With 2,000 Seventh-day Adventists at the airport, and another 3,000 waiting at a hotel 15 miles away, Pastor Jan Paulsen could say he was truly and warmly welcomed August 14 to Yaoundé, Cameroon. He visited at the same time the church there celebrated 80
With 2,000 Seventh-day Adventists at the airport, and another 3,000 waiting at a hotel 15 miles away, Pastor Jan Paulsen could say he was truly and warmly welcomed August 14 to Yaoundé, Cameroon, for a visit marking 80 years of the church there and the recording of two “Let’s Talk” television programs, which were successfully recorded on August 17.
Forty percent of the Adventist world church membership is in Africa and Paulsen, whose missionary career began in Ghana some 40 years ago, retains a personal attraction to the continent and its people. Visiting Cameroon provides an opportunity for a tangible expression of that interest.
Following a presentation of flowers by eight-year-old Joanna Tamo, Pastor Paulsen shook hands with many in the crowd waiting for his visit. The thousands at the airport—some of whom walked more than 20 miles to reach the facility—saw Pastor Paulsen and his team depart in a caravan of nearly 200 vehicles led by a national security officer. At the hotel entrance in Yaoundé, another crowd was waiting for Pastor Paulsen. They greeted him with shouts of joy, rhythms of different dances and the sounds of drums.
A news conference—attended by over 70 reporters, more than twice the number expected—gave Pastor Paulsen and the Seventh-day Adventist Church a greatly expanded opportunity to reach Cameroon with an explanation of who Adventists are and how they contribute to society.
In response to a number of questions posed by the journalists concerning the proliferation of sects, Paulsen said, “Individuals make choices, but we need to respect each other and learn to get along and treat each other in a fair manner,” and “not to caricature, not to ridicule,” even if, he said “we may not think the same!”
Paulsen applauded Cameroon’s government for allowing freedom of worship, enabling many groups to flourish. He said, “Seventh-day Adventists have also benefited from the five-day work week, and we, as a faith community of 25 million, have a strong interest in religious liberty, globally.”
Commenting on the importance Adventists assign to education, he said, “next to the [Roman] Catholic Church, we operate the largest private education system in the world and some 40 universities are in Africa - some small, some large, but that education is good for the well-being of the community at large. Education instills integrity, honesty, nobility and can be one of the ways to fight corruption which is prevalent in many countries. Education produces good moral, law-abiding citizens.”
Paulsen was also asked about the Adventist church’s response to the refugee situation in the world. “Refugees need to feature on the agenda of the church and should provoke the conscience of the West,” he commented. “Often it is the weak, women and children, who have been adversely affected by war, famine, persecution, who seek a better life. These people need to hear the voice of the church.”
Asked about the conflicts in Africa and globally, Paulsen said, “Using weapons is an inhumane solution to situations that can be solved. There is a better way to live together and that is to co-exist rather than war.”
When quizzed about the growth of the Adventist church in Cameroon, he replied, “I am never satisfied, but want the church to be known as contributing to the betterment of the community. I am not so much interested in numbers but in the quality of life that Adventists bring to the community.”
He added, according to a report in the Cameroon Tribune newspaper, “I want the church in Cameroon to be a pro-people church. It is only then that the church effectively can be a voice for Christ when it serves people and loves people.”
Pastor Paulsen also visited some of the church’s institutions in the city including its Cameroon headquarters, the FM radio station, and offices for “It Is Written” media ministry, the college, publishing house and dental clinic.