It is now “break” time from teaching at the Center for Empowerment of Females with Disabilities’ Special Education Teacher Training Institute and at the Center for Biblical Studies. The terms resume in September. The break is a welcome respite from the teaching, but a time of preparation for the next term. Having taught in higher education for nearly 30 years, this is, of course, nothing new to David.
Much has happened over the last two months since our last issue of Connecting Points. There have been two graduations (CBS Bafoussam on June 28, and CBS Bamenda on July 12), for which David was the main speaker, some preaching in area churches, and the Annual CEFED Family Bible Conference, which took place on July 18-20. About 35 families affected by disability stayed at the CEFED School in Santa for the weekend. The theme for the conference was “Honoring God.” David spoke twice on Saturday, and preached at the closing worship service on Sunday morning. Others who participated were Pastor Rose, from Yaoundé (a CEFED Board member whose church reaches out to individuals with disabilities in the capital city) and Pastor Njini Alfred, from Magdalene’s Full Gospel church in Bamenda. Pastors from the Christian Missionary Fellowship who regularly hold Sunday worship services for the children at the school and others from the Santa area were also present. The entire weekend was a wonderful time of worship and praise, a time of blessing and encouragement to all those who attended.
The children of CEFED participated in all of the activities of the conference. The video “Joni,” about Joni Eareckson Tada’s injury and spiritual recovery, was shown at the conference, along with an interview with Joni, her husband Ken, and some others speaking about the Family Retreats. Magdalene hopes to plan a Family Retreat for Cameroon, and this served to introduce the idea to those at the conference.
One thing that we have been able to do during our time in Cameroon is link CEFED with other expatriate missionaries who serve in Bamenda. Through the Friday evening Bible Studies which many missionaries attend, and our sharing needs of CEFED’s program and the children, interest has been generated in the ministry. Loren and Victoria Hoy already had some connection with Magdalene and CEFED. Donna Dibbits who, with her husband Hans, serves at the Full Gospel Training Institute, has visited CEFED with Florence and has expressed a desire to help more with the children from time to time. Lillian and Frans Barah, Cameroonians who work with SIL/Wycliffe want to visit the school when the children return from break in September. Sas Blair, an independent missionary to Redeemer Baptist Church in Bamenda, hopes to lend his expert carpentry skills to meeting some needs of the school and some of the children who are physically disabled. And Chris Jackson, also with SIL/Wycliffe, and Tim Born, with “Win our Nation” (a relatively new ministry in the Bamenda area) hosted a group of high school students from Rain Forest Academy in Yaoundé, who spent a day at the CEFED school installing rain gutters; repairing an area where the rain and run-off from the roof had caused “soil” erosion near the building; fixing the path leading up to the school; and performing sketches, singing, and doing some evangelistic teaching to the childre.
