Bishop Immanuel Bushu of the Buea Diocese has called on members of the Catholic Men’s Association, CMA, to get rid of all vices and preserve themselves as a true temple of God.
The Bishop was speaking during a sermon on Sunday, November 9, at the Holy Trinity Parish, Bota Limbe, where more than 500 men gathered to attend the association’s Annual General Assembly.
Bishop Bushu reminded the Christians that the house of God is not limited to the Church building, as Man’s body is God’s first temple, thus “We must look within ourselves to see how much of a temple we are to God, how well God dwells in us, and continuously imbibe His word, for it is vital to our existence” he told them.
The Bishop urged the men to be contented, hard-working and offer selfless service to God, and he prayed the association should continue to grow and that all men of the Buea Diocese should eventually become members.
After the Church service, the CMA members, dressed in white shirts, black trousers and yellow mufflers, continued with their General Assembly whose main focus was stock-taking and recommendations for growth.
Also, since the Diocese has up to nine zones, the members use the forum to fraternize with their brothers from other zones. In the course of the AGM, the various zonal presidents presented reports on their activities within the course of the year and solutions were given to some of the worries raised.
This year’s meeting was exceptional in the sense that it witnessed the resignation of the president, Roland Kwemain, who has been elected national president. Other activities during the general assembly included an executive meeting on Saturday, November 8 at the new town parish, and also song and bible competitions.
In a chat with The SUN the outgoing president, Roland Kwemain explained that he is satisfied leaving, and will remain close to the Diocese “Am resigning because I have been elected national president and am happy my vice is replacing me.
It is not easy to lead men, but we want to thank God and also our Bishop who have been a strong force of motivation to us. I also thank all the men for their commitment and urge them to support the new leader”.
Also, the new president, Evaristus Ngong says he is happy to be CMA leader for the Buea Diocese, and that he is aware of the challenges, “I know it’s not going to be easy, but I want to believe that with the road map that my predecessor has left, we are going to follow it and I think with that we are going to be successful”.
The CMA has been in existence since 2004, and it is an association which brings together Catholic men, where they are encouraged to love and serve God in humility.
The group as one of the strong pillars of the Catholic Church has as role to support the Church spiritually, materially etc. St Joseph, the Lord’s Forster Father is the group’s role model, and the members try to emulate his virtues of faith, obedience and humility, so as to make their lives better and appealing to God.
New Buea Diocesan CMA Bureau President- Evaristus Ngong Vice president- Dr Hilary Secretary General- Richard Njemfoa Taku Vice Secretary- Simon Niba Treasurer- Bungo Fongo Financial Secretary- Ephraim Ntungwe Publicity Secretary- Ransome Kome Organising Secretary- Mr Ekale Adviser- Joseph Abangage Chaplain – Rev.Fr. Jude Thaddeus Mbi