Picture credit: Bible Society / Andrew Boyd
ABLI has stood in urgent prayer for Cameroon following news of a bomb attack and riots.
A bomb blast in Bamenda city in the northwest of the country on September 21 injured three police officers, according to news reports. The governor in the region has imposed a 24-hour curfew.
Cameroon is divided between Anglophone and Francophone regions. Some Anglophones are calling for succession. There have been protests over moves to impose the French language in schools and in the courts. Journalists have been jailed on terrorism charges.
The African Biblical Leadership Initiative, which is being held in the Cameroon capital, called for prayer to calm the situation. And conference Moderator, David Hammond, called for Christians to initiate peace talks.
Delegates to the conference were told of ‘streets littered with protestors.’
They were led in prayer by Babila Foncham of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, for what he described as ‘desperate times’.
He prayed: ‘God, we commit Cameroon into your hands. We call for your decisive intervention, that Christian men and women among the crowd would act as instruments of peace and non-violence.
‘Heal our land, Lord, and grant us peace. Forgive us Lord and have mercy upon us. Don’t allow us to plunge into war and violence.’
ABLI is an initiative of Bible Society. It is now in its seventh year.
Bible Society Chief Executive Paul Williams was a keynote speaker at the conference. He said: 'ABLI has called for peace and reconciliation at this troubled time in Cameroon.
'We call on Christians especially to work for peace and set an example by abstaining from violence. Our prayer for every nation in Africa is for honest leaders who will serve their people and be peacemakers.'
Conference Moderator David Hammond added: ‘ABLI stands for is peaceful co-existence and social cohesion. We believe it’s about time the church came up with a proposal for dialogue – talks that will bring about peace in this land.’
Andrew Boyd
