Opportunity to Help!

I am writing today to invite you to help us support BERUDEP (the organization with whom we work in Cameroon). There are many ways in which you can do this. Many of you have already done so directly (by thinking and praying for BERUDEP) or indirectly (by thinking and praying for Baine and me). Many of you have generously supported Baine and me financially so that we can travel to and from Cameroon every year, and some of you have generously supported BERUDEP’s programs financially. For ALL of these gifts, we (BERUDEP, Baine, and I) are extremely grateful.

Today, I want to invite you to support BERUDEP in one of the following ways:

1. Support a BERUDEP after-school program for disadvantaged children. In short, this program provides food, literacy skills development, music & art club, and Bible club every week for a total of 120 disadvantaged/ at-risk children. You can choose to donate anywhere from $25-$350/month for this program.

2. Support BERUDEP women’s literacy classes. These classes are offered for free to widows in the community who want to learn how to read and write in both English and their native dialect Kom (which has been a completely oral language until the last 15 or 20 years!) You can choose to support this program for $40/month. 3. Offer a one-time donation to support one of the above-mentioned programs.

Although we cannot presently offer the advantage of tax-deductible donations, we (Baine and I) are in the beginning phase of starting a non-profit organization in the USA on behalf of BERUDEP. Once we receive non-profit status (no sooner than 6 months from now), your donations will become tax-deductible.

Our philosophy in our work with BERUDEP is to promote sustainability and self-sufficiency by equipping, educating, and empowering local people to accomplish the goals that they have set for themselves. What that means, in short, is that we don’t want to just go into Cameroon and do “good deeds” without thinking about the complexity of problems and solutions – the causes, long-term consequences of change, etc.

Having worked directly with BERUDEP and lived in Cameroon for many months, I can’t express the beauty and life that I have experienced in my work with Kom people. It has been a huge privilege to be able to serve BERUDEP and know so many beautiful faces and hearts that have changed who I am as a person.
If you would like to join us in this experience, please email me to ask questions or to discuss the details of making a donation. If you would simply like to learn more about these programs, I will be more than happy to answer any questions, send you pictures, etc. If you want to know more about BERUDEP, you can visit their website (http://www.berudep.org/) or email me with questions. Thank you for reading and considering this opportunity.