Cameroon
Cameroon
A. INTRODUCTION
Cameroon is a West African country which belongs to the Central African Confederation. Gaining independence in January 1960, Cameroon became a Republic on October 1961 after the British Cameroons through a Plebiscite, joined the French Republic of Cameroon to form a Federal Republic of Cameroon.
Cameroon is a bilingual country, having French and English as the official languages. French is the dominant language. In terms of population and land coverage, the French-speaking territory covers 4/5 of the country while the English-speaking territory covers 1/5 of the country.
Yaounde is the administrative capital city with an estimated population of 1,372,800 (1999). Douala is the largest city, the chief commercial centre and the chief port city, with an estimated population of 1,448,300 (1999).
Cameroon consists of about 200 ethnic groups, made up of 24 major languages.
The country is divided into 10 Provinces with their administrative headquarters as follows:
PROVINCE HEADQUARTERS
1. Centre Province Yaounde
2. Littoral Province Douala
3. West Province Bafoussam
4. East Province Bertoua
5. South Province Ebolowa
6. North Province Garoua
7. Extreme-North Province Maroua
8. Adamaoua Province Ngaoundere
9. North-West Province ( English – speaking ) Bamenda
10. South-West Province ( English – speaking ) Buea
B. 1. Mailing Address : L’Eglise De Pentecote - Cameroun
BP 17346, DOUALA, CAMEROUN
2. E-mail : cop_cameroon@yahoo.com ; dakyaw@yahoo.com
3. Current National Executive Members
i. Pastor Daniel OWUSU-AKYAW - National Head
ii. Overseer Samuel NARH - Douala District Overseer
iii. Elder Emmanuel PUPLAMPU - National Deacon
iv. Brother Kwame AKUFFO - National Secretary / Financial Sec.
v. Mama Dora OWUSU-AKYAW - National Women’s Leader
vi. Sister Dorcas OTTU - Asst. Nat. Women’s Leader
vii. Brother John DOKU - Member
viii. Deaconess Susan MUSINA - Member
ix. Brother Mohammed TRAORE - Member
Mama Dora Owusu-Akyaw, wife of
the National Head and current National Women’s Movement Leader :-
Delivering her message during the 2006 National Women’s Movement Convention at
C.
IDENAU ASSEMBLY
The establishment of the Church of Pentecost in Cameroon dates back to 1990 when a group of Ghanaian fishermen came together to start a branch of the Church in Idenau , a fishing town in the Fako Division of the South_West Province of Cameroon,. Notable among the Founding members were Brother Jackson Otiboe – a carpenter, Deacon Daniel Akugbey, Deacon Peter Dordoe, Deacon Isaac Atterh, Deacon Aryee and Brothers Ernest Puplampu, Benjamin Dordoe, Matthew Dordoe and one Nigerian called Brother Dennis.
In late 1992, when the membership of the young church had reached about 20, the leader of the group, Brother Jackson Otiboe, wrote to the leadership of the Church in Ghana about their existence. Headquarters replied by directing them to contact the National Head of Nigeria, who because of proximity could easily supervise the activities of the young Church and be of help to them if the need arose.
By the end of 1992, the leadership of the Church was handed over to Elder Emmanuel Puplampu, also a fisherman, who had arrived from Ghana. Thus, Elder Emmanuel Puplampu presided over the Church in Idenau for about six months but he had to return to Ghana in 1993 in compliance with a deportation order. However, Elder Emmanuel Puplampu came back to Cameroon in April 1993 and gathered the scattered brethren once again to recommence the Church. At that time, the Idenau Church’s membership stood at about 60. Elder Emmanuel Puplampu has since that time, remained the Presiding Elder of the Idenau Assembly of the Church of Pentecost, serving in that capacity for over 12 years up to date (2006).
In the year 2000, ten years after the commencement of the Church in Idenau, a law was passed by the Cameroon Government prohibiting the holding of Church services in classrooms . Hence the Church of Pentecost in Idenau had to join the Full Gospel Church in Idenau. This they did in order not to be disturbed by the police or any other law enforcement agencies. One year after this amalgamation (union), the Idenau Church of Pentecost was paid their maiden visit by Apostle A.K. Miah, the then National Head of the Church of Pentecost in Gabon. He was also responsible for coordinating affairs of the Church of Pentecost in all the Central African Countries. On hearing about the amalgamation, he advised the Church of Pentecost members in Idenau to pull out of the Full Gospel and be on their own. With that encouragement, they pulled out and recommenced the Idenau Assembly of the Church of Pentecost on their own at the “ SOLOCO ” fishing company compound where they created a shed for church services. Later, the young church raised funds under the leadership of Elder Emmanuel Puplampu to build a wooden chapel which has remained up to date as the church’s place of worship.
D. DOUALA ASSEMBLY
The Church of Pentecost in Douala had its beginning from the visits paid by Apostle A.K. Miah to the city of Douala on three different occasions to rally a group of Ghanaian seamen who lived in Douala together to start the Church.
The very first meeting that Apostle A.K. Miah had to commence the Douala Church took place in March 2001. This meeting was held in the house of one Brother Benjamin Dordoe who is currently a member of the Church in Lagos State, Nigeria. The total number of people in this first meeting was 14( Apostle A.K. Miah inclusive). Five out of the 14 people were members of the Church of Pentecost, while the others were members of Divine Healers Church. During the meeting, Apostle A.K. Miah encouraged them to try and come together to start the Church of Pentecost in Douala. Unfortunately, the group collapsed after the departure of Apostle A.K. Miah..
In August 2001, Apostle A.K. Miah came again to Douala and gathered about eight people, most of who were Church of Pentecost members and spoke to them to avail themselves to be used to start the Church in Douala. This meeting was held in the same house of Brother Benjamin Dordoe as before. This time around, Apostle A.K. Miah laid hands on Overseer Samuel Kwabena Narh, who was then an Elder of the Church of Pentecost. He prayed for him and took him as a Field Assistant to oversee the work of the Church in Douala and Idenau.
Among the founding members who met with Apostle A.K. Miah for the maiden meetings in Douala were the following :
Church of Pentecost members : Ovr. Samuel Narh, Elder Isaac Curtis, Deacon Daniel Akugbey, Brother Benjamin Dordoe, Brother Emmanuel Turkson, Brother Isaac Ocansey and Sister Deborah Atterh.
Divine Healers Church members : Brother James and Brother Stephen Numo.
Presbyterian Church members : Brother Christopher Apeku
NB. Brother Ibrahim did not belong to any church.
The Douala Assembly of the Church of Pentecost is currently located at Deido quarter, in the neighbourhood of rue de la joie. Its church services are held in a rented building and presided over by Elder Jonas Agormeda. Since Elder Jonas Agormeda spends most of his working time offshore and there is no one to take over in his absence, the first Presiding Elder of the Assembly, Overseer Samuel Narh, who is the Douala District Overseer, takes care of the Assembly as the “Presiding Elder”.
E. YOYO ASSEMBLY
Yoyo is a fishing community in the Mouanko Division of the Littoral Province. Most of the inhabitants of Yoyo are immigrant fishermen who migrated from Nigeria and Ghana and now reside in that part of Cameroon with their fishing work which is popularly referred to as “Awatsa ”. Majority of the residents in Yoyo are Ghanaians who hail from Ada-Foah District ,i.e. Putah, Totopey, Goi, Lolonya, etc.
In August 2001, the Evangelism Team of the Douala Assembly of the Church of Pentecost, while doing evangelism at Deido quarter in Douala came across a man who they preached to, and having received the preachers warmly promised to visit the church. He later came to be known as Pastor Kenne Leopold. Kenne Leopold lived in Yoyo in the Mouanko , Division of the Edea Arrondisement in the Littoral Province, where he had a church, the Assemblies of God. True to his promise, Pastor K. Leopold visited the Church the next Sunday. Through fraternal interactions after the service that day, a rapport was established between him and Overseer Samuel Narh which started their friendship.This developed into a stronger relationship between their churches, i.e. the Church of Pentecost and the Assemblies of God. Thus, sooner, Pastor K. Leopold showed interest to join his Church with the Church of Pentecost. The then National Head for the Church in Gabon - Apostle A.K. Miah, who was the Church’s zonal coordinator for Central African countries was contacted and informed by Pastor Samuel Narh. Later, Apostle A.K. Miah together with Pastor Samuel Narh visited Yoyo to see Pastor Leopold’s Church where they finalized arrangements for the amalgamation of the two churches. The necessary proposals were made to the Headquarters of the Church in Accra, Ghana in 2003. Hence, Pastor K. Leopold was absorbed and called into the Church of Pentecost as a full-time Minister after receiving training at the Church’s Bible School at the Pentecost University College at Sowutuom in Accra, Ghana. He returned to Cameroon in September 2004, and was posted as District Pastor for the Church in Yoyo.
Unfortunately, before December 2004, Pastor K. Leopold had so many unwarranted grievances against the Church which made him fall out with the Church of Pentecost in December 2004. For the short time that he stayed with the Church of Pentecost, Pastor Leopold and his spiritual father, Pastor Emmanuel Baha gave the Church a hell of trouble. After going through the due process of the laws of Cameroon, He was officially dismissed from the Church of Pentecost-Cameroon on 17th February 2005 for gross misconduct and loss of confidence, after being paid a total of eight hundred thousand franc (800,000 FCFA) through labour officials of Cameroon.
F. BONABERI ASSEMBLY
The Bonaberi Assembly commenced on Sunday, 6th March2005, starting as an offshoot of a house-to-house evangelism which was embarked upon with the members of the Douala Assembly. Attendance for the first service was 12. Though the Bonaberi Evangelism continues every Saturday, the expected increase in membership has not been very sharp. In less than one year as of this time of compilation of this history, our membership stands at 19.
Leadership of the Assembly since its birth has been handled by the National Head, Pastor Daniel Owusu-Akyaw. It should be noted that closely attached to the National Head is Brother Kwame Akuffo, an unassuming but promising leader of the Bonaberi Assembly, who is being groomed to take up the leadership of the Bonaberi Assembly when the time comes. Brother Akuffo is currently the National Secretary and the National Financial Secretary of the Church of Pentecost in Cameroon. As a way of boosting up the morale of the young Bonaberi Assembly, three women were transferred from the Douala Assembly to assist them. They are Mama Dora Owusu-Akyaw, wife of the National Head, Deaconness Susan Musina and Sister Marie France Ndongo. Currently (2006) the Bonaberi Assembly worships in a rented house.
CLOSING OF THE YOYO DISTRICT UNDER OVR. LEOPOLD AND THE OPENING
OF A NEW YOYO ASSEMBLY UNDER THE CHURCH OF PENTECOST –
CAMEROON.
By mid-December 2004, there had been a lot of developments which showed that Ovr. K.Leopold would not stay with the Church of Pentecost in Cameroon. After an incident at the old Yoyo Assembly (under Ovr. Leopold) at a wedding ceremony on Sunday, 5th December 2004; followed by a meeting on Monday, 6th December 2004, which ended on a deadlock, working relations with Ovr. K. Leopold and his Church ceased. With the backing of the National Presbytery, the National Office refused to receive the December 2004 tithes of the Yoyo District ( a one Assembly District ), thus closing the Yoyo District.
Following the wrangling, some faithful original Church of Pentecost members, led by Brother Daniel Caesar stopped fellowshipping with Ovr. Leopold’s Church.On Friday, 24th December 2004 they started church services under the name of the Church of Pentecost. They phoned the National Head to inform him about their wish to stick with the Church of Pentecost, since according to them the Church of Pentecost is their mother church from Ghana. They were e
ncouraged, welcomed and given full support and blessings. In their maiden (first) service, their attendance was 12. Attendance for their second service on Sunday, 2nd January 2005 was 32. Attendance for the third meeting on Sunday, 9th January 2005 was 42. They were encouraged, visited, taught and prayed with in spite of threats by Ovr. Leopold.
At present, barely 15 months of existence as an independent Assembly, Yoyo Assembly membership stands at 120. The Assembly has bought a land with a temporary structure which serves as worship centre. They have also bought musical instruments and a public address system for use at services.
CHALLENGES IN DEALING WITH WOLVES IN SHEEP-SKIN
The rather short stay of Ovr. Kenne Leopold with the Church of Pentecost – Cameroon introduced into our chronicles the person of Pastor Emmanuel Baha. Pastor E. Baha is a Bassaman who lives in Esseka in the Edea District. He is an elderly Pastor who has worked for long with the Worldwide Mission of Cameroon.
Through Ovr. K. Leopold, Ovr. Narh came into contact with Pastor Emmanuel Baha who was introduced as the spiritual father of Ovr. Leopold. For the short period Pastor Baha was in contact with the Church, he demonstrated a lot of goodwill. This unfortunately turned out to be false ( a wolf in sheepskin).
During the National Head’s welcome Service, Pastor E. Baha who was invited to the service was given the chance to address the congregation. Not long after settling down, the National Head and Ovr. S. Narh realized from certain statements of Pastor Baha and his schemes that he was a very witty elderly Pastor who had to be watched and handled wisely. He desired so much to pose as the Church of Pentecost’s godfather in Cameroon. We saw from his attitude that we were not to do major or important things without consulting him. When this very possessive attitude was found out, we also tried to smartly avoid him. For example, when the National Head did his residence permit without consulting him, he saw it as a “serious crime” and threatened to cause the repatriation of the National Head if he continued like that. When the documentation of the Church’s registration was started, he schemed through lies and misinformation to ensure that either both he and Ovr. Leopold’s names or at least one of them have his name in the National Executive. Infact, he insisted that, it was a requirement to have the name of an indigene as the President or Chairman, without which the documentation shall surely be rejected.
But since we contacted other Ministers and sources, we could easily see through their deceits and wisely avoided them.
At a point in time, by the doing of God, Ovr. K.Leopold fell out with his spiritual father, and had to betray Pastor E. Baha to us by telling us some truths about the man’s schemes. The bone of contention that came between them which God used to put them apart for Ovr. Leopold to reveal who Pastor Baha really was to us was an issue of money ( supposed booty ) gained from us. That was the sharing of the exorbitant fee of 500,000 FCFA which the two of them connived to gain from the Church of Pentecost for the supposed Worldwide Mission’s covering letter which was solely written, signed and stamped single-handedly by Pastor E. Baha in his own house but he made Apostle A.K. Miah & Ovr. S. Narh believe it was being done by the Mission. By grace, they got exposed when Ovr. Leopold became very furious and bitter on knowing that Pastor E. Baha had solely collected all the money and did not give him anything. That was when he began to expose Pastor Baha and himself unconsciously.
At the right time, the National Head had a serious confrontation with Pastor Baha about his misdeeds and cheatings and carefully and determinedly severed all relations with him.
2006 CALENDAR OF CHURCH ACTIVITIES
DATE ACTIVITIES VENUE / LEVEL
January 9 National End-of-Year Meeting Douala
January Pastors and Wives Prayer Session
February 6 -12 BIBLE WEEK Assembly Level
February National Women’s Movement Convention Assembly Level
March 6 - 12 MISSIONS Week Assembly Level
March 22 - 26 District Marriage Seminar Assembly Level
April 13 - 17 EASTER CONVENTIONS Assembly Level
COUNCIL MEETINGS
May 1 - 6 Executive Council Accra - Ghana
May 3 - 6 Ministers’ Prayer Session Accra - Ghana
May 8 - 10 Heads’ Meeting Accra - Ghana
May 11 - 13 General / Extraordinary Council Meetings Accra - Ghana
May 11 - 14 WOMENS’ WEEK Assembly Level
May 24 - 28 District Business Seminar Assembly Level
June 5 - 9 PENTSOS Awareness Week Assembly Level
June 22 - 25 National Officers’ Retreat & Half-Year Meeting Douala
July 10 - 16 District Evangelism Week Assembly Level
August 24 - 27 AUGUST CONVENTIONS Assembly Level
September 8 –10 CHILDREN”S WEEK Assembly Level
October 11 –17 District Enlargement Campaign Assembly Level
November 7 – 10 Pastor’s & Wives Prayer Session
November 20 – 26 District RETREAT Assembly Level
December
7 - 10
14 – 17 CHRISTMAS CONVENTIONS
21 – 24
FIVE YEAR DEVELOPMENT PLAN
1. To organize rallies, crusades, House-to-House evangelism to win souls to populate the church.
2. To start new Home Cells in all Assemblies.
3. To open not less than ten (10) new assemblies in Limbe, Idenau, Bepanda, etc.
4. To start work on a National Mission House.
5. To purchase plots of land for all the currently existing Assemblies.
6. To build permanent Chapels for the Douala Central, Idenau, Yoyo and Bonaberi Assemblies
CHALLENGES
1. Most of our male members, especially in the Douala Assembly, who are seamen, are
normally missed at church services due to the nature of their work.
2. Corruption is a problem in Cameroon. It leads to spending too much money in getting
things done, especially at the official level
3. The seemingly unwelcome attitude of most of the indigenes due to the negative impression
created by some of the earlier Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches in deceiving the
people by collecting their monies with little regard for their salvation.
4. Lack of dedicated members who could be trained as workers to help build up the
Assemblies.
5. Financial constraints due to the unemployment of most of our members with others in the
low-income group.
ACTIVITIES OF THE MOVEMENTS
THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT
The Women’s movement under the leadership of Mama Dora Owusu-Akyaw, organized a National Women’s Movement Convention from Thursday, 23rd to Sunday, 26th February, 2006. at Douala.
The theme of the Convention which was culled from I Chronicles 4:10, was “ … that thy hand might be with me …” The four-day Convention which was the first of its kind since the inception of the Church in Cameroon, brought together women from all the four Assemblies - Bonaberi, Yoyo, Idenau and Douala Central. Due to the issue of residence permit, most of our women from Yoyo and Idenau where we have our largest numbers, could not attend. But as many as 154 women from all four Assemblies were in attendance. The Speakers God used to bless us in the Convention were Pastor Daniel Owusu-Akyaw, Overseer Samuel Narh, Mama Dora Owusu-Akyaw and Mrs Kathy Acheampong.
NATIONAL WOMEN’S MOVEMENT CONVENTION PICTURES
MAIDEN VISIT OF THE IMD AND WIFE ( APOSTLE DR. & MRS. S.K. BAIDOO )
TO CAMEROON
The couple arrived on Wednesday, January 26th 2005 at 9.45 p.m. They were welcomed by the National Head and other leaders of the Church at the Douala International Airport and driven home to rest for the night.
According to his itinery, Apostle and Mama Rebecca were scheduled to go to Congo
Brazzaville as part of the visit programme. Departure arrangements were made for them by
Pastor Owusu-Akyaw and Overseer Narh on Thursday, 27th January 2005.They woke up very
early, prepared themselves and left home to catch their flight which was scheduled for 5.30 a.m.
At about 10.00 a.m. that very morning the National Head had a phone call from the IMD at the
Douala Airport that they were back in Cameroon because they were refused entry into
Brazzaville. That started an inexplicably unfair treatment of the IMD and wife by the Douala
Airport Police. They were detained for over 12 hours in an improvised cell. After several hours
of trying to get help for their release, the female Police Officer who detained them agreed to
release them only on condition that they leave the country immediately. Her reason being that
having been refused entry by Congolese security agents, she could not allow them into
Cameroon, despite the fact that they had visas to stay in Cameroon for more than a week. After
instructions from her boss to release them and give back their passports, she only did so at
10.00 p.m. but without their passports. This act made it impossible for the IMD and wife to
move about the country freely, thus their inability to visit the Assemblies at Idenau and Yoyo.
They however utilized the period to hold Revival Services with the Church in Douala and did
Ordination Service for new Officers.
During the period , on Wednesday 2nd February, 2005, the IMD and Mama Baidoo arranged a meeting with the National Head, Overseer Samuel Narh, Overseer Kenne Leopold and Pastor Baha to hear Overseer Leopold and to know what was actually wrong. After the almost 3-hour meeting, the IMD drew the conclusion that Overseer Leopold could not work with the Church of Pentecost. Consulting with the National Head ad Mama Baidoo therefore, they deviced a plan by which Overseer Leopold could be released peacefully without affecting the young Church in Cameroon.
