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Back in 2018/2019, while we were on home assignment in Canada, Florence and some members of our home church, Mission Baptist Church of Hamilton, Ontario, started brainstorming how to help internally displaced peoples in Cameroon. As a result of Cameroon’s anglophone crisis and unrest, these people have had to leave their homes, either having to leave many of their possessions behind or having outright lost them.
A plan was devised to collect clothing and household items to send by sea container to Cameroon. This plan was presented to the leadership of Nkwen Baptist Church in Bamenda, and they agreed to lead in the distribution of these relief goods.
The generous donations from Mission Baptist Christians were loaded in a sea container in July 2019 and sent to Cameroon. They arrived in Bamenda in mid-October 2019. After sorting and screening who is a needy displaced person, a blessed time of distribution took place in December 2019. Internally displaced persons in Bamenda were very encouraged.
BUT, a good number of items were undistributed. To whom should they be shared? The more needy displaced persons were not in Bamenda but in smaller, rural communities where there is greater unrest and less availability of goods. But how to get these goods to these areas was a challenge. Along the roads, the presence of separatist fighters and the military made the movement of relief goods a complicated and risky venture. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic also delayed the distribution implementation plan.
Nevertheless, Rev. Koyoh Nformi, the Ndu Field pastor, reports, “Displaced and needy persons were invited to four different church sites in Ndu Field, and more than 400 internally displaced persons have been the happy recipients of these precious and timely gifts. In each center, we began with a presentation of the gospel message and a call for people to surrender their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. And then we would lead them to pray. We urged them to receive these gifts as shadows of God’s saving love for them in Christ Jesus. Indeed, it was an awesome experience. The Ndu Field Council of Baptist Churches remain so thankful unto God for Rev. Njini Edward, Mr. and Mrs. Grob, and above all the donors who happily gave these clothes. God bless and keep you for God’s work.”
Finally, in early July 2021, Rev. Njini Edward, senior pastor of Nkwen Baptist Church, approached the Governor’s Office of the North West Region, had the relief goods inspected, and was given an authorization to distribute the goods in the rural Ndu area (hard hit by the conflict). The transportation expense was more than double the pre-crisis rate, as more restive areas had to be detoured and unofficial tolls had to be given along the way.
By God’s grace, it was church-to-church partnerships that facilitated this blessing in ministry. We need God’s direction; churches need each other to do far beyond what they can do alone. If you desire to support those needing relief in the Cameroon crisis, you can give through nabconference.org/give/cameroon-crisis-relief/ to help with medical, education costs, trauma care, etc. This is facilitated by the overriding partnership of the North American Baptist Conference and the Cameroon Baptist Convention. It is a privilege and an honour to belong to this partnership. Thanks to all who contribute to it. God is using these efforts to build His kingdom