GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Background of study

Baptist mission in the U.S. and around the world grew out of a common tradition begun in the early 17th century.   That tradition has emphasized the Lordship and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, believers ’baptism, the competency of all believers to be in direct relationship with God and to interpret Scripture, the influence of the Holy Spirit on individual lives and ministries, and the need for autonomous congregations free from government interference or hierarchical polity.[1]

Missionary groups generally and the Baptist mission in particular were born from a background of the desire to multiply in accordance with the Biblical edict of Matthew 28: 19-20, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”. The history of the Baptist mission in Cameroon is inextricably linked to the narrative of the abolition of slave trade in the entire British Empire.[2]

 It cannot be denied that colonialism aided missionary work in Africa. Colonial administrators occasionally, rendered much help and even security to missionaries. Colonial image of the missionary enterprise actually affected the reception of the gospel message by the African. Even though missionaries came with the good intention to evangelize Africa, the timing was bad. Missionaries came into Africa along with colonial administrators and traders with the plan to introduce Christianity, commerce and civilization. African scholars have replaced the word “civilization” with “colonization”[3].

More precisely, the establishment of the Baptist mission in Cameroon was a congenital aspiration of some emancipated slaves from Jamaica who pressed for an evangelical mission to return to their African home land, In fact, most of these slaves had been converted into Christianity by the Protestant Baptist Denomination. Consequently, they requested the London Baptist Missionary Society (LBMS) to give the light of life to that ‘Dark Continent’, and to atone for the crimes that English greed had for centuries committed, by proclaiming in Africa itself the glad tidings of a Divine liberty front high[4]

The Baptist work grew rapidly from the mid-1840s to 1850, when the Baptist Missionary Society was active both on Fernando Po and in the schools and churches on the Cameroon mainland. After 1850 the work leveled off. However, during the growth period in the late 1840s a pattern of missionary work itself and of missionary influences on African society developed. Essentially the Baptist missionary endeavors centered on the following efforts: learning the indigenous languages, evangelizing the local populations, translating religious text[5] into the vernacular, teaching literature in the vernacular to Africans, and establishing churches.

Much of this activity stemmed from the importance placed by Protestants on a literate population which could read and study Scripture for themselves. Thus mission schools provided the essential function of training African congregations with indigenous leadership. This resulted in local congregations with a written language, literate constituents, and a body of vernacular literature. In this context schools also served a significant function in imparting secular knowledge along with religious wisdom. This dual function often resulted in those hostile to the religious message still seeking schooling for their children in the Baptist schools because of the secular training available there.[6]

 The schools on the nascent mission stations began in missionary homes and moved to the chapels, which were built to serve as schools also. Thus began day schools for area residents, as well as the advent of boarding schools for pupils living outside commuting distance. In these schools advanced classes often used the English language. In addition, missionaries conducted vernacular classes for adults in Bible study, reading, and manual skills. Wives of Missionary did much of the teaching in both day schools and adult classes.[7] One of the intentions of these initial schools was to train Cameroonians to assume teaching responsibilities in the mission schools in order that the missionaries could devote more time to supervision, construction, evangelization, and station management. Thus from the mission perspective the schools served the important function of preparing an indigenous teaching force. This was deemed necessary for a variety of reasons in the development of the local church and society. The difficult living and working conditions in Cameroon provided a significant personal concern for the health of the missionaries as well as a continual preoccupation.

These situations included a debilitating physical environment, high missionary work loads, chronic fevers and dysentery, and continuous financial shortages. As a result, by 1850, no Baptist missionaries remained in Cameroon, since they had either died or returned to Britain or Jamaica. The important consequence of this decrease of the missionary forces was that the Cameroonians who were associated with these early mission stations assumed responsibility for the functioning of their churches and schools.[8]

However, the activities of churches that resulted from the ecclesiastical colonial mould failed to correspond with the boundaries of the national state. Denominational boundaries often followed regional and ethnic frontiers. This was a legacy of the territorial policies of the nineteenth and twentieth century mission boards. For example, the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon which gained autonomy from the Basel Mission in 1957 limited its activities only in West Cameroon. Similarly, the Cameroon Baptist Convention, which was established in 1954, centered its evangelical activities only in West Cameroon. On the other hand, newly created churches in the former French Cameroon like the Presbyterian Church of Cameroon and the Evangelical Church of Cameroon limited their activities in East Cameroon. In addition, there existed Catholic churches in the Anglophone and Francophone portions of Cameroon that were in no way connected.[9]

From 1935 until 1941, the German Baptist and the Cameroon Baptist mission worked together. In 1941, as a result of World War II, the Germans were asked to leave and their work was discontinued. Prior to their leaving, the North American Baptist known as the C.B.M work in Mbem and Mambilla. From 1941 to 1943, only three Baptist missionaries remain in Cameroon.[10] All the German missionaries were interned and existed. Pastor Lucas Ndichafah was appointed assistant missionary in charge of Ndu field, Robert Jam was in charge of Warwar and Rev. Stephen Nteff was in charge of Belo field. The orphaned German Baptist mission fields of Soppo, Belo and Ndu in addition to Mbem and Warwar were then the responsibility of Dr. and Mrs. G.A. Dunger and miss Laura Reddin.

The First missionary to arrive kom fondom was the catholic from the Island of Fernando Po during the reign of Fon Ngam and Njinikom was a fertile ground for evangelism. These catholic Christians who built their church in Wombong had conflict with Fon Ngam for settling in the land without permission and he was also against the fact that the Christians were converting his wives Christian faith. Meanwhile some kom natives who travelled to Soppo and Victoria to trade in colanuts or to offer their labour in German plantations got converted into the Baptist faith, and developed a burning desire to go back home and spread the word.[11]

The first Christian who arrived went straight to Songka in Bum in 1924 where he established the first Baptist in kom of the Bamenda grasfield of Cameron. Among the Christians who came in 1924 were some men in Abuh who face the same difficulty that already existed in Njinikom, they were not allow to preach in public and they had to set up small prayer groups in their private home to preach. The prayer groups grew and needed a church and a preacher, so, Pastor Robbert Nteff who had been in Fernando Po and in Tiko, opted to come and take up the duties. On his arrival, he got land from his uncle and established the first Baptist church in kom. [12]It was not easy for Pastor Nteff since he had to face the Catholics who guarded the Njinikom area jealously and would go to any extent to dissuade the Baptist from settling in Wombong. The first Baptist church was made of sticks, bamboo, and straw was actually destroyed by the catholic who equally vandalized baptismal fount. Despite of all the difficulties and conflicts church activities went on and the first Christians Baptized was Sam Chiabi and Ambongha Madelene. Thomas Yuinwe, Marcus Ndoh, Isaac Ndong, Abraham Chi and Jacob Young were some of the men who came back from Soppo as converted Baptist Christians. [13]

Conceptual framework

In order to ease the appreciation of this study, it is relevant to define the key concepts, that is, the Baptist and conflict.

Lorin L Cranford defines a Baptist as a Christian who subscribes to a theology and may belong to a church that, among other things, is committed to believer’s baptism (as opposed to infant baptism) and, with respect to church polity, favors the congregational model. The term Baptist can also describe a local church, denomination, or other group of individuals made up of individual Baptists.

To understand conflict many people have defined conflict differently according to Michael Nicholson defines conflict as an activity which takes place when individuals or groups wish to carry out mutually inconsistent acts concerning their wants, needs or obligations.

Another definition was by Montagu; he defined conflict as a condition of disharmony in an interaction process and usually occurs as a result of clash of interest between the parties involved in some form of relationship. Clash of interest could occur because either they are perusing their incompatible goals to peruse their chosen goals.

Pruitt also stated that, it was from down of human history that communities have been competing for resource controls and dominance. These competitions inevitably led individuals as well as social, political, economic and religious groups to conflict. It is true that conflict would have devastating effects and it is undesirable. However, conflict is unavoidable and it has a character of persistence in one way or another.

Statement of problem

Research Questions

To have fully place the relevant issues in this work in order, some questions as regard the problem the work was out to solve, acted as a guide,

Therefore, the questions that guided this research were thus;

1. What was Geo-historical setting of Kom where the Baptist settled?
2. What precipitated the implantation of the Baptist in Kom ?
3. What kind of conflicts has the Baptist encountered in Kom? What have been the Causes and various reactions to the Baptist Conflicts in Kom
4. What is the overall impact of the Baptist in Conflicts in Kom? politically, socially and economic impacts.

Objectives of the Study

This study examines the resurgence of the Baptist and conflict in kom in spite of the mechanism to manage and resolve the conflict.

Thus, this study set out to;

1. To institute the geo-historical and political background of kom
2. To examine the implantation and spread of the Baptist in Kom
3. To evaluate the Baptist conflicts and causes in kom 
4. To examine the impacts of the Baptist and conflict in kom looking at the socio-political and economic development of kom Fondom

              [1] The American Baptist Churches USA Website, page 1 

              [2]  Reymond  Njingti Budi “congregationalism and multiplicative church planting within the Cameroon Baptist Convention”, international invention scientific journal, vol. 4, iss.1 ((2020): p.851.

[3] Etin E. Okon, “Christian mission and colonial rule in Africa”, European scientific journal, vol.10, (June 2014): pg 206

  [4] Vemon-Jackson, “School Systems,” p. 13.

  [5] Kwast, p. 71.

   [6]Vemon-Jackson, “School Systems,” p. 20. 

              [7] ibid

 [8] ibid

[9] Micheal Kpughe Lang, “Christian churches and National Integration in Cameroon since Reunification”, International Journal and Cultural Studies, vol.4, Iss.2,(2017):p.28

[11] Samuel  S. Jam, “how the good news came to our land” (1847-1996)

[12] Ibid  p.51

[13] Ibid p. 53