July Ministry Update

In May we graduated our first MDiv cohort. After 4 years of intense study and leadership development these 5 men are now launched into the next chapter of life and ministry. I would thrive in any of the churches they are or will soon be pastoring. Haison, Nelson, Elison, Daniel, and Edwin are some of the most Christ-like and Christ-honoring men I will ever have the pleasure of knowing. Elison and his wife, Ajenie, and 2-year-old son, Noah, will be moving to Minneapolis later this week to pursue his ThM degree. This will equip him to become part of the long-term faculty at the extension site here in Yaoundé. While in Minneapolis he will also sit under Pastor Chuck Steddom’s tutelage who will continue to nurture him in his role as a worship pastor in Église Baptiste Bethléem alongside Dieudonne.

Pastor Chuck and two students from BCS Minneapolis just finished an intensive course on the Biblical Theology of Worship and also led a weeklong songwriter’s workshop where local worship leaders in Yaoundé created six amazing songs of worship. It’s been my joy to host these men and introduce them to life here. I have also used this time to prepare for my teaching fall semester and to meet with our leadership team to pray and strategize for the future.

One of the highlights of this trip has been to meet the new students who are just beginning their 4-year MDiv journey. It was an immeasurable moment in church last Sunday to watch two of the incoming students meet each other for the first time and to realize that, Lord willing, they will become life-long friends and comrades in ministry. The delight and anticipation in their eyes were as tangible as their embrace of each other.

Prayer points:

I will have the privilege of teaching beginning Greek and a course on eldership this fall semester. Please pray for my preparation.
Four single seminary students are in the process of becoming Steller Cellar Dwellers at our home in Minneapolis. A couple of them moved in this week. Pray for our incoming students both in Minneapolis and Yaoundé.
Pray for the next step in the building process for our ministry center in Cameroon. We’ve hired the company who will take our conceptual design and draw up the next level of drawings and estimates. (More information to come.)
Pray for the setting up of our printing ministry. The rented space is being renovated. Trainers from Kenya are coming this summer to assemble the equipment and teach us how to use it. We are hoping that two of our students will run the ministry under the supervision of Bryan.
Pray for Elison and his family as they move and adjust to life in Minneapolis for their year of study in our ThM program at BCS Minneapolis to be further equipped to serve in the church and school in Yaoundé.
Pray for Dieudonne, Dominique and their two young children, Jadon and Gina, as they take their first Minnesota break in 5 years.

Thank you for your interest, your prayers, and your generous financial support.

—Tom