PCC Bastos counts achievements at 57

By Cyprian Ntiamba Obi Ntui in Yaounde
Fifty seven years ago, the Basel Mission Church of Switzerland, founders of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon granted the local church full autonomy. By then, the PCC was found only in the English speaking regions of the country. Today, the PCC is planted in all the ten regions of the country while its membership has grown to over two million faithful.
     To celebrate these achievements, the Yaounde Bastos Congregation yesterday 16 November, organized an open air service at its premises. Many church events are organized in Yaounde every week, but not many of them can carry the spiritual content that this event carried. In this regard, and to achieve the aim of feeding souls and not the flesh, an array of choral groups graced the event with soul touching renditions.
    To kick start the occasion, the congregational choir sang, praising God for His goodness and compassion. With the song ended, various dignitaries who graced the gathering were recognized after which the  Christian  Women Fellowship choral group sang. This was followed by announcements before the Douala choir sang in a local language.

     The first reading of the day was drawn from the book of Isaiah 62 vs 6 to 7 and 10 to 12. After the reading, the Junior choir sang a soul searching song titled “I am the Church, you are the church, we are the church together”. The second reading was taken from the book of Mathew chapter 10 vs 24 to 33.  The third reading came from the book of 1Timothy chapter 6 vs 13 to 16.
     When the parish pastor, Rev. Fonki Samuel took the podium, he urged all present to reflect on saint Pauls admonition to Timothy to keep the faith until Christ comes. The pastor reminded Christians that they lived at challenging times where the vicissitudes of life could cause many to backslide. He said since no one knew when Christ would come the devil has formed his council of demons who go around deceiving Christians that the coming of Christ is still far away. “But even if Christ does not come soon, you can die now and if you are not committed to your faith, you will find yourself in hell.”
     The man of God urged all Christians to remain vigilant and shun corruption, tribalism, homosexuality and other ills that are threatening the church today.  Theological education he lamented “is no longer faith-based but open to job seekers”.  He then called on the church hierarchy to explore new areas of evangelism so that the gospel of Christ could bring hope to a despairing congregation. “We need a new renaissance to reawaken hope in the poor that are suffering and remove these impediments that are making life miserable for the people.”
 The Reverend decried the prevailing situation where leaders strive to make their tribesmen enjoy the national cake without teaching them how to bake it. He told Christians to follow the example of the founding fathers of the church who rejected material wealth and served selflessly to enable the church take root. “Do not let Christ’s day of coming be a day of mourning for you. Let it be a day to wipe away your tears, a day of joy.”
    After the sermon the congregational choir sang. The “I believe in God the father” was said. The whole assembly then sang the PCC anthem before the moderator read his farewell speech titled “stepping aside in hope.”
 The PCC will on 25th November convene in Bamenda to elect a new moderator to head the church for the next five years. Other Choral groups that animated the event included the Lamso voices, the chrisitian men fellowship choir, The Christian women fellowship choir among others. The Divisional officer for Yaounde 1 was present as well as elder Atunka Christian, Minko  Martin and Epafe Marie.