A couple of months ago, I made an emergency trip back to Cameroon to bury my dad. All went very well, then I discovered a reason why most Africans are poor and more so Christian Africans. I noticed, on hundreds of hundreds of people who were present and who supported my family and I during that dreadful period, none of them came from the Pentecostal church I used to attend while back home, except for one sister who by the way isn't with that church anymore. (I'll come back to her later).
I was flabbergasted. Besides the obvious absence there was no phone call, no email, no Facebook (FB) notifications...my jaw dropped. What is more amazing is that, two years ago when I went to Cameroon for my dowry, church folks that I didn't even expect turn up. Some waited quite some time to see me. The dowry is a big deal in my country, the bride doesn't show up her face until her husband can correctly point her among many other covered 'fake' brides.
For the dowry, I had alerted maybe a couple of souls at best of my coming. Whereas for the funeral, I sent out text and FB messages to many.
My point is, the dowry meant party time and who says party means food and drinks.
But when it comes to funeral,our demeanor as Africans is different. We show more solidarity and support of one another. We're even willing to kiss the chicks of a formolized, dead corpse in the name of "reconciliation", believe me I've seen this. We cook meals for, or clean the house of, and give our monetary contribution to the bereaved family.
All the above are acts of "giveness" if I may say (excuse my neologism) which apparently the Pentecostal church (at least in Cameroon) has yet to master. It's as if the church or that church has ignored one of the fundamental Kingdom's principles for wealth: generosity, as it is said "[Prov 11:24] One person is generous and yet grows more wealthy, but another withholds more than he should and comes to poverty." Bill Johnson once said "When you have a little, sacrifice is easy, generosity is hard. When you have a lot, generosity is easy, sacrifice is hard." The only way to become a generous person is by giving your money, your time, your materials, your talents and so on.
The second principle is by practicing faithful and trustworthy stewardship, as the Lord declared,"And if you haven’t been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you your own?" [Luke16:12]
As sons and daughters of the Most High, everything we have belong to Him, we are just steward and must carefully manage the riches He has entrusted us with diligence and not crookedness.
As my mentor, Dr. Mike Murdock often says there are the Person of Jesus and the Principles of Jesus. The Person of Jesus brings peace, salvation and grace. The principles of Jesus are about managing our life down here on Earth. This explains why there are so many zealous, tongues speaking, God loving people in the church that, although saved, are lacking the basics or in bad health.
The absence of my Church doesn't imply the absence of my people altogether. I'm thankful for the sister who came from another town to show her support, I thank my classmates who showed up at the wake and the burial, I thank my spiritual children who were there from day one, who also helped with my errands, for their love, time and support, I thank my many friends and family here and overseas who brought financial support, I appreciate those who didn't have but took time to call and express their condolences. May The Lord richly bless you in return.
I feel like concluding with "Greet one another with a holy kiss" but this is a serious matter. The choice is ours, in fact there is no choice, it's a matter of embracing both the Person of Jesus and The Principles of Jesus. With this, I hope and pray to see a more generous, prosperous and victorious Church!
Amen!
Tresorly Yours
Tresor
I was flabbergasted. Besides the obvious absence there was no phone call, no email, no Facebook (FB) notifications...my jaw dropped. What is more amazing is that, two years ago when I went to Cameroon for my dowry, church folks that I didn't even expect turn up. Some waited quite some time to see me. The dowry is a big deal in my country, the bride doesn't show up her face until her husband can correctly point her among many other covered 'fake' brides.
For the dowry, I had alerted maybe a couple of souls at best of my coming. Whereas for the funeral, I sent out text and FB messages to many.
My point is, the dowry meant party time and who says party means food and drinks.
But when it comes to funeral,our demeanor as Africans is different. We show more solidarity and support of one another. We're even willing to kiss the chicks of a formolized, dead corpse in the name of "reconciliation", believe me I've seen this. We cook meals for, or clean the house of, and give our monetary contribution to the bereaved family.
All the above are acts of "giveness" if I may say (excuse my neologism) which apparently the Pentecostal church (at least in Cameroon) has yet to master. It's as if the church or that church has ignored one of the fundamental Kingdom's principles for wealth: generosity, as it is said "[Prov 11:24] One person is generous and yet grows more wealthy, but another withholds more than he should and comes to poverty." Bill Johnson once said "When you have a little, sacrifice is easy, generosity is hard. When you have a lot, generosity is easy, sacrifice is hard." The only way to become a generous person is by giving your money, your time, your materials, your talents and so on.
The second principle is by practicing faithful and trustworthy stewardship, as the Lord declared,"And if you haven’t been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you your own?" [Luke16:12]
As sons and daughters of the Most High, everything we have belong to Him, we are just steward and must carefully manage the riches He has entrusted us with diligence and not crookedness.
As my mentor, Dr. Mike Murdock often says there are the Person of Jesus and the Principles of Jesus. The Person of Jesus brings peace, salvation and grace. The principles of Jesus are about managing our life down here on Earth. This explains why there are so many zealous, tongues speaking, God loving people in the church that, although saved, are lacking the basics or in bad health.
The absence of my Church doesn't imply the absence of my people altogether. I'm thankful for the sister who came from another town to show her support, I thank my classmates who showed up at the wake and the burial, I thank my spiritual children who were there from day one, who also helped with my errands, for their love, time and support, I thank my many friends and family here and overseas who brought financial support, I appreciate those who didn't have but took time to call and express their condolences. May The Lord richly bless you in return.
I feel like concluding with "Greet one another with a holy kiss" but this is a serious matter. The choice is ours, in fact there is no choice, it's a matter of embracing both the Person of Jesus and The Principles of Jesus. With this, I hope and pray to see a more generous, prosperous and victorious Church!
Tresorly Yours
Tresor
