“Speak, Lord; for thy Servant heareth” 1 Samuel 3:10
Through this blog, I bring you all greetings from the Young People of my country Cameroon, and especially from the young people of the Cameroon Mission Initiative of the United Methodist Church in Cameroon. Cameroon is found in the Central African subregion and is bordered by the following countries: to the west by Nigeria, east by the Central African Republic, south by Gabon, Congo, and Equatorial Guinea, north by Chad. It has a surface area of about 475442 square km and is found between parallels 2° and 12° north of the Equator. The country is often referred to as «Africa in miniature». With a population estimated at 20 million people, more than 75 percent of this population is made up of young people of less than 30 years of age. In terms of religion, this population is distributed as follows 53 percent are Christians, 22 percent are Moslems and 25 percent are Animistes.
Colonized by the Germans in 1884, Cameroon was later on shared between the French and the British after the defeat of the Germans in the First World War. Since its independence in 1960, Cameroon has remained relatively stable compared to its neighbors who have known multiple civil wars and other violent conflicts.
Following this brief presentation on Cameroon, it is important to note that, the youth and young adults of Cameroon, just like many young people in other parts of the world have numerous challenges to overcome in their day to day life. Teenage unwanted pregnancies, unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse, school dropout, juvenile delinquency and other societal ills have sent our young people to slumber. It is common place today in Cameroon, to find our young people in Bars and on the streets during Sunday morning worship and other mid week church activities. The very few who still show up for Sunday morning worship and other weekly meetings are so distracted by other concerns, and like we say in Cameroon, “they are there but they are absent”. Like Samuel, they have been called several times but they do not really understand their calling. They wake up and run in a direction opposite to their calling. I have shared this experience with many other young people from different countries and I have been told that the situation is very similar. Just like in the case of Samuel, God is calling us for a mission and for a purpose. Lets listen to his voice and respond to his call. “Speak, Lord; thy servant heareth.”
Bible Reading: 1 Samuel 3: 7-10
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
8 A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy.
9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
Prayer: Lord speak to our hearts, to our minds and to our souls. Master speak thy servant heareth.
Even in the noise of this world, Lord help us listen to thy gentle voice, reminding us that you are in control. Even as we struggle to face today’s challenges of unemployment, social and psychological problems related to illicit drug use and alcohol consumption, teenage and youth unwanted pregnancies, Juvenile delinquency, youth immorality and pornography, increase percentages in teenage school dropouts, lost of vision and hope for a better tomorrow and worst of all lost of faith in God and Christ Jesus, Lord speak to our hearts, to our minds and to our souls. Amen
Affirmation for the month: God is in control and Jesus is at the door of our hearts waiting for our invitation so together we can face our different challenges.
Collins Etchi Ako