Yambetta of Cameroon

The Yambetta community are of Bantu descent. Primarily farmers, they cultivate cocoa and raise a variety of domesticated animals in a varied landscape that includes both savannah and forest. Yambetta villages have little access to health facilities. People often resort to traditional cures through animistic practices. Adults encourage young boys to experiment sexually to assure their virility. They also push adolescent girls into sexual activity before marriage to demonstrate fertility. These practices are spreading sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Roman Catholic missionaries brought Christianity to the Yambetta area almost a century ago, and Catholicism is still the dominant religion. A few Protestant denominations are also active in the region.

  • Pray for Leonard Bolioki, the team’s most experienced translator and Lazare Mandong, another team member. Pray for them to locate and train at least one more translator from one of the Protestant churches in the area.

  • Thank the Lord that SIL Cameroon has assigned a consultant to the project as well.

  • Pray that when the Yambetta people get God’s Word and understand Scripture in their mother tongue and apply it to their lives, common practices such as sexual experimentation, adultery, polygamy and shamanism will begin to change.

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