MAROUA, Cameroon (BNc) — Olivier Cuendet, evangelist with the church in Zurich, Switzerland and Doyle Kee from Geneva made a survey trip to Chad and Northern Cameroon Jan. 6-14.
The Zurich church sent Olivier to gain first-hand information about the work they support in Maroua.
Olivier and Doyle went via N’Djamena (pop. 720,000), the capital of Chad across the Chari River from Kousséri, Cameroon. After a late night arrival in N’Djamena and spending the night in the guest house of the Wycliff translators, they spent a couple of hours with two local evangelists.
Olivier left with Jean Boïdo, an evangelist Zurich has supported for 15 years, on a five-hour journey over rough roads to Maroua, Cameroon. This city of 300,000 is the capital of the ‘Far North Province’ in the northern tip of Cameroon.
Doyle stayed another day in N’Djamena waiting for his luggage. This gave him more time with the two Chadian evangelists.
Olivier began a five-day visit in Maroua and was joined the second day by Doyle, who made the trip by public transport. They stayed in a guest center of the Catholic church and ate their morning and evening meals with the priests. Transportation around the city was on motorcycle taxis.
They visited the Boïdo family (seven children) and some of the local brethren. There were teaching sessions in the afternoons and they visited the family compound of one of the members about 20 km from Maroua.
Three World Bible School students who had been taught by Jean Boïdo were baptized. Sunday was a day of teaching, worshiping and visiting with Christians in Maroua. Some brethren came 2-3 hours from Maga and Yagoua on the Chadian border to the east of Maroua, and one from Doba, in the south of Chad.
On Monday, Jan. 12, Doyle and Olivier took a bus back to N’Djamena. The next morning they met with 12 brethren from various parts of Chad, nine from N’Djamena, two from Pala, and one from Bongor-Normal (about six hours from N’Djamena). This meeting and other discussions during the day gave Doyle and Olivier a better understanding of the church in N’Djamena and other areas of Chad.
Good materials are available for the church in Maroua, but in N’Djamena the church has need of everything — a place to meet, means for evangelism, Bibles and other printed materials.
Cameroon has a population of 18 million. Major religions are Indigenous 40%, Christian 40% and Muslim 20%. English and French are official languages, and 24 major African languages are spoken. There are both English and French-speaking churches of Christ in Cameroon. French-speaking congregations number about 30 with around 600 members.
Chad has a population of 10 million. Major religions are Muslim 53%, Catholic 20% and Protestant 14%. Arabic and French are official languages. Sara is spoken in the south and there are more than 120 different languages and dialects. Chad has about 15 churches of Christ with around 300 members.
The first picture shows Olivier Cuendet and Jean Boïdo. The young man in the middle was baptized the next day. The second picture shows Olivier Cuendet and Doyle Kee with Jeremie Kilbe, an evangelist who works with Jean Boïdo in Maroua.
For more information contact Doyle Kee for Chad (thekees@bluewin.ch) or Olivier Cuendet (olivier.cuendet@bluewin.ch) for Maroua and northern Cameroon.
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