June 2007

Dr. Francois Ngoumape and his lovely wife, Claire, hosted us tirelessly for the week in Bangui. He drove us everywhere, hosted all the seminar sessions, took us on sightseeing trips, and had us to their home for dinner (pictured here). Pray for this dear couple–they are raising 13 children (5 of their own plus others […]

Despite the heat and humidity, the robed choir at the church we attended Sunday morning, June 10, added enthusiasm and power to the worship service at Galabadja 3 church.

We attended Sunday morning service at the Galabadja 3 church, the second-largest Grace Brethren church in the Bangui area. About 1,200 were in attendance for the French language service. Each of our instructors’ team gave a short greeting or testimony–the strange sound of my English brought a huge laugh. We were treated very graciously by

Following the service at Galabadja 3 and tea at the pastor’s house, we stopped in at the Castor church (pictured) which is the largest and most prominent Grace Brethren church in the CAR. It has about 3,400 attenders in the two services (Sango and French) and the Sango service was just concluding as this photo

On Sunday afternoon we visited the Bangui Christian radio station that is adjacent to the Castor church, and Clarissa (left) and Emmanuel (not in photo), participants in our writers’ seminar who are radio station staff, conducted a wide-ranging hour-long interview with all the instructors. We discussed literature in Africa, principles of good communication, the effect

Dounia Marc (seated at the head of the table) had us all over to his house for dinner. Dounia directs the Foyer, the Grace Brethren literature ministry in the CAR, and is responsible for the printing, publishing, and bookstore operations in the country. Part of our goal on this trip was to encourage him and

Liz Cutler Gates (pictured), editorial director of Brethren Missionary Herald Co., will be spending the next several days participating in the DRIVEN conference for young adults on the campus of Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. Liz will be posting blog reports of the conference-in-progress, will be hosting a booktable for BMH books, and will be

A roundup article featuring the recent writers’ and editors’ seminars in Cameroon and Central African Republic may be found on the Assist News syndicated website at http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07060118.htm Instructors for the seminars included (from left) Terry White of BMH; Jean Bugnano, photographer from Macon, France; Didier Millotte, illustrator from Lyon, France; Greg Burgess of Editions Cle,

In Bangui, our teaching team was augmented with the addition of Jules Ouba, who works with the Christian publishing firm CPE in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Though he arrived a day late because of the serendipitous schedule of African airlines, Jules was a wonderful addition to the team. Not only did he have a warm, gregarious

The seminars were held each day in the building that houses the offices of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren churches in the CAR. Ladies from the Galabadja 3 church served us breakfast and lunch each day, and cared well for all our hospitality needs.