WU 08sep07

Greetings from Yaoundé!

 

This week's weekly update is going to be different then the others.  There will be no mention of basketball or any other sports game.  There will be no mention of Geo 9 or World Geo, mainly because History is so much better. (Betsy is writing this)

 

            Now, for the more important stuff.  This week we would like you to tell you about a few prayer requests we have.  First, RFIS, students and staff need your prayers.  When the campus first opened in 1991 the area behind the school was not developed at all and the designers felt like a tin fence with some barbed wire on top would be enough to keep the snakes and other animals out of the school grounds.  They were not too concerned with keeping people out of this area of the fence because it was not developed.  Well, this has changed over the last few years and the area is being cleared and we are gaining neighbors.  One of our "new" (within the last 2 years) neighbors is a man who "casts out demons".  At one point I asked the school director what was going on over there and he told me they, SIL, thought it was some type of religious ceremony.  Last year we could hear him chanting, grunting, singing, and sometimes ringing a bell.  There were times that it would be the man with a group of men or a group of women or both and other times it would be just the man with one other person.  At the end of last year the "sessions" were becoming more and more frequent and every now and again you would hear a woman cry out.  No one (students particularly) really took notice of it and the year ended without any of the student being affected by it.  This year is a different story.  This year the bell ringing occurs almost without ceasing.  This year instead of a woman crying out every now and again, a woman is constantly screaming.  SIL has found out that the man does in fact claim to cast out demons.  He uses methods such as chanting, grunting, bell ringing, and beating someone to accomplish this.  Because of the constant bell ringing and screaming students have begun to ask questions.  (They can also hear the man beating the woman.)  It is affecting their studies as well as their sense of safety.  And for some of them it is becoming very personal and scary.  There is a strong sense of spiritual warfare occurring and many of the students (and staff) have said they feel it.  There are several classrooms close to the area this is occurring in.  Our school consists of both nationals and non-nationals, so we have a lot of students who have seen or had some experience with witchcraft.  It has left some of them confused and frightened and for others it has caused them to draw closer to Christ.   Please pray that God will work in the lives of our neighbors, our students, our staff and our school.  Pray that we can be a light of Christ's love for them.  Also, pray that something can be done to make the man stop this practice; if not totally then at least during the school day.  Pray that God will close our student's ears to the noise so that they can concentrate on their studies.  Pray for the safety of the school.  And finally, pray for the safety of the people who are attending the sessions as well as the man doing the sessions. 

 

Another prayer request is for the safety of students during sporting events.  We have only been in school for one month and so far we have had one student dislocate their knee (she will need surgery either in Gabon or Germany within the next few months) and another break the knee cap (he may need surgery in the states.  We will know more in a few weeks).  Both of these injuries have occurred during noncompetitive fun games.  The kids and parents get together and play soccer, floor hockey or basketball during the weekend and this is when these injuries have occurred.  Injuries are always a concern because of the conditions of the fields and courts we play on.  So to already have these two major injuries is alarming.   

 

Finally, we would like you to pray for Brian.  He has had been sick since we got here.  He has been on medication for a sinus infection for a week now and he is not feeling better at all.  Pray that he will be able to give his body the rest it needs in order to get better and that we will be able to find out what is going on and treat it.

 

Otherwise things are great.  I have a student teacher this year so I am spending most of my time creating a new class for next semester and rewriting notes and class guidelines for other classes (curriculum guides for all the teachers who know what they are).  It has been wonderful reconnecting with students and getting to know new students.  We are so blessed to be here.  Thank you for that gift.

 

Have a wonderful week. 

In His Grip,

Betsy (and Brian)