Money, Miracles, Women and the ‘Masses’-Cameroon

In August 2013, President Paul Biya of Cameroon demanded the termination of an estimated 100 Pentecostal churches in Cameroon. For days, it bogged my understanding that a president who knows too well that one of the fundamental reasons for the continuous peace and stability enjoyed in Cameroon boils down to religion through the competence of these churches to propagate messages of peace and hope for the future for many Cameroonians who could otherwise be desperate and dissatisfied with many misdemeanors that fraught the country. The people have been reliant on God for their hope in the future. It would be disastrous to take away that single hope from the people enabled by the church. Banning churches in Cameroon could threaten the president’s very own power position as citizens may become soaked in the discussions of daily struggles and seek means to protest against them. President Paul Biya had to bear the risk to ban these churches to save his people or face the bitter consequence of instability given that a greater section of the population is kept silent by the church. Immediately I read the news, I instantly thought that this president must be devilish mainly because I was drawn by emotion and not reason to understand why a man with Catholic educational background would make such a grave decision to ban some churches in Cameroon. Some would think his interest is engineered by the fact that he is Catholic, and does not want other churches to thrive. My argument does follow that if he passes law for the existence of any church, then he is surely in favour of the church’s existence. The existence of over 500 churches in Cameroon should not be that which would jeopardise the life of any Cameroonian in any form. If anything, the church should protect lives rather than destroy it. The church should be a safe haven for the people and not a threat to the people.

Following the analysis of some articles on major news outlets, Cameroon has about 500 Pentecostal churches in all ten regions. A Report on CNN by Tanku 15 August 2013 quotes Mbu Anthony Lang, a government official in Bamenda “We will get rid of all the so-called Christian Pentecostal pastors who misuse the name of Jesus Christ to fake miracles and kill citizens in their churches. They have outstretched their liberty”. The very idea of “outstretching their liberty” suggests to me that the church operates within the confines of certain rules and regulations, and I am pretty unsure why there should be restrictions on the operationalisation of any church in a state which seeks to up its game in becoming a full-fledged democratic country. Then comes the question of what is allowed and what is not allowed in the church. Killing Cameroonians under the umbrella of performing miracles should be stopped by all means. Cameroonians are more than faked or what I called performed miracles. These pastors should get their acts straight. To preach the word of God! And let God /Jesus Christ and some favoured pastors perform the miracles. The miracle business has made many pastors to yearn to become “miracle performing pastors” at all cost. Some even visit traditional practitioners for power to perform miracles, and when they realise that even the tradi-practitioner is unable to do anything, they resort to staged miracles. I wondered why they would take risks for such acts. Well, I now understand that the idea of performing miracles is now commercialised and the ‘masses’ are a target. The ‘masses’ have to fund these churches, and make sure they continue to exist. The people want miracles, they are hungry for change in their lives, and the very believe that miracles can alter lives makes many to resort to the church for change.

Another reason I think the president’s move is good is based on my experience which may resonate with other women’s experiences. whilst I was in Cameroon I joined a Pentecostal church by default reasons (not because I really wanted). I felt excluded from the company of all my neighbours as they all rallied in the same church, and when they would return home, they would socialise only amongst themselves because they had tried numerous times to persuade me to join their church. I was the only Judas in the midst of followers of Jesus Christ and out of fear from being excluded, and sheer pressure, I refrained from attending the church that built my knowledge about God from childhood in quest to make friends by joining a Pentecostal church and feel accepted by neighbours. To be honest with you, these church people know how to make you feel welcomed. They know how to cherish, and appreciate one; something completely absent in the catholic church I attended. I found myself wanting to go there every now and then, and even synchronised schedules with the pastors to perform miracles in my life. I didn’t wait long because my miracles did not come quick, so I had to quit. I have learned that miracles would come your way if only you would work hard. My experience has taught me that hard work is a key, and anything else is its consequence-some like me call it, “blessings”.

I support the president’s move on the grounds that lives were at risk, and if he did not step in, these churches through their pastors would have killed many more. How do they kill people comes the question, but if the president says pastors are killing people in the believe that they would gain more power, then I think I should trust his judgement mainly because he is at the helm and has his facts/evidence. I also think that the government should use the mass media especially television to educate the ‘masses’ on the repercussions of certain practices of the church which do not reverberate with state rule, and jeopardise the lives of innocent citizens who do not yet understand that the church has been transformed into a business model. Some young Cameroonians look forward to becoming pastors not because they have any incentive to serve God, or the people, but are called upon because of the lack of job opportunities for them. The church has now been converted by some pastors as a place to make money with little effort. They will do just anything to ensure that they have many converts-the more, the merrier. I am appalled by the state of the church and how it exploits the vulnerable on false promises. If I could raise my voice on behalf of the disgruntled people; I would say, “enough with fake pastors, enough with staged miracles, enough with reaping where you did not sow, enough with exploiting people with the word of God”.

Do not think I am an atheist for you would be wrong. As a matter of fact, I am an unshakable believer of God, but I have been through a lot to understand the pettiness of some churches, money, women, miracles, and the masses. know who God is. He is above all the above named pettiness.