Baca people shown
the superior power of Jesus

By Geoffrey Stamp, freelance photojournalist

Traditional Baca dwellings in the Gabon border region. Southern Cameroon. Photo: UBS/Geoffrey Stamp (CAM01DJ-14.JPG)

DJOUM, Cameroon — One of the problems in reaching the Baca – or pygmy – people in southern Cameroon has been their nomadic culture. They are rarely in one place for very long, added to which, their ability to live deep within the rainforest and survive its dangers – poisonous insects, deadly snakes and hunting animals – has always created a problem for missionaries.

The Rev Roger Bombang, Fundraising Officer of the Bible Society of Cameroon (BSC), explained that missionaries or evangelists who came and then departed had left a legacy of misunderstanding about the basics of the Christian faith, and there was a real need for access to the Bible among the pygmy people.

Unable to read

Another of the problems, however, was that most of them had not been to school and were unable to read.

“Getting the Scriptures to the Baca and getting the Baca to understand the true meaning of the Gospel can only be resolved if we consider alternatives to print media,” he said. “We need to be thinking in terms of working with Campus Crusade for Christ with the Jesus film and using the available Baca Scriptures on audio cassette or with another communications device such as ‘Megavoice’ [a pocket-sized solar-powered audio player described in World Report 363/2] in order to reach them.”
Mr Bombang told the story of a friend who felt a strong calling to minister among the Baca people.

“Many of the villagers he encountered were suspicious. They felt exploited both by private groups and by the authorities. People had made promises that were not kept. Films had been made but these had produced nothing for the people. They remain very poor, not only scratching out a meagre existence in a forest which is becoming smaller but finding their traditional practices at odds with environmental restrictions.

“For example, whereas in the past they could kill a gorilla or chimpanzee and eat for several days, now they are told that they must not kill the gorillas. The elephants have been chased away; much of the rainforest has been torn up and turned into wood for export. Their source of food has declined sharply and not been replaced.

One person

“My friend decided that only by living with the people could he hope to understand them and eventually evangelise them. He was able to start with the one person in that area who was literate. Having become a Christian, the Baca man helped him to reach the villagers with the Gospel. After six months things were going well and he had 60 converts.

“Then he met with opposition. A local sorceress confronted him and warned him that his public baptism of converts in the river would be cursed: she would personally see to that.

“On the appointed day he led the candidates to the water’s edge and he himself entered the river first. From the riverbank he suddenly heard warning shouts. They were telling him to get out of the water immediately as there was a large snake making its way towards him.

“He turned round and began to rebuke the snake in the name of Jesus. ‘Get lost, Satan, I am doing my heavenly father’s business,’ he said, ‘and you will not stop me!’ The ripples on the surface of the water dissipated and he called to the baptismal candidates to enter the water. It took a bit of coaxing to get them into the water but finally he was able to conduct the service.

“A year and a half later the sorceress burned her fetishes, divining materials and symbols of power and made her way to the evangelist’s house. There she admitted that she had been defeated.

“‘Jesus is stronger than my powers,’ she said, and she asked the pastor to help her to become a Christian.