If frog population is an indicator for clean water…and the water here is as bad as they say it is…why are there so many frogs here in Yaoundé?
Is is because the contaminants are biological, rather than chemical…and these little guys have developed immunities? Maybe they’re actually toads…and toads are more hardy. I’ve not taken the time to identify them.
Well, I’ve been and come to the revival. Effi, who works at CABTAL (Cameroon Association of Bible Translation and Literacy) was speaking. He talked about the light of the spirit, walking with the Lord, and the effect it has on man. I’ve been prying for renewal, for the light of Christ to shine through me…and he’s doing it.
First came the physical effects of being in the glory of God.
Ex 34:29
As Moses descended from Mount Sinai—with the two tablets of the •testimony in his hands as he descended the mountain—he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the LORD. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone! They were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called out to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. 32 Afterwards all the Israelites came near, and he commanded them everything the LORD had told him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever Moses went before the LORD to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out. After he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 and the Israelites would see that Moses’ face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went to speak with the LORD.
Then they spoke of the effect on our hearts and lives.
2 Co 3:17
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 We all, with unveiled faces, are reflecting the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Next came our effects on others.
2 Co 4:4
Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not give up. 2 Instead, we have renounced shameful secret things, not walking in deceit or distorting God’s message, but in God’s sight we commend ourselves to every person’s conscience by an open display of the truth. 3 But if, in fact, our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 Regarding them: the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves because of Jesus. 6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness” —He has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
Here’s how to get the light in your heart.
Jos 1:7
Above all, be strong and very courageous to carefully observe the whole instruction My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go. 8 This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night, so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.
And here’s a prayer of David, a man after God’s own heart.
Ps 143
1 LORD, hear my prayer. In Your faithfulness listen to my plea, and in Your righteousness answer me.
2 Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous in Your sight.
3 For the enemy has pursued me, crushing me to the ground, making me live in darkness like those long dead.
4 My spirit is weak within me; my heart is overcome with dismay.
5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all You have done; I reflect on the work of Your hands.
6 I spread out my hands to You; I am like parched land before You. Selah
7 Answer me quickly, LORD; my spirit fails. Don’t hide Your face from me, or I will be like those going down to the Pit.
8 Let me experience Your faithful love in the morning, for I trust in You. Reveal to me the way I should go, because I long for You.
9 Rescue me from my enemies, LORD; I come to You for protection.
10 Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. May Your gracious Spirit lead me on level ground.
11 Because of Your name, Yahweh, let me live. In Your righteousness deliver me from trouble,
12 and in Your faithful love destroy my enemies. Wipe out all those who attack me, for I am Your servant.
I’ve constantly been pleasantly surprised by the passion and prayer of the Cameroonian people. Effi and our pastor, Hervé, dig deep into the word and hearts, as deep as many in the States. They spoke of a time that Moses was offered an angel as a guide and he refused to go with anything less than the Glory of God guiding them…but I can’t find it, anyone know where that is?
The service started late, and that gave me time to get to know Boris a bit. To him, nothing happened at our revival because no demons were called out…but I’m trying to explain that there’s a time and place for both, and seeing demons around every corner can lead to not taking responsibility for one’s sin. This seems that it will be an interesting and rewarding friendship for us both.
I think Psalm 143 will be my new morning prayer.
I still have another week of orientation to recap, but I thought I’d talk about work for a bit.
This week has been very quiet in my office. My boss is on 3 weeks vacation. My partner, Jenni, who had only intended to work half days this week, was sick and only made it in 2 afternoons, and then will also be gone the next 2 weeks. Thus, the Training department is temporarily down to me and a lady who works part time for our dept, but I’m the only occupant in my building. This isn’t to say I don’t have plenty to do. I have course materials to revise, learning to do, communication to keep up, and of course, working with the people who come into the helpdesk. I did scrounge up some speakers to take the edge off the morning silence.
This week, while working on updated and added modules to the Adapt It course I taught in Bamenda, we had a guy come in with a dictionary conversion. This is a labor-intensive process of repairing as many inconsistencies as possible as efficiently as possible, so that we can move the dictionary into a newer and more powerful editor. Jenni directed most of the edits on Thursday, but I was left to work with the user on Friday. Text processing is fun, writing complex search strings and algorithms for editing all and only what you want. We were then able to import the dictionary into Fieldworks, and I only had to call Jenni about 2 options. I still have much to learn in the coming years…but it’s all quite interesting. I will need to lean on Jenni as I learn the ins and outs of each process. Without her as a guide, I would be sunk. For the user that came in with an Adapt It question, starting a new Bible adaptation, I was ready and even had written instructions that I’d finished an hour earlier. Again and again, I see that God is blessing my efforts here, as things are accomplished beyond my power.
We had a representative from the school system come in looking for free resources. He would like the students to learn to type in their mother tongues, a wonderful goal that I will get to play a part in.
I’ve been trying to get plugged into my church beyond Sundays, and this week is revival week at the Baptist church I attend. I made it over to Bible study on Wednesday, but not on Thursday. Thursday night, walking home from a birthday party, a young Cameroonian, Boris, stopped me and invited me to his church. His church is the one we normally call “the noisy” church as services are held most days of the week and can run deep into the night. I figured, why not. What followed was an experience, to say the least, at one of Cameroon’s largest churches. I now see why Cameroonians are not surprised that there is a spiritual world. The focus on outing evil spirits and healing was unlike anywhere else I’ve ever been. While the pastor’s money focus is saddening, and the use of those funds is…well…questionable..I can see that evangelisation and passion are alive and well there and the gospel preached is for the most part true. I do hope that many of the people who give their lives to Christ through this church will seek out other churches and ministries to grow and get deeper into the Word. I’ve invited Boris to the Revival at my church, which means I need to go, so I’m off to meet him and go to church. TTFN!
