Covenant News

New Teaching Staff Added at Cameroon School

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON (September 6, 2001) - The Covenant missionary staff in Africa has been bolstered by the addition of six new staff members who will help educate missionary children in Cameroon.

Keith and Laurie Bakken of Edgebrook Covenant Church in Chicago, Illinois, arrived July 18 and will serve as dorm parents at a missionary children's hostel affiliated with the Evangelical Covenant Church and the Evangelical Free Church of America. They served in Zaire (now Congo) as short-term missionaries from 1987-90, teaching at the local nursing school. They have three children - Desiree, Julia and Tommy.

Karna Sjoberg (accompanying photo) of Bethlehem Covenant Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, will teach middle school science and mathematics for two years at Rain Forest International School (RFIS). She originally was headed to the Czech Republic to teach school in a similar capacity, but came instead to Cameroon.

Paul and Betsy Norby of Wooddale Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, also will work at RFIS. (Paul is pictured below). The Norbys have three children - Erin, Katie and Brittany. The couple has experience in missionary school teaching, having taught at Ubangi Academy in Karawa. Paul has been teaching at RFIS since August 13 and Betsy is serving in the RFIS library. They are on a one-year leave of absence from Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis.

Mary Samuelson attended Montecito Covenant Church in Santa Barbara, California, while attending Westmont College. She will home school five Covenant elementary students in Cameroon. Samuelson grew up in Zaire as the daughter of Covenant missionaries Gretchen and Dean Samuelson. She now resides in Topeka, Kansas, and is part of the Brookwood Covenant Church.

"The Covenant and Free Church are committed to quality education for the children of our missionary staff," said Pete Ekstrand, regional coordinator for Africa for the Evangelical Covenant Church Department of World Mission. "This past June we agreed to become a partner with Wycliffe Bible Translators in RFIS. As partners, we have a responsibility to provide part of the teaching staff. Other than Carolyn Stoker (Covenant career science teacher at RFIS and former principal of Ubangi Academy in Zaire) and some other part-time help, these new short-term teachers are our first personnel contribution to the education of our missionary kids in Yaounde. We will continue to recruit more teachers for future years, both career and short-term."

Rain Forest International School offers education to children in grades 7 through 12. This year's enrollment is 76 students, representing 20 nationalities, 13 missions or organizations and seven countries. Subjects are taught from a Christian perspective and students are challenged to integrate faith and life, according to Ekstrand.

Individuals who are interested in pursuing short-term mission work as a teacher at RFIS or another Covenant missionary school should email Barbara Johnson, short-term coordinator for the Department of World Mission, at barbara.johnson@covchurch.org.

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