The voice on the other side was a strange one but they kept shouting, Mama Yaya, Mama Yaya and something else that I could not understand. I finally asked, "Who is calling?"
"Mama Yaya, It's Schwartz." I only know one Schwartz in Cameroon and he is one of the juveniles we minister to inside the Prison. My heart started racing because they are not allowed to have phones and I wasn't sure what to think.
"Schwartz?? Are you ok?"
"Mama Yaya, I'm out, I'm out!"
"What do you mean you're out? "
"I have been released, I am no more in Prison!"
Now I started screaming and tears began to flow! My poor students looked at me in confusion and asked, "What is it? Auntie Yaya are you ok?" I told them that Schwartz had been released and they joined in the screaming. All of us began dancing. (literally - these students have been working with me in the Prison and know him.) Schwartz told us where he was and we made a beeline to his location.
Schwartz asked us to come to his home and meet his family. He introduced us and then began to tell us and his family what God has done for him in the last few years. He apologized to his family for what he has taken them through and thanked us for what we have taught him and explained to his family how we impacted his life. He pledged to all of us that he was truly a different person and we would see the "fruit" of not giving up on him. He gave a very powerful testimony. My Mama heart swelled and threatened to burst.
The next day Schwartz came to Bethel Cameroon for our family fellowship and he brought a friend with him. HAPPY does not begin to describe what I felt. I could barely sit still the entire night and it was so difficult to focus. It was hard for me to believe he was actually there. The Lord continues to blow my mind.
Our team will begin spending time with Schwartz and his family weekly on Friday. Our goal is to provide he and his family love and Discipleship just as we did with him when he was incarcerated.
Our next meeting with the Youthful Offenders in Prison was a true celebration. In addition to celebrating Schwartz, 2 others were made aware that they would be released the next afternoon.
We were able to bless the Youthful Offenders Ward with 2 Good and Evil comic book Bibles and an electric shaver. The boys will be establishing a business within the prison. Other inmates will come to them to have hair cut. They will save the money and once a month they will all decide how to spend the profit. They may choose to buy food, soap, toiletries etc. that will benefit all of them. The Cameroon prison provides one meal a day for inmates and that is it. Any other food or necessities must come from your family and friends. Sadly, many inmates are abandoned by their families and friends. Our hope is that they will all learn a new skill that will benefit them when they are out of the prison as well.
Schwartz desires to finish High School. He is 18 and has a few years of school to complete. Would you be interested in helping to sponsor his next year of education? $250 will help to pay his tuition, purchase uniforms/books and provide a bit of transportation money to get him there.
Thank you all for everything you do to make my life in Cameroon possible. Without you, stories like this would not told. Your prayers, your gifts and sacrifices changes lives around the world on a daily basis.
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