YONGS JULY NEWSLETTER

And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen 12:3). The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. (Gal 3:8-9). Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”— in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Gal 3:13-14). “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come (Matt 24:14).

Greetings from Roseville, MN. We have been home now in America (seems like kind of a strange place to us, still!) for about 45 days. In 5 months we will be back in Cameroon where we will continue the work of the gospel for the growth of the Cameroonian church. Our heart’s desire is that more and more students and Christians in Cameroon will embrace the sweet truth that the promise made to Abraham is a reality for them now through faith in Jesus Christ. We want them to catch a vision for God that will result in a passion to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ among the unreached people of Cameroon with a view to see Christ come back soon. This we want to continue to do through teaching and other ministry doors that God might open up for us.

While in Africa, we dreamt of coming “home” and now that we are here, we are dreaming of going “home.” Which one is home anyway? Oh, the life of missionaries. It has been good to be back seeing family and friends, having time to forget the difficult part of ministering in Cameroon, reflecting on what God did through us in these past 42 months that we were at Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary, resting, sharing with our supporters etc. I am happy to say though, that after this month and a half, we are looking forward to going back to Cameroon. We are convinced that Cameroon is the place to be.

In the months ahead, we are going to highlight different aspects of our ministry in Cameroon in each newsletter. That way, we can give you a more in-depth view into what we did and how we saw God at work. I am also working on a more extensive report of our work in Cameroon. When that is done, I can make it available to anyone who would like to read a copy.

Wow!!! Three and a half years went by fast. It is just now that I have had long enough peaceful time to reflect on the magnitude of the work. I realize that I taught a total of 12 courses~ some several times~ (Hermeneutics, Systematic Theology, Galatians, Romans, Hebrews, Pastoral Epistles, Preaching, New Testament Theology, New Testament Introduction, Old Testament Theology, Preaching, Research Methodology) to about 650 students. This alone is an encouragement to me as I think about going back. Of the 650 students, only about 50 took a class from me for only one semester. The rest I had for 3 to 4 semesters. When these students graduate, most of them become pastors of churches and some are serious about teaching what they learned in seminary. I am very happy with what I see them doing and hopeful that this is just the beginning of a more stable church in Cameroon in the years to come. As can be seen from the number of course I had to teach, we are in need of teachers at C.B.T.S. Please pray to that end.

Linda learned to home school, with Benjamin home for a year before going to boarding school (which we think and he thinks so too, was the best thing that happened to him), Samuel now in 8th grade (joining Benjamin in boarding school next year), and Anna a 4th grader. This is quite an accomplishment for a woman who never thought she could make the transition from being an RN to a homeschooling mom. My unbiased opinion is that she did excellently. On top of that, she was able to help out in some policy changes in the school regarding health matters as well as designing and teaching a curriculum on HIV/AIDS in the Seminary. Over 150 students took the semester-long class. She even asked me to do a two week section on Theology and HIV/AIDS. I learned a lot.

Our kids did well in Cameroon. We thank God that he gave them grace to cope in a different culture and not be overtaken with what they left behind. We are also thankful that even now, they are enjoying America not in a greedy manner but knowing that these things are temporary and that they will soon go back home. (Check the height in the pictures. They are standing on the same spot we were!)

We are scheduled to go back in January. At this point, we are behind in our monthly support level. We went out fully supported and that support has stayed stable. There have been changes in our family situation that require more funds. Boarding school, for example. Benjamin and Samuel each require about $11,000 a year for boarding and tuition. This alone will mean a minimum of $2000 a month more that we need.
Additionally, when we go back, Linda is going to be more involved in campus work since she will be teaching only Anna at home. Having the kids in boarding school makes it possible for us to have remain on the field and have the kids well educated. We would like to raise Linda to half salary (up from ¼) to reflect this increase in responsibility. Having discussed all this with the Baptist General Conference, we need to raise a total of $3000 more a month to meet up with our needs before we go back.

It is difficult to bring this up to you who are already supporting us so much but we thought that it would be best to bring it to your attention. We are asking our supporting churches and individuals, if at all possible, to consider increasing their monthly support for us. At the same time we will pursue others to partner with us by committing to supporting us in Cameroon. Please pray with us to this end. If anyone feels led to start support, or to increase their amount, please let us know so we can get “how to” information to you.

Philemon and Linda Yong
philyong@aol.com