The Life of Akoa-Mongo Kara from Africa to the United States, Maine: And a Story Covering 14 Generations of an African Family

By François Kara Akoa-Mongo

This book is an excellent tool to learn how people used to live in Central Africa around 1960 when many African countries started to become politically independent. One would learn how people lived, worked, socialized, traveled, took care of themselves when sick, the children and women contributing to the family economy, the system of education, family ties, territorial occupations, tribal relations, language formations, and settlements of the population.. He would also learn what happened from around 1954 concerning the struggles for independence, and the first leaders of African nations. One would also learn about the difficulties of going to school, getting good health care, Black and White relations, and discrimination in reverse, difficulties of making a living, Christianity, paganism, and poverty.
Concerning the United States, one will learn about problems foreigners face in the United States in order to be acclimated, and acculturated, differences in culture, eating habits, weather, language, socialization, help for the poor, the role of church, education opportunities, humanitarian and Christian love, relations between Blacks from Africa, and African Americans, between Africans living in the States and those at home, problems between those living in the States, problems of alienation of most children of the second generation of the immigrates.
This book deals with men and women issues, Christian religion, paganism, and faith in God, the love of God, and serving others as a result of what God has done in someones life.
This book is easy to read. It is good for those who would like to learn about African culture and people, the way others look at and see Americans; things to learn from each other as groups of people living in the same environment.
Young people, families, churches, schools, anthropologists, sociologists, and political scientists may use this book. These are wishes of the author,

Franois K. Akoa-Mongo

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Dec 30, 2010
• ISBN: 9781426947407

François Kara Akoa-Mongo

The Rev. François Kara Akoa-Mongo was born and grew up in Cameroon. He is the seventh child of ten born from his father, the Rev. François Akoa Abômô, and his mother, Djômô Essômba Suzanne. He is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church of Cameroon, the church he served in many qualities for many years. He taught Social Studies, and Foreign Languages ( French, Spanish, and Latin) at Washington Academy and Narraguagus High School. He also taught some classes as an Adjunct at the University of Maine at Machias. He and his wife Kathy have raised their 9 children, who live in New England. He holds the Master of Divinity, the Master of Teaching Foreign Languages, and a Doctor of Education in Social Studies. He will soon publish soon, his 150 sermons preached at Machiasport, Maine, a book of Meditation in French for married Christian couples, and a Christian Hymnbook translated into his mother’s Cameroonian dialect.

Book preview

THE LIFE OF AKOA-MONGO KARA

FROM AFRICA TO THE

UNITED STATES, MAINE,

and A Story covering 14 Generations of an

African Family

François Kara Akoa-Mongo

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© Copyright 2011 François Kara Akoa-Mongo.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ISBN: 978-1-4269-4736-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4269-4740-7 (e)

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Dedication

This book is dedicated to Uncle Simon Mballa Onana, who taught me the history of our family, and the origins of all the Enoah. Uncle Simon did not have a child, but this book is an historical document he left to the Onana Metugu family and the Enoah’s five clans: the Mvôg Akoa Mebé, Mvôg Essômba Mebé, Mvôg Ndziba,Mvôg Ndzana, and the Embouri.

My hope is that for generations to come, other historians of the Enoah’s clans, and families would write about and enrich the history of our people.

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom

and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable his judgments,

and his paths beyond tracing out!

Who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counselor?

Who has ever given to God

The God should repay him?

For from him and through him and

to him are all things.

To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Romans 11:33-36

Forward

This book is a reflection of a person, who looks back, and sees how God’s footprints have gone ahead of him for 69 years.

Part I retraces his own life from age 4 to 30, date of his first departure from Cameroon to further his education in the United States of America, in 1971

Part II covers the time he went to school in the States, the blessings of being joined in the States by his first wife and their three young children, and the way God carried him on his shoulders from 1971 to 1977

Part III, or the 10 years he spent back in Cameroon, with his American wife, and difficulties they encountered there; many deaths in the family These were the most painful years in the Akoa’s family. 1977-1987.

Part IV, the years of the Akoa-Mongo who returned to and lived in the United States for the second time. To some, it seemed that Akoa-Mongo was in exile. But for himself, the United States of America painfully became the country where he belonged. Teaching foreign languages in high schools and preaching at the First Congregational Church of Machiasport, Maine, would be his main activities for the last 23 years.

Akoa-Mongo would see his family growing, maturing, and finding herself at home in New England. Unfortunately, some problems with acculturation appeared to affect, and change his family’s unit. This would be one of the main reasons this book was written. The account of the renewal of the spiritual life of the author was one of the great personal blessings he received in the United States during that period (1987 to 2010).

Part V This section deals with personal reflections and analysis of what life is according to the author. He would examine the lives of those close to him, as well as of members of his family. Some wishes, and personal assignments would be made and set from this time to his departure from this earth. This part represents the soul of the author.

Part VI, The last section retraces the origins of the Beti people, and principally the Enoah clan. The author retraces movements of his people in the areas of between 400-mile long territories covered during their different settlements encompassing a 300 years.

The author describes in more detail the lives of his grandfather, of his father, his uncles, and aunts. His father’s biography found in this book would shed more light on what others have written concerning the Rev. Akoa Abômô. He would reproduce names of members of the 11th, 12th,and 13th generations of his family. He would also give names and dates of members of the family who have departed.

This book is an excellent tool to learn how people used to live in Central Africa around 1960 when many African countries started to become politically independent. One would learn how people lived, worked, socialized, traveled, took care of themselves when sick, the children and women contributing to the family economy, the system of education, family ties, territorial occupations, tribal relations, language formations, and settlements of the population.. He would also learn what happened from around 1954 concerning the struggles for independence, and the first leaders of African nations. One would also learn about the difficulties of going to school, getting good health care, Black and White relations, and discrimination in reverse, difficulties of making a living, Christianity, paganism, and poverty.

Concerning the United States, one will learn about problems foreigners face in the United States in order to be acclimated, and acculturated, differences in culture, eating habits, weather, language, socialization, help for the poor, the role of church, education opportunities, humanitarian and Christian love, relations between Blacks from Africa, and African Americans, between Africans living in the States and those at home, problems between those living in the States, problems of alienation of most children of the second generation of the immigrates.

This book deals with men and women issues, Christian religion, paganism, and faith in God, the love of God, and serving others as a result of what God has done in someone’s life.

This book is easy to read. It is good for those who would like to learn about African culture and people, the way others look at and see Americans; things to learn from each other as groups of people living in the same environment.

Young people, families, churches, schools, anthropologists, sociologists, and political scientists may use this book. These are wishes of the author,

François K. Akoa-Mongo

MAIN LINES OF THE BOOK

THE HISTORY OF THE ORIGINS OF THE ENOAH CLAN,

OF THE BANTU PEOPLE

OF MVENGUE, SOUTHERN PROVINCE OF CAMEROON

AND THE

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE REV. DR. FRANCOIS AKOA-MONGO,

FOLLOWED BY THE ACCOUNT AND NAMES

OF HIS ANCESTORS COVERING A PERIOD OF 300 YEARS

AND

FOURTEEN GENERATIONS.

A Treasury of Great Value for the History of Bantu People

And the five Enoah’s Families Descending from the same Ancestor

NDONG NGON

Acknowledgements

Someone said that "any creative work is in some sense indebted to every person who has had an impact on one’s life, for good or for bad". This book is the product of so many people in the past and the present, who have had and still have an impact on the author’s life, that he would go on and on to acknowledge them. But he would like to thank some of those whose lives and hearts have contributed in special ways to what he has written.

I want to give many thanks to the late Rev. Rowland Westervelt, who inspired me to write about my life when each year I received his yearly letter, which he sent for four decades to every family member and friends of his.

To my late Uncle Simon Mballa for instructing me, and creating in me the desire to put into writing for the history of the origins of my people, the Enoah, and all the accounts concerning my grandfather, my father, and the life of my family before I was born.

To Bart Brizée, an elder, and member of the church board of the First Congregational Church of Machiasport for many years, for being the person who occupied the position of my father in the church, and the one who read all my sermons and each page of this book, making all grammatical, idiomatic, and spelling corrections with love. His French, Dutch, English, German, and Spanish knowledge sharpened my vocabulary in many ways.

Last, but not least, thanks to my wife Kathy who gave me all the time I needed to sit and write and rewrite almost every sentence of this book. When she returned from her work, and I didn’t pay much attention to her, she did not complain but let me work on this document.

My gratitude, heartfelt love, and appreciation to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Contents

PART I – This First Part Of The Book Will Provide An Account Of Akoa-Mongo’s Life From Birth (1941) To The Year 1971, When He Leaves Cameroon In Order To Pursue Higher Education In The United States.

PART II – This Second Part Will Deal With The Rev. Akoa-Mongo’s Life And Higher Education In The States From 1971 To 1977, The Year He Will Return To Cameroon, His Home Country.

PART III – After Akoa-Mongo Left The States, He Went Back To His Native Country, Cameroon. He Lived And Served His Country In Many Ways (1977-1988).

PART IV – Part Four Of This Book Will Deal With The Life And Activities Of The Rev. Akoa-Mongo In The States From 1987 To 2010 When This Book Was Written.

PART V – This Fifth Part Of This Book Will Deal With Personal Reflections Concerning Certain Importants Subjects Of This Life And Social Issues.

PART VI – This Sixth Historical Section Of The Book, Even Though It Will Come To Us Through The Words Of The Rev. Dr. Francois Kara Akoa-Mongo, The Real Author Of This Section Was His Uncle, Simon Mballa Onana. He Is The One Who Instructed Him Concerning The History Of The First Ten Generations Of The Bet-Enoah.

PROLOGUE

The Rev. François Akoa-Mongo published this book at the age of 69. It may be possible that this would not close the account of his life. Many physical, emotional, and spiritual struggles he had in the past may even doubled in strength. Some may come from reactions from this book; some may come from situations mentioned in his family; some new ones may be a part of the circle of life and the time.

It is worth to mention that a person should not make himself a part of any event or season, as well as he should not try to stop the time in anyway. Events come and go, and the time cannot be stopped. What is required from us is, first to be above time and events; second, to know that events and the time are to be used in our advantage; third to use our experiences, wisdom, mind every minute, and not be guided by emotions; and fourth to always make right decisions, because any decision made determines and frames the rest of one’s life. Ecclesiastes 3:11-12 "He has everything suitable for its time; moreover, he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live." We are called to find a purpose in life, and to use events and time for our happiness and joy as long as we live, not other wise.

With everything learned, and done, Akoa-Mongo is still living in Machiasport and serving as the Pastor of that church. What is certain is that he doesn’t know what will happen when he leaves the Machiasport’s community. He has lived longer in Maschias are than in any other place in the two continents. What will happen after today is in God’s hands. What will happen to the children and grandchildren descending from him, if they will read this book; if they will maintain ties with the Cameroon, and if they will know the rest of the 0nana Metugu family living in Cameroon and those now living in the States, he doesn’t know. Will the Onana Metugu’s family in Cameroon and those who are now all over the world use the book he wrote concerning the origins of the Enoah clan in Cameroon? He doesn’t know. .

Writing this book has been an eye opener for Akoa-Mongo. The author hopes that many would profit from his experiences, his mistakes, his reasoning, his faith in God ,and his blessings in life.

PART I

This First Part Of The Book Will Provide An Account Of Akoa-Mongo’s Life From Birth (1941) To The Year 1971, When He Leaves Cameroon In Order To Pursue Higher Education In The United States.

The period from 1941 to 1971 encompasses the birth of François Akoa-Mongo, who was born in Cameroon, his family life, his education, his calling to the Christian ministry, the time he served local parishes in the Presbyterian Church of Cameroon, until he left Cameroon to pursue higher education in the United States.

Odibi-sosoli: Tell me about the birth of François Akoa-Mongo, and why is he called Akoa-Mongo?

François Akoa-Mongo was born in Cameroon, on January 2nd 1941 at the little Presbyterian Missionary Hospital of Bibia, 3 miles from the town of Lolodorf. His father and mother were François Akoa Abômô and Djômô Essômba Suzanne. The secretary at the birth certificates center, when filing papers, wrote his name as François Akoa Akoa. He did so because Akoa-Mongo was named after his father. According to Beti custom, the last names of boys who were named after their fathers were repeated. As soon as Francois Akoa Abômô received his son’s birth certificate, he crossed off the second Akoa, and wrote above it, Mongo, which means junior, following the Western culture system.

Odibi-sosoli: We have heard that names given to Bantu children at birth always have meanings. Can you tell us the significance of François Akoa-Mongo’s names?

The name François, in French, means a free man. The last name, Akoa, in Beti, means stone or rock. When Akoa-Mongo was a baby, he crawled. His babysitter, Anne Eyenga Minsi, his Uncle Simon Mballa’s wife, called him Kara. She called Akoa-Mongo Kara because he crawled with his four arms like a crab. Kara means crab in Beti. His aunt was the only one in his life to call him Kara. After her passing away, while Akoa-Mongo was learning Hebrew in the seminaries, he knew the importance of the meaning of the name. The connotation between names and their bearers had a huge impact on the lives of those individuals. (Hope the readers of this book will study the meanings of their names, and see if this is also true for them). The crab, while in the water, crawls and hides under a rock, when its life is in danger from predators. Akoa-Mongo interpreted the nickname in his life as a survivor, a crawler, and a fighter. Looking back, he believed that he reached his destinations and goals in life after going through hardships and difficult circumstances. Just as a crab, he protected himself from danger, by hiding under a rock. That rock, for him, was God. In every bad circumstance and danger, with the help of his Lord Jesus Christ, he always found his way out, getting the best from even the worst situation. From 1972, Francois, Jr. became François Kara Akoa-Mongo.

Odibi-sosoli: We have heard that, in Bantu tradition, each individual has another name that is used only on specific occasions. What about Akoa-Mongo?

The traditional name-cod, éndan, given to all the Akoa in Beti is: O bo’o môd mbeñ a yene wo abé . In English, this means: The person you help becomes your enemy. According to the Beti custom, each village has an experienced tam-tam player. In those days, paths, not roads, connected villages in all the regions of South Cameroon. Modern means of communication, such as postal services, telephone, telegraph, radio, television, local and national newspapers, were all unknown. In order to transmit urgent messages from one village to the other, they used tam-tams. As soon as one village received a message, their expert tam-tam player would start beating his instrument. The message that the skillful tam-tam player emitted, from far away, would reach its destination in a matter of minutes. This transmission was so rapid, as each expert would beat the two lids of his instrument, making sure to reproduce exactly the coded four-syllable message. By sending the following message: O bo’o môd mbeñ a yene wo abé, O bo’o môd mbeñ a yene wo abé the villages would know that the person concerned is Akoa.

Odibi-sosoli : What was the ‘station’ according to the Presbyterian Mission in Africa, and what was the name of the one where Akoa-Mongo was born?

A station, in general, was the seats of a group of missionaries in the location of certain social institutions, and of a given regional headquarter within the mission field. MacLean Station was at Bibia. The following institutions functioned within the walls of that station: An elementary school with two dormitories, one for boys, and one for girls; a hospital with warehouses and nurses’ houses; four prefab houses for missionaries; the Lay School of Theology and Dager Theological Seminary, combined in a large campus with huge multi-room dormitories for lay and theological students; finally, numerous brick houses for hundreds of employees in charge of the station’s lawns, building construction, maintenance, goods, material transportation, and heavy equipment management. More than two hundred people lived permanently in the Station of MacLean. Some 15 local parishes, with native black pastors, were scattered all over the region. A white pastor acted as the bishop of these native pastors. He would visit their parishes every 3 months in order to perform other pastoral acts that were not allowed to native pastors.

Odibi-sosoli: Tell us about François Akoa Abômô training in the Christian Ministry of the Word and the Sacraments, his service in the region of Yaoundé, and his ordination.

From 1928 to 1932, Akoa Abômô received his pastoral training at Dager Theological Seminary. He was the valedictorian of his promotion. After his installation as licentiate, from 1932 to 1940, Akoa Abômô worked side by side with the Rev. White at the parish of Djoungôlô, Yaoundé the capital. Djoungôlô was enslaved in the bushes on top of a little hill, accessible by a narrow road, going from the actual central post office of Yaoundé, passing by a tiny missionary medical clinic, the actual Cokerville parish. Miss. Cokerville was the head nurse of the missionary medical clinic. Djoungôlô was the only Presbyterian parish in the capital. Parishes under Djoungôlô station were scattered in all Yaoundé, Obala, Okôla, and Awaé administrative divisions. After 8 years of practical training and with the positive recommendation of his pastor, Akoa Abômô was ordained in the Holy Ministry by the presbyter of Corisco at Elat, Ebolowa, on December 1st 1940.

Odibi-sosoli: Tell us about the circumstance of the birth of Akoa-Mongo.

Akoa-Mongo was born nearly a month after the ordination of his father. At the meeting of his ordination, the presbyter of Corsico appointed the Rev. Akoa Abômô as a professor at the Lay School of Theology and assistant pastor of the parish of Lolodorf. The Lay School and Dager were training native preachers in the Christian ministries, within the American Protestant Mission fields, both in Cameroon and the Equatorial Guinea, the former Spanish Guinea

Odibi-sosoli: What two positions did the Rev. Akoa Abômô assume at Bibia?

From 1940 to 1945, the Rev. Dr. Good was the pastor of the parish of Lolodorf, and the Rev. François Akoa Abômô was his assistant. (This was the name of the parish, which covered at area that extended from Lamby, Evuzok toward Kribi, to the frontiers of the administrative divisions of Ebolowa, Eséka, and Mbalmayo.) Many native ministers served local parishes of that region.

Odibi-sosoli: How was the parish administration within the mission field until 1940?

Up until 1940, when Akoa Abômô was ordained in the Holy Ministry in the American Protestant Mission in Cameroon, only white missionary ministers could perform all pastoral acts. Even though native ministers were receiving appropriate training and passing all the requirements that were established by the church, and being recognized as ministers of the Word and Sacraments, they were not allowed to perform all pastoral duties according to the American Protestant Mission.

Native ministers could not be moderators of their sessions, such as baptizing children, marrying couples, giving communion, signing official papers, managing finances, or making any important decisions within their parishes. The above-mentioned acts were ascribed only to white ministers who were also heads of all stations created by the American Protestant Mission. Native ministers could preach the Gospel, visit the sick, and prepare new members to join the church.

Odibi-sosoli: How did Missionaries and Indigenous ministers share their responsibilities within the mission field until 1940?

Less than a year after Akoa Abômô arrived at Bibia, the Cameroon Synod was scheduled to meet (this was the annual meeting of all native and white ministers of the mission fields, as well as elders of parishes). A few days before the assembly meeting, Akoa Abômô planned a private meeting with Dr. Good. He was planning to introduce some important questions concerning inequality between native and white ministers’ responsibilities within the mission.

The Rev. Akoa Abômô, then licentiate at the parish of Djoungôlô, visited Dr. White’s office, and found a copy of the Constitution of The Presbyterian Church of the United States. Akoa Abômô had never heard about that document before. He took this book, read it, and asked the Rev. White to buy one for him. The original constitution was created by the Presbyterian Church of the United States, the same church that commissioned all these missionaries, working in Cameroon and in Equatorial Guinea.

When reading that constitution, the Rev. Akoa Abômô discovered that all ministers of the Word and Sacraments in all reformed churches were equal and had the same rights to perform all pastoral duties. Ministers may have different talents, and may have received different levels of education, but their attributions and duties as ministers remain the same.

Odibi-sosoli: We’ve heard about the famous letter that Akoa Abômô wrote about the work done by American missionaries. What is it about?

A few weeks before the general meeting of Cameroon Synod in Bibia, the Rev. Akoa Abômô talked to Dr. Good, the local white minister, suggesting that he would like to host a special meeting with all native ministers before the general meeting. He did not mention the subject of the meeting, but Rev. Dr. Good refused anyway. The Rev. Akoa Abômô found an alternative. The Rev. Etoundi Essam, a native of Melangué, which is a village about 10 miles away from Bibia, opened his home for the meeting that the Rev. Akoa Abômô had planned. The invitations to all native ministers of Cameroon and Equatorial regions went out without delay. All native ministers who received the invitations were at the rendezvous in Melangué, one day ahead of the general meeting of the Cameroon Synod.

At this meeting, the Rev. Akoa Abômô informed native ministers of his findings, and the source of his information. He exposed to other ministers the purpose of the meeting, and the content of the important questions that he planned to bring to the Cameroon Synod.

After long discussions of all these issues, native ministers unanimously appointed the Rev. Akoa Abômô as the scribe to write the letter to the Cameroon Synod on the matter. The following is a summary of the main objectives of that letter:

According to the constitution of the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America and the Fundamental Christian Doctrine of all Reformed Churches, all ministers ordained in the Holy Ministry of the Word and Sacraments, after receiving appropriate training, must be examined and approved by their Presbyter. After they have passed the qualified exams, they must receive ordination according to the Presbyterian constitution. Ministers ordained in all reformed churches have the same right to perform all pastoral duties.

The question that the Native Caucus brought to the Cameroon Synod was: If all native ministers serving within the American Protestant Mission in Cameroon and the Equatorial Guinea were qualified according to the Constitution, then why could they not be the complete pastors of their local parishes and perform all their pastoral duties? Why did they have to wait for the white minister of each station to come every three months to perform these duties? Could white ministers be guides and teachers of the native ministers in the field of church administration, and at the same time, continue working together as collaborators in Christ?

Odibi-sosoli: What were the two historical results of that letter written by the Rev. Akoa Abômô in his first pastoral post in Bibia?

When the general meeting of Cameroon Synod received this letter, two historical decisions were made: First, the name of the American mission changed from American Protestant Mission (MPA) to the Presbyterian American Mission. Second, from the year 1941, native ministers of the Word and Sacraments of the Presbyterian American Mission took total charge of their local parishes, performing all pastoral duties. These two important decisions within the American mission gave local autonomy to the native ministers who were serving in the Presbyterian American Mission. The Rev. François Akoa Abômô was the motor of this first local autonomy.

Odibi-sosoli: Is it true that Akoa-Abômô was also a musician?

The building that was used as the parsonage where the Rev. Akoa Abômô lived was and is still standing behind the library Underhill of the seminary. Across the road from there, was a big brick temple built around 1920. Many famous missionary pastors and professors had preached there. Names like Dr. Melvin Frazer, Dr. May, and Dr. Albert I. Good would come to mind for those who knew the history of the American Protestant Mission. Every three months, thousands of people would travel to meet at Bibia for the Holy Communion. The following reasons would bring so many for the occasion: to be baptized, to baptize their children, to meet the elders and the minister for spiritual matters, to join the membership of the church, to be disciplined for some inappropriate conduct, to be eradicated from the church role, or to be promoted as officers in the local church.

The Rev. Akoa Abômô was also the director of the parish chorus, in which his two older daughters, Myriam and Mary, were members. They often held the baby Akoa-Mongo when rehearsing. Until today, even though he left Bibia at the age of four years old, the parsonage of the Rev. Akoa Abômô still stands. Akoa-Mongo remembered some of the songs the chorus used to sing each Sunday.

Rev. Akoa Abômô translated many hymns from English into Bulu. Some of the most popular in the Presbyterian Church of Cameroon today are those he translated: It Is Well with my Soul -Nge Mvo’é Nge mevak -, Must I Go Empty Handed - Ye M’ayiane Ke Be Tate? -, Grace Greater than Our Sin - Yésus a Liti ma mvam j’adañ- Look, and Live - Ma Me Bili Mbamba Foé -, Saved, Saved -Ma Dañe Vak, Krist a Nyiia Ma -, The Blood of Christ Ransomed Me - Ke Mbamba Mvo’é a Mvam-.

Odibi-sosoli: What led Akoa Abômô to study at Princeton Theological Seminary?

The following event paved the road to Princeton for the Rev. Akoa Abômô. The Lay School of Theology and Dager Theological Seminary shared the campus, teaching facilities, and some staff members. Akoa Abômô overheard the Rev. Paul Moore, one of the professors, making false theological statements during his lectures. The Rev. Akoa Abômô began leaving his home earlier in order to take notes on the false teachings of the Rev. Moore. Doctrines that the Reverend was introducing in his class were totally different from what the Rev. Akoa Abômô learned, and what he knew to be Presbyterian and from all reformed churches. Being convinced that these teachings would destroy the church in Cameroon, after collecting enough evidences, he officially complained against the Rev. Paul Moore at the level of the Cameroon Synod. He suggested that the Rev. Paul Moore be removed from the staff of the Seminary. He sent one copy to the Board of Mission Meeting, and the other to the Synod of Cameroon.

Odibi-sosoli: Tell us about the time Akoa Abômô taught at the Lay School of Theology; what was the problem he had with the Rev. Paul Moore?

When the Board of Mission Meeting reviewed the letter that the Rev. Akoa Abômo wrote and the matter concerned, all missionaries agreed on the removal of the Rev. Paul Moore from the Seminary. Proof of his false teachings was overwhelming. But because the accuser, the Rev. François Akoa Abômô, was a native and a black minister, it wouldn’t have been right to remove the white missionary from the Seminary, and leave the accuser, the native black minister, as the professor at the Lay School of Theology. It would have been a slap in the face for all white missionaries. Therefore, the Board decided to remove both from Bibia. The Rev. Paul Moore would be sent as a missionary to Batouri Station, in East-Cameroon, and the Rev. François Akoa Abômô was posted as the pastor of Nkôl-Mbam parish, at Ambam.

Before the official pronouncement of these decisions, the Rev. Harris, who was the Director of Mission, took the Rev. François Akoa Abômô aside. After putting his arm around him, he said this to Akoa Abômô: "You are a very smart man. I love you very much. You were right in every point of all your accusations against the Rev. Paul Moore. You and Paul are going to be removed from Bibia. Don’t oppose this decision. We don’t want him, and other missionaries, to feel ashamed. I, myself, am going to send you to Princeton Theological Seminary. When you return from there, you will become one of the professors of this Seminary. Please, don’t tell this to anyone."

The Rev. Akoa Abômô told this to his wife, Suzanne Djômô Essômba, just after they had arrived at Nkôl-Mbam.

Odibi-sosoli: Could Akoa-Mongo remember anything from Bibia and Nkôl-Mbam, as he was just 4 years old then?

Akoa-Mongo remembered things that happened at Bibia and Nkôl-Mbam.He remembered people talking about Adolph Hitler and World War II, when his younger brother, Benoit Otélé Akoa, was born in 1943, when his older sister Myriam got married, and when the family left Bibia in 1945 to move to Nkôl-Mbam.

The family rented a truck belonging to a Portuguese trader named Mr. Ramiro.

He lived at Lolodorf. Eight children, five adults, and all their luggage were packed in one truck. The Rev. Akoa Abômô, his wife, the little baby Benoit, and the driver were in the cab of the truck. The rest of the family was perched over luggage on the back. Akoa-Mongo still remembered leaving Bibia late in the afternoon and driving all the way to Elat station at Ebolowa. The family spent the night at the parsonage of the Rev. Mvondo Adjam, the assistant pastor of the station. The next day, they left Elat and drove to Nkol-Mbam, their destination. Mid-way, when they reached Mvila, a big river between Ebolowa and the town of Ambam, workers were fixing the bridge. Fortunately, two big beams were still crossing the river. The Akoas arrived before they removed the beams so the workers let the driver cross the river. Mr. Ramiro crossed the river with Mrs. Akoa, the baby Benoit, and Akoa Mongo on board. The rest of the family crossed the river on foot.

After that episode, the Akoas continued their trip to Nkôl-Mbam, and by the time they reached their destination, it was night.

Days after their arrival at Nkôl-Mbam, Akoa-Mongo and his brother, Philémon, became friends with two or three boys from the local village. The first time Akoa-Mongo remembered going into deep water was at the river Medorney. Akoa-Mongo remembered his mom, Suzanne, his sisters, Myriam and Mary, and the village ladies going fishing in Medorney. Akoa-Mongo remembered his cousin, Jean-Pierre Onana, leaving them to go to Port Gentil, in Gabon. He went to look for work. Akoa-Mongo remembered his mother’s difficult childbirth of his younger sister, Suzannette. This was at the public hospital of Ambam. Akoa-Mongo remembered a huge vegetable garden that his mother and sisters cultivated in the back of their yard, with plenty of banana plantains, sugar canes, papaya trees, and manioc plants, and the abundant harvest of peanuts.

Akoa-Mongo remembered that, even though the family fenced in the garden, wild animals used to come at night and destroy the harvest before maturation, and how his mother worked hard the day after to protect it.

Odibi-sosoli: How was Akoa-Mongo’s health when growing up?

François Akoa Mongo suffered chest pains from infancy. A few weeks after they arrived at Nkôl-Mbam, his mother learned from lady friends that a famous healer was living not far away from their home. The man was invited to see the boy. He and Mrs. Akoa decided to have Akoa-Mongo’s first session of treatment on Sunday morning. They did not want Akoa-Mongo’s father to know. He was against traditional medicine. It would be on Sunday, while the Rev. Akoa Abômô would be preaching in church, that the healer could come and administer the treatment to Akoa-Mongo. The treatment consisted of putting special herbal ointment on the painful location of Akoa-Mongo’s right side. The healer had a long piece of sharpened metal that was about 3/8 inches long. He would heat it up on the fire and set it on the indicated place on the chest, while the metal was still red and very hot. Four men tightly held down Akoa-Mongo in bed. This treatment was intended to kill the animal, as the healer called it, which lived in Akoa-Mongo’s chest.

After this treatment, the traditional healer forbade Akoa-Mongo from eating crabmeat. Even though Akoa-Mongo continued to suffer chest pains for the rest of his life, he never tried to eat crabmeat again.

Sixty years later, Dr. Masaad, from Down East Medical Center, removed his gallbladder, but that surgery did not make any difference concerning Akoa-Mongo’s chest pains.

Odibi-sosoli: Was it easy for the Akoas to leave Nkôl-Mbam, and how did the entire family move to Mvengue?

Mrs. Akoa was very sad to leave behind the fruitful garden that she had worked so hard on. The family departed after seven months. Their replacement at Nkôl-Mbam was very thankful to the Akoas for giving him such a garden, which was half harvested.

When the Akoas left Nkôl-Mbam to move to Mvengue in July 1946, the baby Suzannette was a just a few months old. The day they left, Bénoit, having many friends among Ntumu boys of the village, did not want to leave with the family. He disappeared in the bush with his friends while the family was busy packing. Mr. Ramiro would come from Lolodorf, and take the Akoas to Mvengue again, as he brought them to Nkôl-Mbam.

After packing up the truck and driving about10 miles from Nkôl-Mbam, Mrs. Akoa, sitting in the cab, asked the driver to stop. She wanted to be sure that Benoit was with the rest of the family in the truck. The adults in the back of the truck felt very ashamed, because the young Benoit was missing and no one had noticed. Mr. Ramiro turned his truck around and drove back to Nkôl-Mbam.

As soon as Bénoit heard the noise of the motor, as he was now playing with his friends at the courtyard of the empty house, he ran back into the bush with his friends and hid in the field. Members of the family went all over the field, yelling, calling Benoit’s name and begging for him to come out and leave with them. When Benoit and his friends were found, he was crying, saying, I don’t want to leave my friends behind and go with you; I don’t want to go; I don’t want to go. Leave me alone; leave me with my friends; leave me here. His little friends were also crying and trying to hold him back. Bénoit was taken from them by force. These four little friends were sobbing and running after the truck until they could run no more. Bénoit cried for miles, while perched on top of the luggage held by Mary. After awhile, before anyone noticed, he stopped crying and fell asleep.

On the way to Mvengue, the family spent another night at the Rev. Mvondo Adjam’s home. His son, Boniface Mvondo, was playing piano that evening. Myriam loved playing piano as well. Both talked until late in the night. Boniface was a very nice young man.

The Akoas left Elat early in the day and drove all the way to Mbangô-Bulu. They turned right and took the road to Mvengue. They stopped five miles down the road at Abam, Mrs. Akoa’s birthplace. Akoa-Mongo’s grandmother, Mrs. Mary Ngono Essômba, brought food made of cucumber cake and pounded banana plantain. Everybody enjoyed the meal. They only stayed for a little less than half an hour. The Akoas arrived at Mvengue late in the evening.

Odibi-sosoli: Akoa Abômô was not born at Nkol-Yôp. How did that place become the family residency instead of Akôm-Si?

When François Akoa Abômô was Licentiate in Djoungôlô, just 100 miles from Mvengue, he bought himself a motorcycle. He decided to look for a home on his own near the road joining Yaoundé to Kribi. It was difficult to reach his village at Akom-si. Once he reached Mvengue,