Niwanke Emmanuel was a traditional title holder and a priest (to a god called yiʼa). He became exposed to the Word of God in 2014, while helping local Bible translators in Bambalang, a village in Cameroon’s North West Province.
The translators in Bambalang would often take portions of the draft Scripture in Chrambo and read them to Emmanuel. In that way, he helped test the translations to make sure they sounded natural (i.e ‘good’ Chrambo).
Touched by what he had been hearing from God’s Word, Emmanuel began attending church services in 2014. That same year, he renounced all the “privileges” he had as a traditional priest, noble and traditional title holder. In February 2018, he took the courageous step—facing possible ridicule from his peers—of making a public confession of faith through baptism into the membership of Central Baptist Church in Bambalang. He did this after faithfully being discipled for more than two years.
The former priest is now actively serving Jesus in the Bambalang church. He is also involved in distributing mother-tongue diaries, to help promote Bible translation and literacy efforts for his people.
“Even though I had heard the Word of God before,” says Emmanuel, “it had never spoken to my heart . . . as it did when I started hearing it being read to me in my mother tongue.”
LEARN MORE: Ndop Cluster Project
Change on the Plain: Word Alive, Fall 2015