ECA News & Photographs

“Let Everything That Has Breath Praise God”
written by the women of Cameroon
March 5, 2010

Purpose: Prayer and action.

The World Day of Prayer is a global ecumenical movement which brings Christians of many traditions together to observe a common day of prayer each year. Through preparation and participation in the worship service, we can come to know how our sisters of other countries, languages and cultures understand Biblical passages in their own context. We can hear their concerns and needs and can express our solidarity with them as we pray for one another. This is also an important channel and tradition for us to enrich our Christian faith and grow deeper and broader in our understanding and expression of international ecumenism.

The motto of the World Day of Prayer movement is “Informed Prayer and Prayerful Action”. Through our participation in the World Day of Prayer, we affirm that prayer and action are inseparable, and that both have immeasurable influence on the world.

(World Day of Prayer International committee)

The symbol for World Day of Prayer was developed by the women of Ireland and adopted as the international logo in 1982. Its design is made up of arrows converging from the four points of the compass, persons kneeling in prayer, the Celtic cross, and the circle, representing the world and our unity through all our diversity.

Do you want to pray and learn more about Cameroon? Click here

World Day of Prayer (March 5th, 2010) is the kick off day for prayers for the chosen country for the year. If you have not yet planned anything for March 5th, you can choose any day of the year for your congregation to pray and learn more about Cameroon. Martha Neba-Mbandi is a native of Cameroon who currently lives in Pittsburgh PA. She worked in Cameroon as nurse/epidemiologist for 21 years, and recently graduated from the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Martha will be more than happy to share her experience in Cameroon with your group.

“I know poverty because poverty was there before I was born and it has become part of life like the blood through my veins. Poverty is not going empty for a single day and getting something to eat the next day. Poverty is going empty with no hope for the future…. Poverty is watching your own children and grandchildren die in your arms but there is nothing you can do. Poverty is watching your children and grandchildren share tears in their deepest sleep. Poverty is suffering from HIV/AIDS and dying a shameful death but nobody seems to care." Poverty is when you hide your face and wish nobody could see you just because you feel less than a human being. Poverty is when you dream of bread and fish you never see in the day light. Poverty is when people accuse you and prosecute you for no fault of yours but who is there to say some for you? Poverty is when the hopes of your fathers and grandfathers just vanish within a blink of an eye. I know poverty just like I know my father's name. Poverty never sleeps. Poverty works all day and night. Poverty never takes a holiday (Retrieved on 1/18/10 from http://cozay.com)

Such poverty should have no place in our world today. It is a special kind of poverty that seems to have taken the form of an image. It is as if you can see it, smell it, feel it or even touch it. It is poverty with a “face’. Together we will eliminate such poverty by educating and equipping the next generation with the knowledge and skills they need to be fully engaged in the development of their nations. History has taught us that no nation has ever risen from poverty to riches because someone came from another country to develop them. Authentic and sustainable development can only be achieved when the indigenous people are fully engaged in the development of their nation. Therefore, the educational design and curricular structure of Emmanuel Christian Academy is based on the awareness that the most efficient way to eliminate poverty is to train the citizens of that country to be nation builders, and promoters of an authentic and sustainable economy. Those of us who are blessed have a noble responsibility to facilitate this process by providing the much needed educational/training facilities and resources. Please join us in this noble venture. Click here to donate. Thank you.

(http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_health/nut/techareas/malnutrition_chart.html) [retrieved 1/12/10])

An educated mind is the fuel that drives the commitment to fight poverty on a sustainable basis. Therefore, if we are serious about eradicating such dehumanizing poverty as described by the African lady above, we must provide an innovative system of education that will raise up a new generation of nation builders. This is the mission of Emmanuel Christian Academy.