A conversation with a young adult today might typically focus on school, relationships and career goals, but for a woman from Outlook that conversation looks quite different. Lisa Belau is building a life in Cameroon, a path that is unexpected to be sure but one she has become well-suited to.
Lisa would be the first to acknowledge life as a missionary in Cameroon isn’t what she anticipated. “I love Canada so much and I never saw myself as a missionary, that’s for sure,” she remarked. But that changed while studying at Prairie Bible Institute in Three Hills, AB where she met people working with World Team, an organization committed to planting churches among unreached people groups. That encounter introduced Lisa to the Fulbe people of Cameroon and it changed the direction of her life.
There are 1.6 million Fulbe in central Cameroon, a country with a population of more than 24 million. After spending four months there in 2014 she felt called to become a full-time missionary and has served amongst the Fulbe ever since.
Lisa lives in a cozy 200-square foot house in the small village of Wouroum, located just outside the city of Banyo. She has electricity in her humble home along with a few solar panels, but no running water so she heads out to a pump each morning and collects what needs for the day. A small addition to her living space has given her a 200-square foot veranda to use and enjoy. She raised support for the addition the last time she was in Canada and is grateful for what it has meant for herself as well as the women and children she is able to invite to her home. “It’s made my living situation so much better,” she said. “I love the veranda and it’s so wonderful for having groups over. I now have a big open space where we can gather.” Lisa starts her mornings in the outdoor space looking over the beautiful valley enjoying brilliant sunrises. “It reminds me that this is so much bigger than me. I’m just a small part of what’s going to go on today.”
It was the Fulbe children that initially captured Lisa’s heart and it’s where the focus of her work continues. She is also helping to teach believers about the Bible and doing some basic literacy work, something that is greatly needed. Although there are government and private schools in the region, not everyone has the opportunity to attend. “Many of the Fulbe don’t go to school since they live more out in the bush or they need to help their families,” Lisa explained. “I visited a school and it’s a difficult learning environment. The classrooms are packed and the teacher is overwhelmed.” So some of Lisa’s work is assisting another missionary couple in teaching basic reading and writing in Fulfulde (the language of the Fulbe people) as well as English. She sees this work as being important to overall literacy amongst people with little access to education. “I want the Fulbe people enabled to teach their own children,” she said.
Lisa continues to work on studying the Fulfulde language with the help of books as well as language helpers, and her language acquisition is going pretty well. “I can get by if I know the context of the conversation,” she said, and now she will be adding another language to her arsenal. “We’ve also just confirmed that I’m going to be doing French school here in Canada before going back.”
Cameroon is officially bilingual; French and English, and after living in the country for five years she has seen how beneficial it would be to speak French so this fall she will be enrolling in a program just outside of Sherbrooke, Quebec. “It’s a French speaking school in a French speaking city,” she said. “I am hoping to live in the dorm because I need to be forced to use what I am learning.”
In addition to new language acquisition while home in Canada, Lisa will also spend the upcoming months visiting churches and supporters as well as setting goals for her work when she returns to Cameroon, likely in July 2021. Highlights of the past term has included running Kids’ Camps in a style similar to what churches here host as a Vacation Bible School. Last summer, rather than bringing kids in from the bush to attend the event, Lisa and a core team brought the Camp out to them. “That was really encouraging,” she said, “because the community wanted to be part of it. Even the non-believers were really excited to be involved.”
She was encouraged by the comments of a visiting Fulbe man from Nigeria. The fact that he even approached her was surprising, but even more so, were his remarks. He said, “I see what you and what the teachers were doing. I think that this is more important than a big man that owns a big business.” Lisa explained that since the dream of being an important businessman is widely held, the comments were all the more encouraging since he was reinforcing that children are more important than having possessions, fame or wealth.
That is the priority Lisa has as well. It’s ministry to children and bringing the Christian Gospel to an unreached people group that motivates her to live in a way that forsakes creature comforts, prestigious job titles and building a bank account in favor of living simply in a foreign land. “It’s not the life a lot of people would choose, but it’s not the place, it’s the people,” she explained. “It may not make sense to purposely choose living in a third world country but for me it’s the people. It’s not my ideal living conditions but when I was on my internship it just hit me that these people haven’t had any access to resources to learn about Jesus and how much He loves them. That’s why I live there. I feel that God has invited me to be there. It’s an invitation that I have the opportunity to accept and keep accepting.”
There are times when feelings of discouragement or being overwhelmed need to be confronted. “It hits in waves,” Lisa said, “so I have to stop, sit down and remember that it’s not on me, it’s not on my shoulders. I feel a responsibility for how I’m feeling led to live my life but I’m reminded that the world isn’t in my hands. It’s in the Father’s. I’m a small piece of this whole big picture.”
When Lisa takes time to reflect on where she is and what she is doing, it is gratitude that follows. Yes, she misses home, family and friends when she is Cameroon, but she misses home, neighbors and colleagues when she is in Canada. “I just love the Fulbe so much and sharing them with people here in Canada just makes me really grateful. I get to be a voice for them. Being a bridge between those two worlds is really exciting.”
If you would like to learn more about Lisa’s work or receive her newsletter you can email her at lisa.belau@worldteam.org
