The Urantia Book in Cameroon: Reflections from a Study Group Leader

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By Paul Tsekar, Cameroon

I would like to share my experience with discovery, sharing, and study of The Urantia Book.

In 2004 I personally came to know about The Urantia Book after becoming tired of religions and their doctrines. I had asked many questions about certain stories in the Bible, which the Pastors and Evangelists were not able to answer, so I got fed up with these religions and was looking for something more convincing.

On Google I began searching for spiritual and religious organizations. Finally I came across The Urantia Book, the website of Urantia Foundation, and later Urantia Association International. What I discovered about the book concerning God, religion, creation, Jesus, etc., caught my attention. I started reading the book, and there came into my mind the urge to share my newly discovered knowledge with others.

I then started the Cameroon Urantia Book Study Group in my house. Later there was a need to rent a suitable site for our meetings. That lasted until 2010 when I lost my job and could no longer keep the meeting site. Consequently, the group scattered.

Since then, I had been doing all I could to re-establish the group, but was without success until September 2015. At that time, with the help of Rick Lyon and some other readers, I received twelve copies of the French translation of The Urantia Book. Cameroon has two official languages: English and French. I had decided to target the French-speaking Cameroonians, so I requested the French translation of The Urantia Book. When these books arrived, I set out to meet the French-speaking people.

My habit is to visit Christian people and talk to them about Christianity, religion, and the Bible. One fateful day I visited Pastor Mvondo in his church—a branch of a Pentecostal church based in Yaounde—with one of the copies of Le Livre de Urantia. He asked me what this big book was, which led to my introduction of The Urantia Book to him.

I must say here that I believe my encounter with Pastor Mvondo was directed by higher beings that had decided to intervene in our case to solve our problem of needing a permanent site for our study. Pastor Mvondo acted with a surprising interest when I introduced the book to him, as if he had been looking for it for many years. He called a meeting of his Elders and Deacons the following week and introduced the book to them in turn. He then established a study meeting giving us a permanent site for the Cameroon Urantia Book Study Group.

Our new group has thirteen members. We meet on every Saturday of the week. Members are more interested in the Life and Teachings of Jesus, so that is what we are studying at the moment. The French-speaking members have the French books, and the English speakers have English books. One member may read aloud in French or English, and we then continue in either of the languages.

I have learned a big lesson from this experience. Our unseen friends assist in the work of spreading this good news. We should not worry about the means to do it, but we should try our best and leave the rest to faith. “When man goes in partnership with God, great things may, and do, happen.”

Cameroon Urantia Book Study Group

Cameroon Urantia Book Study Group