The Beginning of Certainty

The following story was posted on the Facebook page of a man with whom I serve in Cameroon, Africa. I asked for his permission to post it on my blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. His name is Bob Ulfers, and he has been working amongst the Karang people of Cameroon for over 20 years.

"My Karang father Boonang says, "90% of the Karang lie, all the time. But I'm OK because I only lie 50% of the time!" Similarly, in Karang folktales the heroes gain by deception and victims lose because they tell the truth. In one story a man told the king about a talking skull. The king sent his soldiers with the man to see if it was true. But the king's soldiers executed the man for "lying" because the skull refused to talk. After the execution the soldiers were shocked to hear the skull begin talking to the dead man. In fear they concluded with this 'moral' lesson, "If we tell the truth we die, if we hide it we are safe."

Another one of my Karang fathers Doda says, "To be Karang is to fear. If you are not afraid, you are not Karang." Yet Yezmin and I see how fear leads to death.

Most fatal illnesses in our village are neglected curable ones. People don't go to the clinic on time. "It is a spirit causing the illness," or "it is the hand of man (sorcery)." Once those fears grip them, a myriad of choices are presented by "helpful" neighbors, like hallucinogenic drugs or consulting a medium to determine the source. Then comes the search for the 'anti-curse' against your enemy followed by sacrifices and rituals. Relatives come with a myriad of indigenous medicines until all traditional avenues are exhausted. The trembling sufferer runs from one cure, ritual, or soothsayer to the next, accusing innocent people of attacking him. The accused in turn becomes so irrationally afraid, he 'confesses' to the crime to avoid punishment or he escapes the village often not to return. By the time the patient arrives at the hospital it is too late, he dies "proving" that it was indeed sorcery or spirits or something else, because you see, "even the white-man-medicine could not save him." We have seen this pattern over and over and over.

After 20 years I say, "There is one thing certain about the Karang worldview: Nothing is certain!"

Deception, hiding the truth, living in fear and continuous uncertainty are all deeply ingrained in everyday life. All of the above behaviors can be found in the lives of baptized 'Christians.' Many of these have grown up listening to preaching and scripture readings in languages that they hardly understand. However for the past two years, the Gospels have been available in the Karang language. So we ask, is the Gospel of truth, courage, and certainty of salvation beginning to impact the Karang worldview?

Out of the fifteen village chapels in our area, at least four now use the Karang gospels and the Karang children's Sunday school book. Their services and preaching are in the Karang language.

One Sunday Yezmin and I joined the believers in the village of Kambang. We witnessed a small evidence of how truth, courage and certainty of the gospels is taking root.

It was announced during the service that a deacon was being disciplined for having done something unchristian. Later an elder explained that someone had put a curse on the deacon's home. Helpful neighbors told the deacon to seek an anti-curse sacrifice of a goat. He gave in to the typical uncertainty, easily abandoning his position as a Christian in fear of the resulting illness or death of the curse. So he killed a goat in a traditional ceremony at his home.

Now the reader should know that most Karang church goers would do the same, just to be sure to cover all the bases. So I was amazed that the elders of the Kambang chapel had taken that a stand against the deacon's action. What gave them the courage? How is it that they did not fear the consequences of the curse themselves? Where did the certainty of the decision come from?

"You see," continued the elder, "The man did not understand."

I braced myself for an explanation of fear which I have heard so often like,"God will send him to hell!" but to my pleasant surprise instead, the truth of the Gospel (a copy in his hands) flowed from his lips with heart felt simplicity:

"He insulted the sacrifice of God. Jesus died for us and that is all we need."

In that one statement I saw truth, courage and certainty and I thank God. The certain message which is beginning to take root came from the book in that elder's hands."