It was in June,1995 when I graduated from the PROTESTANT FACULTY OF THEOLOGY IN, YAOUNDE, CAMEROON four years after I became a real pragmatic protester against corruption, injustice, oppression and corrupt tyranny in Cameroon. So, I want to state my case very clearly When history is distorted and facts twisted, truth tampered with, we defeat the essence of professionalism and the search for truth and justice. I still recall with much frustration how I was arrested by the Edina Police in the USA, 2007 and locked up on two different occasions for Protesting against racial discrimination, racial injustice and the unecessary genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Goma under the watch of missionaries! My right to the first amendment was grossly violated simply because I had the audacity to speak truth to power and protested out of my conviction and believe in the univseral principles of human rights for all victims of injustice. Growing up in Cameroon, I constantly, noticed and observed some of these top high ranking church officials and politicians preaching to me a young boy that Jesus loves us all, this they know for the bible tells us so while oppressing me in broad day light ! Then unfortunately for them, my eyes opened the day I was admitted at the PROTESTANT FACULTY OF THEOLOGY, NJOUNGOLO in Yaounde where I spent 4 years of deep theological studies and began to discover the truth! I actually entered the Protestant Faculty of Theology to learn how to Protest and after I graudated in 1995 I began my protest in 199 till date. I began to protest against injustice, oppression and corruption when I was 29 years old in Cameroon around 1999. Why did I become a Protester since I was in Cameroon till this now? It was fate that set me up to study at the celebrated " PROTESTANT FACULTY OF THEOLOGY, YAOUNDE , CAMEROON where I had the privilege to study Protestant theology and ethics for 4 years. In order words I was inspired by the name PROTESTANT because it was very relevant in the context of our oppressive Cameroon society, which badly needed some major reforms. I had to protest against corruption inside the Churches first before also focusing on the corrupt CPDM regime. So, these are the different phases of my protest beginning from 1999; I published 100 theses to reform the Protestant Presbyterian Churches in Cameroon and behold it caught fire as many Christians especially women joined the revolution and supported the vision for Church reforms. Unfortunately, they were persecuted by the corrupt officials of the Synod of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon. In spite of their resilience and determination to urge the Church officials to give me an opportunity to defend my writings, the Synod dismissed me and these women from the Church and as if that was not enough, they conspired with the CPDM regime to stop me from speaking ! Then I left and came to the United States as a Religious Missionary from Novermber 1999 and continued with my protest( free speech) up till now. Here are some facts about my continuous spirit of protests within the USA carried over from Cameroon as follows; - 2005 protest when I relaunched my protest to the Presbyterian Church ,USA involved in missionary work in Cameroon,
- 2006 protest to the White House and G-8 Summit,
- 2007 protest to the USA Presidential Candidates,
- 2008, protest to Christ Presbyterian Church, Edina, USA involved in missionary work in Goma-Congo where 45 thousand people were being killed every month at the time,
- 2009 protest to the Congress of the United States and the United States Government against the dictatorship and corrupt tyranny in Cameroon,
In fact, an endless effort of courageous protests,which have culminated into advocacy, activism and cyber revolution against the corrupt CPDM regime of Cameroon up to the fake Presidential elections held in October,2011 and beyond. This protests, which have been around for the long time and inspired others must have escaped the attention and notice of some people like the TIME MAGAZINE! History is about the study of facts and journalism is the ability to gather historical facts and analyse them through the lens of investigative truth. Let us get the facts straight about the Protester and when it all began! It is very Ironical that the top 1% corrupt elite in Cameroon who had failed to brainwsh me in grammar school into believing that our plight in Cameroon and Africa was the fault of the White West are the main hijackers of the front pews in almost all Protestant Churches in Cameroon from Yaounde, through,Douala, Bamenda, Kumba, Limbe, to Buea just to mention a few. Many of the oppressors actually believed that they , too believed in Jesus Christ and were entitled to the same grace and peace that he gives to everyone who is in a relationship with him! What I gathered from their insance rationale was that Jesus Christ would embrace both the oppressed and oppressors! Then each time I searched the holy scriptures, which the West introduced to my great grandparents, grandparents and parents, I discovered the real truth about what a Jesus Christ was really out to accomplish for the oppressed in Cameroon. When I was given the opportunity to preach from the pulpit of the elite Presbyterian Church, Bastos as a Student at the Protestant Faculty of Theology around 1994 bearly one year before I graduated, I remember that some of the folks on the front row of the pews were very uneasy with me but many of the true followers of Jesus Christ walked up to me days later and said to me, " we need you people in this church and this country, these are the kinds of Pastors we want in the Presbyterian Church and Cameroon...". These words sank into my spirit and I never looked back again till date. Through out my life time , I have been inspired by the Protestant theology of freedom and the Protestant ethics of liberation born out of liberal arts education that I have been blessed to tap into since I was in Cameroon. I insist that a virtuous and free Cameroon society must have its roots in the understanding of what God originally intended for the nation and people of Cameroon.Most importantly, I have also been galvinized by the political freedom of the United States of America ,which has energized me more than ever before, 24/7, to believe that the freedom of Cameroonians who are oppressed is very inevitable and imminent. So, now you have to realize that there is a lot going on here; - theology of freedom inspired by the old and new testament studies of the prophets and Jesus Christ ,
- ethics of liberation inspired by liberal arts education and the political freedom of the United States of America inspired by the founding fathers of the 13 colonies ,which were liberated from the colonial Britain. It means tracing back the disconnects from whence the nation was first founded by drawing from the history of free people to illuminate our conscious determination along the path to enhance this understanding about the universal principles of human dignity without ,which a way forward remains obscure and gloomy!
I believed as a young visionary citizen at the age of 29 that for Cameroon to become a virtuous and free world, the Church must first of all be reformed so that she would acquire the moral and spiritual capacity to inspire or infleunce the much needed socio-economic and political transformation that we need urgently in Cameroon. I have maintained this rare positive energy in the midst of every unpredictable storm of persecution and retaliation because it is perhaps the last chance for our survival and victory as a people under a unique multi-ethnic culture. My sincere desire has been to crave for a system of government that will honor our multi-ethnic culture and yet create a transparent condition under ,which we will function properly under the rule of laws by respecting human and civil rights as well as promoting the dignity of everyone who obeys these rules. If the church of the marginalized people of Cameroon, I mean the true people held in perpetual bondage by the CPDM regime and party is not reactivated to be the normal voice for the voiceless, then, we cannot deliver like the church in South Africa against apartheid. In order for us to be like the Church of South Africa against apartheid and become the Protestant Church of Cameroon against oppression of Cameroonians by the CPDM regime and Party we must come to terms with the contextual meaning of the story of protestantism in the light of the story of the Cameroon Church . Any church or church body that is silent over injustice and evil, oppression and enslavement of God's people is not worth its salt in society and cannot be counted as a veritable tool for witness to truth to power. To explore the whole cre story entails that we must always have a rare experience of what we see,percieve, feel and touch.It is very normal for man to explore the universe with the hope to unravel the mystery that surrounds it but we must understand that it is the work of a revolutionary God carried out in a big way out of sheer goodness and love. "31God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day"
Having said this,we should now understand why God created every other thing but realized that He had to create man( us, we including male and female, masculin and feminine) in their own image to rule over all other creatures. This is very awesome because God on His freewill and infinite providential power decided to empower us with the earthly opportunity to rule over the rest of creation. This can only be an act of goodness and love for, which we must be exceedingly grateful and blessed. Listen to what the King James version text says; King James Bible : "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" The word rule and dominion are used interchangeably to mean one and the samething in context. God wanted to make man incharge of creation to reflect His purpose for every other creation according to the ten commandments( see ten commandments) We are blessed beyond measure to rule and dominate the assorted nature of creatures in the universe but the goal is to comply with the expectations set forth by God in terms of appropriate use of every creature whether for food or for relationship with one another. We must show love and care to God's creatures. Therefore, we must bear in mind that to rule or be dominion does not amount to CONTROL OUT OF SELFISH MOTIVES, to place under BONDAGE, to OPPRESS , to SUBDUE, to ENSLAVE AND to SUBJUGATE! It is far from these various forms of abuses because God gave man the same status of equality to work for Him as His servants without anyone trampling over the human rights of others within the universe. To rule or to be dominion is such a cool experience for those who respect the rule of laws ,which are agreed upon by the community , society, nation and the world. The rule of laws are NOT established to undermine God's laws and will for humanity but to guide every other person to appreciate the sacred nature of life as well as the noble place of everyone to have life in abundance to reflect God's will for them. In every bible studies we can use the QIA approach, which is QUESTION, INSIGHTS AND APPLICATION but that will be entirely up to those who want enhance their understanding of the text. For instance, you may ask a QUESTION ; who wrote the book of Genesis? Who does God refer to as " let us make man in our own image..." INSIGHT; Make man in our image to rule over all ...., God saw all what he had made, and behold it was good..." APPLICATION:This text appeals to us as a people whom God made in His own image to rule over all the other creatures with goodness and love. What kind of creature are you? A singing creature or a dancing creature? A loving creature or a smiling creature? What makes you tick in this universe as a creature of God created in His own image? If you do not really know, why not and how do you see yourself as part of creation. Our duties in this life over God 's creation boils down to caretakers and beneficiaries. We must embody the goodness and love of God in all of our daily expressions in this life from all walks of life. Let us check ourselves out, I mean ,which of God's creatures do you not love and why not? Have you ever acknowledged the fact that you are a fellow man with your fellow man or you see yourself as a superior entity who cannot be equated with the other man? May be your stereotypes defeats the whole essence of creation by God! Do you think that your negative form of thinking,which obviously translates into an attitude of corruption, stealing, embezzlement, racism, slavery, apartheid, oppression, injustice and other forms of violations will be approved by God ? If No, what must you or we do to make sure that man is not working against himself /herself ,themselves etc by alienating the same God who has blessed them with creation? Do you supposed that God created Cameroon and endowed it with natural resources for all of us or you suppose that God created the natural resources only for some selected few to control it solely for their selfish interest? How do we see ourselves as Cameroonians in the light of the story of creation and God at the center of all these? What has gone wrong with the story of Cameroon as God's creation? Do you think that God created many tribes and ethic groups in Cameroon for the right or wrong reasons , and do you think that there are people who have been abusing the goodness and love of God? What must we do in order to take back God's creation from those who are abusing it? God blessed us with Cameroon so that we should take care of the land in ways that will benefit one another. God did not choose some people to hijack Cameroon and control it only for themselves while others are watching and gnashing their teeth in abject misery and poverty. God did not create you to control your spouse or children! God did not make you to cease people's land or to deprive others from an atmosphere of productivity or one that inspires productivity. Think about why God made you in His own image before you continue to live. I hope you will take time to reflect over some of these questions. You don't have to provide the answers except to explore them in the light of God original purpose when he created us in His own image to rule over all other creatures/creation. Jonathan Awasom The voice for Cameroon, Africa and the world in the 21st century
The Rally-cry for freedom, justice, peace ,democracy and prosperity for all Empowering humanity to build a virtuous and free world for the beloved global village | 
