth forum in Bonaberi Douala from the 14th to the 17th of April, 2022 where God added one precious soul into his kingdom. A cross section of our students were present in the youth forum with their fellow students from our sister school in Wotutu.
Still with our bible students, classes are ongoing and the instructors are doing great. The permanent staffers like brother Ename from far away Bertoua will always make it to school in Mbanga no matter his distance. What a great sacrifice! We also have brother Mokou Bernard from Nkongsamba, brother Dafta Yakouba from Douala, brother Giress from Muyuka Peage, and myself, brother Ititi who also acts as the director. In addition to this, we also have brother Bako the school nurse, brother Stephane the night watchman, brother Emile the school Driver, and also brother Christian the speed test instructor and who is also in charge of discipline in the campus. Some others are always there to teach during short courses. With all of these instructors, we are already in the second year of our studies and very soon we shall be going out for another internship.
Recruitment is also ongoing for the next batch of students as we have applicants from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic who are interested to come and study in our prestigious institutions in Cameroon. We are praying for them as they are still searching for funds to establish their traveling documents. Long live Bear Valley Mbanga as we have a mission to transform French speaking Africa.
We have had the opportunity to train over 11 Chadian who are in the field working and presently have others who are still in school. God has now given us the opportunity to train men and strengthen the church in other African French speaking nations. Let us pray for this work, for this mission, and for openings to these various fields of work. The field is vast and the laborers are few. The field is in need of human resources, for the Bible says, "How can they hear without a preacher?"
As we continue with the growth and expansion of work in French Africa, my wife and I, along with the director and wife of the school in Wotutu, traveled to Chad early this month and spent two weeks over there. Our mission was to train the men and women on various aspects of church growth. It was revealed to us last year during our first missionary trip to Chad, that the sisters are in need of support in the way of teaching and training from the church in Cameroon and especially from the sisters in Cameroon. God has been the way. He has granted us the opportunity to travel again to fulfill not only this request but also to get involved in the preacher meetings and to go alongside the Chadian brethren on evangelism campaigns and public preaching. It was requested that we preach and teach in some congregations and strengthen them as a part of our mission.
The French evangelism mission is on-going. For now, we are revisiting the new assemblies we have planted to strengthen and encourage them so that they will know that they are not alone. We have gone back to Kotto Mission where they are making great improvements. The room they were using has become too small and the aging owner of the apartment wants to use the room for a different purpose. So, we are thinking of getting a separate place for the church, and to provide them with benches and a table for their worship. It is the same with some other recently planted assemblies in other localities. They still worship in people’s parlors. This type of setting is not encouraging growth in these modern days as it distracts many from desiring to attend worship there or to visit the assembly there.
It is time for us to begin the search for the next batch of students as we prepare our 4th batch to get into the field. The congregations in French Cameroon are fewer in number and smaller in maturity than those in English speaking Cameroon. So, most of the time, we must travel a long way to meet up with prospective students from various congregations like those in the North. We intend therefore to send two of our instructors or graduates at the end of this month to conduct interviews with these prospective students. This is to prepare for and to get ready for the next batch.
Our congregation in Mbanga is also growing in number as we have been meeting with almost 150 worshippers each Sunday. Things change continually with time as we have grown from the 5 members that we started with some years ago. Today we are reaping the fruits of patience and endurance.
We offer a special greeting from the Mbanga assembly. Our building project is still at hand as we are asking the church to always think on how to meet up with all these needs.