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 elcome to 2020! I am personally encouraged by the start of a New Year and a new decade: A clean slate to fill and new goals to pursue. As I pray and reflect on this New Year, I find my heart encouraged by the words of King Solomon:
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“Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return. Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. If clouds are full of water, they pour rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie. Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.”
–ECCL 11:1-6
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(Pastor Kenny Owen of Westminster, SC spent a month helping with the masonry work at the farm while his wife and team of three from his church volunteered at our school.)
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Several nuggets of encouragement and truth resonate with me as I read this passage.
We are called to sow generously. God calls us to spread our resources with wisdom, not to hold back or focus solely upon the place that gives the biggest return. We are to invest with a kingdom-oriented generosity in mind and trust that God, who calls us to be faithful towards others, will be faithful to us as well.
We are called to strong> sow faithfully. Planting is hard work! However, if we fail to plant there will be no harvest at the end of the season. It is tempting to focus on the harvest – the experience! We are often reminded of how many times the end has been a letdown because we were not faithful in the planting phase.
We are called to maintain a focus. Not to spend much time focusing on obstacles we cannot change. We are to keep moving regardless! Friction is the source of traction; we are to embrace the resistance. Setbacks are part of the process, but we are to live in light of a God that provides faithfully. Tomorrow holds great promises because of Him.
Lastly, we are to trust God! We can’t let worries and cares of the day stop us from doing what is best and needed. We are not to let fear and worry rule our actions.
Again, and again I am reminded and encouraged that the little things we do along the way are powerful, small, consistent (even persistent) tasks lay the groundwork for big God-inspired returns. I hope you find encouragement in all you do in 2020. In the next few pages, you will find what we believe our focus for 2020 should be. I encourage you to join us in 2020 as together we take Jesus’ unchanging message to a rapidly changing continent through words and practical demonstration of His love.
Together for the harvest,
Ernest Ehabe
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hile other continents have plateaued in their population growth, Africa is still growing rapidly and is expected to double in population (from 1.3 to 2.4 billion people) in the next 30 years. By AD 2100 it is expected to double again to 4.2 billion people. By then, four out of every 10 people in the world will be African or in Africa.
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(Lowell Jenson, an engineer from Missionary TECH Team, spent a month at the farm to help with layout of the land.)
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A future of Youth and Children
With a huge youth and children’s population expected, and with the average life expectancy of Africans being in the 60’s, the church seriously needs to focus its evangelism of children and teenagers for the next 50 years, otherwise the battle for the hearts of Africa will be lost.
The most receptive age to the gospel, where the bulk of conversions happens is before the age of 20. Unfortunately, with ‘limited’ resources across Africa, many churches either do not see the value of children or do not consider children to be worth a serious effort of reaching for Christ.
The three greatest evangelists to this continent are now, and will continue be; (1) the school teacher (who spends a ton of time with the youth, and molds their thinking; (2) the musician (whose songs become the philosophical mind-set of the young), and (3) the media mogul whose visual content and social media platforms have a huge following among the youth. The days of attractional outreach, tracts and street evangelism are over. The church needs to adjust to it.
A Secular or Christian Future?
The biggest challenge to Christianity in Africa, or to any religion in Africa, will not be the spread of Islam, but western secularism; the desire for wealth and security, and secularist freedoms. The unlimited desire for freedom of expression and sexual orientation will corrode even the traditionalist and religious values of our continent. Liberalism and secularism will eventually hollow out the mores and taboos of society and create a vacuum. The result will be an increasingly dysfunctional community and the loss of cohesion in society at large. The resultant effects will be a minefield for crime, human-rights abuse, and liberalism.
The Future is Still Looks Poor
By 2050, the UN projects that 40% of Africans will still live below the poverty line even with all the economic growth expected on the continent. That means almost half of Africa will still be very poor.
For the church to be relevant to its people, it will have to tackle issues of injustice, oppression and poverty in an aggressive manner. If it is judged irrelevant to Africa’s population, then the death knell of the church will be sounded. However, if the church could remain or become actively engaged in issues of poverty, then it will be a golden opportunity to touch the world with Christ’s love.
The Future is Crowded Immobility
Everyone is moving into the city. For those who live Douala or Yaoundé or who have visited any major city in Africa, you will notice the following:
- Traffic in Africa’s urban cities is really bad and is becoming a nightmare. (if you think Yaoundé is bad, go to Lagos!). It is only going to get worse! Getting around Douala or Yaoundé will be much harder and worse than present day Lagos (which has 28 million people presently). Transport and road network in Douala and Yaoundé will not catch up with this population growth and getting people to large centralized churches will be difficult and expensive.
- In addition, land cost will be super-prohibitive because the pressure on property within the city limits or in the bedroom communities around urban centers in Africa will be very high. This will change two things about the nature of the church in the future — it will be limited to fitting in living rooms, while at the same time locating itself near people who cannot move around a lot. Church bodies will need to become smaller and more adaptable - church planting will need to be in “micro-churches” located in the home or the average size living room with only 15 to 30 people per room!
The future is Church Planting, Economic & Community Development
In light of all this, our future has to be aggressive church planting. Some of these churches will of necessity be large but the majority must be small, rapidly growing, agile, adaptable rabbit-like churches.
Church planting in Africa will have to have an in-built, self-sustaining, self-funding model as the young church learns how to tithe and support itself and its pastors. Even if the congregation is only 50 people, that small number can still sustain itself by meeting in a home and employing its pastor as a bi-vocational pastor needing only a little support from the congregation.
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 uilding a ministry is not about what we want to do for God but what He instructs and what we see Him doing. More than a structure, I believe God is calling us to:
“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide; do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes” –Isaiah 54:4
Three areas of focus this year will be:
- Strengthening two struggling church plants. One in Mendong, in the city of Yaoundé, and the other in the village of Loussou among a Baka Pygmy community about four kilometers from our sustainable demonstration farm.
- Strengthening our unique school in Douala. This is a model school that brings in neuro-diverse and neuro-typical children from different backgrounds and focuses on differentiated teaching approach. Believing God to provide for land for future development of the school.
- Continue to focus on our sustainable demonstration farm to make it sustainable by increasing production in plants, animals and birds and adding a fishing component. Also, the construction of a much-needed permanent Guest House in the farm. This will save us a lot in hotel and transportation cost. For those who may not know about our sustainable demonstration farm.
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(At the beginning of our church plant in Lousou among Baka Pygmies)
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(The home of the pastor in Loussou, which we will be rebuilding)
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(Pastor Kenny Owen helping at the farm.)
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In light of these, our short-term mission outreaches will focus on the above areas and their communities. To move our sustainable demonstration farm toward sustaibility and profitability, we will need to:
- Develop and prepare minimum of 70 acres of our virgin forest land (felling, crosscutting and land preparation) requiring about $1,000 per acre
- Construct a functional multi-purpose building that can house both our guests, farm workers as well as a workshop and storage facilities. We are estimating $50,000
Would you prayerfully see if this is an area God may want you or those in your sphere of influence to get involved?
We are looking for those who are gifted in identifying as well as writing grants to come alongside us this year. Simply send a message to
info@breadforlife.org
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(Medical Outreaches / Evangelistic Crusades: demonstrating Jesus love through words and practical deeds.)
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(Pastor Anthony and his family: our focus will be in strengthening his church this year.)
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 ur team in Cameroon was blessed and encouraged with the visit of Steve Langton in January. Steve has been an integral part of the work of BFL almost from its inception. For 25 years, he and his wife, Annette have consistently supported, encouraged and promoted God’s work through BFL. Steve currently serves as our Board chair.
This was Steve’s third visit to Cameroon. This time around, Steve came with his younger brother, Paul, a retired engineer. They spent almost two weeks in Cameroon. A day at the school in Douala and the rest of their time in the East of Cameroon at our sustainable demonstration farm where they focused on helping to develop a much-needed irrigation system for the farm.
So much was accomplished during their visit. An irrigation system was initiated. A small structure was built to house the farm generator and tools and a much needed ten-ton flatbed truck for the farm was purchased!
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Bread for Life International:
4438 Pleasant Dr.
Rodgers, AR 72758
• www.breadforlife.org
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For recurring monthly support:
Commission To Every Nation
Po Bx 291307
Kerrville TX 78307
• 893-896-8326
• www.cten.org/BreadforLife
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