| The challenges to these pastors
and Christians are great and yet I look upon them with amazement.
Pastor Tembeng thanks God for bringing him here. When he got here
he says he felt what he thought an American must feel when going
to a developing nation for the first time. Yet despite the difficulties,
he feels he has grown in immeasurable ways in this year. And the
congregations, like most Cameroonians, greeted us with cheerful
smiles, a heartfelt welcome, and food. We could not have asked
for more gracious and generous hospitality.
We also attended their presbytery meeting. During the reading
of the presbyterial moderator's statement, I found it hard to
hear him chastise the presbytery for the lack of giving. He said
it was a shame that the presbyterial treasurer still had a pit
toilet, that the furniture of both the presbyterial secretary
and treasurer was old, their fridges broken. It was hard to hear
these things when just outside the door were people living without
proper pit toilets and wouldn't even dream of a fridge. It was
even harder to come home to our large comfortable house. The disparity
between the rich and poor is so acute.
Before coming to Africa, we saw a film about a man whose camel
died. Camels were essential for life. The man went to see a man
who had several camels, and asked for one. The camel owner deliberated
and then gave the man a pregnant camel. When asked why, he said,
if there is even one poor person among them then it was a shame
on the whole community. Wouldn't that make such a difference if
the whole world had that attitude?!
I am also reminded of a story about Mother Theresa. When asked
how she wasn’t overwhelmed by the multitudes in need, she
replied she saw just one face at a time, one person in need, one
child of Christ. And so we pray that the work we do here will
help the students go out to do the work they are called to. We
pray for their ministries and faithfulness to sharing the gospel
in challenging situations.
On May 25 we will pray God's blessing upon those outgoing students
as we continue to pray for the students who have gone before them.
Please pray for these graduates and for all the pastors of the
Presbyterian Church of Cameroon as they try to be faithful messengers
of the good news of Jesus Christ.
Larry and Anna Bauerband
The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, page
30. |
