A Glimpse at the Students of CBTS

We have come now to our mid-semester break (they don’t call it spring break, because they don’t recognize our traditional seasons). I have been intending to write this blog post since the beginning of the semester. I have wanted to introduce you to the students at Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary. Those of you who have supported us in being here have actually been investing in the future of the church of Cameroon by equipping these students. We count it as a great privilege to be used by God to connect you with the work he is doing in this portion of his global church. Let this posting be a guide for your prayers on behalf of the current and future ministers of the Cameroonian church.

Let me begin by introducing you to the entire group of students I have the privilege of serving as a teacher. There are about 350 students total attending CBTS. I have a total of 134 students within my five classes. Of these 134 students, 28 are women. 76 of these students are married (most married students also have children). 22 of the married students have 5 or more children. In one of my classes, I have a student who is a widow with four children.

70 of the students are in my two Certificate of Theology (CTh.) classes. The CTh. program is designed for those students who have completed only a primary school education. It is a five-year program that would correlate with our sixth through tenth grades. My other three classes are on the BA/MA level (they are mixed into the same classes). I have 8 MA students (and, for the record, I am technically unqualified to teach MA students, since I, myself, have only completed a MA degree; not to mention all of the other ways I feel unqualified to teach these students).

The age range of the students is vast. We have the traditional-aged college students, who are single and young and boisterous. And we also have a lot of older students (in their 50s and 60s), for whom this is the first opportunity that they have had to go to seminary. I have never asked the students their ages, but, if I was to guess, I would say at least half of the students are older than me (I’ve actually been shocked a number of times when a student has shared his/her age with me because I have always assumed he/she was much younger than he/she really was; Cameroonians seem to age very well).

Because of housing and financial constraints, many of the married students come to the seminary without their families. And most of these students see their families only at breaks (between semesters and at the mid-semester break).

The number one prayer request I hear from the students relates to paying their school fees. Cameroonians have no school loan options or any scholarships available. The typical student will solicit their family members or their home church for sponsorship. These sponsors would then help pay their fees. Half of the tuition fees are due at the beginning of the semester and the other half is due after the mid-semester break. Many of my students went home for break to solicit sponsors for their fees. The seminary has said that they cannot return to class until all of their fees are paid.

The semester tuition for the certificate students is about $100, while the semester tuition for the BA students is about $160 (these do not include other miscellaneous fees). Depending on the work, these fees equate to one to two months worth of wages for a Cameroonian.

For every student English is either a second or third language. This presents some challenges as everything for the school is in English (lectures, textbooks, assignments, etc.). Also, every student is here to prepare for some level of ministry in his or her church. CBTS is one of the only options in Cameroon for the Baptist students to prepare for ministry.

Let me share more specific information for some select students:

Shadrack (CTh. 5, which means he is in his fifth and final year of the certificate program): He is married with eight children. He grew up in the village of Ndu, where CBTS is located. In January, he was appointed as the pastor of Kihfe Baptist Church on the outskirts of Ndu. He will continue in this ministry when he graduates in June. I had the privilege of preaching at his church last month.

Tangi (BA 2): He is married with four children. Tangi actually has served in the pastorate for almost as long as I have been alive (since 1978). He attended CBTS at the beginning of his ministry for his certificate degree and now he has returned for his BA. He has a son who is attending seminary in Nigeria (from what I understand, Cameroonians regard Nigeria to be one step ahead of them in ministry development). He continues to pastor his church, about 30 minutes away from the seminary. He hopes to be involved in training others for ministry.

Ajara (BA 4): She is a widow with four children. Ajara grew up as a Muslim and came to faith in Christ with very little knowledge of the Bible. She has come to CBTS to know the word of God and to be prepared to tell its truths to others.

Nathan (BA 2): He is from of family of “about 26.” His father has five wives. Nathan is the only Christian among his Muslim family. Before coming to Christ, he studied and translated the Koran. He asks for prayer for the salvation for his family.

Gabriel (MA 2): He is married with 3 children. Gabriel has already pastored for 10 years and now is studying at CBTS on a study leave. He actually is an in-demand preacher and conference speaker. He travels most weekends to preach in various parts of Cameroon.

Anita (CTh. 3): She is a single student who was orphaned as a young child. Growing up, Anita was passed around to different relatives. She was given almost no education and was required to work in various homes throughout her childhood, never receiving any pay. She is the only Christian in her family. Anita happens to be one of our house workers. She helps with dishes and cleans our home on a weekly basis. Isaiah adores Anita, especially when she has a bucket full of soapy water to wash the floors.

Helen (BA 1): She is married with one child (just under a year old). Helen’s husband is in Yaounde (about 10 hour drive away), while she is here with her son studying. While Helen is in class, her son is in the seminary childcare. Sometimes she comes late to class because her son doesn’t want to be separated from her. She is a singer who has produced an album and leads worship in chapel and at our local church.

As I said earlier, let this information guide your prayers on behalf of the students of CBTS. We praise God for this privilege to serve with his servants in Cameroon.

A Day in Ndu

We've had many people ask what a typical day looks like for us here at CBTS. I hope to give you a little picture into our daily lives, and probably a bit more of a weekly perspective.

On a typical day, Dale gets out of bed between 5 and 5:30am. These seem to be some of the best hours for grading papers, even if he has been up until midnight the night before grading papers. I like to sleep in a bit longer, usually 6:30 or maybe even 7:00 on occasion. Dale heads to chapel each morning by 7:25. Monday mornings we usually wait for Martha to come around 8:00 to make french toast or crepes. Sometimes I make a pan of muffins. Most other mornings we have a coffee cake, bread, or baked oatmeal that has been made the day before. After breakfast, either Micah or Josiah has to tie Billy Bob somewhere on campus where he can get some good grass to eat.

We begin our school day usually between 8:30 and 9:00. Often times the boys get a little break mid-morning to run outside for a few minutes. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I am usually still trying to finish up some grading in the morning before our English grammar course meets after lunch. The boys like these days because it means a long break. Most days we get most of our schooling done by lunch time which is always at 12:30. This is because it is a break for all on campus and guarantees us that Dale will be able to be home to eat with us.

As I've already mentioned, on Monday and Wednesday I teach English grammar at 1:25pm. The campus is fairly large and takes about 5-7 minutes to get to the classrooms from our home. While I am away Micah and Josiah spend time reading, and Dale reads with the three little guys. Usually, when I come home from class at 2:30, Isaiah and Jonathan come running to meet me. Dale tries to use the next hour and a half to do a little more grading and class prep. On days that I am not teaching for CBTS, we usually continue school at home a little longer into the afternoon.
From 4-5:00 every weekday afternoon the missionary women walk together. It's good exercise, but more importantly, a nice time for fellowship. We make four laps around the campus and usually anywhere from 2-4 of my littlest boys run out for a hug when we pass the house. This means I might have to jog a bit to catch back up with the women. After our walk, I come in to begin preparing dinner. Martha typically prepares something before she leaves between 2:00 and 3:00. I simply have to warm it up. Some days we still have massive amounts of laundry hanging on the line that we need to move under the covering behind the house or bring inside. Before dinner, one of the boys makes an attempt to untangle Billy Bob from his tree and bring him back home. They prefer to have a little snack in his bowl(he likes carbs best) so that he doesn't try to drag them through the yard while they tie him up.

After dinner we try to enjoy some time together as a family. We play board games, watch a movie, read, make attempts to call family back home. If the power has been out all day, it usually means we need to do some ironing. I am not sure if we have written much in our blog about why we have a laundress and a cook. We happen to be very fortunate to have a washer, but it doesn't do too well with clothes that actually have dirt on them. This means all of the kids clothing, Isaiah's diapers, any clothing we walk to church in, and often anything I wear for walking group must be washed by hand. We also iron EVERYTHING. Yes, even socks. There are flies that lay eggs in the clothing and will burrow into your skin if the clothing is any bit damp when you put it on. You then find yourself with a maggot growing under your skin. Fortunately we have had no experience with these yet, but we do ask our laundress to iron all of our clothing. With seven of us in the family, our laundress works full time washing and ironing. I also usually wash a load of diapers, some towels, and bed sheets on the weekends to try to keep up with everything. I will try to write a separate blog later this week on our cook and food consumption. Maybe I can get a picture of the motorcycle carrying all of our food home from market.
By the time we get the boys into bed, we are usually exhausted. I find that most nights I fall asleep grading papers or trying to read a book. If Dale and I try to watch a movie together, it usually takes about 3-4 nights to get through it. I have a tendency to fall asleep during the most exciting parts of movies...like battle scenes.

Although we have a cook who makes us lots of wonderful things, I find I am spending more and more time baking and preparing a meal myself. I think I am beginning to miss experimenting with recipes myself. We usually make most of our own meals on the weekend or eat leftovers. I've always loved baking (much more than cooking) and have enjoyed breaking out our Nestle Chocolate Chip stash to make some cookies. They seem to be discoloring a bit now and probably need to be eaten up tonight in pancakes. We also bought a few coconuts at market this week. It took a ridiculous amount of time to cut, shred, and sweeten the coconut. Unfortunately, both recipes I tried with coconut didn't turn out well. I think it's the altitude? Yesterday we made our own Wheat Thins.

Dale often tromps out to the forest on the weekends with the boys. They usually come home with sticks of various sizes that are being made into bows, arrows, spears, or swords. A few weekends ago, Dale and some of the boys visited some guys in the dorm. They were a little surprised to learn that the little daggers that they think look so neat are really for more practical purposes...like peeling fruit.

Before we came to Cameroon I was told that if I ever figured out what we did with our day and where all the time went, I would have made an amazing discovery. I can honestly say that I am not really sure where the day goes. Most people assume that since we have a cook and a laundress, we must have lots of free time. I think maybe everything that we do accomplish on our own just takes that much longer. For instance, we don't have a microwave and can't use water straight from the tap, so if I need warm water for a recipe, I have to heat it up on the stove top. I think we also spend a lot of time talking. There are students who frequently stop by. I can't just open the door and say, "Hi, I'll get Dale." That'd be very rude as taking time for greeting is very important here. I am thankful for growing relationships with our househelp. I've found I easily get distracted from what I am doing and get involved in conversation. Everybody has a different story displaying God's grace and faithfulness in their lives, and it is wonderfully encouraging and challenging to hear them.