Our Oversears Missions
Phillip and Reda Anderton arrived in Cameroon, West Africa in 1992 sponsored by the faith mission "Regions Beyond," now a part of "World Team." Their new venture was to reach the Baka, a people who have never heard the Gospel in their own language.

Map of CameroonThe Baka are a people of about 30,000 who live in an area crossing three countries in central West Africa. Cameroon is the western third of the area. The Baka are hunter-gatherers who live off the jungle. They move often and make leaf shelters as they go from one food source to another. In recent times the logging industry has taken a large portion of the trees that are the food source for the Baka. They are therefore being forced to find a new way of life. Given their heritage, they find it hard to stay in one place, and farming is to them a strange way to live, but many feel it is their only hope for a future. Their Bantu neighbors are of little help and often abuse them.

Phillip and Reda feel that there is a way to inform the Baka of a better life through the tradition of story telling and music. Learning the Baka language is a major task for the missionaries. It is an unwritten tonal language. One member of the team was assigned to analyze the language and translate the Bible into Baka. She had to leave because of an illness, but plans to return with her husband in 2005. In the meantime, Phillip and Reda have learned the language. They are now writing Old Testament Bible stories which are read to the Baka. It is planned that the series will continue into the New Testament Gospels and end with an invitation to accept Christ as Savior.

The mission center where Phillip and Reda work is near a Baka village on a coffee plantation owned by a man called Pierre. Most of the area where the Baka live in Cameroon is government reserve land, but old claims like Pierre's are scattered throughout the reserve lands. These are the only places where a mission center can be safely built. The Baka at times work for Pierre and they consider him a patron. Pierre, in turn, helps to stabilize the Baka community. He is not a Baka but cares about them deeply. He is a college graduate and knows 20 languages, three of them European. Two years ago he accepted Christ and was baptized. He has shown real maturity in the faith since that time. He now is deeply involved in the Bible stories being written by Phillip and Reda and he helps tell them to the Baka.

The Anderton family spends two weeks in town and two weeks at the Baka center. They get most of their food from the capital eight hours away where French is the main language. They travel back and forth, and this is the most dangerous part of being in Cameroon because of narrow roads and the logging trucks. There are five children in the family: Nathaniel is 17 and graduating from high school this year. Nicholas is 15, Naomi is 13, Noah is 7, and Nelson is 5. The children are mostly home-schooled by their parents. In recent years three tutors, cousins Diana, Jennifer, and Jonathan came to help teach, taking a year or more out of their lives to do this before entering college.

The pace of contact with civilization is increasing rapidly. In some ways this is helping the Baka, and in some ways it is not. In either case it is lending urgency to the mission. Moreover, Phillip, Reda and family will be returning to the States on leave in January 2005. They are working hard to complete the Bible story series and offer the Baka an invitation to accept Christ as Savior.