Here is an edited excerpt from an e-mail update by Dr. Francois Ngoumape, shown here translating for one of the American teens during a recent conference, who heads the Grace Brethren Bible schools and seminary program in the Central African Republic and was also the main organizer/speaker for the recent African youth conference:
Dear friends and collaborators in Christ,
I want to thank you and invite you to rejoice with me for what the Lord did in the Biblical Schools of Bata this year. Thanks for your prayers and your grants that allowed us to finish the year. It was a test of faith, because we thought at all times that we were going to stop the courses with the events that surrounded us. Fortunately God is all powerful.
I thank you for your moral support, without which I would not have the strength for the month of May, which was very busy from the beginning to the end.
The youth conference in Bangui was a great success. The Lord used me to challenge and encourage the young of our churches to have hope with Christ. One big encouragement was that four of my children revealed that this conference made a great impact in their lives, to bring them to really know Christ and to give Him their lives. They are Anicet, Béni, Reine and Marley.
The echo of the conference is positive until now. Some districts decided to make a local conference to share their experiences with the young who could not get to the conference in Bangui. May God be glorified!
After this conference was the regional meeting of the leaders of the Brethren churches from Chad, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic. I had the leadership of this meeting.
Thanks to God, all participants were present, in spite of the threat of the insecurity to Chad and the difficult trip of our friends from Cameroon. It was a great moment of sharing. The presence of our brothers Mike Taylor and David Guiles was appreciated well by the participants. The Lord challenged us for the mission of the local church in spite of the social crises we are facing.
After this meeting we brought 45 students for two weeks to Bangui to take part in a seminary course taught by David Guiles on Missiology. It was very edifying and all students were very happy to have taken this course.
Finally, I ended up the year with a board meeting of our schools, which happened well. There were 18 pastors involved, in spite of the difficulties of roads.
Now I have the duty to meet all my staff for the school year evaluation, and then to prepare for next year.
Yes strength! I’m exhausted, and it is necessary to revitalize myself somewhere. We prayed, and the Lord has answered so that we will have a vacation with Claire in France and in Germany from the end of June to August. I ask you to pray for the visa and the small details of this trip. You who know Africa and its flights — always there are surprises !
Thank you for your encouragement for me, my family and the ministry of the Lord in CAR. I ask you to continue to pray for:
– the security during vacations
– the end of the school year for our children in July
– the recruitment of new students in Bata in September.
-the new school year and tuition need
TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
