The Magruder girls send you their Thanksgiving greetings ... while wearing their brand-new Cameroonian skirts. 

I know she's a camera-hog, but you've got to admit this is a cute picture. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Maman Leah has a turkey in the oven right now.

We'll be eating a Thanksgiving feast with American friends, but we'll be thinking of you.

Keep us in your prayers, and enjoy the day with grateful hearts.

Please don't forget our brothers and sisters around the world,

who survive and thrive on much less than you can imagine!

And please work and pray for peace in the world today ... right now!

This past weekend, I completed writing and editing "The Yellow Star," the first Magruder Mission Newsletter. If you would like a copy, I would be happy to e-mail you one in PDF form. Just send a note to preachpeace@hotmail.com.

The Scent of a Bookstore

If you’re reading this blog somewhere in America, I challenge you to get up, turn off the computer, drive yourself to your nearest Christian bookstore, browse for half an hour, and buy something.

Enjoy yourself, and I will try to enjoy it vicariously. Because I am dying to visit a well-stocked Christian bookstore!!

One of the biggest needs of our mission is Christian literature. Especially in French. Especially from a Methodist/Wesleyan perspective.

Unfortunately, not much already exists out there. For some reason, the French-speaking world is void of Methodist-themed literature.

Here in Cameroon, we have a need for good material, first of all, for our pastors. Many of them are about to begin the process of ordination; we need textbooks of Methodist history, theology, doctrine, and polity. We also need easier-to-read versions of the same for laypeople, including Bible studies, adult Sunday School material, and church organizational guides.

Since we need materials in both French and English, I have begun considering writing my own literature so that we don’t have to worry about copyright permission, and have my friend, Alexis, translate it into French.

I have found two Christian bookstores, or librairies, in Yaounde, but the pickings are extremely scanty. They consist mostly of small pamphlets written by local Pentecostal preachers, and French translations of books by Billy Graham. I even found a copy of Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth which predicted the end of the world back in the 1980’s, I think!

What I’m trying to say is … enjoy the luxury of a bookstore with fresh, clean bookjackets, full shelves, 35 different translations of the Bible, and the scent of Starbucks.

And if you just happen to find a French translation of John Wesley’s sermons lying around, please be so kind as to wrap it up, and send it FedEx ASAP!

Pastoral Epistles Commentary, continued

I Timothy 1:12-17

“…I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him…”

Every once in a while, it does us good to recall the life story of Paul. Every time we read one of his letters, or refer to his theological insights, we ought also to stop and remember who he was before he was “Paul,” when he was “Saul.”

Hey, Saul was a pretty evil dude. He was the early church’s number one enemy. He smirked and held the cloaks of the stone-throwers while Stephen died. He relished rounding up men, women and children and tossing them into prison. He had a lot of “rough edges,” we might say today.

We forget this about Paul, because later in life, he wrote such lyrical lines as, “These three remain – faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love,” and “there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Those are such powerful words, that we forget that Paul was once Saul!

Of course, if we had been Paul’s contemporaries, we might have a different perspective. It would be harder to forget that Paul had once been Saul! We might find it difficult to divorce the church’s persecutor from the church’s leader. We might have a hard time accepting Paul’s ministry.

Let’s face it – we don’t have that kind of faith and hope in humans. We say, “A leopard can’t change his spots.” “Once a violent man, always a violent man.” “Once bitten, twice shy.”

Even in the church, where we profess belief in such ideas as repentance and redemption, we find it very hard to believe that individuals can and do change. Even as we read the words of a “violent” man who was redeemed and changed by Christ, we find it very difficult to give others a second chance.

This is why the Church historically has resisted the death penalty as an acceptable form of criminal justice. This is why the Church historically has resisted war. Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, each and every human life is redeemable. It is never too late for someone to repent and be forgiven. The apostle Paul is exhibit A.

We dare not – in our own shortsighted wisdom and limited patience – snuff out life when there is yet time for redemption and forgiveness. Or else we preclude the opportunity for something new to happen.

A soldier once asked a Desert Father if God accepted repentance. The old man replied, “Tell me, my dear, if your cloak is torn, do you throw it away?” The soldier said, “No, I mend it and use it again.” The old man smile and said, “If you are so careful about your cloak, will not God be equally careful about his creature?”

Pastor Victor Essama, of First UMC Douala, is multi-talented! Engineer, preacher, pastor ... and drummer! 

Waking Up in Douala

I woke up in a small hotel room on Sunday morning. Light filtered into the room through orange curtains. It took me a few minutes to remember where I was … Have the last three months simply been a dream?

I stood up, walked to the window and threw back the curtain. Spread out before me was a dingy, gray seaside city. This was Douala, Cameroon’s main port. I stepped out onto the balcony from my fourth-floor room, but quickly stepped back in – the humidity took my breath away.

Douala is the second-largest city in the country; only Yaounde is larger. In terms of industrial and economic significance, Douala may be a more important city than Yaounde. In fact, we have four churches in Douala, one of which is English-speaking.

I had arrived in town the previous afternoon to lead my first Church Council meeting. First UMC Douala had recently lost their senior pastor, who left with his wife and family to take a teaching position at a Christian school in China. For the present, the assistant pastor, a young man named Victor Essama, has taken over pastoral duties. In our meeting, I reaffirmed this decision for the immediate future.

First UMC Douala is one of the strongest United Methodist churches in the entire country. For one, it has an active, solid Church Council, led by Ferdinand Boula, who is President of the Department of Transportation Employees Union. (An article written by Boula appears in the Sept/Oct 2004 issue of New World Outlook, the mission magazine of the General Board of Global Ministries.) There are also officers for Family Ministry, Youth Ministry, and Social Outreach.

What is most encouraging about this church is that it has a number of active ministries ongoing, led and spurred on by laypeople. For one thing, the church’s United Methodist Women’s group has purchased three sewing machines (with their own money!) in order to start sewing lessons for neighborhood women. The goal is to help these women become economically self-sufficient.

The church also recently bought a ping-pong table for their youth ministry. And they have a large box in the back of their building, in which they keep a small food and clothing pantry.
All this from a church of no more than 50 or 60 regular worshippers! All this from a church which collects an offering plate full of coins, not bills!

I stretched my arms and began my Sunday morning prayers. I had been asked to preach this morning. I dug out an old sermon, and rewrote it to fit the situation.

It was based on the sermon I’d preached at least 10 times during the summer, “The Last Door.” This sermon had been based on Acts 12, the escape of Peter from prison. In my sermon, I argued that the church had a mission to open doors of hope, joy, and love to those in need, in captivity, and in fear. I sensed that the people of First UMC Douala were ready to hear this message … indeed, they have already begun to live it.

Post-service fellowship outside of First UMC Douala. 

"The first Christians expected people to be freed from suffering, to be liberated from injustice, war, and bloodshed – in short, from the 'normal' social order of things. They expected the transformation of all things political and economic, and gave their lives in service to that goal.… This ought to chal­lenge our consciences. We who call ourselves Christians today have done so little in this regard that we must ask, Are we really Christians at all?"
Eberhard Arnold 

Now the Real Work Begins ...

As soon as school was out last Friday, the Magruders hit the road for our first African vacation. We drove to Kribi, with our friends, the Boyd family, for an extended weekend at the beach.

Jeff and Christy Boyd are missionaries with the Presbyterian Church, and have lived in Yaounde for four of the past five years. They invited us to stay with them at a Presbyterian retreat center that is located on the coast. We had a wonderful time with them and their three kids -- Matthias, Salome, and Naomi.

The beach is a respite for our family. Ever since we’ve been married, Leah and I have felt a particular pull to the ocean. We’ve lived in Venice Beach, California, vacationed at Crystal Beach on the Gulf of Mexico for several years in a row, and now have found a new refuge at the alluring coastal town of Kribi.

We returned to Yaounde on Tuesday, just in time for a ceremony at the Mission Office on Wednesday morning. At that ceremony, Bill Warnock officially handed over the directorship of the mission to me. In a lovely symbolic gesture, he handed me a lit candle, signifying that he was “passing the light” to me.

And just like that … the true work begins.

I Timothy Commentary, continued

I Timothy 1:8-11

“ … We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the unrighteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious … and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me …”

Whenever Paul talks about “Law,” he is referring to an entire complex of meaning from Hebrew Scripture. He’s not just speaking of ten commandments, nor simply of rules concerning burnt sacrifices, nor even only about cleanliness regulations.

Law, for Paul, is a standard of moral and legal purity by which God is able to distinguish between righteous and unrighteous. In his previous life, Paul believed that Law was attainable in human existence – one could live according to the precepts and statutes of God’s Law and, thereby, be counted righteous. But somewhere along the way, after the Damascus Road experience, Paul began to realize the uncomfortable truth that Law was incapable of making him righteous. Not only was he ultimately unable to actually keep all of the ordinances and commands of the Law, but it dawned on him that Law was actually unable – in and of itself – to make, or create, righteousness in him.

This is why Paul says here that Law “is good if one uses it properly.” Law has its purposes, its usefulness, but it is limited by something new, namely, the grace of God.

Jesus made the same point when he said, “I have come to save/heal/call the lost/sick/lonely, not those who are already righteous/pure/healthy.”

Law is useful when it acts as a mirror; it shows us as we really are. We compare ourselves to God’s standards and discover that we fall short, or are stained by sin, or are actually outright dishonest, money-grubbing thieves! But simply realizing this doesn’t change us! In fact, the Law can drive us to despair … as it did Paul, and then Augustine, and sometime later Martin Luther, and then even poor John Wesley!

If we stop at Law, then we become desperate and guilt-ridden. The only hope is for us to stop our sin and change our behavior. If you happen to be a strong-willed, tough-minded person, you might be able to pull off a complete behavioral change. But what happens when you fall off the wagon the first time? What happens when you discover that you simply can't pull yourself up by your own bootstraps? Law threatens to suck us into a never-ending cycle of sin/despair/repentance/forgiveness/sin/despair …

This sheds light, incidentally, on the problem with the so-called “teachers of the Law” whom Paul wants Timothy to censor. These teachers must have been introducing a new kind of legalism based on Old Testament rules and regulations. They must be preaching that people are to follow these rules, vote a certain way, wear a certain uniform, pray a certain way. As soon as Paul heard of it, he is enraged – and no wonder! This is not Christian freedom, this is not gospel/good news, this is not grace!

It’s strange, but we humans – especially those of us who consider ourselves “religious” – tend toward Law almost instinctively. Law pulls us in, entices us with absolutes, draws us in with promises and punishments. It helps us make sense of our fragmented world. It makes it so much easier for us to know how to vote, how to dress, how to pray. We crave the solidity of the Law.

But it’s not grace. And it doesn’t sound much like Jesus, either.

The beach at Kribi is a beautiful spot, and the favorite vacation destinatinon in all of Cameroon, for nationals and expats. We vacationed with the Boyd family, Presbyterian missionaries, who have three kids at the American School of Yaounde. 

Chloe displays a coconut which has just been dropped from a tree. We had coconut smores with our bonfire this evening -- substituting coconut pieces for marshmallows! 

Another day in paradise! This was our own private section of the West African beach for four beautiful days this last week. 

Mallory enjoys the sun and sand. She only enjoys going into the water if she's holding firmly onto Mom or Dad, because the waves are strong! 

Sunset at Kribi, from the porch of our cabin. The small black line on the horizon is the destination of the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline. 

Down the coast a few miles from our cabin at Kribi are these beautiful rapid waters, called the Chutes of Lobe, which empty into the ocean. 

Beach Trip!!

We leave today for a weekend trip to the beach. We'll be staying at a retreat center in Kribi. Look for pictures and blogs about our beach vacation soon!

We worship God with movement, clapping, joy, and meaningful talk ... 

Meaningless Talk

I Timothy 1:6-7

“…Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm…”

Let’s be honest – this is the sort of talk from Paul that makes us uncomfortable. It is made more difficult by the fact that we have no idea who he is talking about! One is tempted to suggest that they were personal enemies, or people who simply didn’t like his attitude towards women (!), but we just don’t know.

It is a serious thing to charge that another person has “wandered away” from the faith, or to assert that someone else doesn’t “know what they are talking about.” Whenever I hear these charges, especially in a church committee meeting, I instinctively react, because these are the kinds of words which are thrown around carelessly by certain Christians.

But it does happen, and for one who is grounded in a solid theological foundation, certainly it is, at times, appropriate to say, “Ummmm …. you’ve crossed the line!”

In Cameroon, many of our pastors were formerly ordained in the Mission Evangelique du Christ, which was, by all accounts, a fairly orthodox evangelical denomination. One day, the church’s leader decided that everything he’d previously believed and preached about Jesus Christ was wrong. He discarded the New Testament completely and turned his congregation into an Old Testament-following, orthodox Judaistic-type sect. Many of the church’s pastors and people determined that their leader had truly “wandered away” from the faith. They decided that he didn’t know what he was talking about.

And so they left, in a mass exodus, from his church. Fortunately, several of those pastors found their way into the United Methodist Church of Cameroon. We have benefited from their theological acumen and their spiritual depth. Thank goodness, like Paul, they knew the difference between meaningful and meaningless talk.