I​t’s been an incredibly hectic, busy but productive and fruitful year, so far! 2017 has been off to a good start! PTL!!!

I have just returned to Cameroon after about four weeks of crisscrossing Arkansas and Texas. I had the opportunity to attend the final home-going celebration of the life of a dear brother and friend (Phil Love) in Russellville, AR. Phil is now resting in the presence of the One he loved and served. Phil opened his door and home to me and countless others (during my days at Arkansas Tech University in the 80’s) and will be missed here on earth.

Ray of Hope Academy-Akid is just that - a real ray of hope in a remote rural village in the Southwest of Cameroon, where nothing good was perceived to be happening or was thought would ever happen. That is no longer the case because now there is a beautiful primary school in Akid.

​The year was 1910. Times were tough and money was hard to come by. The most reliable means of communication was the telegraph, but it wasn’t cheap, you paid for every word sent. At this time, General Booth (the founder of Salvation Army) was old and frail and could not attend their annual meeting. He was encouraged to send a message that would be read at the convention. A message that would convey the heart, mission and vision of the Army. “Knowing that funds were limited and desiring not to use any more money than necessary so that as much money as possible could be used to help the many people in need, General Booth decided to send a one-word message. He searched his mind and reviewed his years of ministry, looking for the one word that would summarize his life...” Not an easy task for a lonely word.  The only word he could think of was: OTHERS! Yet the task was accomplished, as OTHERS became the Army’s focus, OTHERS became their reason and OTHERS became their purpose. 

​Every year, I visit the USA to share in churches as well as reconnect with our ministry partners. In-between these visits, a lot of my time is spent with Internationals from Africa, especially new ones: mentoring, advising, guiding and helping them find their way in America. I believe these internationals represent a missing link in world evangelization. Numerous obstacles have made world evangelization almost impossible in our time:

As the civil war in the Central African Republic (CAR) winds down, there is increasing unrest caused by past members of armed factions. They are now being incorporated back into society. Criminal bands are on the rise, similar to what happened in the United States after the Civil War. In the end, it was not really the gun fighters who won the Wild West, but the preachers who were used by God to change lives. This is our hope for CAR. There are tens of thousands of refugees in the border towns of Cameroon. More than 20,000 in the town of Garoua-Bolai. By reaching out to refugees in the border towns of Cameroon we can contribute in a lasting peace. Many of these refugees are Muslims. Imagine them returning to their home country changed and as agents of change! We are looking at planting a church in one of the border towns before the end of the year and are praying for sponsors for this new church plant that has such potential of reaching CAR. Will you prayerfully consider being a part of this?

​Three years ago, we were led to buy 250-acre virgin forest land near Dimako in the East of Cameroon, among the marginalized Baka Pygmies. The vision for this land is to build a sustainable ministry based from where we can effectively minister to this and other communities, create a model demonstration farm and a social business. As a typical visionary. I thought this would become sustainable within a year. It hasn’t. Our focus this year is on land preparation. That is – cutting down some trees and developing a plant nursery for the farm and the community.

Lee Cawthon, a US Army veteran heard me share about this project in his church two years ago and immediately volunteered to come and serve with us on a long-term basis.

As I have said and written in the past, development is not a matter of simply drawing up an ideal blueprint, but, rather one of pragmatically devising a way of proceeding within the constraints and possibilities of the realities on the ground. My values in this regard can be summarized as:
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• Empowering people versus enabling them.
• Preserving dignity vs. creating dependency.
• Doing things with people versus just doing things for people.

You can be part of this legacy by joining us through praying, coming to serve with us or sharing about this with others or helping financially.

With the recent tragic shooting in Orlando, as well as many similar incidences around the world triggered by extremism, many have asked me about the situation in Cameroon and across Africa.

Cameroon is often referred to as “Africa in miniature” - everything African can be found here - including various religions!

Growing up, some of my closest friends were Muslims - we lived peaceably then and I had no reason to think it would be otherwise. Not only was I attracted to the Muslim way of life as a youth, I even learned to pray Muslim prayers in Arabic. After my conversion to Christianity at the age of 13 in the 1970s, I continued to maintain relationships with many of my Muslim friends. In talking about how with live with those we may not agree with, Tim Keller wrote, “...tolerance isn’t about having beliefs. It’s how your beliefs lead you to treat people who disagree with you.” St. Augustine said it more succinctly – “Preach and if you must - use words.”

In his book - Operation Crescent Moon, George John said, “...there are more Muslims missionaries in the world than Christian missionaries.”  In Nigeria as in other parts of the world, Muslim missionary activity is growing. Operation World says of Nigeria, that special “...efforts are made to win over pagans and backsliding Christians.” This is no different in Cameroon where Muslims are less than 30%, but are growing, largely through social programs. Saudi Arabia is pumping in billions of dollars through social programs. Mosques are springing up everywhere even in places where there are no Muslim population. Where I live in Douala, a new mosque has just been built next door to a struggling church. A missionary friend in Bamenda told me Saudi Arabia made a commitment to build 1,000 mosques in Cameroon in 2013 alone, and did so.

The United States is not free from Muslim missionary efforts. There are more than 1,000 mosques in the US and more than 150 full-time private Muslim schools for children.

In talking about Islam’s “serious and powerful competition for souls” among African Americans, World Magazine (May 11/18, 1996) said, “...for the black community, this new Islam challenge is real. For years we have enjoyed the luxury of our people either choosing our Christianity or going without. This is no longer the case. But hopefully, this new challenge will help us sharpen our weapons, strap on our battle gear and defend the faith like never before.”

Some Hispanic youths in the US are also converting to Islam. These young people say that Islam meets needs in their lives that Christianity does not meet. But, really? These youth do not understand the salvation they are rejecting or the religion they are joining.

Unlike Christians, many Muslims are trained in apologetics at an early age. They are trained in Islamic dogma and how to defend their faith. Sadly, Islamic extremism and pseudo-Christian cults are taking advantage of the high unemployment rate and desperation among young people to recruit adherents. Always, where poverty and despair take root, conflict, instability and violent extremism has a tendency of flourishing.

How should we respond to this trend? What should the “Church” do? Simply put, we must do for the TRUTH, what Muslims and Pseudo-Christian cults are doing for “religion.” Non-religious Christianity is quite different from religion. While religion is about “DOs and DON’Ts, authentic Christianity is about -”DONE.” Like the song writer says “Jesus paid it all....”

It’s been my contention for many years, that, if our message is going to make a decisive impact in Africa and amongst its people, we’d have to preach it not only in words but, to demonstrate it and incarnate it through social actions and concerns and in a compassion kindled at the flame of the charity of Christ.

Missionary statesman, E. Stanley Jones couldn’t have said it better, “An individual gospel without a social gospel is a soul without a body, and a social gospel without an individual gospel is a body without a soul; one is a ghost, the other is a corpse.”
The uniqueness of Bread For Life lies in its ability to see far and in its willingness to combine evangelism with social action - addressing spiritual and physical hunger.

 Would you prayerfully consider joining us in doing for the TRUTH what Muslims do for a religion? Your partnership can make a huge difference – be it in church planting; economic and community development; students’ sponsorship; providing seed and farming tools and sponsoring sustainable agricultural and social projects etc. Let us know where your heart is and we will connect you with an area that needs you.