Women's Tea

Last night was the women's tea for the staff and students here at CBTS. I got there right on time, even though nothing in Africa seems to start on time. When I got the invitation from Ma Massa Angelista, she told me it would begin right at 5pm even if all the people were not there. Ma Massa lived in the United States for a few years so I was convinced it would really start on time. Needless to say, Ma Massa did not even arrive until 515pm. This is only the second such event they have had with the women here and it was not like we have at home. The classroom was big and dusty, there was tea in coolers to keep it warm, the missionaries brought baked goods but nothing was set up "pretty" or even organized. We offered to help but were told we were the guest of honor so we couldn't do that. In the front of the room, there was a long table that they put a plastic table cloth with hamburgers and hot dogs along the edge as decoration. At this long table was seated: Ma Massi, Stella - the student body representative, Helen - Secretary, and a man (whose name I did not get) - dean of men. The tea only started 20 minutes late and moved along pretty well after that. I think they had hoped it would be a celebration with dancing and fun but not one followed through, even when Helen encouraged them to get up and dance. It was new to them and the fact that it was held in a classroom made the women feel like they were in class and should control themselves, I guess. Ma Massi shared a devotion in the beginning about unity. My talk that followed fit right in with unity. I shared some of my testimony and then shared about small prayer groups that I have been involved in over the years. My topic was on Women's ministry in the USA - the first thing that popped into my mind was scrap booking and I was pretty sure that would have no place in this land. I did share how our women's ministry has retreats, socials, Bible studies, teas and other events. At the end there was a woman who stood up and said she thinks they should have retreats. Prayer groups seems like something anyone who wanted to grow in their faith could do. The prayer groups I have been involved in have always fit a purpose in whatever season of life I have been in, and the relationships made through those experiences are rock solid. What surprised me is how emotional I got when I was sharing - I was not expecting to cry for goodness sake. Ellie was there with me and I ended by sharing how Ellie started a prayer group for young ladies when she was only 13. I wanted them to not make excuses but to see that anything is possible. When I finished and sat down, Helen stood up and said, very earnestly "How are you feeling women, after hearing this Ma talk? Do you have a burning in your chest as I do? How are you feeling?" Honestly, as I was writing, I had a burning in my own chest. Even though being committed to a small group of women and praying on a regular basis has been life changing for me in the past, I have not been involved with a specific group of women in a long time. This is one of the things I hope to change when I get home. After our refreshments, Andrea shared on being a Pastor's wife. She asked for a show of hands as to who were pastor's wives or their husbands were going to be pastors when they finished school. I think over half the room raised their hands. Andrea did a great job - even though her husband accidently printed page 1 twice instead of printing her 2nd page of her script, she handled it quite well. What she shared was relevant for any of us but especially Pastor's wives. She spoke on being thankful and encouraging our husbands. I know she touched the hearts of many of the women there. One thing I have noticed is that most of these women are extremely shy. I had assumed in a room that size that most of the women would know each other but that did not seem to be the case. At the end of the tea, the women just quickly left the room - nothing like the gabbing that goes on in America. I did have one woman ask if we could talk. She is working on her thesis and thought some of the things I shared would be fitting for her topic so she wanted to ask more questions. I'm looking forward to meeting with her this coming week. I could tell I had people praying for me because I felt extremely calm and I even talked slower than I ever remember talking. Before I got up, the women all introduced themselves (yes we went around a room of over 50 people). Most of them did not seem to speak English very well and I felt my heart sink. I prayed under my breath for God to open their ears to understand us because it seemed like a waste of time for me to see anything. By the looks on their faces and the nods of heads, I believe God was faithful in answering that prayer. My prayer now will be for these women to follow through and come together in unity and prayer.

Please Pray

I'm feeling sad today. We found out this morning that a 9 year old girl of one of the students here at CBTS was raped just outside the campus fence last night. The family brought her to Bamenda today to get her checked out at the hospital there. Please pray that she has not been infected with the HIV virus and for her physical, emotional and spiritual healing. What a horrible thing - I can not imagine the pain her parents must be in at this moment. Pray that God would comfort them. Pray that they catch the man that did this. Pray for safety for all the other little girls (and boys) that have to fetch water for their families, or be home alone because their parents have to work. Pray for safety for us too as we more strictly enforce the "no walking alone" rule that we had gotten a little lax on. Please lift this family up as you have been so faithfully lifting up our family in prayer.

African Church

We went to an African church this morning.  There are several within walking distance of us but we chose this one because they gave the sermon in English (sort of) and their services are only 2 - 3 hours long (which is short in this area of the World).   We joined some other English speaking white people and the 20 of us looked a bit like a parade heading down the path to church.  The walk was very dusty and I ended up slipping on a steep part of the path.  The dust is a lot like baking cocoa in its consistency so it puffs up with each step you take, blowing back on anyone walking behind you.   We left our house at 9am knowing the service was scheduled to begin at 9am.  We figured that we would arrive just in time after our 10 minute walk there, however we arrived just after Sunday School started (which usually starts at 8am).  The church building is much like a big pole barn with simple hard wooden boards with backs for pews.  There are 4 - 5 different adult classes going on at one time in this big open room making it very difficult to concentrate.  We chose the class lead by the Pastor because it was partly in English.  The gist of the class was that there is more to our salvation then having faith in Jesus, it needs to show itself in our actions.  Before we knew it the church was filling up and church was beginning.   The Pastor spoke in English, Pidgeon and Limbum, making it hard to follow but still interesting.  He spoke on having God as our friend, using the account of Abraham from the Bible.  He was very thorough about the responsibility we have to call God our friend.  The concept of this is different in this culture because people are not generally friends with people who are higher or lower than them in their "class".  Obviously no one is in the same class as God and yet He says we can be His friend.    The music was fun - they sing out the verses first and then the congregation sings back.  At the end everyone dances, walks to the front to give their offering and then farmers bring their crops to the front as their gifts and offerings.  The service ends as they auction off the food from the front of the church.   Cool experience!

The rest of our day was very relaxing.  We got to go to the Rundus family's house for fresh roasted coffee.  There are 3 other missionary families that work at the Seminary full time from America- one of them is from Minneapolis (Bethleham Baptist - North Campus).  There is also a family from Canada with boys my sons ages who are here until the end of February.  It was fun to meet all of them and see how we can encourage them.  Our hope is to come alongside them in whatever way God shows us.

Pray for our team as people are wrestling through the emotions of not being able to do enough for all the needs that are here.