Martine Yougouda found her new BMH tote bag to be quite helpful in carrying seminar materials. Pray for the Yougoudas, as they are returning to Boguila, a very treacherous and unsafe area at the present. Martine’s husband, Pierre, is working on proofing and final corrections of a book manuscript he has written on the history […]

When the week’s teaching was completed, we had a “graduation ceremony” on Thursday afternoon, complete with the awarding of certificates of completion, the giving of gifts, and the making of speeches. Here Greg awards the certificate to Gama, one of the bright young leaders for the future in the literature ministry. Gama, 28, has a

Following the “graduation exercises,” we all retired to the courtyard, formed a large circle with our chairs, and enjoyed sweet fellowship around French bread, peanuts, and Coca-Cola.

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