 Mission initiatives thrive in Cameroon, Senegal |
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by Elliott Wright |
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The young people who got off the bus at the beach town, Kribi, at the start of Holy Week 2005 were mostly strangers to one another. Climbing back on to head home for Easter at week's end, they were closely knit United Methodist youths, all holding Bibles received as participants in the first national youth camp of the new United Methodist Church in Cameroon. Youth ministry is one priority of the United Methodist Cameroon mission initiative. Others include congregational development, prison ministry, and water and sanitation programs, according to the Rev. Wesley Magruder, Cameroon missionary. The 15.5 million people of Cameroon are concentrated mostly in the south where the majority is Christian but many follow traditional African religions. The north is Muslim. Cameroon, located just south of Nigeria, boasts one of two new United Methodist mission initiatives in West Africa. The other initiative is in Senegal, a country in the far west reaches of the continent whose 10 million residents are 94 percent Muslim. While United Methodist presence in both countries is not new, Cameroon and Senegal were officially designated as "missions" by the General Board of Global Ministries only last April. "This is more than a technicality," says the Rev. Sam Dixon, head of the evangelization and church growth unit of the denomination's mission agency. "It means that the lay pastors who are in preparation can now move toward regular clergy standing." Cameroon has 20 United Methodist congregations, 10 speaking English and 10 speaking French. Senegal, where French is the official language, has 16 local churches. A majority of the more than 2 million United Methodists in Africa speak French, and the denomination now has a French curriculum for clergy training and is working on a French-language hymnal. United Methodist relief and agricultural work in Senegal goes back many decades, but the current mission got underway in the early 1990s; the mission in Cameroon started in the late 1990s. Leadership development for church and community is important in both initiatives and is one of the major jobs of the missionaries. Three missionaries are stationed in Cameroon. Wesley and Leah Magruder are in charge of the mission, where Dr. Catherine Mudime Akale also lives. Dr. Akale serves as a regional missionary for ministries with women, children and youths in sub-Saharan Africa. Senegal has four initiative missionaries: Karen and Sebastine Ujereh, and Mbiwizu and Nkemba Ndjungu. Marthe Dansokho has a regional role in ministries with women, children and youths. The Holy Week youth camp in Cameroon is part of the mission's leadership emphasis. Congregations from the country chose its 40 participants based on their potential as leaders of tomorrow. After Bible study classes, each youth was presented with a personal copy of the Scriptures. "I think that seeing the faces as the young people received their Bibles was the high point of the camp for me," said mission board director Richard Shinhoster of Savannah, Ga., on hand for the presentations. The mission board and the Commission on United Methodist Men joined the Cameroon Mission in sponsoring the camp. Literacy is a big part of the mission's work in Senegal, where 67 percent of the population cannot read and write, according to missionaries Mbiwizu and Nkemba Njdungu. Girls who do not attend regular school are taught sewing, and there are agricultural demonstrations and micro-credit programs. The work in Senegal is concentrated in Dakar and is carried out with respect for the surrounding Muslim culture. For example, since Jesus is honored by Islam, Christmas is widely celebrated, explains missionary Nkemba Ndjungu. This gives the United Methodists an opportunity to add their understanding of what it means to thank God for Jesus, they said. The Word and wellness On a recent visit to Obala, Mr. Magruder saw people wearing black bands around their ankles. He learned from the Rev. Simeon Nomo that those individuals wear the bands in an attempt to ward off cholera. Mr. Magruder said the United Methodists of Cameroon know a better way to fight the dreaded disease — the sanitation kits provided by the Sion Church in Obala through a gift from the United Methodist Committee on Relief. These kits contain soap, bleach and clean water. In addition, the denomination is working with the local district hospital in cleaning up wells and purifying the water supply. Wellness work in Senegal was enhanced in January 2005 by a United Methodist Volunteers in Mission medical team from Trinity Church in Wilmette, Ill., led by Dr. Carol Meynen. Plans are underway for a second team in the winter of 2006. (For a report on the project, visit the church's home page. ) Major support for the Cameroon Mission comes from the Alabama West-Florida, North Texas, South Carolina, Southwest Texas, and Texas Annual Conferences in the United States. Northern Illinois and Wisconsin are among the support conferences for Senegal. Contributions for Cameroon can be made to the Advance for Christ and His Church, #14914A; for Senegal to Advance #12594A; or sent to Advance GCFA, P.O. Box 9068, GPO, New York, NY 10087-9068. Elliott Wright is the public information officer of the General Board of Global Ministries. This article is used with permission of the United Methodist Reporter.
Date posted: Jun 24, 2005 |
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