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Church
contact information and statistics
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Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon
Mission work was begun in Cameroon in 1923 by Adolph Gunderson under the
Sudan mission, an independent American mission. In 1952 the Sudan Mission was taken over
by the Evangelical Lutheran Church (which later became part of The American Lutheran
Church, an ELCA predecessor). Pastor Gunderson had provided such outstanding leadership
that the mission was often called "the Gunderson mission."
The Norwegian Missionary Society came to Ngaound éré, Cameroon, in 1925. The Norwegian Mission Society and the American
Lutheran Mission have worked together closely. They established a union Lutheran hospital
as well as normal school in Ngaoundéré, and a
seminary in Meiganga. The people in the areas of these missions were largely illiterate
when the work began, and the missions provided a lot of literature as well as Bible
translations.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Cameroon and the Central African
Republic was organized in 1960, the same year that Cameroon received its political
independence. (The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Central African Republic became
independent in 1972.) There are 140,000 members in over 900 congregations of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon, served by 90 pastors, 390 evangelists, and over
500 catechists. The head of the ELCC is President Thomas Nyiwe.
The ELCC has an extensive network of educational programs: four Bible
schools, a theological seminary, a high school, 38 primary schools, a Bible correspondence
course program, and a university chaplaincy program. It has nine literacy programs and
produces translations and literature in eleven African languages, assisted by a print shop
to produce literature and book stores for distribution. The church also has eight rural
development centers. A radio studio prepares programs for broadcast from South Africa,
reaching the entire northern part of Africa with the Gospel and other programs.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon has a health department with
three major hospitals in Garoua Boulai, Ngaoubela, and Ngaound éré, three dispensaries, a dental clinic, and an eye clinic. Much more
work is needed in the area of primary health care, especially with the spread of AIDS.
Lack of clean water and adequate nutrition contribute to health problems, and both infant
mortality and maternal mortality rates are high.
The women's department is one of the most active departments in the
church. Women for Christ has many chapters in local congregations. Women receive training
in social and domestic sciences, as well as Christian fellowship and spiritual
encouragement, at two women's centers.
The ELCC is mainly present in the northern part of Cameroon, which is
predominantly Muslim. Historically, there have been many and sometimes serious tensions
between Christians and Muslims, but attitudes have started to change among members of both
faiths. The ELCC has a program for outreach among Muslims, and is seeking to develop
effective ways of relating to their Muslim neighbors, including in the areas of health and
veterinary medicine.
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