The End of 2011

December 31,  2011

So here’s how the end of 2011 lived itself out in our lives today.
Nancy, the kids, and I along with Fidele left our house in Bali about
9:30 am and drove to Bossa where we parked the truck and met Adam (the
Imam who trusted Christ a couple weeks ago) who was to escort us to
his house on the mountain.  The reason for our visit was to explain
the Gospel of Jesus Christ to his family as we had Adam two weeks ago.
 We were scheduled to do this on Sunday January 8 but Adam told us
this past Wednesday that his family could not wait that long and could
we come sooner.  Without a second of hesitation, we said, “of course”.
 Thus, the reason with packs filled with water bottles, snacks, two
Proclaimers, portions of Scripture in Fulfulde, toys and treats, for
our trek up a mountain trail deep in the Cameroonian bush.
The Fulbe live in small compounds scattered across the tops of the
mountains here so we were in for a good climb.  Adam’s pace was fast
and furious but we all kept up fairly well including Esther and Peter.
 I probably should mention that Peter did have the advantage of riding
on dad’s and Adam’s backs as we hiked.  About 30 minutes into the hike
we went from walking in tall grass to navigating a very narrow trail
through trees, vines, bushes, and rocks.  Adam was in the lead and
Fidele was bringing up the rear.  Then without warning, Fidele yelled
“snake” as he began looking for a stick to kill the black cobra with
its head up ready to strike.  The snake quickly disappeared into the
undergrowth before Fidele was able to kill it.  As we all gathered
around him to hear what the cobra looked like Fidele told us that from
his position in the rear he saw all of us walk past the cobra before
he realized what it was.  Once he realized what it was he could not
believe that with the cobra’s head swaying back and forth in the
attack and strike position it did not do so.  He said that it was as
if God kept the cobra from striking while each of us walked by
completely unaware of its presence.  This is probably a good time to
mention that the venom of this kind of cobra known as “naja” in the
bush is fatal.
Once the snake was gone and we had moved to higher ground away from
the green thick undergrowth that had hidden the deadly cobra we
stopped to consider the meaning of this as everything God does has a
meaning.  Thankful to God for His protection we realized that God had
given us a wonderful insight into what was going on around us
spiritually as we were hiking up a mountain filled with Muslim
families whose Islamic tradition goes back to the 13th century.  We
had entered territory held by Satan for centuries and he was not about
to simply let us walk in (in this case—climb) and preach the Gospel
without a fight.  Yet God, Whose orders we were following in entering
that territory had “other sheep” to gather and would not allow Satan
to stop us.  Thus, just as our Lord physically kept the cobra from
striking—He also kept Satan from stopping our advance up this mountain
to share the Gospel.
After an hour and some minutes of hard climbing and walking we finally
reached Adam’s compound.  We were welcomed by his wife, children,
grandchildren, and a few neighbors.  After the customary greetings we
rested a bit and then shared a meal of rice, sauce, and chicken
together.  Then everyone gathered in one of the mud brick dirt floor
houses to hear the teaching about Isa Al Masihu (Jesus the Messiah or
the Christ).
With the house overcrowded but quiet, I began playing John 1-4 in
Fulfulde on one of the Proclaimers we brought.  Then Fidele and I
preached the Gospel from these chapters in John to them.  Once we
finished, they did not want us to stop even though we had been meeting
for almost two hours.  So we asked them what their response to the
Gospel and Isa was and almost in unison the whole roomful of people
exclaimed that they were ready to turn from Islam and their sins to
follow Isa Al Masihu as their Lord and Savior.
Their response reminded me of people who could not wait to be released
from their chains so as to be free—such was their enthusiasm in saying
that they wanted no part of Mohamed or Islam any longer.  As we probed
each person with questions as to whether they really understood the
Gospel and what it would mean for them and their lives it was obvious
they had already been prepared for this by God Himself.  Truly,
salvation is a work of God!  With over a dozen people professing
Christ as their Lord and Savior I asked Adam about the possibility of
us building a small mud brick house near theirs so that we could stay
on the mountain for longer periods of time in order to continue
teaching and discipling these new believers.  This request was met
with great joy and celebration as he told his wife and family.  They
could think of nothing better than having us there with them on a more
regular basis to teach them about their Savior and Lord.
Whereas this was a wonderfully exciting and joyous way to end 2011 the
work of seeing a church established among the Fulbe will be the work
of 2012.  Thank you for your prayers on our behalf and especially for
the Fulbe people.  Pray hard and unceasingly for these new believers
and for us as we journey into this territory firmly held by Satan for
centuries.  May God be pleased to use us, the weakest of the weak and
really the most unlearned of the learned, to glorify Himself by
gathering more of His sheep and planting a church among the Fulbe of
Cameroon.Humbly Celebrating The Power of The Gospel,
Mark, Nancy & Kids