Cameroon Hymnal Initiative - Phase Two - February 2006

Song Festivals Around the Country

I have a new picture of the kingdom of heaven. In it, four Cameroonians and two Americans sit around a simple table at a Benedictine monastery on a hilltop in Yaounde, Cameroon, and teach each other songs of the faith. Then they go town to town teaching those songs to people who are eager to learn them.

I’m thrilled to tell you that I’ve seen that picture! Let me tell you about the trip, and the accomplishments of Phase Two of the Hymnal Initiative.

The four Cameroonians were:

• Thèrese Nomo, a 27 year-old who leads singing and teaches Sunday School at her church, sews up to 30 shirts a month to earn extra income, cares for her two sons, Jonas and Janvier, and is the wife of one of the fine young United Methodist pastors of Cameroon, Simeon Nomo
• Alexis Godonou, the official translator of the United Methodist mission in Cameroon, and a gifted singer, guitarist and song writer. He’s married and the father of a two year-old named Eunice.
• Israel Mouku, a 23 year-old single student from Cameroon’s largest city, Douala
• Micheal Mbappe, the choir leader of the United Methodist Church in Kumba Town. Micheal is married and the father of a twelve year old son, Ramon.

The two Americans were myself and:

• Mitzi Scott, a multi-talented musician and teacher from Saint Luke’s United Methodist Church, Houston, who leads one of the children’s choirs there and teaches music to children in several Houston public schools. Mitzi is married and the mother of two grown children.

Day 1

Rev. Wes Magruder, director of the Cameroon mission for the United Methodist Church, took Mitzi and me to worship with one of the cell groups, a group of Christians meeting under the leadership of Pastor Monique Pelikara in the Nsimeyong district of Yaounde, Cameroon’s capital. Pastor Monique offers prayer services, Bible study and Sunday morning worship and is teaching the congregation the basics of Methodist history and doctrine using a curriculum written especially for cell groups by Rev. Magruder. Mitzi delighted the children by playing her recorder (i.e., flute) after worship.

Days 2-4

The four Cameroonian team members arrived in Yaounde and we took up residence in the Benedictine monastery on the top of Mount Febe, one of the seven hills on which Yaounde is built. Two of the team members spoke only French, and two were bi-lingual, but music was our common language.

We got acquainted and then started the process of determining what songs we would teach when we took our festival on the road. Each one of us taught the group at least one new song. We also learned songs from a little sampler of hymns, songs and choruses that I took with me.

We finally decided on a program of 20 songs. They included:

• hymns that teach the faith
• songs and choruses that invite the presence of the Holy Spirit
• songs and choruses that are gifts to us from all over the Christian world

Some were up-tempo and accompanied by drum or clapping. Some were quiet. Some were for children. There were South African freedom songs, popular Pentecostal praise from Cameroon, and Charles Wesley hymns. Several of the songs were written by members of the team, including a beautiful children’s song written by Thèrese Nomo called “Dans la barque avec Jésus” (In the boat with Jesus).

We rehearsed for about 6 hours each day, and then the team members went off on their own with little tape recorders to memorize the tunes. I was humbled by their hard work and dedication.

Days 5-10

Having prayed and worked hard and laughed a lot, it was time to share the fruits of our work. The five festivals were held at:

• Sion United Methodist Church in Obala (Central Province, 60 kilometers from the capital). This is a vital Francophone congregation served by Rev. Simeon Nomo, so this was home for Th rese. The people delighted in seeing their own song enlivener stand before them with this team of new friends. They delighted even more in knowing that songs which Th rese had taught them would now be sung by United Methodists all over Cameroon.
• John Wesley United Methodist Church in Yaounde (the largest city of the Central Province, and the nation’s capital). This is also a Francophone congregation nestled in a very busy and noisy area of the city. The church’s sign rests on a cement mixer just outside the leased church building. Though this was not the home church of any of the team members, Alexis’ family attended the festival that night. It was a delight to get to know not only the team members, but also their families.
• Salem Chapel United Methodist Church in Douala (the largest city in the nation, and the central city of the South Province). Here we were welcomed by Pastor Bienvenue. That’s a linguistic delight, since ‘bienvenue’ means ‘welcome’ in French.
• First United Methodist Church, Douala. Douala has 1.7 million people and is loud and hot and heavily polluted, but the team withstood the challenge. This was our team member Israel’s home church, and his family and friends encouraged him in his new-found song leading skills. He also gave a stirring testimony before teaching his songs.
• First United Methodist Church, Kumba (in the Southwest Province). This was the only Anglophone congregation in which we held a festival. It was Micheal’s home church, and his choir, resplendent in their bright red robes, welcomed us sang us some of their songs. During this festival, the heavens opened, and the rain was so loud on the roof that we had to shout to be heard. There was also a tavern right next door and an auto mechanic across the street, not to mention that the church was on the main street of town. It was a challenge that the team met beautifully.

Days 11-13

These were days of traveling back to Yaounde, de-briefing, craft shopping, and another little excursion to Obala to visit the first ever Cameroon Methodist scout camp

Anecdotes and Learnings

• It’s hard enough to do ‘ice breakers’ with a group of people when they all speak the same language and come from the same community. It’s a challenge when it’s bi-lingual and cross cultural. But it was rich and wonderful.
• Every Cameroonian team was introduced to areas of Cameroon she or he had never seen before. Three of the four had never seen Mount Cameroon.
• When in Douala, we not only sang two festivals, but also worshiped with another cell group and sang some of our songs there.
• We had a spirited debate over whether Eto’o, the brilliant Cameroonian soccer star, or his FC Barcelona team mate, Ronaldinho, was the best soccer player in the world!
• We ate a dish called achu, a favorite in the Anglophone region. It was a cold peppery soup ladled over cold, mashed coco yams, and served with dried fish and beef skin. I won’t be having it again soon.
• The Coca-Cola company has visited every square centimeter of Planet Earth and erected a sign.
• We gave each other vocabulary lessons across the dinner table. We chose ten items on the table and tested each others’ skills. It led to teaching such faith-explicit phrases as “We are sitting at a table of normal height.” (!)

Accomplishments

• Four Cameroonians and two Americans learned tremendous new songs and song leading skills from each other.
• Over 200 people attended the festivals. More than half were under 15.
• Two of the four team members will serve on the editorial board of the hymnal.
• We enunciated the dream of the hymnal at each of the festivals and activated peoples’ imaginations about what the hymnal should contain. We also challenged them to write hymns, songs and choruses for the book.
• We left 200 copies of the little sampler in Cameroon so that people in the churches can use them as devotional books while they wait for the finished hymnal. The sampler will also be used at the Annual Meeting of the mission later this month.

Thanksgiving

Your generosity to this project made so much possible. What’s listed above is only a tiny portion of what was accomplished. Your gifts made it possible for the team to stay in places that are cleaner and safer than the Cameroonians were accustomed to, and they expressed their gratitude to you for making that possible. We are so thankful to God for you.

Phase Three

Please let me know if I can provide you with additional information. There are more stories, more pictures, and lots of songs, and I’d love to share any and all of them with you. Phase Three will occur either in October or December, depending on which month is better for Rev. Magruder and his family. It will include the training of more song leaders, and the opening editorial work for the book. As it comes closer, I will communicate with you about our continuing needs. Meanwhile, please keep the Cameroon mission in your prayers. The work being done by the Magruders and the Cameroonian pastors and lay leaders is nothing short of heroic.