The recent socio-political crisis in Cameroon that started in November 2016 continues to grow, adversely affecting the life, commerce, and education of the population, especially in the two Anglophone regions of the country. The underlying issues are not yet being addressed, so civil unrest and violence increase, resulting in loss of life and property and the displacement of tens of thousands of people. For a fuller understanding of the situation and its history, the following article provides a good overview:
Most of our NAB missionaries in Cameroon live and serve in the northwest area of the country, one of the affected Anglophone regions. For the moment, they are generally safe and secure, and life and ministry continues without much interruption. With a security advisory team, Calvin Hohn, NAB field director and director of Cooperating Missions for the Cameroon Baptist Convention, daily assesses the security situation in the areas where missionaries live. Calvin reports, “From our most recent security risk analysis, while we know that there is some risk in remaining where we are, we believe the benefits of our remaining outweigh the risks at this time. As missionaries, one of our biggest challenges is knowing the right thing to do. In light of God’s Kingdom ministry, the right thing may not always be the safe thing. Safety and security may be high western values, but it is a value that is often not afforded to our non-western brothers and sisters in Christ. We want to make sure that we do not trade the idolatry of security for the biblical values of the Kingdom.”
Please join us in praying:
- for timely and peaceful resolution to the crisis – that all parties involved would be willing to engage in meaningful listening and dialogue.
- that the church and Christians in Cameroon would be instruments of peace and resolution.
- for wisdom in monitoring security and assessing when to implement contingency plans.
- for wisdom from above to make the right decisions (James 1:2–8; 3:17–18).