October 2007

Dear Prayer-Support Team,

What a joy and privilege is ours to be missionaries in Cameroon, Africa. This morning after preaching the Gospel in two high schools, I had the wonderful privilege of seeing 13 students respond to the gospel invitation. These students stayed after chapel, and all of them individually believed the Gospel and consecutively confessed with their mouth the Lord Jesus! What a joy it always is to be a part of the planting and watering ministry, and what a special treat to be present when God gives the increase! To Him be all the glory! 

We always need your prayers for our family and ministry here in Cameroon, but never more than we do right now with our coworkers, Matt and Susan Yeiter, and family presently in the States. Please pray for the Yeiters who are preparing for the imminent coming of their fourth child! We miss them dearly. Becca is doing a tremendous job playing the piano for church services and discipling some of the ladies. In Matt’s absence I am preaching and/or teaching at least ten times per week, but we cannot continue without your prayers and God’s supernatural grace.

VBS, or Holiday Bible School as we call it here, was a huge success and answer to prayer. The Cameroonian church members almost completely ran the entire program in both churches! Between the HBS at Bible Baptist Church in Bambili and Faith Baptist Church in Bamenda, we saw a total of 24 kids saved. One highlight was that two brothers in Bamenda were saved and got so excited about telling their friends about Christ that the week after we held the “official” HBS in Bamenda, Haziel (13) and Cleopas (10) led a week of Bible school in their own home the following week! These boys are on fire for Christ and saw five of their neighbor friends trust Christ during their home Bible school that week! Praise the Lord! I was reminded that God called me to preach at the age of 13, and I am praying for these boys who have both already expressed the call of God on their lives to preach the Gospel! Praise the Lord! 

Our family is doing well. Faith is finally walking all over the place. Emma and Kate have become best of friends now that Emma is getting older.  Kate decided to give herself a hair cut when she discovered some unattended scissors. I guess it could have been worse, but it will still take a while for her hair to grow back. Drew is doing well in school, and we are so thankful for his reading skills. For a child who was supposed to only be able to read Braille, he is doing tremendously well with his first-grade reading assignments. Becca demonstrates her Super Mom and Super Wife abilities on a regular basis, and I am so thankful for a wife who gives out so much to her family and still has the energy and the desire to give out to those ladies in our church who need discipleship and encouragement. She has also become the pianist for our new men’s ensemble at Bible Baptist Church. 

One of my infamous moments for the past month came during the announcement time at Bible Baptist Church. Normally I speak and preach the Sunday morning services in Bambili using the pidgin dialect, and then I preach in English in Bamenda. Well, I was announcing a fellowship dinner following the next Sunday morning service, and I tried to use a local word I had seen on a restaurant sign and had heard used a couple times for chopped chicken. I suggested someone might bring “kata kata” for the church dinner. The church erupted into laughter, and I immediately realized my mistake. I meant to ask people to bring “kati kati” (with an “i” at the end it means chopped chicken), but instead I had suggested someone should bring “kata kata,” which is the pidgin word for nasal congestion or a head cold! Thankfully our first church dinner went very well, and would you believe someone actually brought some delicious kati kati. 

We have four guests from our home church coming to Cameroon next week. Please ray for Gerald and Kathy Whitely, Marleen Sykes (Becca’s mother), and Sarah Spriggs. Brother Gerald will be invited to speak in several universities and high schools while he is here. Please pray as the Gospel will be proclaimed to more than 1000 students during this missions trip. Thank you all so much for your faithful support and prayers for our family and ministry. We need it (John 15:5).

All to the glory of God,

Ben, Becca, Drew, Kate, Emma, and Faith Ann Sinclair