On Sunday, we had a guest speaker preach in the morning service. This man’s name is Godlove, and he and his wife are starting a new ministry in a town about four hours away from us. It was a huge encouragement to hear of their ministry. They are having Bible studies in the town of Bafia as well as in two neighboring villages. God is really doing a work in that area, but it’s going to take a lot of prayer and diligent hard work. Godlove actually grew up in our town of Foumban, and I believe he was saved in our church as well. His message on Sunday was definitely from the heart. He spoke on the topic of hypocrisy, asking those in the service to examine their motives. Why is it that we come to church? How committed are we to Christ? Godlove shared some personal examples from his life, examples that hit home in the lives of the congregation. This was definitely the message that the Lord had laid on his heart. He preached passionately and sincerely from the Word of God. He did go a little longer in the service than we’re used to. In fact, I believe this was the longest message I’ve sat in—Godlove must have preached for an hour and a half. I don’t think, though, that the time was a distraction to most. I believe the Spirit was really working in the hearts of those in attendance that morning. Please continue to pray that God’s Word would truly change lives here in Foumban.
Today I got to go to the church plant in Foumbot with two of the ladies. I typically go to the church here in Foumban on Sundays, and on Wednesdays, I go to Foumbot to help out with various Bible studies and to attend their prayer meeting. God is doing a work in Foumbot, and it’s so exciting to watch. The number of faithful attendees has really grown in Foumbot. I think last week we had a record of eleven adults (not including any missionaries or our national pastor) in the prayer meeting. That’s a larger number than we often have at the prayer meeting in Foumban. Today I was able to go with one of the ladies while she held a Bible study with some English speaking ladies. This was the first Bible study they’ve been able to have in several weeks due to sickness and other complications. I believe there were a total of seven ladies that sat in the room during the Bible study. Three of those ladies have given a profession of salvation, and one has been baptized at our church. The other ladies were just friends and relatives, but they sat and listened. There are so many needs around us. In our own strength, we can’t help meet any of those needs, but God’s Word is powerful and can reach even the hardest of hearts. I’m so excited to see how God will continue to work in the ministries in Foumban and Foumbot.
I experienced the greatest answer to prayer tonight. I believe it was last week that I posted about the various violin issues we’ve been having. On Monday, I took home the violin that lost its sound post. The reinserting of the sound post was not something I was looking forward to doing, so I put it off and put it off. Finally, tonight, I decided that I just needed to try to put the sound post back in place. Even if it didn’t work, I could at least say I had started to work on the violin. I found a web site with information on properly inserting the sound post, and I pulled out my tools: a pair of pliers and two bobby pins. Bobby pins are a wonderful invention. As I set to work on the violin, I just kept praying, “Lord, guide this sound post. I have no idea what I’m doing, but you know where this needs to go.” I had a few failed attempts. I spent more time fishing the bobby pins or the sound post out of the violin, but in just about 30 minutes, the sound post was in place. I tested the violin out, and it sounds acceptable! God is so good! He even cares about the little things, like violin sound posts.
