Dear Family and Friends,
The Dance to Mt. Carmel
With much joy and thanksgiving we can report that Mt. Carmel Church is back in her original community. Easter Sunday morning marked 4 years, 4 months and 4 days since the former church premises were illegally taken over. But this Easter marked a triumphant day as the members of the church marched and danced through the neighborhood to their new building. While it is still very much a construction zone, with only the basement useful at this point, many friends and supporters from sister churches joined in the celebration. We have moved in permanently to continue serving and reaching a community that so desperately needs the hope of the Good News.
Between the temporal place of worship of the past 4 years and the new building, there are 2 small rivers that run through the city. In his message of encouragement, Pastor Roland likened these two rivers as Mt. Carmel’s Red Sea and Jordan River. We’ve been in exile and in the wilderness, but now we’ve crossed over to our Promised Land. And while we may still experience opposition and challenges in our new location, just as the children of Israel did in their promised land, the fact that we are where God wants us to be gives us hope to be His light and salt.
Note: The court cases over the old property continue. They are now in the Court of Appeals.
National Missionaries’ Conference
May 7-12 was the annual National Missionaries’ Conference of the Cameroon Baptist Convention. Held at Saare Salaam, Allat, our former place of ministry (1999-2008), more than 30 Cameroonian missionaries gathered from distant and vastly different corners of the country. Some of these missionaries work amongst very resistant peoples and others work in very difficult environmental terrain. It was an encouraging time of sharing each other’s joys and challenges in ministry. Cal was one of four facilitators who presented workshops on holisitic church planting, cross-cultural communication, serving the resistant, and engaging others to partner in support and ministry. Next on the agenda of the Missions Department of the CBC is exploring opportunities in the neighboring countries of Chad and Gabon.
Retreat at the Beach
The last week in March we were able to spend a week at the beach with our NAB missionary colleagues on retreat. It was a very much needed and appreciated time of rest, renewal and fellowship by all who participated. We thank God for the team of missionaries that we lead. They are a blessing to us. Of course, while at the beach, Ysabelle and Elianna spent every possible moment they could boogie boarding and playing in the ocean. Being at the foot of Mt. Cameroon (still an active volcano) the beaches are all black sand.
Calvin, Susanne, Ysabelle & Elianna