I just love it when she comes to visit.  She is hands down my favorite lady in all of Cameroon.  She is so strong in her faith, she puts me to shame.  But she also encourages me to keep on walking with God, trusting in Him, no matter what.

Mama Helen had married young and had lots of children.  It was not a good marriage.  They were middle class people, living in a large house.  She had her own business and was pregnant with her tenth child.  And then her husband dropped dead from a heart attack.  There had been no warning.

The sorcerer arrived in the picture and frightened her to death with his tales of how each of her children were doomed to die, one by one.  Only he could save their lives.  It would cost a considerable sum of money of course, but her children were worth the sacrifice.  There were many visits to the sorcerer and much money changed hands.  Then when the business had to be gotten rid of and the house sold, they finally moved to another town.  They owned a smaller house there.  She began farming, living hand to mouth.  When all the money was gone she finally broke with the sorcerer.  She had lost all faith in him.  The years went by, hard years with not enough food to go around.  

As the children grew up they left home and began making a life for themselves.  Christoph, one of her sons, came to know the Lord.  He immediately thought of Mama Helen and all his brothers and sisters.  But they did not want to hear about this new God he had found.  The persecution was fierce.  And it went on for six long years.  Finally she realized that her son had found something. She needed what he had.  She gave her life to the Lord. Very shortly thereafter Francis put his trust in the Lord, too.  Mama Helen's mother began persecuting her.  "It's normal" she says.  "That's what I did to my son."  She keeps praying and believing that one day her mother will leave her traditional religion and come to know the living Lord.  

The enemy of our souls despises Mama Helen.  She has had so many things go wrong.  Many times her life has been at risk.  But always she clings to the Lord and moves forward.  Her faith is breathtaking.

Today she told about her trip down to Yaounde to visit her children.  She had told Francis that she would take the night bus.  And so when her bag was packed she asked a neighbor man to help her carry it up to the road where she would get a taxi.  He took the bag but then he disappeared.  She quickly realized that her bag was stolen.  She phoned Francis and he told her to wait until the morning and take the first bus out of town.  About an hour later there was a knock at the door.  It was the neighbor man, urging her to quickly come up to the road and get a taxi to the bus.  He said her bag was waiting for her there.  Sure enough, when she arrived at the road, her bag was sitting right there!  She realized the man had take her bag, looking for money.  By the grace of God her money was not in her bag.  He did not take a thing.  She declares that it was God alone Who protected her and brought her safely to her son's house.  

We could write a whole book about Mama Helen's stories, and each one ends with her giving praise to God for the wonderful way He takes care of her.