Making Disciples in Cameroon

While I (Tabitha) was in Cameroon, I had the true privilege of meeting the team of Oroko translators. Along with World Team missionaries, they recently completed the translation of the New Testament and the book of Genesis. One of them, Pastor Elias Bea, has agreed to answer a few questions for our blog. Thank you for agreeing to this interview, Pastor Bea. Please tell us a little bit about yourself -- how you came to know Christ and how you became a pastor. My name is Elias Bea. I am an Oroko, from Big Bekondo in the Mbonge subdivision of the southwest region of Cameroon. I am married to Emilia and we have 5 children. I am a pastor with the Apostolic Church Cameroon (TACC), pastoring in Kumba. I was a rascal, smoking Indian hemp as young boy in primary school without the knowledge of my parents. I was a member of a very young group of thieves, and I was involved in skirmishes. I took the First School Leaving Certificate Exams two times and failed. After that, I decided to go b...

The wrath of God is an unpopular subject. A lot people, including many Christians, prefer to think only of God's grace. Some say that God was angry and vengeful in the Old Testament, but he changed his ways when he sent Jesus, whom they think was only meek and mild. But this false dichotomy undermines the gospel by which we are saved. The Old Testament is full of God's mercy, and the New Testament is full of God's wrath. Together, they paint  one coherent picture of the God with whom there is no shadow due to change (Jas 1:17). And that's good news for you, me, and the people of Cameroon. Merciful From the Beginning A careful reading of the Old Testament shows that God was merciful from the start. In the garden of Eden, after sin entered the world and in the midst of God pronouncing judgment on Adam, Eve, and Satan, we read the promise that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent (Gen 3:15). In this grievous moment, God was already promising t...

We've all heard it, and many of us, including me, have said it. God has called me into ministry.   I've often said that I'm called to make disciples in Cameroon. It's easy to talk about the tasks and ministry we feel led to be involved in as a  calling, and sometimes we mean that God has told us directly (whether audibly or within our own spirits) the specifics of how we are to serve him. But does the Bible speak of the ministry God gives us as a calling? God Hasn't "Called" You, But He Has Called You The New Testament rarely describes someone receiving a call directly from God to engage in a particular ministry. Paul and Barnabas were set apart by the Holy Spirit for ministry, but that was in the context of the local church and not on their own (Acts 13:2). Later, when on his second missionary journey, Paul saw a vision of a man urging him to go to Macedonia, which he did (Acts 16:9). But this was hardly a call to ministry; Paul was already engaged i...