Seeking the lost in Wotutu
Dearest in Christ,
Greetings to you and your family and compliments of the season. We are very glad to share with you what made news here in the month of March. We do pray that this newsletter finds you in good health.
March was the end of the quarter for the Bear Valley Bible Institute here in Wotutu. We are grateful to God for all the wonderful things that God is doing to us here. Some are sick among us, but God is still very faithful.
As we finished the quarter of classroom teaching, the students’ bags were packed, their trekking shoes ready, and the van was set to move out of Wotutu to Mabondo village, a place we decided to go for mission work. It is a virgin land and our aim was to plant a new congregation there. From Wotutu to that village was more than an eleven-hour trip. We started off from campus with our school Van, got to where the van could not continue, and then hopped on motorbike taxis. With the high cost of gasoline now in Cameroon, it is not easy to travel but we are determined to move out, because a soul can in no way compare with money.
By the grace of God, we made it safely to the village after hours of trekking. “EVERWHERE WITH JESUS WE CAN SAFELY GO.” Immediately when we arrived in the strange land, we met with the chief and exposed our intention to him in simple terms. We told him that we have come with the bread of life to share with the entire village, and across the borders of the village, to other nearby villages. The chief was impressed, and gave us his word as he told us to “feel free here and do your work.” House to house is the best method of evangelism in villages, as you have the opportunity to point out the word of God to your prospect, in their own Bibles, as you see in the picture.
Mabondo is an agrarian community. The people returned from their farms, just to meet strangers who had scattered everywhere in their village, holding just Bibles and gospel tracts. Many readily opened their doors and gave us seats to sit and share the message from the Bible. The population was very receptive to us. That was an added blessing from above, to help us to achieve our goal.
Because of the ongoing crisis, which is still very present in the rural areas, there is a presence of military people everywhere. With love and with courage, we shared the greatest weapon man can carry with him, which is the word of God. They saw that we were harmless people, so they allowed us to enter into their barracks to share the gospel message with the soldiers. We gave them gospel tracts so that they could read more about Jesus and His church even after we are gone.
Delphine accepted Christ in that village and was baptized. Many saw her courage to obey the gospel and her courage, and love the gospel, became a stepping stone for others who were scared to come closer, fearing, because the church of Christ teaching from the Bible was strange to them.
We gave out thousands of gospel tracts, and before we could depart from that village, fifteen precious souls obeyed the gospel and the new congregation was born. Keep the Mabongo congregation in your prayers as we will begin to nurture them weekly.
We went far into the jungle though we were well prepared as we bought bottled water to drink, but when we ran out of water, we were left with no other option than to drink from pools that the villagers drink from. Please, if you know of any organization that can help this community with potable water, it will be a memorable landmark there, for the glory of God.
Rains have started in Cameroon, mostly around the rainforest areas. When the rains messed up the earth roads, we were bound to park our van in a village under the watchful eyes of the villagers.
Many appreciations to God and to the elders and Christians of the South Twin Cities Church of Christ for the purchase of this van. It has helped to ease our evangelistic efforts because, “Evangelism is our Mission and our Mission is Evangelism.” Anything that is linked to evangelism gladdens our hearts. The van will still have some years of usefulness with us.
After weeks off the classroom, to enter the field to reach out to souls, because we think souls and we are deriving different strategies to continue to rob from the strong man’s house, we are all back in Wotutu and the factory is on, training preachers who will carry the gospel message to the world. I started teaching Advanced Homiletics (public speaking). This course goes a long way to help increase their boldness, as they will soon go into the wilderness to build up their respective ministries. Please keep our efforts in your prayers, because your prayers are doing a great job in this work.
PLANS
We are planning another mass evangelism this April in the Defenda village where we will proclaim the word of God. Please keep our plans in your prayers.
APPRECIATIONS
On behalf of all the staff, students, and all the Wotutu Christians, we say thank you for your prayers and your gracious support to this work. God sees and will reward you in due season. Do your best to share this news with others.
Make a great day.
Elangwe and family