Category: Encouragements and Exhortations

By Stacey I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. –1 Corinthians 10:33  I have read this verse of Paul over and over again since our arrival in Cameroon and have asked myself the question, “What does it mean to try to please everybody in this cultural context?” I think I am slowly learning what this means, and it’s totally different than what I expected. I thought that pleasing everyone meant that I would live exactly like they do, but what I am discovering is…

by Stacey Heights by great men reached and kept Were not attained by sudden flight, But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upward in the night. – Longfellow   We are experiencing many new adventures as first-term missionaries and in recounting them we often hear from our loved ones that we need to make sure we are not pushing ourselves too hard. Being the kind people that they are, they do not want to see us burn-out and go back home with remnants of what used to be a marriage, messed-up children, and the Bakoum people left without a…

by Dave We had an excellent opportunity to go to a city called Bamenda last week and have a short retreat. We had an American pastor, and for the first time in almost 2 years, we experienced corporate worship in English. And an amazing thing happened. I felt nothing! I knew that this should have been a great relief and joy, both emotions I saw on the faces of those other missionaries around me. But I just felt cold and unmoved. I spent the week reflecting on what to do, and did find myself worshipping in the end. And I…

by Dave Have you ever praised God for your conversion? I am sure that you have. I have heard many of you rejoice in the way that the Lord saved you. And we often here amazing testimonies and they can be quite powerful. I remember hearing one while I was on a mission trip that has stuck with me to this day. A man was a professional thief in Jamaica and got so good at what he did that he would actually wear a three-piece suit, walk up to a house, pick the lock, go in and steal whatever he…

by Dave I am still a bit new to missionary life and methodology, but if there is one thing that I have heard over and over again, it is that contextualization is vital. What is contextualization? Well, I am told that one of the weaknesses of my predecessors in the missionary field was that they confused biblical Christianity with their own culture. So, they brought with them their own customs and traditions and taught them as necessary alongside the Bible. Here in Cameroon, for many years the majority of church services have been conducted in French. The songs, the sermons,…

By Stacey Some days I wish I could change my skin color. To those on the streets of Cameroon I am referred to as “la blanche” or “white person.” Sometimes little children excitedly point and run to tell their friends when I approach as if I was some sort of exotic animal. I know they do not mean anything by it, and yet I feel like I am like the village attraction (actually, I think I amthe village attraction). Adults in the market try to get my attention essentially by calling out “hey white person, we have great white people…

by Stacey “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” – Matthew 9:36-38   To be faithful to Christ’s command in Matthew 9, I have always thought that Christians were supposed to “pray people to the field.” After, myself, going through the process of becoming a missionary, I completely understand why Jesus told us that the “goers” need a lot…

by Dave Unexpectedly we have had 3 house calls by Jehovah’s Witnesses since we arrived in France. We actually were not able to talk to them any of these times (the first two times because we did not speak French well enough and the last time because they came at a bad time). But considering these encounters got me thinking about the deity of Christ. Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus is not God, nor that he claimed to be God. Instead he is the archangel Michael and was God’s first creation. I have found that this is actually a pretty…

by Stacey After several months of neglecting my morning jog due to cold weather, this past week I decided to put on my running shoes once again. The first morning out, it was cold and the streets were empty except for a few men in berets coming to buy their morning baguettes. I was panting and struggling due to the fact that I have gotten a bit of out of shape during the winter months. I was just trying to put one foot in front of the other. Suddenly I looked up and saw a rather large French woman, still…