The king who served the King of Kings

Perhaps, a lot has been said and written already about Fon Fontem Njifua, the King of Lebialem who transitioned to the after world on April 2. And probably, after this piece a lot will still be said and written about him. But apparently, not much has been said and written about his faith in God.

I had the opportunity to visit with him in Azi Palace in December, 2012. Not that I haven’t met him until then. But this was the last time when I met him, I had been out of the country for about 20 years. So you can imagine all the changes and new things I had to learn – one of which being his new-found faith in the Almighty. And oh, how vociferous and proud he was about it. All over the town, residents knew him not just as a born-again Christian, but equally as a man of God.

I was taken to the Church – the local Full Gospel Church where we grew up serving the Lord as young believers in Christ. It was a new structure - on a new and better location from where it used to be after storms destroyed the old one. The late Fon had assigned that piece of plot, probably the best piece of land in Azi, to the Church after much battle with custodians of tradition who would rather prefer the plot be dedicated to the palace’s masquerade. But that wasn’t all. He almost single-handedly funded its construction. He made sure the floors were lazed with granite tires.

When construction was over, he bought a modern drum set, including a keyboard, wireless mics and choir regalia (robes) among other things for the church. The pastor of the Church confessed to me how had it not been for the presence of the Fon in the Church, he wouldn’t know how he would feed his family. He said that every end of the month, the Fon would send a bag of rice, plantains, palm oil among other things for him to feed his family.

On Christmas Eve, I happened to be there and was actually scheduled to bless the congregation with the word. As I sat behind the church and they called for testimonies, the Fon humbly raised his hand and they gave him the microphone. He led a chorus, praising God for His grace and then ended with a testimony. It was mesmerizing to me and I felt so proud of him in my spirit. I was like thank you Jesus for what you have done in the life of this man.

When I was leaving Fontem to Yaounde, he picked me up in his truck and dropped me at Dschang where I continued to Yaounde. We had such a good time in his vehicle talking about life in Christ. To my greatest surprise, he demonstrated a lot of knowledge about the things of God. And I gave God even more thanks.

Last December, that is, just three months before he would go home to meet the real King – the King of Kings, I learned he organized what would rightly be described as a “Lebialem for Christ” crusade. He invited all the chiefs and Fons of Lebialem; some came; some did not. Bought about a hundred bags of rice, got cows slaughtered to feed people for the occasion, and of course, drinks too. He brought in men of God from across the South West and Northwest, including Pastor Titus Ndifor of the Full Gospel Mission Bamenda, to minister in a week-long healing and salvation crusade.

Thousands showed up – in front of that crowd, he publicly confessed Jesus and then prostrated before the men of God and they laid hands upon him, blessed him and blessed Lebialem.

Then he took the microphone from the pastors and essentially told the crowd that the world as it is was coming to an end, that he has turned his life to God and hoped that they did theirs too. The response was huge. Many responded to the appeal and surrendered their lives to Christ – thank God for the King, who knew the King of Kings.

At the hotel room in Yaounde where the signs of death first showed up, I learned he was about going in to work in the Senate where he served as Questor. When his driver showed up to pick him, he complained that he was feeling weak and didn’t know why. The driver suggested that perhaps they see a doctor first before going to the office. He thought it was a good idea but asked the driver to give him a few minutes - waiting in the visitors’ area.

As he was a little late in coming out, the driver said he knocked at his (room) door, opened it and found him kneeling by the bed side with his bible next to him praying. It was right after this they both got into the car heading to the hospital when he got a cardiac arrest and right there went home to be with the Lord.

About a week after he was gone, I spoke by phone to Diana Acha Morfaw, former ELECAM Chair who happened to be quite closed to the Fon. Our discussion had nothing to do with spirituality, but of course, not unconnected to the passing of the Fon. Acha Morfaw made a remark that made my day and, which reinforced the fact that the Lord had given him grace in that last moment to make it to the bosom of Abraham.

“Just a day before his passing,” Acha Morfaw said, “the Fon spent almost the whole day in my house preaching to me. Of late, he had become so spiritual, spending most of his time preaching.” She said.

In Yaounde, after becoming a Senator, he took up official membership at Full Gospel Church Tshinga. No doubt that at his funeral, most important dignitaries in the Full Gospel Mission, including Rev. Mbiwang, the General Superintendent, showed up in Fontem. Besides them, Bishop Pius Forlu of the River of Life in Maryland, in whose church the late Fon had been to, and shared his testimony, flew in to Cameroon to be there too.

The funeral program was originally scheduled to start with a solemn church service. But custodians of tradition and king makers, known adversaries of the gospel, frustrated the plans for the solemn service so that it didn’t happen. But the late Fon’s mother, aware of the love his son had for the Lord, and apparently wanting the new Fon to follow in the footsteps of his father, insisted that Bishop Forlu be brought in to pray and bless the new Fon. Bishop Forlu in the company of other local pastors was then taken into the inner palace and they blessed the new King and his cabinet.

Here is the point – you can be a king and yet serve the Lord even in this corrupt age. In a recent bible study class in our church, a lady asked what will happen to someone who knows the truth and yet continues to live together with a man who isn’t her husband? When I heard that question, my mind immediately raced to the Fon of Fontem, for he was in a similar situation – he was married to multiple wives as is the custom. However, with ample knowledge of the situation under which he passed, I knew immediately that God’s grace is all one needs. The grace to be alert and able to make peace with God at that last hour, that last moment. If you say you are a king, or whatsoever, and that you will not serve God while grace still abounds, on the Day of Judgment, the King of Lebialem, Senator, Fon Fontem Njifua, President of the South West Chiefs Conference and Member of the Centre Bureau of the CPDM, will stand and say, “I was a king, yet I served the Lord. What excuse shall you give?