In this series I am drawing out reflections from a recent journey to Kenya. This week’s contribution is an excerpt from an interview with Chofong Alfred, missions pastor at Menda Baptist Church in Bamenda, Cameroon.
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Bradley: One of my greatest joys on this trip, Chofong, was watching you take what you have learned and poured into your local church, and pour that into others. I watched as they came alive when you stood up and spoke as a fellow African.
I am so thankful that you were willing to come. Also, I am really thankful for your church being willing to send you. I know that you carry a lot and they rely on you, so for them to allow you to come was great. But it was more than that, right? They didn’t just give you permission—they were behind this. Tell a little bit of the story of how your church responded to this opportunity.
Chofong: I think it was really a great opportunity, beginning right from my senior pastor. Because he is like a father and also as my senior pastor, he had to know about this opportunity first. Before it even got to the church, he had already said I should take this journey. To the leadership, he was open about what he knows about Upstream and what they do. So, he encouraged the church to send me.
Eventually, the congregation came to know about this, and they were very excited—even before the details, just the fact that I was going to participate in this training as a trainer. They were very excited and prayed for me.
I think for the first time, I really felt how missionaries usually feel when somebody says, “We are praying for you.” I literally watched my senior pastor shed tears and embrace me as he prayed for me, and I also shed tears of joy.
During this moment, seeing how the Lord has brought us to himself, seeing how privileged we are as his people and as a church to be able to do his mission, and feeling the overwhelming support of the church leadership and family as they commissioned me to go—it was amazing.
They knew that this invitation came from Upstream, and Upstream was ready to see that I would come to Kenya and be taken good care of. But my congregation said, “We know that this is what is involved, but we cannot just let you go without supporting you.” So, they helped provide for my needs.
It was really overwhelming. It gave me a lot of strength, saying, “We are behind this, so you can go.”
Bradley: It’s beautiful. This wasn’t just Upstream coming to Kenya to do Upstream things. This is a congregation reaching out its arms, wrapping those arms around churches in Kenya, and saying, “You can do this too.”
This is the joy that we want to see churches experience, saying, “You know what—we are pouring into the Bride. We are seeing our church send out. It’s making an impact on the nations.” But what’s even more exponential is those churches saying, “We are going to take what we’ve learned, and in the context of relationships and encouragement, we are going to go and share that with other churches.”
It’s a beautiful picture. Chofong, thank you so much for coming on this trip. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I’m so grateful.
Chofong: God bless you. It’s such a privilege, and it’s a blessing to understand what God is doing in other parts of the world, particularly Africa. Thanks to Upstream because you poured into me, and whatever came out has been a result of what you did, and my journey with the Lord through my own background.