Partnership Jubilee Celebration Five years of Friendship
between St. Joseph Parish Djottin and St. Johannes Ap. Parish Unterliederbach
Delegation from Unterliederbach to Djottin for this Celebration :
Brigitte Henrich, Rudolf Fleckenstein and Ulf Erdmann
Airport:
he delegation from Frankfurt arrived Douala Cameroon on Sunday 2nd October 2005. The delegation was welcomed at the Douala International Airport by Rev. Fr. Daniel Ache, the Kumbo Diocesan partnership Coordinator. Unfortunately for them, not all their luggage from Air France had arrived. This meant waiting for another one day to get the luggage but nothing came. Therefore their program to go through the capital city Yaounde was cancelled. Limbe was surely a better option for our German delegation; as you could here them comment that “Limbe ist eine schoene Stadt” meaning Limbe is a beautiful town.
To Djottin:
Nevertheless, the delegation arrived Kumbo late on Tuesday 4th October 2005. The next day the delegation left for Djottin at about 3:00pm. There was a stop over at keri mission, a mission station in Mbiim Zone. There was quite a good number of Christians at the mission to welcome the visitors. After Keri, another significant stop over was made at Ngamase a new mission station of Djottin parish in the Buh area.
It should be noted that the Buh area has not been participating in the parish activities within the past 10 years due to inter tribal (the parish is made up of two different tribes; Mbiim zone and Buh area which are Lamso speaking and Djottin + Din Zones which are Noni speaking) problems between the Djottin people and the people of Djottin. Thanks to the almighty God to have encouraged Rev. Fr. Andrew Ngah (Parish Priest) to solve this problem. On arrival in Ngamase, there was a hectic welcome by the Christians of the church. The dance groups welcomed the visitors some 200m away from the church premises dancing dexterously with Peace-Plants as a sign of peace within the friendship of the two parishes.
While in Ngamse, the sign of friendship could be felt as Rudolf Fleckenstein enthusiastically greeted and thanked the people in Lamso (Language of the Nso people): ”M’sahti ven adzem, Beri ven feye” (I greet you all, thank you so much).
The delegation finally arrived Djottin at about 6:00pm and was welcomed by the Christians and the student of the Girls Vocational School (GVS) Djottin at the Djottin round about. Mr. Erdmann Ulf greeted the Christians and thanked them for their warm reception and said he was happy to back in Djottin for the second time.
Fr. Andrew then made a guided to around the mission with the visitors. While inside the parish church, Ulf remarked that there have been some changes since he last visited as he could see new paintings and drawings on the walls. At this moment there is also renovation work on the walls of the church as it had developed some serious cracks in the past years and could be quite dangerous. After dinner, the delegation vested the Franciscan Sisters in their convent. Brigitte had the privilege to stay in their convent.
Din Zone:
The Delegation participated in a Catechist meeting and a meeting with the Fons of Din at Ngiptang on the 6th October 2005. They were quite delighted to see the way Catechists and the priest are working collaboratively, especially as there is a lot of transport difficulty in the parish.
One important point that was brought up at the meeting was the agreement by all the missions in the parish to buy a Suzuki for the Parish Priest to use in moving round the parish since the old parish car was bad and costed a lot of money to repair. Most catechists reported that they have net yet met up with their targets. It was also emphasised that there most be effective teaching of doctrine by the catechists in their mission. They were advised by the Parish priest to let the catechumens understand the meaning of their doctrine well for there is going to testing on each part of the doctrine after each three months.
The meeting with the fons was the last part of the day in Din Zone. Fon Solomon Dom II was personally present while Fon Stephen Tangiri was represented by his kinsman as he was just discharged from the hospital some few days ago. The Fons were very happy to welcome the visitors and most special Fai Chefon(Ulf Erdmann) (Father of the Fon) who is coming to Din for the second time and holds a traditional title from the Din Fondom.
An important point of the meeting with the fons was the Din Water Project, which has delayed so much for the construction work to begin. A letter from the Kumbo Diocesan Social Welfare Office was read at the meeting. From the Letter, work on the water project has been scheduled as from November but the Din people still need to fulfill their financial contribution of over six million Fcfa and with the deposition of enough sand and stones at the catchment areas. The people of Din have already deposited enough sand and some stones as expected but the most difficult part remains their financial contribution. At then end of it the fons sent their special greetings to Yaah Martina Ruhs and Nforme Stefan Hecktor who could not be part of the delegation as they were wedding on the 5th October 2005. On the way back to the parish house, the delegation paid a courtesy visit to the Djottin palaces. In the palace of Fon Joeseph, he expressed a lot of joy for he could see his children in a fruitful relationship like the partnership when he is still alive. He honoured the visit to his palace with Palm Wine which is a local drink of the people produced and consumed in the locality.
Mbiim Zone:
The morning of Thursday 7th October 2005 was dedicated for Gospel sharing with St. Francis Small Christian Community. What is a Small Christian Community? As many may ask. This is a group of Christians in the quarter within a mission that meets together the share the word of God (Gospel Sharing). This is done following the seven steps method.
It was an enriching experience for the visitors. The members of the Small Christian Community were very delighted to have the visitors among themselves. They provided lunch for the visitors. The food was very nice….Chicken and rice or Rice and Chicken, Fufu and Njama-jama, Fruits and the best Palm wine.
Nursery schools (Kindergartens):
The delegation visited the two of the three nursery schools of the parish and donated some gifts to the children. The children were very happy to have presents like air-balloons and balls which could keep them busy playing. From their faces, they were all happy children.
Jubilee Mass:
The Jubilee Mass started at 9:30am with two main celebrants, Fr. Andrew and Fr. Daniel Ache the Diocesan Partnership Coordinator. The entrance procession was taken by the Samba of the Catholic Men Association in a typical African style.
Only those present at this jubilee mass can best explain the skillful dancing of the men in procession. The mass was highly attended by all the Christians from the three Zones of the parish. During the sermon, Fr. Andrew preached about fruitful friendship and it should be one in with full respect of humanity and feeling for one another. He went further to explain that all Christians should understand the meaning of partnership well and try to implement partnership at their own family levels. Notable within the mass was the presence of two fons who participated fully in the holy mass. They fons had a special offertory in church on this day. An important sign of partnership was implemented in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist as Ulf Erdmann shared Holy Communion something which the lay Christians in our parish do not do. Nevertheless, before the final blessing at the end of the mass, Briggitte Heinrich greeted the Christians in Noni language in the following words:
Kiyone no ben no ne eh Ngai, Bamti, Nkali, Ngeptang. M’jouke njong ye nsan ye se bene yene bye. M’bonle leh Nyuh feche eh bene bo yenen. Bosehwa!
This actually means; thanks so much for coming from far away places like Ngai, Bamti, Nkali and Ngeptang. I am very Happy for this our friendship and I pray that God should help us to see again. Goodbye!
After the holy mass, there were welcome speeches from the parish Pastoral Chairperson, Partnership committee chairperson and from the Parish priest. After then was a welcome song from the students of GVS Djottin.
Outside the church there were many festivities taking place like; choral music from all the cadetes of Mary from nearly all the missions around Djottin area. This was followed by traditional dances from many groups.
An interesting and embarrassing part of the celebration was the Partnership Quiz which came up and all the zones were expected to answer eight questions about partnership. Evaluating the quiz, Djottin zone was first with 7/8 points, Mbiim Zone with 6/8 points and Din zone with 5/8 points. This was followed by the award of prizes to the various zones according to merit. The occasion was crowned with exchange of presents from both partners.
by Ephriam Bam nov/2005
Es gibt 13 Stationen die unsere Delegation in Oktober 2005 durchgemacht hat.
Über das Hauptmenu der Bildergallerie können Sie die einzelnen Stationen betrachten.