On the occasion of the 63^rd PC Day celebration Sunday, November 15, 2020, the Moderator urged all Presbyterians to surrender to the cross every hate borne through the last session of elections.

“We virtually do not have problems with one another. We have chosen a system to select leaders. The application of that system brings out our weaknesses as human beings,” said the chief shepherd of the PCC in a televised address.

Below is the Moderator’s message transcribed by Cameroon-Info.Net:

“Fellow Presbyterians, Dear brothers, and sisters in the Lord. This year’s celebration will be on the theme ‘Keep Watching’. This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. I bring you greetings of love, peace, and comfort from the Holy Hill of the Synod Office in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ during this year’s celebration.

“I hope and pray that we will be celebrating under the strict observance of COVID-19 barrier measures. Like the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, may the praise of our Lord and Father Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.

“We thank many of you for the maturity and commitment demonstrated towards our church during the trying moments of the pre-electoral process, from the congregations through the presbyteries and during the Synod.

“This process, at some point, almost tore our church apart. But God cannot be torn apart. Your spiritual maturity and commitment have kept our church intact and moving forward to the Promised Land despite her imperfections due to our own human imperfections.

“Jesus Christ who is the head and body of His church remains perfect and will always perfect His church. We are the church militant. This church is always a suffering and persecuted church, passing through all types of travails as she progresses to become the church triumphant.

“Ours is a liberal and inclusive church that allows everyone to freely express his or her feelings. This may be a weakness as viewed by some people. But to others, it is the unique strength of Protestantism. However, an over-protestant spirit must not be used to destroy our church. It should rather be used to build and strengthen her.

“May God continue to use each and every one of us, despite our weaknesses as servants of love, forgiveness, justice peace, reconciliation, and progress. We are calling on all Presbyterians of goodwill to surrender to the cross every hate borne through the last session of elections. We virtually do not have problems with one another. We have chosen a system to select leaders. The application of that system brings out our weaknesses as human beings.

“It took about four years to heal the church after the 1985 Synod Election. This must not be so with us today. Let us throw away the anger and bitterness of the past and pray for peace in subsequent elections. We cannot achieve anything with anger. We can never truly pray when we are angry. We must also deeply acknowledge your love for us, which was so overtly demonstrated by your unprecedented financial and material mobilization towards the thanksgiving and induction service of the Moderator and the Synod Clerk in March this year.

“Above all, you made generous financial donations towards the building of a new befitting Synod Office. We can now gladly announce to you that we have started the project. This new Synod Office project will carry the growing size of our operations, increase our credit-worthiness, and reflect the intention of our vision and mission.

“Dear Presbyterians, Silver, and gold we do not have to give you. But our prayers for you will remain your immeasurable portion of blessings. Greater love has no more than this, that someone lays down his or her life for the leaders of his or her church and for the progress of his or her church. May the good Lord replenish your resources a hundredfold so that you will be able to sponsor this project until its completion.

“The COVID-19 pandemic came to reiterate the fact that we are vulnerable as mortals and also that only God can guarantee this life and human existence. As Christians, let us give God thanks in all circumstances because we know that whatever God permits, he has a reason for doing so. Some have died, many are living in fear, and others are affected socially and economically. As a church, we have not lost faith or hope.

“During the intense period of COVID-19, our home worship services achieved much for our members. Lay ministries emerged and family devotions were strengthened. There is every reason to deepen house fellowships and lay ministries in the church. Who knows when another crisis will emerge wherein the ordained ministry shall be incapacitated? Only God knows what this pandemic has done to our faith. The times have become so unpredictable that we now see ourselves increasingly just living each day at a time. This calls us to be alert, vigilant, and faithful to our God. To be more dependent on him as individuals and as a community of faith. The secret of the Christian life is to be watchful and ready at all times. The word of the Lord says, ‘be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. Furthermore, watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptations’.

“This is not the time for us to surrender to the weaknesses of our flesh. But to invoke and stand on God’s strength. But we must all keep watching against the plans of the evil one as we keep worshipping our creator and sustainer.

“Our current mandate is pegged on the like motive, “Wake Up, Watch Out”. Thus, the theme for this celebration.

“On a spiritual and pastoral note, we will deepen our pastoral zeal and pastoral care. Emphasis shall be laid on e-worship, e-evangelism, and e-fellowship.

“Today, we should be able to get the gospel to people who do not attend church services. We are calling on all urban congregations to set up communication structures and digital equipment to ease the communication of the gospel.

“We appreciate the PCC online daily devotional, the PCC TV channel on YouTube, the daily medications from our pastors, my PCC applications containing the church hymnary, and the daily bible readings and diary.

“The details of our vision were articulated during our stakeholder's training worship. I bring to you an excerpt from it.

“Economically and socially, we shall continue with our investment policy towards self-sufficiency. The financial secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon has stated this in the corporate resource empowerment plan. Remember, our watchword SLEM – spend less, evangelize more. And other economic policies like one congregation, one farm, from self-reliance to self-sufficiency, from minimal to optimal exploitation of resources.

“It is in this light that the Presbyterian Church congregation in Bonamoussadi, Douala, is constructing a secondary school under something like a public-private partnership scheme. PC Bastos Yaoundé has invested in real estate in the Nyom neighborhood. PC Azire Bamenda has invested in shopping stalls around their church compound. We would have been happier to hear that Dikome and Akwaya presbyteries now own sizeable cocoa and bush mango farms respectively.

“This is how we should be thinking of as a church. This year’s celebration of the World Day of Peace was unique.  It was meant to revive our pursuit for peace in the ongoing crisis in the North West and South West Regions of our country. We thank God for the mammoth turnout and for the clarity of our message for peace.

“The Presbyterian Church in Cameroon has done all that is required to bring about justice, peace, love reconciliation, forgiveness, reason, and sanity to end the senseless war of attrition to no avail. If our hands could reach the top button, to press and justly end this war, we would have long done so as a church. Our role is more of advocacy, praying, and soliciting for peace and justice. And we have reached out to every major stakeholder in this armed conflict – nationally and internationally.

“The church can’t do more than she is able to do. But we will not relent despite the abuses and threats directed to us as a church. We will continue to intensify our humanitarian activities and visits to the refugees and internally displaced more often, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“One unshakable truth is that those who do not value human life and protect it as sacred but destroying it are either murderers or oppressors of God’s children. Such can never be supported by the church and her leaders. The church is apolitical, as she is the eyes, mouth, soul, mind, heart, and hands of God in every nation and place on earth. By these uncompromised principles of the church, we shall not take sides in this struggle. We will stand strong against human rights violations, pursue peace and stability, and protect the livelihoods of the oppressed.

“The church listens and follows the voice and counsel of our founder Jesus, the Christ. Therefore, no one will be able to influence us to act otherwise. We reemphasize our call to our government to continue the inclusive dialogue and bring this crisis to a just end. It is her responsibility. Let us get into the bushes and bring out our brothers and conscientise them to heed to peace that benefits their own people. “We call on the government to speed up the reconstruction process and to release more prisoners in the different cells.

“Meanwhile, congregations are called upon to continue caring for the internally displaced persons. Nothing is too small for someone who is hungry. The Apostle Paul exalts us, ‘Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.’ Therefore, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers.

“Despite the difficulties and challenges faced by the educational sector of our church, both the resilient, devoted and sacrificial teachers and students of our schools, have given us reason to smile and keep marching on with hope by the end, of course, excellent results at the primary, secondary and high school levels at the just ended 2019/2020 academic year. The following six-Presbyterian Authority schools scored a hundred percent at the ordinary levels: PCSS Buea, PSS Bafut, PCSS Mfou Yaoundé, PCHS Limbe, and PHS Nkambe. Meanwhile, the following four schools scored a hundred percent at the advanced levels: PCSS Buea, PSS Douala, PCSS Azire, and PHS Kumba.

“We give God the glory for our exceptional teachers and congratulate them for a job well done. Dear teachers, you remain the models of our church’s workforce. We have not relented and will never relent in our efforts to give solace to our brethren, the teachers, sacrificing for our church and for humanity and performing a noble duty within our educational sector. We had initiated a payment plan, and have paid more than 90 percent of the accrued salaries of our teachers because of the armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions, which forced them out of work.

“The advent of the coronavirus that abruptly caused the shutdown of the rest of our schools was a big challenge that added to the load we were already grappling with. To cope with the unexpected exigencies of the pandemic, we had initially reduced the allowances and salaries, not only of our teachers but also that of all the workers of our church. With the payment of the special subvention to schools by the government of our country during this COVID-19 pandemic, we are paying the balances of the curtailed allowances and salaries to our teachers.

“We are at an advanced stage in the construction of the inclusive child eye care pediatrics hospital in Limbe. Plans have been completed to start the construction of a state-of-the-art hospital complex in Bamenda. We are about completing the construction of an oxygen plant at the inclusive child eye care and pediatrics hospital in Limbe.

“Make no mistake, dear friends, these projects are sponsored by our partners who have found our leadership worthy. The Presbyterian General Hospital in Kumba now is the referral hospital within that city and its environs. Doctors Without Borders are using this health facility to provide healthcare to the victims of war within that part of the South West Regions. Given the demands on this health facility, we are expanding it to handle the demands.

“This year, we have completely refurbished and redesigned the Youth Centre in Limbe and effectively equipped it with machines, computers, sewing labs, and kits among others, to empower our youth with tailoring, catering, information and communication technologies, and hairdressing skills. The center was opened in September this year and is operational. We intend to refurbish the other existing youth centers in the days ahead.

“Today, we own and are running the pres-microfinance institution, category two, with headquarters in Buea. Other branches have been prospected for the North West and other parts of the country. These social ventures will create employment opportunities to young Cameroonians and help grow our church.

“As a complementary factory to our presprint in Limbe, we completed the structure to house the machines for our paper conversion processing plan adjacent to the presprint. The setting up of the machines for operation is ongoing.

“In the midst of all the challenges we are facing, we have not just hopelessly folded our arms, but have continued to explore any and every available opportunity to give a facelift to our church and lay a solid foundation and great foundations for her future. We will be doing a great service to our church if all of us Presbyterians become part of these investments and actively take part to give this church a facelift, not a stable and financial base church for greater and transformative transformation, but to give this church the ability to become self-sufficient in her transactions within the days ahead.

“As a post-diamond jubilee church, let us claim these investments, own them, talk about them, to be proud of them and patronize them. They are the institutions and properties of our church, not of those who are leaders or individuals within the church because the leaders and individuals in this church come and go but the PCC remains.

“Everything that is happening around us challenges us not to slumber, but to stay awake and keep watching. Watching calls us to be as wise as serpents and as humble as doves. We must keep watching by praying fervently for divine strength, protection, wisdom, and deliverance from the forces of oppression and destruction in our society.

“We must also continue to be one another’s keeper by reaching out to the suffering and displaced brethren around us.

“We will not remain inactive,  but continue on our path of progress and seeking justice, peace, love, care, forgiveness, reconciliation, healing, deliverance, and the ultimate good of our church, country, and humanity while keeping watch and abiding in his wisdom and strength.

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind towards each other that Christ Jesus had. So that with one mind and one voice, you may glorify the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“May God keep and bless you all. May God keep and bless the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon. May God keep and bless Cameroon. Happy celebrations in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.”