Click here to view this newsletter as a PDF.
Dear Family and Friends,
T
he Chinese proverb says a picture is worth a thousand words. This picture from the Bamenda compound, where we live, conjures up a lot of words and thoughts. Let me share some with you.
The building that is elevated above the excavation, and is in the process of being demolished, is Central Administration building of the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC). It was built in the early 1950’s with a cemented stone foundation, thick mud blocks, plastered over by cement. This solid building has housed the General Secretary, the Field Director, the Director of Evangelism & Missions, their respective staffs, and the Bursar’s Office. It is being torn down to make way for a maternity building that will be part of the health services of Nkwen Baptist Health Centre, the clinic on our compound. Envisaged to be a four or 5-story building, with the occupants of the torn down administration building are to occupy the top floor or maybe two floors. It is estimated that the project will take one year to complete. Those displaced by the demolishing of the office are for now “patching up” in other workspaces around the compound. Needless to say, workspace is very tight right now.
What resources are available to fund such a grand project? The “maternity” part of the building is being funded by a loan given to the CBC Health Services by the French Development Agency – something I have reported in previous newsletters – to be repaid by 2030. To get this loan, one of the stipulations the French required is that our financial statements be translated into OHADA – a French African accounting standard. Since it does not translate readily from the traditional accounting standard we are using, it has caused us in the finance and development department of the Cameroon Baptist Convention, processing the transactions for some 160 departments, considerable more work. Where the funding for the “administrative” part of the building will come from, I do not honestly know right now.
In the pictured excavated area there used to be many trees and a nice wooded pathway that I used daily to run/walk the station guard dogs. I must admit, I am personally a little put out by “progress.”
Apart from the Health ministry desiring funding for expansion of its work, other ministries of the Cameroon Baptist Convention have also sought better funding sources and opportunities to help expand ministry. To that end, I have been working with a team people, quite extensively for a number of months, to launch the CBC Development Fund. It is modelled similarly to the NAB Church Extension Investor’s Fund, where church members are invited to make term deposits and from these funds, churches/ministries can take loans for projects in the building of God’s Kingdom. There has been a good response so far to this initiative.
October is the period of harvest thanksgiving in churches here, where many bring produce from their farms and gardens to the church. November is the period of Field Bible Conferences. Both are opportunities to celebrate God’s goodness and the joy of Christian fellowship.
As one ponders God’s goodness and our gratitude to him, kindly allow us to present two NAB 2015 special projects for Cameroon that have received little funding this year, but that we believe can be very strategic in helping advance God’s Kingdom work here. They are:
Assist a National Missionary
Cameroonian national missionaries are going to the least-reached peoples of Cameroon. While Cameroon Christians support basic salaries of these missionaries, most have no ministry funds. Contributions will provide these national missionaries with Bibles, literature or even a motorcycle in order to reach the people to whom they were sent. Suggested $1,000 annually per missionary. http://nabconference.org/give/online/cameroon-assist-national-missionary
Theological Education by Extension
Many Christian lay leaders and rural pastors do not have the opportunity to attend the institutional Bible training. TEE provides Bible, evangelism and leadership training by correspondence/small group teaching. Contributions are used to subsidize the cost of textbooks for students. Total need is $4,000 annually. http://nabconference.org/give/online/cameroon-assist-national-missionary
Thank you for your partnership in God’s work here in Cameroon. Thank you for considering these special project needs.
In Christ
Walter & Florence