Global Mission Stories
from ELCA Global Mission
Gospel of love reaches the Fulani
Jeynabu was often at Gauleba Hospital in central
Cameroon. Suffering from tuberculosis, she required long-term treatment and many return
visits to the hospital. And though she was a Muslim Fulani, she found herself deeply
attracted to the gospel.
 Perhaps what touched her the most was the love and care shown to her by ELCA
missionaries Barb and Charlie Bunk and Dr. Elizabeth, the Austrian doctor at the hospital.
She enjoyed the company of the Bunk children. She would bring gifts of avocados when the
visiting the Bunk home, and would listen to Christian songs at the church.
The Bunks participate in a Fulani evangelism school, which
is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cameroon's ministry among the Muslim Fulani
people. They do chaplaincy work and direct evangelism visits, in addition to Bible study
for those wanting to know more about Jesus Christ--all a ministry of relationships.
Jeynabu desperately wanted to attend the school. The
expression of Christian compassion and community she experienced had opened her to hearing
the Bible. But each time she tried to attend the school, she would get sick again.
Though Jeynabu was unable to attend the Bible school, her
illness did not stop her from being a blessing to others. The Bunks had once been robbed
during a trip. So each time they would prepare to travel again, Jeynabu would wash their
hands and bless them, and prepare food for the trip.
One year, the Bunks went on home leave to the United
States. They knew Jeynabu was in good hands with Dr. Elizabeth, who often took Jeynabu
into her own home. But upon the Bunk's return to Cameroon, they learned that Jeynabu had
died while they were gone.
 It was
tragic news and they mourned her death. But even in death, the Christian message was made
very poignant for all those around Jeynabu.
When the Fulani encounter death, it is considered a mere
end of life. They are stoic and don't talk much about it, for every tear is believed to
bring more time in a sort of purgatory. But Jeynabu's family, already touched by the
friendship the Bunks had shown her and the tears of Dr. Elizabeth at Jeynabu's death,
wanted to know more. What really is death? What is the Christian understanding of life and
death?
And then there was the wedding feast. A Gbaya Christian
man, who had known Jeynabu, had a dream before he found out about her death. (The Gbaya
are another ethnic group in Cameroon. Many in the Lutheran church are Gbaya.) In the
dream, Jeynabu was preparing for her own wedding. Though never baptized, was Jeynabu
preparing to meet Christ, the bridegroom? We may never know. But what we do know is that
God's grace through Jesus Christ was shared by Christians gently living their faith among
the Fulani people.
Copyright © 1998 Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America ELCA Global Mission
 |
|
|
© Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America | |
|
|