Category: Current Events

The other day, as I was looking for a John Piper quote, I came across the NY Times article A Pastor’s Son Becomes a Critic of Religion on TikTok. The article speaks of the rising popularity of Abraham Piper, son of John Piper. Abraham was originally excommunicated from Bethlehem Baptist, but then returned to the church four years later. Throughout the years I have seen some of his social media posts, and I have often found his attitude to be cynical and (honestly) concerning. So, now Abraham is rising in fame as an “Exvangelical.” His platform: criticizing evangelicals and the…

People have asked us for our take on the racial tensions in the US and although I haven’t spent much time following it, this week I watched a video of people vandalizing a Target. The images I saw were strikingly similar to the violence we constantly hear about on the English-speaking side of Cameroon. I think the burning, pillaging, and violence we find here could shed some light on the conflict currently taking place in the States. The Anglophone Crisis: A Little History Relations between the former British colonies and the former French colonies have been tense since the independence…

“One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time.”  ― John Piper How is God going to use Coronavirus for his glory? I think one way is to move his people to increased time in prayer. For me (Stacey), I’ve been in my bedroom this last week as I have been showing mild symptoms of the Coronavirus. Frankly, it is a form of torture for an extrovert to be locked up in the house with people always hanging out outside their window. And yet, the Lord…

Who would have ever thought that our whole lives would be upended by an invisible-spiky-egg-looking-thingy?! This has been quite a month! And I think you would be absolutely shocked at what things look like here in the village. Why? Well, mostly because they look pretty much the same as they did before the pandemic. People are not social distancing, I have not seen much of a change in hygiene, and no one is staying at home. For those of you in Western cultures, or at least in cities, this might be shocking. It might seem irresponsible and inconsiderate, even foolish….

Many people have been asking if and how the Coronavirus is affecting life and ministry among the Kwakum people. Until very recently, I would have said that there has not been much of a change here at all. However, a few days ago, the Cameroonian government closed all land and air borders as well as schools. Since then, there has been some changes. The first change is that people are starting to speculate as to why everything has closed. Unfortunately, due to illiteracy as well as unreliable news sources, people are left with hear-say. People are therefore wondering if there…

When I Kissed Dating Goodbye came out, I was fifteen and the book greatly influenced the circles that ran in. I even went to an event related to the book when I was in highschool. If you are not familiar, Harris presented “courting” as a methodology of seeking romantic relationships rather than “dating”. The overall idea was pretty good: dating in the mainstream sense is self-focused and often temporary, but courting allows parents and others to give input while focusing more on the long-term. However, it ended up for many people to be a set of legalistic rules that, in…

Wednesday of this week will kick off an exciting new chapter in our ministry to the Kwakum people. Two of our friends and colleagues with Wycliffe/SIL will be joining us in our village to help launch an Oral Bible Storying project. We plan to have about 30 Kwakum people assembled to learn how to translate and transmit Bible stories orally. The two stories chosen to demonstrate the process are Elijah and the Prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18) and the story of the Pharisee and tax collector (Luke 18:10-14). Our rationale in launching translating and transmitting some Bible stories orally…

Last week, our current homeschool teacher, Hunter, was going through Bible curriculum which discussed the end times with our children. In the curriculum were covered things like the final judgment, the Great White Throne judgment, the return of Christ, and the eternal state of believers and unbelievers alike. A few days later, one of my sons came up to me and said that he had been thinking a lot about what “Miss Hunter” had been teaching him about the end times. He said that he had been fighting God his whole life and he was tired of it. He continued…

I have lost track of how many times I have passed out at the sight of blood or of someone else being worked on medically. But today…I helped deliver a baby. Last night a friend called me around 9pm to have me and Dave take her to the local “hospital” to give birth. We picked her up, arrived at a facility only to find it almost vacant and completely dark (no electricity). A 25-year-old greeted us while carrying a solar lamp. She led us to a clean room and had my friend lay on a narrow table. This young nurse…

From of old no one has heard or perceived by ear no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. Isaiah 64:4 Can you imagine what it would have been like to be there when English was first codified? When people first were able to read the language that they had spoken their whole life? Well…we can! We are very pleased to announce that Kwakum has shed its label of an “oral-only” society. Today, this group of 10,000 people in Eastern Cameroon now have an official, recognized alphabet. The alphabet meeting we had…