The auxiliary bishop of the Bamenda archdiocese, His Lordship Michael Miabesue Bibi has paid a pastoral visit to Christ the King Parish, Mbengwi, from the 30th to the 31st of March 2019. Among the activities that preoccupied his two days stay was visiting the christian community of Ngyen-Mbo, the Mbengwi monastery and celebrating mass with Christians of the four mission stations that make up the Mbengwi parish.
It was a full church house on Sunday March 31st 2019, the 4th Sunday in Lent, as the visiting Man of God, while drawing his gospel text from Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 that talks about the parable of the prodigal son called on the Christians to reconcile with God and their families. It was also a forum for him to administer the sacrament of confirmation to some Christians who had completed their doctrinal classes.
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| Interdenominational handshake |
In attendance were a couple of traditional rulers, religious authorities from other denominations like the Presbyterians and Apostolic plus the administration of Mbengwi, led by the Senior Divisional Officer of Momo Division, Absalom Monono Woloa who continued re-echoing messages of the peace crusade he had embarked on since the current Anglophone Crisis started escalating in Mbengwi. Monono in his speech told the bishop, "It is our prayer that God will continue to guide and protect you, give you wisdom as you lead his flock. It is our prayer that your presence here today plus the sermon you preached on peace and love will sink into the minds of our people." He then went ahead to assure the bishop that the administration has been and will always be working in close collaboration with the Mbengwi parish. It should be recalled some times in 2018 when the administrative office of Christ the King Catholic School Mbengwi was set ablaze by alleged proponents of a complete school boycott in Anglophone Cameroon, the Mbengwi administration was first to answer present on the scene for evaluation and months after, came back with material assistance of bundles of zinc. "This is to show you that we are all one and we will remain one and we have to work for peace, love, and collaboration in all aspects so that our people will continue to enjoy the life that God has given to them." Monono ended.
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| Administering the sacrament of confirmation |
In response, the auxiliary bishop, Michael Bibi also corroborated the message of justice and peace as he prayed for those who hold public offices that they may govern bearing in mind the common good of all. To him, the only way is through God. In his own words, "We are all God's children and in such a family, it is possible that we may have difficulties that may tear us apart but I think in spite of those difficulties, every christian should be able to work for peace and reconciliation so that we all can live as brothers and sisters especially within the context that we find ourselves in." He then ended his own speech by saying "We know that at the end of the day, the church is supposed to stand as a sign of hope to all of us because we need to turn and cry to God for Him to help us in all our endeavours as we journey on earth, focusing our minds on the kingdom of God."
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| Clergy and traditional rulers |
Painting a gory picture of how the Mbengwi parish, one of the youngest in the archdiocese of Bamenda (1year 10 months old) has been greatly affected by the crisis, Mr. Winka Emmanuel, the parish pastoral chairperson in a well penned down speech disclosed that as of 2016, the parish used to boast of over 200 families, 904 Christians spread over 14 small Christian communities and four mission stations: Ngyen-Mbo, Bome, Bessi Fomukong and the main mission but now, there are barely 100 families and a little above 300 Christians.
Reverend Father Buma Wilfred is the parish priest. He explained the mission of the bishop to his parish by saying "In the Catholic church, when we talk about a pastoral visit, it's a moment when the bishop, as shepherd undertakes visitations to parishes to see how his flock, the Christians are faring especially during this time of sociopolitical crisis and to console them that they should hope in God. It's a happy moment for me because anything works for the good of those who fear the Lord." He then commended the strong message sent out by the bishop that the powers that be must look into the current crisis we are facing and seek lasting solutions to it not fake promises so that we can live in peace. He will then throw roses at the bishop's feet by saying "We continue to pray for him. He's a simple shepherd, a man of integrity scattering the word of God that is food for our soul."
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| After mass |
Mr. Nguh Fidelis and Mr. Fon Patrick are members of the Catholic Men Association (C.M.A). On take home message drawn from the bishop's sermon, to the former, "If we look at the day of today, we see that it's bright thus giving peace to the country and ensuring we live in unity" while to the latter "He talked about peace, that if you've been hurt by your brother, forgive him so that peace reigns in our community." Same opinion shared by Madam Mbah Linda who said "Just being alive today to see the bishop visit our parish fills me with an overflow of joy. I thank God for so many things especially in our prayer and action groups where the bishop encouraged us to keep on being committed to Christ."
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| Wirbu' Cultural & Social Dance Mbengwi ushering the bishop to the church hall |
The auxiliary bishop's visit to Mbengwi was simply a continuation of a mission he embarked on within the Bamenda archdiocese. He had been to Batibo, Bali, Mbengwi and will be proceeding to Menka and finally Widikum, where he will end his pastoral visit. Despite calls from many, including state officials that the bishop shouldn't undertake such a mission bearing in mind that most of these areas are strong grounds for restoration forces locally referred to as "Amba Boys" fighting for the independence of a state they call "Ambazonia", Michael Bibi insisted it's during such challenging moments that we know who is who in faith. To him, if Christians are still able to live in all these areas and still have time to serve God, then there's just no reason why they shouldn't be visited. "It all goes to show you that we have particular interest on the people of God and all of us Cameroonians who are living in these areas" Bibi concluded.
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