An Example of the Fruitfulness of Africa!!

Amanavil, Cameroon Update by Susan Yeiter

Friends,
Here is an excerpt of a letter from Matt and Susan Yeiter who serve in northern Cameroon. Your soul will be thrilled as you read of this "fruit white unto harvest" on the African continent!!

Steve Anderson

We are writing to let you know that we are alive and well and back from a WONDERFUL time in Amanavil. WOW! To put our experience into words is hard. We flew out around 1:30, arriving on the airstrip about 2 p.m. It was an hour hike from the strip to the village center. Tom couldn't accompany us, so we just hiked with some children who were carrying our mattress and bags. I had Trinity bound on my back, and Matt was overseeing DJ. The girls were running along with the children. We had to cross three streams/rivers. In all three instances, we had to leap from rock to rock to keep from getting wet. You can imagine how that turned out for the kids! :) We met people all along the way. They greeted us saying, “Thank you, thank you for coming, welcome.” The trail was up and down through tall bush grass/jungle-like area, then out into sun-scorched dry areas. It was a beautiful hike though; we climbed little hills and descended into valleys. Finally, over one last stream, up a steep, rocky incline, and there we were. Before us lay a clearing surrounded by about five block buildings with dry grass roofs. As we came into the village, people surrounded us on all sides—hundreds of men, women, and children—touching the children, touching their hair, greeting us, taking Trinity, shouting “welcome, welcome.” Our children are the first white children they have ever seen. Autumn, DJ, and Trinity did very well; Mariah hid in my skirt, but hey, that's Mariah. Then Trinity saw her favorite person from church, TomMike a believer from Faith Baptist in Bamenda. He had joined the team going out, so she was thrilled. I couldn't believe that in a sea of faces she would pick him out, but she did. Finally everyone calmed down, we got some water and relaxed for a few minutes. Then we jumped right in. I was immediately teaching a story with my flash cards about Heaven, as about 75 people gathered around to see the pictures. A local man translated the story into the local dialect. When I finished my story, Godlove, from the Bible institute came up and began to preach. About ten people made a profession for Christ right then. WOW!

Matt and another man went and cut machete sticks to use for poles on our tent (the poles for our tent never made it out), so Matt spent a lot of time with the local men setting up the tent, talking with them, and getting to know them. That night as the sun was setting, we brought out the projector and showed the film, "The Printing." While the villagers were watching the film, the team ate supper in the dark, and then shared and prayed together. Each day was this way—teaching songs and telling stories. Crowds would gather every time those flash cards came out. They loved seeing the pictures. On Thursday I spent the morning weighing patients, taking their blood pressure, and passing out LOTS of candy to the kids. Then we hiked up river for our baths. I put bathing suits on the kids, and they swam around in the river. I just got in with my clothes on (since I wasn’t really sure who was around), got the kids washed, and spent some time relaxing before hiking back to camp. We had another film last night and more stories this morning. I was able to lead a lady to Christ yesterday; it was so exciting. However it is frustrating to have so many people making decisions for Christ, and this village is so far from a good church or a good preacher. Even Felix, a national pastor in the Akwoya region, is an 8-hour hike away. He really has a vision for this area. I’m going to burn a CD of an interview with Felix. He has a great plan; he just needs help, so we are praying toward that end.

The kids did great; they LOVED it and made so many friends. They ran all over the village with them. DJ entertained everyone yesterday for about 30 minutes, while he chased a chicken over and around and under the entire village center. He had everyone laughing; he was so intent on getting that chicken! As we hiked out of the village, it was very emotional for us. I don’t know if we will ever see these people again, but they will remain in our prayers and in our hearts. Our lives have been impacted in just a few days. These villages are all over this region; a two or three-day trek from a ROAD—not from a city, from a ROAD! Most of the people we met had NEVER been out to a road. INCREDIBLE! They are living their lives to plant food, harvest it, eat it—just to live to plant it again. That’s it. They aren't making money; they survive to plant and eat, to plant again and that is all.