The Moderator Emeritus of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, PCC, the Right Reverend Dr. Festus Ambe Asana, has revealed that the recently organised elections of the Synod Clerk and Moderator were marred by unorthodox Christian practices.
Speaking at a reception organised by Bafut elites and their Fon in his honour, Rev. Asana stunned the population of Bafut when he recounted the numerous assassination attempts he faced, few months to the Synod elections.
“There was a lot of tension before the recent elections which we conducted to choose our church leaders, but God stood by us throughout the elections. I must share with you what happened to me and my family before the elections.
Some of my Christians told me that they dreamt and saw me being buried. Our food was poisoned, we ate but we didn’t die. Before the Synod elections, a young man walked up to my residence with a knife and a gun in bag.
He was arrested and later released. If this boy had met me at home that day, that would have been the end of my life. But as God would have it, this young man continued with his assassination mission to the Northwest Region, but this time around, he stabbed his own father to death. So, this is what it takes to serve in God’s Vineyard.
“I know journalists are here, I have not mentioned any names. Let the journalists give it any interpretation they want. Our secret of going through all of these is that, we have, for all these years, pegged our trust in God. We have no other protector but God. We are just simple servants of God. To sum it all, I can say there was hatred and there was love,” Asana recounted.
He told the mammoth crowd that had gathered at the esplanade of the Bafut Fon’s Palace to welcome him that he will live and die in Cameroon, not else where.
“I was invited to teach in American Universities on a good salary, I told myself that no such things will ever happen,” Rt. Rev. Asana said. He averred tha his home-coming was not to hijack somebody else’s job.
“Politics has been spoiled by politicians,” he said, adding that he has come home to share his experience for the growth of the Church in Bafut.
The erstwhile Moderator said, “there are people who told me that if I continue preaching about transparency and accountability in the Church, I will retire as a poor Pastor, but I told them that the God I serve will never fail to provide.”
Most people, he went on, keep asking me what keeps me on, I told them any strength is my humility, that is why, today, I am still serving in the World Council of Churches as an elected member.
Rev Asana hailed Cardinal Tumi and Rev. Engelbert Kufon for greatly impacting his spiritual growth.
In an earlier welcome address, the Mayor of Bafut Council, Abel Ngwasoh Langsi, said Rev. Asana would be remembered for the “numerous radical and widespread changes he brought into the PCC in the domains of education, health and the spread of the word of God.
“Your principle of transparency and accountability has brought a lot of sanity into the Church, improving on Church finances, the growth of the Church in numbers and spirituality, in spite of the advent of the prosperity gospel.
This can be seen in the creation of new presbyteries including the Bafut Presbytery and many other Church institutions for which we thank and appreciate you,” Langsi said.
The Member of Parliament for Tubah-Bafut Consistency, Hon. Wilfred Fusi Naamukong, assured Rev. Asana of total collaboration in the area of development for the entire Bafut.
He said Rev. Asana’s leadership was that of integrity, love, humility, patriotism, peace, kindness, self control and transparency. Such solid Christian values, according to Hon. Naamukong, have taken the church and Bafut people to a different level, admired by many.
Before decorating the Moderator Emeritus, Fon Abumbi II said, “After fighting so many spiritual battles, I am happy that my son, Asana, left the PCC one and indivisible. We have offered this reception in your honour because, it is rare to see somebody retire and people will still honour him with a reception.
I am conferring on you the highest title of the Bafut Land “Nkum.” Per this title, you become the immediate assistant to the Fon. You will be expected to provide the Fon with good traditional advices because you are now an elder in the Council of elders.”
Fon Abumbi thanked the PCC for the numerous achievements they have recorded in Bafut for 100 years, especially in the spheres of health care, education, evangelization, amongst others.
