Cameroon, Africa

In September of this year, the Lord opened up an amazing opportunity for us and a team of 5 others to go to Cameroon, Africa with our good friend Ernest Ehabe and Bread For Life Ministries.

The team consisted of Todd and Debbie Reed, Matt and Lisa Fisk, and their daughter Melissa, Cory Yates, and Randy Ward.

We arrived in Younde after a 19 hour flight with only one layover in Paris, France. After a good night's rest at the ministry's apartment, we had the honor of worshipping at Grace Baptist Church with pastor Pierre Faraday and his wife Suzi. The people were warm and welcoming. It is amazing that we truly are one body. They shared with us their vision and we prayed with them that God would provide their needs. We returned to the ministry house, where the aroma of a wonderful meal welcomed us. The pastor and his wife shared the meal with us and we visited about the wonderful things God was doing.

The next day we gathered together on a bus to head to Beulah Land Farms. This is a farm that Bread For Life purchased and grows pineapples and plantains. Their goal is to use the money that the farm will produce to help support the other ministries, such as Ray of Hope Academy. The journey to the farm took us five hours. We talked about what we hoped we would experience and shared stories of our lives together. Todd shared his memories of the farm, but seeing it with our own eyes was astounding. It was wonderful to see his excitement at how things had changed. The people on the farm welcomed us graciously and treated us like royalty. One thing that we experienced on this trip was gratitude. The genuine gratitude of the people was overwhelming. It wasn't what we offered them that earned this show of appreciation, but just our willingness to come. We met the chaplain and his wife, Stella. They took us to the pygmy village where we were welcomed by the beautiful harmonies of the women from the village. We met Jannette, who recognized Todd from his previous visit. She was so excited that I came. Todd had talked to them about me and they were all excited to meet me.

We also met a few others that came to tour the farm. Pastor Tanjang Rudolph and George and Geraldine. We had some meaningful conversations around the fire pit that we will cherish for a long time. The next day we toured the farm and got to see and hear of all the needs. The vision of the farm is quite amazing. They hope to develop a self-sustaining place to employ people in the community and become self sufficient with the sales of produce and products to help sustain the other ministries of Bread for Life. We learned pretty quickly that this mission trip was about relationships more than action or projects. Ernest told us that Americans are time oriented creatures, but Africans are more relational and event oriented. There is such a beautiful honor culture in Cameroon. They really value those that are older and wiser than themselves.

After our time at the farm, it was time to return to Younde. Upon arrival, we gathered up our luggage and caught a train to Douala. It was all of our first train ride, except for Ernest, of course. It was at night so we didn't get to see much of the scenery, but what we saw was beautiful. Upon arriving at Douala, our driver escorted us to the ministry house. We settled in and got a good night's rest. The next morning, we awoke to Grace cooking us breakfast. Grace is the administrative assistant at Ray of Hope Academy and is also Ernest's assistant for Bread for Life Ministries. After eating breakfast, Todd and Debbie made their way to the school to observe. The others went to town to scout out some evangelistic opportunities. Our time in Douala was spent doing various things. We spent time at the school helping the new music teacher develop the music program, encouraging the teachers, sharing testimonies on the city block with locals, preaching at a local church and fellow-shipping with each other while worshipping and gleaning from the Word. We brought back with us, not only memories of our time spent in Cameroon but also challenges of how we steward what the Lord has given us. It has made us thankful for simple things, like an endless supply of warm running water, good roads on which to drive with orderly traffic laws, air conditioning, and a consistent supply of electricity. It has also inspired us to slow down and take opportunities to spend time with those we love and respect. It has caused us to reconsider that less is really more and to truly value all that we have.

our first train ride

Pastor Tanjang Rudolph

Ebenezer