THE MAEVASEV BOARD MEETING IN CAMEROON: DOUALA FEBRUARY 2016

Visit to the Maeva Sev Social-Medical Health Centre

The Maeva Source of Living Water Board Meeting in Cameroon

At the Maeva Source of living Water Board Meeting held at the home of our brother Michel Bourlier in April 13, 2013, the Regional Delegate for Cenral Africa and Head of Maeva Sev Cameroon proposed holding of our Board Meeting once in Cameroon. The idea has its way, it was again submitted to the 2014 Board Meeting in the following year by the President of Maeva Sev France on request of Cameroonian officials. An agreement in principle was then adopted and confirmed at the 2015 Board Meeting, where we agreed to set a date that would allow Julie and Roland to take part to the trip. Julie was available only during the school holidays. We decided then to schedule for February 2016.

The invitation was launched for the period from February 15 to 25 at the request of the organizers in Cameroon, period during which they will take care of us. Thus we went to Cameroon from February 14 to 29 for the President and the Treasurer, and from 15 to 22 for the other European participants. The initial program included specific actions from February 16 to 21 as follows:

·         Training of Pastors in Shalom Bonapriso Feb.16

·         Visit of Maeva Sev Cameroon’s Projects Feb. 17

·         Evangelization in Shalom Akwa Feb. 18

·         Evangelistic Concert at Shalom Bonapriso Feb. 19

·         Annual Board Meeting Feb. 20

·         Breaking into two teams for preaching in Churches in the morning and Evangelistic Concert at Shalom Akwa in the afternoon

From February 22nd to 24 our Cameroonian team had planned excursions to Limbe, Yaounde and Kribi

For reasons beyond our control, program has been completely changed, most of participants having chosen to return on 22nd on one hand and on the other hand, project works having been delayed, the project visit was postponed. This led us to change the program of our stay. So we started with the tourist trip: after a day off with a visit of the city of Douala on the 16th, we went to Yaounde the capital of Cameroon for a sight seeing; our guests apreciated and enjoyed these moment of relaxation to taste some African cuisine.

The next day, February 18, we held at Shalom Akwa, an evangelistic campaign with Daniel Mpondo

as guest speaker. It was more an opportunity to strengthen the faith of believers than a campaign itself. The following day, February 19th we made a trip to Limbe, the English-speaking part of Cameroon, at the foot of the mountain that bears the same name. We visited the Zoo before going to Seme Beach where we enjoyed a swim in the ocean with fine black sand. That same evening, we had an evangelistic concert at Shalom Bonapriso, led by Pastor Sebatiao Ntela and followed by a short evangelical preaching by Pastor Daniel Mpondo.

Saturday, February 20 was a very busy day. In the morning we had our first expatriated Annual Board

Meeting at Brother and Sister DONA’s in Bonapriso. It was an opportunity to meet some of the Cameroon’s Maeva Sev Team members. After completing the work, we shared the meal together, continuing exchanges on the Cameroon’s Maeva-Sev projects. We found how the Cameroonian antenna of our missionary movement was dinamic and was involved in many projects, counting only on their own ressources. This encouraged our frieends and colleagues of the Board who made the trip to make them a personal gift to encourage them to move forward, to carry out their projects.

In the Afternoon we attended a family recognition ceremony organised by the Mpondo Dicka Family and punctuated by a thanksgiving worship. It was also a memorable moment for the team.

On Sunday February 21 we formed two teams for morning worship. One went to Shalom Bonapriso and the other remained in Shalom Akwa.  At night we proceeded to the opening of the Bonaberi Shalom Church with an animation in praise by the cantor, Pastor Sebastiao Ntela, followed his preaching.

The last day, the day of Michel, Xavier and Sebastiao departure, was dedicated to the inaugural visit of the Maevas Sev Cameroon’s Medico-Social Centre with its Media-library Annex which had been operating for some time.

We were very encouraged by this experience that allowed us to appreciate the dynamism of  an African branch of our Mission that is not only autonomous in its functioning but also was able to take care of us during all our stay in Cameroon. We can only encourage other antennas to follow this example. Thus they will be richly blessed by Whom we serve, our Lord and Saviour Jesus-Christ. To Him be the glory!

Evangelism and Concert at Shalom Bonapriso

Evangelism at Shalom Akwa

Be richly Blessed!

AFRICA HEADS OF CHURCHES SUMMIT GHANA 2016

The venue: The Pentecost Inernational Conference Centre

The African Heads of Churches Summit

It was held in Accra, in her Suburban, in Fevbruary 8 to 12, a conference of African Leaders of Churches, Unions or Federation of Churches, to discuss the responses our churches must bring to the challenges they are facing in the world today particularly regarding the rise of Islam, specialy a fundamentalist Islam in Africa.

It was not easy to mobilize the Christian leadership from ouht to North and from East to West of the Continent. Despite some coordination problems, we finaly met in Ghana at Pentecostal International Conference Centre.

This meeting was aiming to find the best pratical way of promoting increased collaboration between ministries, churches and mission networks within Africa and beyond, in the global church, in pursuit of the overall goal of seeing a local Church-driven missional engagement in and out of Africa. This meeting had also to be a forum for connecting and strategic moblization of Church Leaders in Africa to reposition their denominations in seeing  missions become the main concern of the local Church. Leaders of the Church in Africa should b the main drivers in obedience of Lord’s command to go and make disciples in all nations.

We used to tart our days with a meditation on the seven churches of the Book of Revelation. Through

the reproaches that Christ had made to the seven churches, we were led to understand  those He would make to the Church in Africa today. After an exhortation by the Chaplain on these passages, we had to let ourselves be challenged by God around a discussion table, by  examining the flaws and the faults of the Church in Africa that would make us look like the churches of the Book of Revelation, in order to find solutions.

Then the plenary interventions were intended to bring light on the challenges that the Church in Africa faces. While it is true that there is a growing churches in Africa, mainly due to the exponential growth of evangelicals, it is true that Africa is confronted with a very aggressive Islam, especialy radical, whose groth is more exponential than evangelicals’. This one has moreover the finacial support of the Arab-Muslim powers, while Christians are increasingly released by Western powers. The consequences of these situations are multiple : The conquest by Muslims in Central African Republic (CAR), the « Selekas », consisted in ¾ Muslim fundamentalists; attacks of Boko Haram, whose name means "Western Education is Cursed » and whose goal was (and still is) to overthrow the government to establish an Islamic state (even before IS). Their aim is to tranform Africa into Muslim territory and they think that by sizing the Centre of the Continent they will reach their goal more quickly and occupy the whole of Africa. Their modus operandi : the massacre and terror. The history of killings of Christian students in Kenyan University are an example.

The question that arises then to the leaders of African Churches is: what are the solutionss of this problem, what is the Christian witness to these challenges. The rally was intended to motivate the Christian Leadership in Africa to address  the challenges. It will not be easy, it will take a big motivation because there will be much suffering but this is what will take us forward with the awareness of the mission entrusted to us by Whom we believe in. (Matthew 5: 14-15)

As authentic Christians, we must understand that being salt and light of the earth will not only address to a denomination, ours : the message of the cross is a result of God’s love for man made in His image. May God be gracious to us !