News

Cameroon: Bible translator kidnapped and killed

April 11, 2023

About 70% of Cameroon’s population is Christian. Orthodox Christianity is a recent presence there, arriving in the country in 1951. Greek merchants at that time immigrated to Cameroon and established Orthodox churches. In the 1980s, Holy Orthodoxy began spreading to the native population, under the auspices of the Church of Alexandria. The Archdiocese of Cameroon was established in 1959 and is under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Alexandria.

For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in Cameroon, see here.

“Bible translator killed in Cameroon,” by Donna Birrell, Premier Christian News, March 30, 2023:

A Bible translator has been killed in Cameroon.

Wuwih William Gemuh was kidnapped and killed by armed men as he returned home from holding a workshop to collect words for dictionaries in a number of languages. He supervised Bible translation work in the Mfumte cluster of languages, in Northwest Cameroon and leaves behind a wife and six children….

Bible translators working in Northwest Cameroon are in constant danger, due to the ongoing conflict between separatist groups and the government, as well as attacks from the Islamic militant organisation, Boko Haram….

In a statement, Wycliffe Bible Translators said that Bible translators are increasingly working in places where it is dangerous. This is often because these are the most inaccessible locations in the world (both geographically and spiritually), where it can sometimes be most dangerous to be a Christian, where the gospel has least penetrated, and where God’s word has yet to be translated into the languages.