Témoignages

“My name is Rose. When I sat down, I could not easily get back up. During the Word of God retreat in Bamenda, I experienced a deliverance. Since the great retreat, everything has been fine, to the point that I was able to kneel for more than 30 minutes during the Easter retreat, which was impossible for me before. On my return from that same retreat, I experienced a deliverance: I suffered from a pain under the left rib cage that could not be cured at the hospital for more than 10 years. At one point during the retreat, I felt something roll in my belly as if it were a child moving inside me; the movements were so palpable that I thought if I lifted my clothing I would see it move, but no! Now, this pain has partly disappeared, and I am convinced that it will go away completely with time. Thank you, Lord.”

November 21, 2016

“I am 38 years old, I am the mother of four children, a teacher by profession. The loss of my husband was one of the most painful events of my life. Raised in a family for whom Sunday Mass was obligatory, it was only natural that after my marriage I continued to go, having myself accompanied by my husband, who followed me without complaint. Only, without any explanation, we both stopped going, making brief appearances at the great feasts such as Christmas or Easter. Notions such as listening to the Word of God and reading the Bible had become completely foreign to me. My Bible had become a decoration for my filing shelf, and when I forgot to dust that spot, it would be covered with dust. Having no spiritual reference point left, I led my life as I pleased, having no account of conscience to render to anyone. That is when the black list began. My brother-in-law drowned in a river. His death, which people hastened to declare mystical, drew us into the world of witch doctors. Before the burial, which took place the next day, we had already had time to consult all the great witch doctors of the village. They were all unanimous: “He is not dead; he has been chained. If you do not react like capable men, you are going to lose him.” We did not hesitate to spend staggering sums, but to our great despair the dead man remained inert until his interment. A year after this event, both of my husband's feet began to swell. The idea of going to consult a doctor did not cross our minds for a moment; obviously we had to run to a witch doctor. “You crossed a remedy that was not meant for you, otherwise you would already be dead; the ‘son’ was cast upon you,” and so on. We had to pour out at that place 100,000 francs and a large goat for the protective charm. This treatment changed nothing. We went from healer to healer, and my husband grew less and less well. Everywhere they tried to convince us that this was not a case that could be solved at the hospital. Yet, the one time we finally decided to take him to the hospital, after the tests, we discovered that he had cancer. We continued to bring the witch doctors discreetly to the hospital. And undoing the dressing done by the nurses, they would redo their own in their own way. We could not imagine an outcome without the unparalleled help of the witch doctors. They took advantage of our already largely shattered morale to ruin us. But what would we not have given for my husband to survive? Meanwhile he was transferred to the Laquintinie Hospital in Douala, Cameroon. His cancer had spread throughout his body. The doctors did not judge it useful to admit him. He would go to the hospital for treatment. This life in the neighbourhood created even greater disorder with the consultation of the witch doctors who came to see him; sometimes there were two a day, and there were times when they did not even hesitate to squabble among themselves, each considering himself the strongest. It was in these deplorable and how bitter conditions that my husband died. I felt deceived, humiliated, mocked, plundered, ruined by the witch doctors. Until the very end my hope had rested only in them. I had been certain of their power to save my husband. The money spent at the hospital did not amount to a quarter of what I had given them. I found myself riddled with debts, dreading the gaze of my creditors. I felt a surge of hatred come over me for the witch doctors; I judged them responsible for my downfall. When my mother tried to convince me to go and consult yet another witch doctor whom she knew and whose praises were sung everywhere, I violently opposed it. She resolved to go alone, persuaded that I was losing “my chance.” Later she confessed to me that she had been swindled by him. As for me, I no longer knew what to do with my life; having drifted away from my God long ago, I no longer knew how to address Him, especially after all the blunders of my life. Yet I began to read spiritual books such as “The Power of Praise,” which reinvigorated my spiritual interest. Invited to a Word of God retreat, I was overwhelmed by the songs, which seemed to express my soul and reveal it. The song “Be converted, it is not too late” was like a spark within me. I decided to grow in my relationship with God, and to help others to go and meet Him. The sacraments became a source of great consolation for me. I was healed of my hatred of the witch doctors; today I pray for them, so that they too may be enlightened by the Light of Jesus. Whatever the storms of my life, I know today that everything depends on God, and that He is the only Almighty.”

November 21, 2016

“1. I am an agronomist by training. I have been married for 3 years, 2 months and 6 days before God and men. We have 2 children; a girl and a boy. Before getting married, the dreams of happiness I had regarding my partner's good conduct were the following: - A woman who is educated, submissive, gentle and composed; - A hardworking woman; - A woman who would be able to satisfy my libidinal instincts, available at any time. 2. During the engagement, since we did not live in the same city, I liked to send her text messages and make nighttime calls because 8 minutes cost only 100 F. When I had the chance to travel to Douala, where she lived and was pursuing her studies, I did not hesitate to do so, and on those occasions we would spend whole days together in her student room chatting between us. We always liked to stay, and since it is hot in Douala, we would lie down on the floor rather than on the bed, even if nothing happened in the end. At the beginning of the marriage, I liked to give her the 'silent treatment' when I came home, since during the celebration of our wedding and after we had kissed, the celebrant argued, saying "you have the green light from now on to kiss publicly." 3. But it was not always rosy. When we went through times of trouble, in order to annoy or upset my wife, I had the habit of shutting her down every time she brought me serious matters, and especially when my pockets were empty. I know that this must make her uncomfortable because she likes to be listened to. Sometimes, I come home after nightfall when we are in disagreement, and this is to amplify her annoyance, because she likes to see me at her side at all times and before nightfall. 4. What allowed me to understand that I had to love her more and according to God's plan, and to grow in my love for her, is the fact that through the exercises of the Word of God prayer sheet, I discovered that getting angry was a sin, and therefore it was I who led her to be in disagreement with Christ. And moreover, I gain nothing by making her suffer, for during moments of tension in our marriage, it is love that deteriorates and does us more harm than good. 5. What I do to please her: at least once a month, I take her to eat grilled pork, preferably with hot bread from the Boulangerie la Grâce, which she loves so much. I also accompany her to do her shopping without asking questions and without becoming impatient. When I am available, wherever she goes in the city I accompany her. Just recently, I discovered that she liked to go for walks, and since then, as soon as I find free time on Sundays, I do not hesitate to take her to discover the different neighborhoods of the city. Knowing that she likes to eat hot bread, when I have the chance to buy some in the evening on my way home from work I always do. To love her even more, every morning when I can, I either wash the diapers and other clothes, both the baby's and our own, or I get the child ready along with his school snack, and I bathe the baby and dress him. And this has been so ever since we had children. To always love her, I accompany her every Thursday to the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament because she likes it when we go there together, as well as to Masses, and we must sit together. 6. As no work can be done without difficulties, I often find myself discouraged from pleasing her when she loses control of herself by scolding and hitting the children, by leaving the house in disorder, by ruining the cooking of the meals, and above all and above all by disobeying me. To overcome these difficulties and persevere, I always pray for us, I invite her to a face-to-face confrontation for one-on-one talks in order to speak about it and clear things up. And even sometimes when it persists, I am obliged to fix what was wrong by myself to teach her a lesson. To persevere, I think about and meditate on the words of Cardinal Christian TUMI during an interview in which he invited married couples to "strive to develop and cultivate as best they can the capacity to love their partner." 7. For me, the fruits of my efforts to please my wife are manifold: she hides nothing from me, she always confides in me, gives me advice on managing our resources, on maintaining our fraternal, friendly and even professional relationships. I can say without fear of being mistaken that I am her only friend and confidant. These fruits even extend into my family, both nuclear and extended. Thus she takes care of everyone in the family, sympathizes with and shares in the difficulties of everyone around us. She always makes sure that we assist people in difficult situations as well as happy ones. Whenever I have to go to the village, she never fails to prepare a package for my mother, and she usually calls her on the phone, as well as my brothers and sisters, to greet them. In short, it is she who enlightens me on many things. 8. My dearest desire is that nothing prevent me from continuing to grow in pleasing my wife, and in my prayers I never cease to entrust this to the Lord. 9. In view of all this, I can only ask married couples to please their partner, for pleasing our wives is doing the will of God. And one should wish that their holiness may come about through our love for them.”

November 21, 2016

“I am married, a seamstress. I began to understand the need to give my life to Christ a few years before our marriage. So I kept asking God to give me a very devout husband, one who could help me to rise up again if ever I grew weak. The one I would never regret having married, very handsome, cute, and with plenty of money. It should be noted that if priests could marry, I would have asked Jesus to give me a priest for a husband. Since I dreamed of a husband very close to God, why not Saint Peter (the pope). During our engagement, I never stopped reminding him that I loved him and that I kissed him very tenderly each time we spoke on the phone, for we were not in the same city. And I told myself that once we were married, I would give myself to him whenever we both wished, and that I should be very attentive to him, always smiling, and above all prompt to serve him. This so as to express to him my sincere and true love. Unfortunately, very soon I conceived, I was ill, the pregnancy threatened me so much that I could think only of the child I was carrying. So I began to reject him, to the point that when he needed me, I would push him away, saying “I don't feel well.” After the pregnancy came the delivery. During the delivery of our first child, I had second-degree tears. So I made the effort to keep myself reserved for 8 months after the delivery before offering myself again to my husband; thus he strove to live chastity despite his pearl who was nonetheless right beside him. As a little aside, one day my husband made me angry, and to irritate him in turn, I locked the bedroom door, and he spent the night in the living room without a blanket, and the cold got to him well and good. Because I had to make him pay for it. Another time also, he irritated me to the point that I wanted to whip him, and since I could not, I went into the bedroom to take the key to his office, thinking it was the key to the motorbike, which I kept. Since it was the weekend, on Monday morning he searched so hard for it without finding it, and asked me nothing about it. Unfortunately for him that day, his boss arrived at the office first and did not find him there. He called him, and when he came to say that he could not find the office keys, his boss got seriously angry with him. In the evening, he came home very upset, and that is when he asked whether we had not seen his keys in the house. So I started to laugh and told him to check whether they were not in the bag of clothes lying on the floor. He took them while staring at me and did not know what to say. Thanks to the teachings I receive at the Word of God group, and even more to those I received last year during the specific teaching at the great retreat, which invited me to support my husband better, to take good care of him and to make as many gestures of love as possible to show him that I love him. Thus, I became more and more gentle with my dear husband. I got into the habit of calling him by his pet name “darling,” everywhere, even in front of anyone. I make the effort to keep our bed always made and the sheets clean. I make sure that the meal is well prepared, and my main concern is that he always enjoy my meals, even though he is very demanding. It should be noted that, contrary to before, I would not take the trouble to set aside my husband's meal before leaving the house in the mornings, but now I do it almost every time, since he comes home at noon when he has worked in the town. As for my underwear, I always keep it clean and attractive. I see to it that he always says his personal prayer in the morning. When I suspect he has not done it, I ask him and, if need be, remind him. When he has to travel on the weekend, I always ask him how he will manage Sunday Mass, and when he is back, I make sure whether he did it or not. When I notice that his underwear is no longer in good shape, I renew it. All of this does not happen without difficulty. There is, for example, the matter of finances. You really want to please your husband, but you find yourself without money. Sometimes I feel like getting discouraged, telling myself that it is too hard to always be seeking to please one's darling. I would say that these efforts to always please him make us very happy. We flourish sufficiently despite our limited financial means. My husband is not only my spouse, but also my confidant, so everything to me. When he is not at work, we are together. He does almost nothing without my knowing about it. Love truly reigns in our home. I know my man. I remember one time when I was complaining so much about money problems, knowing how much he earns a month, he proposed that from then on he would take his salary and hand it over to me so that I myself could manage it as I wished. I answered with a curt ‘no,' because I know inwardly that our needs and problems are always beyond his income, and when he manages it as a man he will know how to provide for our needs, and that is what he strives to do. Apart from the days when one of us is prevented or not in the town on Sundays, we always go and come back together from Mass. In my family, all those for whom I have esteem, my husband esteems just as much. As for our life of prayer, we say our family prayer together in the evening with the children. So far I would say that I have not even yet begun to love him truly as Christ and I myself would want. For that, I never stop praying and entrusting to Jesus this ardent desire to please him and to put at ease all those who visit us, so as to honor that prayer the celebrant said on the day of our wedding, which I quote: “May their home be fruitful and welcoming to all who enter it.” This prayer has remained engraved in my memory to this day, and each time I pray and ask Jesus to bless our house so that all who enter it feel happy, even if we give them nothing. So, dear brothers and sisters, we invite you to do as we do. Make small gestures of love toward your partner so that a pleasant atmosphere may reign among you, and finally to help him grow in his love for God. All who love will flourish…”

November 21, 2016

“My name is Marie, In my family we went to Mass on solemnities or great feasts, Christmas, Easter... I did not grow up with my parents; at my birth, my uncle (my mother's younger brother), out of gratitude for what my parents had done for him, decided to take me in at a year and a half. I was still breastfeeding. I grew up with them and their daughter in Yaoundé. On the occasion of a divorce, he remarried a woman from "our home village", whom my mother went to fetch in the village. That was the beginning of the descent into hell. I was six and a half. My misfortune came from the fact that my uncle (may his soul rest in peace), an agricultural engineer of the time, ran State projects; he was always travelling, very often for months. Every time he left, I was abandoned to myself; my nanny only looked after her own children. It was I who got the badly kept food that was already going mouldy, to the point where I caught amoebic dysentery that nearly cost me my life. I spent the nights beside my cousin's cradle so that, when she woke, I would rock her at once while her mother slept. The housemaid was always entitled to a temporary cessation of duties, and I had to do the bulk of the household chores. I walked to school even though there was a driver. I was eight and a half when I spent evenings and weekends outside with the neighbourhood children and only came home to sleep if I had the chance. I grew up in the street under the electricity poles. Our main activity was gathering locusts that we would go and grill at the home of one of them. In the street you had to fight to have a place and not let yourself be trampled on, so I learned and developed physical and verbal violence, hatred, resentment, lying, selfishness, etc. We were constantly fighting in the street, with weapons if need be (stick, stone, knives, nails, screwdrivers...). I rehearsed insults, alone in my room. At the same time, at school I systematically repeated every grade. After many family problems, my mother decided to take me back at 12; I was in CM1 (Year 5). Back at my parents' home in Douala, it was very difficult because my father had undertaken to set me straight. But the ground was not favourable. Old habits die hard.... I had 2 faces: at home, I played the docile and obedient child, but at school it was I who set up the appointments to fight on the grass on Fridays, either to avenge myself or to avenge my classmates. They called me firefighter. All my classmates were afraid of me… I did not love my father, I found him mean. It was then that my sister, the eldest of the family, whom I affectionately call Mamado, decided to take me in at Nkongsamba at 13 and a half. A decisive turning point had begun. The upbringing and the environment had changed considerably. A few months later, to everyone's surprise, I passed the entrance exam for Form One (sixième) at the Sainte Jeanne d'Arc college. When my results were announced, the family made the trip to the college to check, so much was I considered hopeless and good for nothing. Against all expectation, I produced nothing but good results, with a school bursary of 9,000 F for the first cycle and 10,000 F for the second cycle, in addition to the college's best award in Spanish in the first year (première/Lower Sixth). I never again knew academic failure, right up to university and to my graduation from the ENS/Yaoundé (Higher Teacher Training College), and yet my sister used many tricks and juggling acts to pay my school fees and safeguard my household. It was also during my stay in Nkongsamba that I received all my sacraments. However, I had not given up violence, to the point that while at the ENS I nearly killed my cousin, who had stood up to me, with my big pair of scissors. Fortunately, my friends who were there caught the scissors in mid-flight. I would have been in prison. I took the opportunity to remind her of all the miseries her mother had inflicted on me. It flowed like water. She cried a great deal. Violence was still my favourite dish and resentment my dessert. I gnashed my teeth a great deal when I missed the chance to do harm. I was forever making faces of displeasure...... This had repercussions in my household, with my husband and the children. I would always plug in the iron to apply it to him as soon as we had a quarrel. Knowing me, he always kept a safe distance. Another time, as I chased him with the knife, the door handle wounded him in the stomach. The scar is still there... He does not see very well with his left eye because I had poured hot pépé-soupe sauce right in his face, even though he was the one who had given it to me. Sometimes I would wait for him with the machete; when I scrape it on the cement, at the sight of the sparks he disappears very quickly and I am pleased. In the same vein, my daughter ran away at 9. I had just struck her hard with a large wooden spatula. Her fingers swelled. She told me later that as she was leaving, she kept turning round, hoping I would follow her. I did not move. She wondered whether I was really her mother. Meanwhile, my Christian life was between two large parentheses. I no longer went to church at all. After reproaches from my mother and my father, I returned to the Catholic Church, because I was already flirting with the Jehovah's Witnesses. I opted for the anticipated Saturday Masses and, much later, more regularly for the 8 a.m. Masses. The Lord was calling me progressively. That is how a sister asked me to join them for the care of the little ones, and there I was in the Holy Innocents group. This sister gave me the Word of God leaflets, which I did not read. Come on! When the group opened at Saint Louis, I arrived 2 and a half months later, after an assiduous courtship by our sister who kept praising the teachings to me. I was very moved at the first meeting. I had, so to speak, begun my deliverance. The teachings edified me greatly; every Monday evening, I called myself into question. I made my examination of conscience and in my heart, quietly, I saw how wretched I was. Because every time I read the Bible, it spoke only of mercy, tenderness, gentleness, love, etc... So I resolved to change. But deep within me, it was not always so. I now had to force myself to be gentle and to love the other. The liberation was gradual. The final phase came about following a teaching at a day of retreat. This teaching was about tenderness; what touched me was the example she gave concerning a comparative study by the sisters of 2 groups of children. Group A was raised in gentleness, tenderness, gifts and every form of affection, and the children were receptive, open, obedient, intelligent. Group B, raised in every form of brutality, ill-treatment, bullying, etc... produced poor school results; these children were introverted, of very little intelligence, unsociable and very little obedient." She ended by saying that one reaps only what one has sown". I had the impression that someone had told her about my childhood. Fortunately, those around me noticed my development. Some time ago, my daughter got a bad mark in mathematics. She told me, all trembling, certain that I was going to "plunder" her (those were my expressions). To my great surprise, we discussed her difficulties calmly and at the end I told her that whatever happens she should know that "mummy loves you." This sentence set something off in her. She became more fulfilled and more open. I am now more often surrounded by children. Last year my colleagues nicknamed me the dispenser of good humour; on entering an office, I always found a sentence or a biblical passage to give them joy and hope, especially when we have "pocket ailments" (money troubles). Several of my friends said to me: "my word, old age is handling you well", already because, faced with a situation, instead of adding oil to the fire, I now only calm things down. My husband is the one who has reaped the most fruits of the conversion. Because I have become calmer and I listen to him when he speaks. Before, when he said "A" I was already at "Z". (He even often asks me: have you nothing to say?) In return, he has become madly in love again, and the steamy love texts (love SMS) are pouring down once more. To make this concrete, on returning from the school holidays in September 2011, he himself proposed that I meet the parish priest for the formalities of our religious marriage — he who had sworn that for nothing in the world could he accept it [a reason that had nearly separated us] — there he was, committed. The wedding was celebrated on 9 December 2011 at 10 a.m. It was very moving, sober and extraordinary. There were 12 people in all, including the celebrant and the sacristan. It is now he who reminds me that I will be late for the group. Aren't you going to Church today? He knows my Mass schedule well and appreciates the company of my sisters from the group. My prayer life has changed a great deal. I pray everywhere and entrust every situation to God. I live almost all of the exercises on the leaflet. I sell the leaflets by calling out after Masses. I share the testimonies at the group. At the office I instituted the workers' prayer with Radio Veritas (the diocesan radio) on Mondays at 8:05 a.m. to entrust the working week. We also have the Jesus-breaks at midday to regain strength, especially when we are not out in the field. Since I reconnected with the body of Christ, the moment of communion is always very charged with emotion, and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is one of my favourite exercises. I always attend the day of retreat and I make an effort to greet as many people as possible and to serve. I bless the Lord every day, he who used my sisters to call me. If I have to compare the periods, I would say that I was blind and now I am one-eyed. At this very hour, I want to speak like the apostle Paul: "Nothing can separate me from the love of God"… I encourage us to do good and to be gentle and tender. Does the Word of God not say « Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth » Mt 5:4: [I pray to forgive my nanny] May the Lord grant me this grace. My brothers and sisters, we have held on well, so let us not give up. Union of Prayer”

November 21, 2016

“A young mathematics student who, despite her tight schedule, nevertheless manages to grow in her intimacy with Jesus, by reading the Bible a great deal, the lives of the saints, by going regularly to the adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, always taking part in the rehearsals for the on-stage evangelization and the decoration. These sacrifices for the group's activities draw mockery from her classmates, but she holds firm, to the point of sacrificing taxi money for the benefit of the group's activities. What is more, she preferred to come to the Lenten retreat in Douala instead of using that money to buy her clothes.”

November 21, 2016

“Hello everyone, my name is Carine Yonga. I live in Nice in the South of France. This year, the feast of Christmas is placed for me under the sign of thanksgiving. Yes, thanksgiving for all the blessings received from God, for the many successes and above all for his constant protection over my life. Years ago, I did not really know how to prepare for the feast of Christmas and how to live the season of Advent. I noticed that during this liturgical season there was no longer a Gloria at Mass and that the liturgical color was violet, as during Lent. When young, we had learned this hymn "O come, Emmanuel, come among us, come and save us" and other hymns as well that gave rhythm to this liturgical season in the parishes in Cameroon. Although I was a member of the Word of God group, I maintained a rather routine life at the personal level in every respect during this season. Once I had left Cameroon, I no longer have an exact memory of how I lived my first seasons of Advent. One thing I do remember, however, is finding myself one day at the Galeries Lafayette as Christmas approached. I did not have much money and I was certainly looking for small gifts... The lady in front of me at the checkout put through her purchases and paid for them directly with her credit card for more than 2000 euros! My eyes widened. 2000 Euros, just for Christmas shopping; the automatic CFA converter starting up in my brain confirmed to me that the purchases exceeded one million CFA francs. It shocked me but also made me reflect on the feast of Christmas. Statistics say that the French will spend on average 512 euros per household for the Christmas feast this year, not counting the gifts perhaps. The first gift that I can give to Jesus but also to those I love is indeed to prepare well for his COMING, for Advent comes from the Latin "adventus" which means COMING. This is how, for about 3 years now, the novena for the difficulties of the members of the group is the first event that helps me enter into Advent. This year I tried to apply myself to it as best I could, to pray for others but also for myself. It was a way for me to begin "to prepare the way of the Lord" Luke 3:10-11. I was also very happy when brother Henri spoke about the nativity scene. For several years now I have been preparing a nativity scene for Christmas. At first it was to break with the solitude and the distance from my family during Christmas. Now the nativity scene is much more for me. It is an icon and a source of warmth in the house during Christmas. It is as if I had the chance to be visited by Jesus in his complete humility. It is also an invitation to adore him like the Magi: "we have seen his star in the East and have come to adore him" Mt 2:2. In general there is always a lot of coming and going at home during that period. The nativity scene, replacing the traditional Christmas tree, is also a testimony of my Christian faith in the sense that it can be the starting point or the occasion to speak of God to a non-Christian friend who is visiting. Christmas is the feast of Lights; during Advent, all the lights are hung up little by little in the city. I really like the Christmas decorations, but the true light that gives meaning to all these worldly lights is indeed Jesus! He says it himself: "I am the light of the world; whoever follows me does not walk in the night..." John 8:12. During this time of Advent it is an invitation for me to drive out the darkness in my life and to fall back into step with Jesus, notably in intimate prayer but also in the adoration that I have often neglected recently. I also met with my priest for confession and I am awaiting his appointment. I often talk a lot and I can hurt people inadvertently. I realize it afterwards but each time it is too late. I am not always very calm at the wheel and sometimes I get angry or let out an insult at a driver who does foolish things on the road. An exercise that I am living during this time of Advent, in order to receive an interior light and to be able to share it on Christmas Day, is truly to hold my tongue and to speak only measured and considered words. It is an exercise that costs me a great deal and I sometimes am not very proud in the evening when reviewing my day, but I also see the work of the Holy Spirit who is progressively shaping me. "Produce the acts that show that you have changed your behavior" Mt 3:8. When the disciples received John's baptism and asked him what should be done, John answered them, "let whoever has two tunics share with the one who has none." Luke 3:11. To live out love, I planned a few acts to carry out by giving my time and my money. To please Jesus and to live out Love, I am going to contribute financially to the shopping and go cook at the soup kitchen a few days before Christmas. It will be the Christmas meal for the homeless. They are expecting hundreds of people and need volunteers. Also, on Christmas evening my little family and I will join the parish meal where we have invited all the people of the neighborhood (elderly or not) who are alone and those who sleep in the street. I also do not hesitate to make small spontaneous gestures of love and also to be love in my prayer, notably by interceding even more for the brothers and sisters and for the Church in distress (Iraq, for example). Another important point is the intensifying of the living out of the exercises on the prayer sheet. Thanks to a testimony on the tithe, I also understood that it is important to be up to date in one's contributions during this time of Advent. At this very moment I am striving to gather together my debts toward the Lord, whether it be the church offering or my contributions to the group. As my Bible is growing old, I have also planned, thanks to my tithe, to obtain the ecumenical TOB Bible, 2010 version, which has just been published with the additional books of the Orthodox Church. Christmas will certainly be a very beautiful feast this year. I bless the Lord for inviting me to this feast, but I do not forget his mother Mary whom I pray to regularly and whose intercession is precious to me. Thank you Mother Mary for giving us your son who comes to dwell with us. As Isaiah once did to King Ahaz, the Lord gives us a sign in this time of Advent: "If you do not believe, you will not stand firm... Behold, the virgin is with child and will bring into the world a son. Emmanuel: 'God with Us'" Isaiah 7:9, 14. Merry Christmas in advance to all!”

November 21, 2016

“A young teacher who had been assigned to a secondary school about 35 minutes from Yaoundé (Cameroon) was experiencing enormous difficulties in view of the salary conditions (very low), the commute, and even the teaching itself. All of this disgusted him, and so he became often absent; handing in the marked assignments late; no longer wanting to teach at all or to make a career of it. Fortunately, during a retreat day, on a third Sunday, during spiritual accompaniment, he understood that God was calling him to do his work well in his school. He resolved to change and thus became diligent while delivering his classes well, to the point of being appreciated by his pupils. Moreover, he no longer hides his Christian identity, and he speaks of God to his colleagues. This diligence and the results of his pupils earned him the award for the third best teacher of the year.”

November 21, 2016

“My name is Jacques, married and father of 07 children, a businessman in Bafoussam, an active member 1 of the Word of God Group. I come from a Christian family, but one that practiced little; because of that, I received only Baptism at the age of 2. And ever since then, because I was never guided by my godfather, I knew everyone except God, since those around me had plunged me into a spiritual slumber; and besides, it was known by all that going to Church meant becoming a Jehovah's Witness, which is nothing but a practice of witchcraft. I left my parents at the age of 6 to live with my grandmother, and I had the habit of fixing my eyes on something that pleased me so that it would disappear a short time later. A widow, my grandmother received from all sides the provisions for her upkeep, among which were: whisky, grenadine syrup, smoked or fresh meat, and many other irresistible things. Each time she swallowed her gulp of whisky, I would keep asking her what it was, and she would answer that it was a tonic for the bones, and as for the syrup, she told me that it was to increase the blood. As for me, knowing that I too had bones and blood, I kept doing the same as she did in her absence. Once in secondary school, this time living with one of my elder brothers, I would hear him open a safe in his wardrobe to take out money; in his absence, I too helped myself, but only in very small amounts so as not to attract his attention; sometimes I even came back to put the rest back, especially when I had taken up to 5,000 francs. It was difficult for him to notice my taking, because I was an obedient child and, according to him, intelligent at school. I sometimes used the greater part of this money to bribe the children of our teachers so that they would slip out my exam paper from among those of my classmates and give it to me, so that I could redo it more correctly and cleanly and get the best grade. Among other misdeeds in the same vein, I remember one of the probatoire examination where, because we were absorbed in copying out an exam paper bought in advance (contraband) in relation to the exam, we almost did not sit the exam, since we came late. In my professional life, I dealt with people selling food products such as powdered milk, powdered sugar, and many others. Here is the mixture I made to maximize my profit at extraordinary percentages: To obtain 4 kg of milk, I made a mixture of 3 kg of sugar, the kilo of which cost 400 francs, carefully ground at the mill, + 1 kg of milk, of which one kilo cost 2,500 francs (this mixture immediately gave me 4 kilos of milk, which I sold for 10,000 francs, and the customers appreciated it so much for their morning coffee). There is another pastry ingredient called Saccharin (resembling cooking salt); to obtain a large quantity, the mixture was made with salt, and truly there, that was the final stage of profit (1000% profit). As for rice in the sack, I used a probe to reduce each sack by at least 2 kg in order to reconstitute a new sack. Once, when I bought an electric machine for making ice cream cones, I noticed that it consumed an enormous amount of energy; I did not delay in making a new fraudulent installation with the complicity of an agent; the real bill that I should have paid, close to 200,000 francs, came to only 15,000 francs. After this agent left, I betrayed myself, because, not being at peace, I had to bribe the new meter reader. I was fined 6,000,000 francs and had several weeks of power cut-off, not to mention the 200,000 francs that night so that they would not handcuff me in front of my children. As a result of all this, I nearly lost my sight while trying to locate a fault in my installation; I had to short-circuit two phases of current, which caused very violent sparks to burst forth and threw me off my ladder; I only regained normal sight 30 minutes later. Another day again, I was very violently electrocuted and remained unconscious for a while. I sometimes kept watch around my meter when rumor announced an inspection in the neighborhood. Sometimes, a few steps from my house on the way to the market, seeing a company vehicle simply pass by, I would turn back, always believing that it was me they had come to find. This haunted me so much that, being at home, certain rumblings of vehicles made me believe they were there. So stressed, I had the impression that everyone around me was aware of my fraud. Always ready to give an incentive to an agent passing through the neighborhood. It must be noted that all this ill-gotten money pushed me to go to nightclubs, to sleep away from home. I had become proud, boastful. Once I joined the Word of God Group, I listened attentively to the unfortunate consequences of sins such as theft, adultery, etc. That day, the teaching demonstrated that every sin committed is a dagger in the heart of Jesus, and this gave me a certain image of that child who, at the age of reason, energetically denies his biological father. The testimony helped me understand that everything we do wrong on earth and do not confess ends up catching up with us. That what is built on the basis of falsehood is destined to harm us, to vanish, and obviously to distance us from God; this challenged me greatly, since I was a victim of it. Nowadays, I have experienced Jesus, and He is effective, for through prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, I ask Him for everything I want and He answers my prayer, even if it takes a long time. When I face an opportunity that I could win by cheating, I picture to my mind the image of Jesus looking at me and shaking His head; I become afraid and I refrain; I now take pleasure in doing difficult, dirty work when it is necessary. For some time now I have avoided undertaking anything at all without praying. Ever since I accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, «nguémé» (hardship) plays tough with me, but I am spiritually rich, filled with many graces. My heart keeps its 75 beats per minute. I lead a peaceful life, although those who used to call me «PRESIDENT» have kept their distance. When I have an errand to run and I have nothing to transport in my car from there, I park it and take the motorbike. At home, there are no more leftovers of food littering the corners of the living room as in the past. The children no longer leave the lights on carelessly. My wife and I now operate with a budget drawn up beforehand at the beginning of each month. This «galaire» (hardship) that I face does not, however, mean that the opportunities for theft or cheating do not haunt me. In fact, to pay off the debt of 6,000,000 that I mentioned above, I had resorted to another technique of stealing energy that only God and I mastered, and the inspectors were no longer up to detecting it, until I renounced it. But today, although capable, I no longer want to do it. All this makes me a model at the market; many of my customers are satisfied (truly this time) with my products, and some sometimes call me to congratulate me. Many of my competitors imitate me in my way of working. It is since the day I decided to stop falsehood in my life that my smile came back, that I began to organize myself for my projects, that I had time to talk with my little family. I have become stricter with expenses. It must be admitted that making the resolution to throw off old habits is no easy thing, but as a saying goes, «Where there is a will, there is a way.» There is no point in cluttering one's mind with plans of theft that profit us nothing. Christian or pagan, stealing edifies you in nothing; on the contrary, on the level of physical and spiritual health, you are the loser. I realized that the life of cheating I was leading had instead held me back and sunk me down, and as the Word of God so rightly says, a house built on rock is more resistant to the slightest wind than one built on sand. Let us try to walk in uprightness, for in doing so, the happiness that God offers us is more eternal than that acquired through the easy life. Amen! Jacques”

November 21, 2016

“My name is Doriane Dongmo Awoupe, I am the eldest of a family of 6 children and have been an orphan for 11 years; wife of Joachim Paulin Choungmo since 2009 and mother of Christ Eythan Choungmo, who is currently 10 months old. I am in my second year of Biotechnology at the University of Fulda in Germany. I had the good fortune to be born into a Christian family, which is why at the age of 13 I received the sacraments of baptism and first communion, and 2 years later that of confirmation. Without always knowing what these sacraments were for, I kept growing up in my ignorance until 2008, when I took part for the first time in a retreat of the Word of God group; at that moment everything changed in my life. I became the person most trusted in the family. Until in 2009, after my premarital examinations, I realized that I was carrying within me a Myoma (a kind of ball that grows in the belly) which, for the doctors, posed no danger to me, but which became a source of problems after my delivery in 2011. Three months after giving birth I began to have severe pain in my belly at the hospital. The doctors asked me to stop breastfeeding and put me through certain therapies which revealed in the end that the Myoma had begun to grow and enlarge, which was not happening before the delivery, and at that point my belly began to swell. I went from doctor to doctor and no one told me what I should do. The last doctor I met in Germany told me that the Myoma was already 7.6 cm and that it was only growing, so I had to decide: either have surgery and lose a fallopian tube, or stop my studies to speed up the therapies and have a chance of being relieved one day, because for them a cure was almost impossible except through surgery. And there he transferred me to France because, as he said, the illness must be much more linked to skin color; and he did not have enough experience with Black women. So I went to France. On my first day of therapy in France the doctor was very scandalized when I told him that since I had stopped breastfeeding I had not had the return of my cycle. He told me that this was not normal and that I had to decide quickly: either have surgery or stay to follow special therapies to try to remove the Myoma. I was confused because I no longer even knew what to do. And since the Lourdes Word of God retreat was approaching, I asked the doctor to give me an appointment in 10 days, so that I could reflect and above all prepare myself financially. I had a great deal of difficulty getting to the retreat because I had already spent all my savings, and my husband had asked me to choose whether I wanted to be treated or to go to the great retreat. Seeing my determination to go to the retreat, he no longer wanted to say anything about it. I entrusted this to the Lord, asking him to guide me in my choice, and I decided to go to the retreat. My first concern was to give thanks to God for all he had done in my life; to entrust my family and my home to the Lord, and afterward to present my illness to the Virgin Mary later at Lourdes. But I was surprised that after the first teaching I felt touched, light, and I realized that my cycle had just resumed, exactly 9 months after the delivery. I was overjoyed! As if that were not enough, 2 days later, while we were doing the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, I felt pressures (3) at the exact spot where I had the Myoma in my belly. I had pain for a few moments but I rejoiced a few minutes later, for I understood that the Lord was there and that he had visited me at the place where I least expected it. The Lord is wonderful! Upon our arrival at Lourdes, at the place of Mary’s apparitions, I named the day ‘Day of thanksgiving’ and I therefore spent the day giving thanks to GOD through Mary that day. I left Belloc, the monastery where we were holding the retreat, with tears in my eyes in the hope of returning there one day. Back in France, where I was being followed by the doctors, I kept my appointment at the hospital, and according to the results of the scan I received under the escort of 2 head doctors and 2 gynecologists, the Myoma currently measures 1.7 cm, whereas 10 days earlier the same Myoma measured 7.6 cm. What a marvel, for it is smaller than before I gave birth 3 years ago! The gynecologist told me that this is not possible; that they could not explain this result. And that perhaps it must be due to my diet over these last 10 days. They even proposed that I explain to them the conditions in which I had been living these days. I simply answered that I had taken a trip to paradise, but when I began to explain, they refused to believe me. I will give infinite thanks to God for this healing. For my husband, I have become another person. He tells me that he has the impression that the Lord lives in me, and for that reason my wishes must be commands. He is filled with joy every day. He lives and shares the exercises of the sheet with me; he reminds me as soon as it is time for prayer, he who took so little interest in the Word of God just a few days ago. I requested a Mass of thanksgiving to thank the Lord for my healing, and I made a novena to Mary so that she might intercede with her son for all those who suffer from this illness. Thank you Lord! Doriane Choungmo (Germany)”

November 21, 2016

“I was baptised 5 days after my birth. I received first communion at 13 and I was confirmed at 20. After confirmation, I lost the zeal I had for the Church. I became very irregular at church and I lived on the margins of God's commandments. It was when I was about to celebrate my marriage in church that I reconnected with the Church, thanks to the marriage preparation doctrine that I had followed for 3 months. But curiously, after the wedding, I fell back into sin. I still lived like a bachelor. My behaviour did not at all reflect that of a married man. I spent wildly on alcohol, women and other frivolities. I got into debt at social gatherings to satisfy my personal desires. When I came home late, I tried to create a situation to justify myself: I would frown, I would grumble to keep my wife from questioning me, I did everything to change the subject. All the neighbours easily recognised the noise I made when I came in. I slept very late and I also woke up very late. As a result, I always arrived at work very late, and I put my patients ill at ease as they waited a long time on the bench, though they were suffering greatly. When the patients reproached me for my lateness, I would verbally abuse them and tell them not to pay my salary at the end of the month, or to write to the Ministry of Finance to have it suspended. At the time I earned 50,000 F. I had to tell my wife about this small salary, but when the salary underwent a slight increase of 30%, I went up to 95,000 F, yet I kept quiet so that she would not find out. Even though she had followed the journalists' comments about the salary increase, I did everything to deny it. Despite my wife's reproaches about my nocturnal outings and my late returns, nothing in me changed. I had already fixed it in my mind that a woman I had married could not dictate my conduct. I was a dictator at home, I never listened to my wife's advice. This is how a friend proposed a fraudulent deal to me, and I took out several hundred thousand to give to him, and the deal failed, and this against my wife's will. And I lost all that money. In my leisure time, I came to know some very bad companions, very unfaithful men, practically controlled by alcohol, and these men gave me very bad advice. I was almost seduced by these friends to the point of entering into their disorderly ways. I had become, at one point, unbearable. I pushed my disorderly conduct so far that Sundays became my favourite days for meeting up, completely forgetting Mass. I no longer fulfilled my duties at home, including the conjugal duty, and that is where the real problems began. My wife, in turn, became more and more stubborn. She no longer respected me. Sometimes we would even come to exchanging blows. Things went from bad to worse, and my lateness at home became chronic. One night, very late, I was assaulted near the house, but I hid this incident from my wife; it frightened me, and from then on I came home around 10 PM. Some time later, I lost a close friend, who died of AIDS; this cooled me down and somewhat broke my momentum of delinquency. One Sunday, a young sister who was passing by the house dragged me to church. It was on coming out of church that I met a friend, a member of the Word of God group, who told me about the group. He later came to find me at home with a prayer sheet to explain to me the charism of this movement, and at the same time invited me to the weekly meeting. I went to the group from time to time, and some friends around me discouraged me, including my wife, who continued to believe that I was a hypocrite. I followed the teachings somewhat indifferently, but over time, the teachings and the testimonies of some and others edified me. I tried to read the Bible and made efforts to do the exercises on the sheet daily, and I tried as much as possible to put these words into practice. Little by little, I took part in the various retreats organised by the group; I felt within me that I was changing some of my habits, and my wife had remarked on it. And to show how truly difficult it was to come back, I took part in two great retreats before really deciding to enter into the communion of the Church. I was able to break the chains of evil that bound me. I went to confess, rather to the bishop, for I was truly in a state of grave and mortal sin, and this after 7 years of estrangement. That gave me the strength to truly reconnect with Christ. I learned to stay at home, away from disorderly friends. I gave up alcohol. I no longer leave the house without saying where I am going. I am truly close to my family. I am proud to say that I have become a faithful husband. I no longer go to work late. I take very good care of my patients and their follow-up, so much so that some of them, when I am away, prefer to go home and come back at a time when I will be present. I give prayer sheets to my colleagues and sometimes to patients. With my wife, we have opened a bank account where each of us can carry out financial transactions and give an account to the other. On Sundays, we go out together for Mass with all the children. Some friends even take me as a model and have gone so far as to recommend to their wives at home to behave like mine. I give thanks to God today for all that He has done for me. However, one is often confronted with the problems of life, but through prayer, I lay my problems before the Lord and I let Him act. We hand them over to Him in the face of very difficult situations; He is the only consoler. I am more determined than ever to live as a child of God so as to benefit from eternal life. I would like to say to all my brothers and sisters: do not harden your hearts to God's call, for I find that everything I lost when I was in disorder and sin is enormous. But today, by striving to put the Word of God into practice and to please Jesus, I can tell you that I have found the path to happiness.”

November 21, 2016

“A few years ago Papa Henri and Mama Judith Bayemi met a woman who had suffered greatly. She had spent an unfulfilling childhood between a father who was a dentist, rarely at home, and a mother who coped badly with this situation. As a teenager, she went from one disappointment to another. Her heart had such a thirst to be loved that she was very susceptible to the advances that boys made to her. But at 40, none of them had asked her to marry him; and each time, she was merely an adventure that people quickly grew tired of. Yet she would have so wished to marry, to found a home. Whenever she thought about it, her heart was torn and she wept bitterly. Finally she met a man; he seemed to love her more than the others. She gave herself to him without reserve. She invited him to live with her. They lived like this for a whole year. He did not speak of marrying her, but in the secret of her heart she hoped. It was impossible for her that he should abandon her, for this time she truly believed she would die of it. She could no longer imagine her life alone; and then one day, without her being able to hold him back, he left her. She had pleaded, brought in friends to intervene, but the decision was irrevocable; he no longer loved her, he said. She truly thought she would die of it. She no longer wanted to eat, letting herself go. At her work she was given leave; everyone thought she would never regain her psychological balance. It was called a nervous breakdown. It was then that, in the chaos of her life, in the dark night where everything seems lost, she encountered a community. She learned to realise the presence of God at her side. She learned to speak to him, to make of him a confidant, a Friend. She also learned to listen to him speaking to her in the reading of the Bible; to make silence within her to hear his gentle voice in her heart. And so, the more she discovered him, the more she fell in love with him. She knew that the One for whom her heart had been longing for so long was the bridegroom of the Song of Songs: Jesus. Her life changed completely. Her outlook on life was wholly different. From then on she applied herself only to looking at the world with the gaze of Jesus, under the maternal guidance of Mary his Mother. More than ever she felt the desire to love; only this time, to love because Jesus is Love and she wanted to please Jesus. She decided to consecrate herself entirely to him in the living out of the word and in evangelisation. Today she is more than 60 years old and she continues to serve the Lord in this community with much greater fervour and is a living testimony for all those who meet her. THE FATHER IS HERE AND AWAITS YOU IN THIS YEAR OF MERCY! Henri Bayemi”

November 21, 2016