Funds from the South Dakota Synod helped build the roof of the Mborguene (Cameroon) Lutheran Church (photo at left). As a result of the renovation, the Protestant Hospital (above) was the only medical facility in Garoua-Boulai, Cameroon, able to provide care for injured refugees from the Central African Republic.
that’s like $200,000,” she remembered realizing. “Maybe we won’t, but maybe we will.” Larson wrote a resolution, which Fink presented to
the synod assembly in 2013. In December 2014, the fundraising goal of $200,000 was reached. Even with small off erings, everyone could do something. “I think you learn to give by giving,” Larson said. “I don’t think you can learn to give by any other way.” Jean Abissi, bishop of the North Region of the Evan-
gelical Lutheran Church in Cameroon, said, “T e faith- ful fi nd great joy in having their churches completed with the roofs. T ey are very thankful. It is a gesture of love which strengthens our relations.”
Unintended consequences “My favorite part of the church is we sometimes make decisions that just have completely unintended conse- quences,” Zellmer said. T e roof project provided an important way for mem-
bers like Fink to be in ministry with Lutherans across the globe. But the ministry didn’t stop with church roofs. It led to something bigger that helped transform the lives of thousands of refugees who arrived in Cameroon in 2013, fl eeing violence in the region. Zellmer said as the roof project grew in the synod, the
ministry began to encompass a “broader perspective” to include faith communities in Canada, Norway, France and Germany. In 2011 the church bodies made a com- mitment to remodel two hospitals: the Ngaoundere Prot- estant Hospital in northern Cameroon and the Garoua Boulai Protestant Hospital in the country’s east province near the border with the Central African Republic. T e Garoua Boulai hospital was started by Lutheran
missionaries in 1953. Sixty years later, funds from ELCA World Hunger and the South Dakota Synod helped with
‘Thank God the renovations were done, otherwise we would not [have been] able to respond to the major flux of refugees from the Central African Republic.’
hospital renovation. In 2013 the remodeled hospital cel- ebrated its 60th anniversary. “T ank God the renova-
tions were done, otherwise we would not [have been] able to respond to the major fl ux of refugees from the Central African Republic in early 2014,” said Solofo- niaina Rakotoarivelo, the hospital’s medical director. “T e Protestant hospital was the only medical facility that was able to receive the
wounded from the war [there]. We took care of both the Muslim and the Christian factions. T e infl ux of refugees continued so the hospital was saturated with both Cameroonian and refugee patients.” According to the U.N. High Commission on Refu-
gees, Cameroon hosts the largest number of Central African refugees, with the majority arriving from the Central African Republic and Nigeria. “It is amazing how God used our hospital to be the
light for those refugees. T e hospital was also the place of reconciliation of both communities, Muslim and Christian,” Rakotoarivelo said. Zellmer added, “All of that got done because we had
this idea that we would build 25 roofs. It’s the ripple eff ect. Anne Ruedisili Langdji, ELCA representative for
West Africa, said Garoua Boulai, once a town of about 12,000, is now home to a sizable refugee population. “Our assistance to the hospital came just at the right time for them as they needed to be able to respond to the needs of those people who had fl ed violence in the Central African Republic.” Etienne Nganyi, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Cameroon, said, “I am so thankful, this is work that glorifi es God. T e support encourages us … and shows the joy we share; it shows love even when we don’t see one another. It is a blessing.” Fink credits the Spirit. “I have no clue why [the
Spirit] chose me,” he said, “but to have been a part of that for me was quite important because we did something useful. It’s been an awe- some, awesome journey.”
Author bio: Hill Buchbinder is public relations and media specialist for ELCA Mission Advancement.
August 2015 35
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