The Holy Spirit moving on the men at Mbalmayo Prison

Dear Friends,

Carole and I have returned from our trip to Africa with many good reports of God’s amazing work. In fact, there are so many good things that there isn’t enough space in this update for them all! For this reason, I’ll divide it into two parts. This update will focus on Cameroon, which was characterized by repentance and conversion. Next month, I’ll tell you about D.R. Congo, which was characterized by forgiveness and reconciliation.

In Cameroon we met with pastor Emmanuel and his two associates who are the chaplains with Bread for Life, a ministry that Carole and I have had contact with for many years. Pastor Emmanuel, pastor Lobe, and pastor Paul minister full-time in the many prisons around Yaounde, the capital city of Cameroon. They evangelize and mentor inmates and plant churches inside the prisons. All three chaplains are very poor, yet they have established a great work for God with what they have.

Bread of Life Ministry asked us to help conduct evangelistic meetings over several days in three different prisons in and near Yaounde. Akonolinga Prison was our first stop. Pastor Emmanuel already had a good church established in this prison of about 250 men. We brought several hundred pounds of beans and corn along with soap and medicine for the inmates. After I preached the message God had given me, 55 men repented and believed. We were overjoyed at the work of the Holy Spirit!

Pastor Elom, pastor Lobe and pastor Emmanuel, left; repentance and faith at Akonolinga Prison, at right

Our next stop was Mbalmayo Prison. At that meeting, I gave a clear and sobering invitation to repent and follow Jesus. Out of 450 men present, the Holy Spirit then brought 150 to repentance and faith!

As a result, the church inside this prison was strengthened with many new converts. Carole and I also strengthened pastor Emmanuel’s reputation with the warden, simply because we are Westerners—a rare sight in those parts. The warden and inmates were all very happy to see the 220-pound sacks of beans and corn, as the government feeds them only a single rationed meal a day. They also appreciated the medicine we gave them.

Our final stop was Central Prison of Yaounde. Although this is a minimum security prison for inmates who have shown good behavior, the warden did not like Christian ministry in his prison. Our gifts of much-needed food and medicine, however, softened his heart enough to let us in, and he attended our meeting, too. Little did he—or the rest of us—know that God would speak to him during the message. Afterwards he stood and gave a testimony of how God had impacted him! As a result, he gave pastor Emmanuel an open door to minister in this prison and provided a separate room to start a new church inside this prison. Look what the Lord has done! Sunday morning we returned to dedicate the new church!

The warden giving a testimony of how God touched him, left; at right, the first meeting of the new church leaders!

I am so overjoyed at what God did on this trip, opening the door for even more ministry in Cameroon. Your faithful gifts to the Prison Ministry & Rehab Fund made this possible. Please know that all of you who prayed and gave to this effort are one with us. You might not be able to go and do this work, but through your support we will go for you. Your reward waits for you in heaven! Thank you for your hearts of obedience to Jesus.

In service to Him,

Bob Collins
Director, Prison Ministry & Rehab Fund