November, 2014
Meiganga, Cameroon
Dear Sponsors,
Greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
What a joy it was to meet many of you this summer when I was back in the U.S. for home assignment. I am truly humbled by, and deeply grateful for, the faithful support and prayers of so many individuals and congregations. Everywhere I visited, I was received with warm midwestern hospitality and was delighted to find such eager interest in the work God is doing here in Cameroon. From the bottom of my heart, thank you! For those congregations that I was not able to visit this summer, I sincerely hope that we will be able to schedule a visit during my next home assignment in the summer of 2016.
In addition to visiting congregations, all ELCA missionaries on home assignment participate in the ELCA Summer Missionary Conference, which this year took place July 21-25 in Naperville, IL. At the conference, we missionaries and members of the Global Mission staff in Chicago have the opportunity to worship together, hear inspiring speakers, share stories from around the globe, pray for one another, and just plain enjoy being together. Below is a photo of our West/Central Africa and Madagascar team, an amazing group of people who I am grateful to have as colleagues.
I returned to Cameroon in mid-September. I taught a Greek “refresher course” the last week in September, and the fall semester began October 6. I am teaching the same courses that I taught last year: New Testament Greek, Introduction to the New Testament, the Synoptic Gospels, Romans, the Gospel of John and Revelation, and Johannine theology. It is still a whole lot of work, but I am finding it to be less difficult and more enjoyable the second time around. This year I will also be directing the theses of two master’s degree students.
Students and spouses at the beginning of the academic year 2014-2015
Outside of academics, an issue that is very much on everyone’s minds these days is security. The war in the Central African Republic on our eastern border has created a large influx of refugees in Cameroon. There are also many refugees in the far north of Cameroon fleeing the violence of the terrorist group Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria. The presence of the United Nations Refugee Agency is becoming more noticeable; one often sees vehicles of the UNHCR transporting staff and trucks transportingsupplies for the refugee camps.
Lutherans here are also doing their part to help – particularly those in the border town of Garoua Boulai, where a hospital of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cameroon is treating many refugees who arrive at the border sick, wounded, or extremely malnourished. Doctors without Borders is also aiding in this effort. An advance team from the Lutheran World Federation, Department for World Service, recently arrived in Meiganga to prepare and recruit a team to work with refugees in this area. The team is renting a house on the campus of the Institute, and I am grateful to have them as new neighbors and to learn more about their work.
I know that the Ebola virus has been much in the news in the United States. Rest assured that it has not reached Cameroon. It did reach Nigeria, but Nigerian health officials were able to stop it and prevent a wider outbreak. Please continue to pray for all those in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea who are battling this epidemic, for the refugees from CAR and Nigeria here in Cameroon, and for peace in all those places where violence is tearing apart lives and communities.
I am ever so grateful for your continuing prayers and support for my work, for the Lutheran Institute of Theology in Meiganga, and for the ELCA’s partnership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cameroon. I pray God’s blessings for all of you, for your congregations and ministries in your local mission fields!
Grace and peace,
Elisabeth Johnson
P.S. Please note the new instructions for giving to ELCA Global Church Sponsorship:
YOUR SUPPORT MAKES A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE! HERE’S HOW TO GIVE:
By check: Make payable to “ELCA Global Church Sponsorship” with “E Johnson MSG0719” in the memo line. Give through your synod office or mail your check to: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Gift Processing Center, P.O. Box 1809, Merrifield, VA 22116-8009.
By credit or debit card: See or call 800-638-3522 and specify “E Johnson MSG0719”.
By automatic monthly bank withdrawal, or to establish a covenant of prayer, communication and support:
Contact 800-638-3522, ext. 2657, or .