Some
Jamaicans were slaves from Africa.[1] After being freed from
slavery, the Jamaicans wanted to bring the new life in Jesus to the people of
Africa; they were the first missionaries to Cameroon.[2] They first found the island
just off the Coast of Cameroon.[3] Once in Cameroon, Joseph
Merrick one of “the first Negro Jamaicans to enter the ministry.”[4] He started learning the
new language of Cameroon. Although he was not in Cameroon long he made a basis
where later missionaries could build.[5] Joseph Jackson Fuller made
a big impact in Cameroon. He started a church and a school for pastors. He
wanted pastors to be as knowledgeable as teachers. [6] Alfred “Saker was among
the first missionaries to enter in 1843 Cameroon and to settle in Douala, where
he became famous by his founding of Christian communities and the translation
of the New Testament and then the Old Testament in the Douala tongue.”[7]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alfred_Saker_portrait.jpg
Alfred
Saker
According to
Brutsch, the first missionaries were the Baptist Missionary Society, then came
the Basal Mission, German Baptist, and French.[8]
A war caused unrest because Christians were fighting Christians, and this was
the religion the Cameroonians were being taught.[9]
The first missionary (Joseph Merrick), “November 1843”, “in the first seven
weeks…wrote down vocabulary of the Duala language, even preparing a first
school text-book”.[10]
When the article was written the young people of the church were leaving the
church because they did not feel it was benefiting them.[11].
The missionaries were imposing traditions on the Cameroonian people which was
causing unrest in the culture, due to their traditions being ignored.[12]
Due to the different denominations of missionaries, baptism was a concern, which
caused many disagreements.[13](303).
Other missions have also been to
Cameroon but this article described the first ones from the view of their
organization.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joseph_Merrick_1886_1.jpg
Joseph Merrick a Missionary to
Cameroon, a freed slave of Jamaica from Africa
The
Pentecostals, particularly Full Gospel Mission Cameroon, according to Akoko
Mbe, began in 1961. It is the largest Pentecostal church in Cameroon.[14] They began as a church
greatly against pleasures and luxuries, including things such as long hair,
nice clothes, expensive cars and running businesses.[15] When the Cameroon economy
started to decline, the church change over to “a Gospel of Prosperity”, saying
that people were not being blessed by God because they were not giving their
all and best to God.[16] When people started
giving the church and their leaders, all the activities the church wanted to be
a part of were financed. Leaders began to indulge in luxuries to show how God
was giving them success. As a result, the members of the church also began to
buy themselves the best to show how God was blessing them.[17] This church also started
supporting businesses such as school, colleges, clinics, and bookstores which
because they were being run by churches instead of the states, the states were
compensating the churches for doing the state’s duty.[18] Since people were putting
money into the church the church was able to do more to help society, and
people felt God was blessing them for giving of their best.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Reinhard_Bonnke
An Evangelist to Cameroon
[1] Jaap
van Slageren, “Jamaican Missionaries in Cameroon,” Exchange 30, no. 2 (2001): 146, accessed February 24, 2017, ATLA0000024697
[2] Jaap
van Slageren, “Jamaican Missionaries in Cameroon,” Exchange 30, no. 2 (2001): 145, accessed February 24, 2017, ATLA0000024697
[3] Jaap
van Slageren, “Jamaican Missionaries in Cameroon,” Exchange 30, no. 2 (2001): 147, accessed February 24, 2017, ATLA0000024697
[4] Jaap
van Slageren, “Jamaican Missionaries in Cameroon,” Exchange 30, no. 2 (2001): 149, accessed February 24, 2017, ATLA0000024697
[5] Jaap
van Slageren, “Jamaican Missionaries in Cameroon,” Exchange 30, no. 2 (2001): 150, accessed February 24, 2017, ATLA0000024697
[6] Jaap
van Slageren, “Jamaican Missionaries in Cameroon,” Exchange 30, no. 2 (2001): 151, accessed February 24, 2017, ATLA0000024697
[7] Jaap
van Slageren, “Jamaican Missionaries in Cameroon,” Exchange 30, no. 2 (2001): 152-153, accessed February 24, 2017, ATLA0000024697
[8] Jean
Rene Brutsch, “A Glance at Missions in Cameroon,” International Review of Mission 39, no. 155 (July 1, 1950): 303-305, accessed February 24, 2017, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1758-6631
[9] Jean
Rene Brutsch, “A Glance at Missions in Cameroon,” International Review of Mission 39, no. 155 (July 1, 1950): 305, accessed February 24, 2017, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1758-6631
[10] Jean
Rene Brutsch, “A Glance at Missions in Cameroon,” International Review of Mission 39, no. 155 (July 1, 1950): 302, accessed February 24, 2017, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1758-6631
[11] Jean
Rene Brutsch, “A Glance at Missions in Cameroon,” International Review of Mission 39, no. 155 (July 1, 1950): 307, accessed February 24, 2017, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1758-6631
[12] Jean
Rene Brutsch, “A Glance at Missions in Cameroon,” International Review of Mission 39, no. 155 (July 1, 1950): 309, accessed February 24, 2017, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1758-6631
[13] Jean
Rene Brutsch, “A Glance at Missions in Cameroon,” International Review of Mission 39, no. 155 (July 1, 1950): 303, accessed February 24, 2017, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1758-6631
[14]Akoko
Robert Mbe, “From the Asceticism to a Gospel of Prosperity: The Case of Full
Gospel Mission Cameroon,” Journal for the
Study of Religion 17, no. 2 (2004): 48, accessed February 24, 2017, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24764335
[15] Akoko
Robert Mbe, “From the Asceticism to a Gospel of Prosperity: The Case of Full
Gospel Mission Cameroon,” Journal for the
Study of Religion 17, no. 2 (2004): 50, accessed February 24, 2017, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24764335
[16] Akoko
Robert Mbe, “From the Asceticism to a Gospel of Prosperity: The Case of Full
Gospel Mission Cameroon,” Journal for the
Study of Religion 17, no. 2 (2004): 60, accessed February 24, 2017, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24764335
[17] Akoko
Robert Mbe, “From the Asceticism to a Gospel of Prosperity: The Case of Full
Gospel Mission Cameroon,” Journal for the
Study of Religion 17, no. 2 (2004): 62, accessed February 24, 2017, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24764335
[18] Akoko
Robert Mbe, “From the Asceticism to a Gospel of Prosperity: The Case of Full
Gospel Mission Cameroon,” Journal for the
Study of Religion 17, no. 2 (2004): 60, accessed February 24, 2017, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24764335
