January 2012

We were blessed this January to have friends from Onley Baptist Church on the Eastern Shore come to Cameroon!  They got to experience life in the village for a few days and they helped build cages for the rabbit project.  Then we headed up to our annual missionary conference in Bamenda and they took charge of the kid's program.  We loved every minute of it...they felt like family!

We also purchased a new "ministry vehicle" (toy) for those quick trips to nearby villages.  Wanna know how to fire up Nathan's determination?  Just say, "You'll never get THAT to stay on the roof of your car!" 

We stayed in a mongulu while we were on molongo!  Mongulu = leaf hut.  Molongo = camping in the forest, Baka style.  Mama Lendo built a HUGE hut for our family, herself and her grandson.  I guess she thinks we are big people, so we need lots of space.  

This is a dry season mongulu.  It won't rain (most likely), so they make it more like a shelter instead of closing it in like a hut.  It got pretty cold at night, and we ended up sleeping like sardines to keep warm.
We'd been talking about doing this for years, and figured this was our last opportunity before home assingment.  Our trip was cut short (only spent 2 nights in the forest) because one of the Baka ladies went into labor.  She had been dam fishing with us the day before, really working it.  She delivered the baby within an hour after we got back home!
 

At night, the guys went hunting.  This is the bush rat Nestor shot while hunting with Nathan.  It was actually pretty tasty!



 Boaz had a hard time sleeping because of the cold, so he spent a bit of time keeping warm by the fire.  Buttercup, our dog, liked being with us, but didn't like being in the forest so much.  Too many bugs!  You can make out 3 mongulus in the picture, there were 5 in total.   

New Year's Eve 2011

21 Baka believers were baptized!  Some of the guys cleared a place in the forest at a nearby river.  In preparation for this baptismal service, we held a baptism class.  Nathan expected just a handful of guys to step forward, but we were overjoyed as we saw that God's Spirit had truly worked in hearts and prepared many for this event.  One after another stepped forward and gave testimony which included such statements as "I love the death of Jesus because it takes away my sins." and "I want to follow God's path with my whole heart."  A truly amazing day that we continually praise God for.

We posted a bio on each of these folks on a facebook page called The Baka People (look it up and click "like") for 21 Days of Prayer for the baptized believers.  Here is an excerpt from that page:

Day 8: There's so much I (Nathan) could write about Nestor... He has truly become a friend to me. We've seen so much growth in him over the last few years. He has been growing as a leader and I've been able to count on him to keep things going while I've had to travel. He used to hit his wife when he got angry and cared more about buying new clothes than caring for his family - but now he's a model husband and father - an example to those around him. He desperately needs your prayers as The Deciever would like nothing more than to trip up this emerging leader and de-rail the growth of the Baka Church. Please pray for Nestor.

Day 14: This is Mango (mah-ngo), a grandmother at Mayos who stepped forward for baptism and surprised us with her understanding of the Gospel and desire to follow God. She publically confessed to the sins of her past and how her life has changed now that she's on God's path. She's the first one in her family to be baptised. She acts as mother to many in the village, providing help and counsel when needed. Pray with us that she will be an example to her family and a light to her generation as well as a spiritual guide to the next.