We're Back!
Hi Everyone. Although suffering from a bit of jet lag we have returned from Africa in great shape and excellent spirits. God indeed answered our prayers and gave us a wonderful time of visiting Cameroon and seeing how we can be involved in making His Great Name known and worshiped among the Fulbe people. We have posted a few of the 600 pictures we took on our Facebook page, "The Waite's Mission Progress".
Before we left for Cameroon, we had the sense that God was directing our hearts to the Fulbe people who live in the northern half of Cameroon. This was clearly confirmed to us by the Spirit of God as we spent time in Fulbe villages out in the bush and in the town of Banyo. The Fulbe people number about 1.5 million in Cameroon alone. Among this unreached Muslim people group there are only a handful of believers and not a single church. Yet, they are very open to hearing the Gospel and especially about Jesus Christ, whom they are quite curious about.
In two of the villages we visited, the people welcomed us with singing and dancing while they found a dwelling for us to stay in since we arrived after nightfall. As they sang, I asked our interpreter what they were saying and he told me that they were singing about Jesus and wanting to follow His way rather than the way of Islam. When I asked him what they knew about Jesus he replied that they knew very little about Jesus--only what their Islamic teachers had taught them from the Koran but that somehow they knew that Jesus was more than just a prophet and they wanted to follow Him rather than Mohammed. Once our dwelling (a mud hut) was made ready for us we unpacked our vehicle and were served a huge meal of rice, meat sauce, and meat pieces, which we found out later were stomach meat. Then we met with the people in their "prayer house", which was a large round structure made out of mud bricks where we joined with them in singing and more dancing. Then everyone became very quiet and sat down. One of the village elders then began speaking in Fulfulde while our translator relayed his words to us. He welcomed us and asked us to share who we were and why we were had come to visit them. As I explained to them that we had come to visit them because we wanted to tell them about the Jesus they were singing about and how to follow His Way--the people enthusiastically welcomed us and invited us to come back and live with them.
This was not a unique experience during out stay in Cameroon either. We were welcomed in every village we visited and invited to return to tell the people about Jesus and His Way. In fact, in one village that Nancy and I visited via a Chinese made 125cc motorcycle, in which while I was driving Nancy was riding behind me in a long skirt (so as not to offend the Muslim people) and sandles as we traversed creeks, rocky slopes, and a narrow winding footpath, the leaders were so impressed that we took the time and made the effort to visit them that they invited us to stay and live with them in their village again and teach them about Jesus and His Way.
In Banyo, we stayed with Bob and Joan Lokker and their two teenagers, Bethany and Tim. The Lokkers have been in Cameroon working among the Fulbe for about eight years. Now they have eleven believers among the Fulbe that they are discipling and meeting with on an almost daily basis. Their hope is that this group of believers will become the very first church among the Fulbe in Cameroon. These believers have many pressures they must bear up under as the result of following Christ in a Muslim culture. Unlike some of the villages, which welcome the message about Jesus, the people in Banyo and much of the rest of northern Cameroon are not so receptive. Some are even hostile as a few of these eleven believers have been persecuted to various degrees. Some of the men have had their cattle taken from them for following Jesus while a few have even lost their wives and children for deciding to follow Jesus.
Among this group of eleven believers are a small number of men who believe God has called them to reach their own people as future evangelists, church planters, and pastors. These men all have a vibrant testimony for Christ and love His Word but need to be taught and developed as spiritual leaders. This is the task that has been presented to us--that of helping to disciple, mentor, develop, and come alongside these men and their wives as they intentionally move out among the Fulbe in other villages and towns in order to reach their own people for Christ. Our vision is to see a church planting movement begin which envelops the thousands of Fulbe villages and towns in Cameroon so as to reach the 1.5 million Fulbe with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and ultimately the over 15 million Fulbe scattered throughout North Africa.
Our plan now is to continue working with our sending church in New Mexico, Covenant of Grace Bible Church, as we simeltaneously work at raising our prayer and finacial support to return to Cameroon full-time as missionaries. We are looking for individuals, small groups, and churches who have a passion for seeing Christ's Name made known among an unreached Muslim people group like the Fulbe so that God would receive the glory and we His people--the joy as they are brought to saving faith in Christ Jesus. Once our support is raised in full we will be able to return to Cameroon.
If you know of churches, church groups, and/or individuals who do have a passion for missions and especially reaching an unreached Muslim people group with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and who would be interested in hearing about our vision and future plans please feel free to let us know about them or them about us.
Thank you so much for your prayer support and finacial help in making our trip possible. It was exciting to see that God has not left Himself without a witness among this unreached people group. And it will be even more exciting to see how God draws these people to Himself for His glory and theirs and our eternal joy.
Merry Christmas from our family to yours and may we all come to better know and enjoy the reason for the season--Our Great Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Until next time......
In His Joy & For His Glory,
mark, nancy & the waite gang
No comments:
Post a Comment