Missions in Cameroon

   

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

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[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