Cameroon

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope this letter finds you well.  I am writing you to tell you about an opportunity that I have to serve Christ on the medical mission field and to ask you to partner with me as I serve.  I leave on Tuesday, March 1, 2011 for Cameroon where I will be working at Mbingo Baptist Hospital.  I am serving with World Medical Mission, a branch of Samaritan’s Purse.  I will serve a pediatric population there that often does not have access to adequate healthcare.  These are children and families who are in great need of both physical and spiritual healing.  On my own, I do not have the means to offer either of these, but I am confident Christ will work through me.

I believe that the Bible is clear about missions not being something an individual does.  God’s Word is clear that effective mission work is accomplished when the Body partners together and a network of “goers” and “senders”.  I am humbly asking you, as my friends and family, for your support.

I am in need of both financial and prayer support to make this a successful venture.  I could prepare for every imaginable medical scenario and plan the logistics out to the last detail, but if my trip is not covered in prayer, I would be completely and utterly unprepared.  Please pray that God will make His strength perfect in my weaknesses.  Pray that I would love the children of Cameroon and their families.  Pray that God will help me to make wise medical decisions and provide excellent care.  Finally, pray that I would be an encouragement to the career missionaries on staff at the  hospital.

I will be in Cameroon for the entire month of March.  We have made the decision that Tracie and our girls will stay behind here in the States.  This was a difficult decision, and I will miss them terribly.  We very much want to have the whole family together on the mission field but ultimately decided that the logistics of this short-term trip did not lend themselves to traveling with 2 children under age 3 for only a month.  I tell you this so that you can pray more specifically for us.  Please pray for the safety of Tracie, Lily Kate, and Aubrey while I am away.  Pray for them as they travel to Iowa to visit Tracie’s parents for a week.  On a related note, please pray for the passengers seated around them on the airplane.  Pray also that I will constantly be reminded that God is infinitely more capable of protecting my family than I am.

I know that many of you will be unable to help us financially with this trip.  Please know that I covet your prayers more than anything monetary.  There are ways that I can troubleshoot a lack a funding temporarily, but I cannot survive without the effective prayers of my brothers and sisters in Christ.  If you can contribute monetarily (even if it is just a small amount) and God is leading you to give, I will attach instructions on how you can do so.  You don’t have to donate prior to my departure.  PLEASE do not feel obligated to give money.  Please DO feel obligated to pray for us.

I appreciate all of your support.  We love you all, and we are thankful for each of you.  This opportunity to serve came together very quickly, and I am trusting that God will provide.  I am excited to see what God has planned for me in Cameroon, and I look forward to sharing with you.  To God be the glory!

In Him,

Stephen Renfrow