"Let's not just pray, let's tell the Lord, I want to go"

Hello Brother FEKOU Emmanuel, you're known as the manager of theCameroonforJesus.net portal, coordinator of the BIBLE SMS and PRAYER SMS services, and most recently of top Chrétien Afrique francophone

Brother Emmanuel, can we get to know you better and understand how you got here?

Thank you for this opportunity to express myself on this forum that is CamFaith.

It's true that my usual name is FEKOU Emmanuel, but my full name is TCHOMGOUO FEKOU Emmanuel. What can I say about myself? So that I don't always have to say the same things, I keep a personal website that talks about me, my family and God's call in my life, through and through. It can be viewed at http://fekou.net

But in a few words, I'm Adeline's husband since 08/08/08, father of Elisa Soraya and Emmanuel Wilfred. We are a family at the service of the Lord. For the rest, go to the above-mentioned site.

Tell us about the Cameroonforjesus.net portal, its vision and how it works.

I have the distinct impression, and I've always said so, that at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, God has stirred up a new wave of evangelists around the world with the mission of taking the internet and ICTs in general by storm to spread the gospel. This is the background to Cameroonforjesus.net (CFJ), which was born out of a burden the Lord laid on me in the early 2000s: to use modern communication methods to spread the gospel, to edify people and to mobilize them in prayer, so that Jesus may be lifted up as a standard in our country.

How did the SMS Bible project come about? Who is it aimed at?

The SMS Bible service came about at a time when I was telling God that I was tired of Cameroonforjesus.net, which wasn't working the way I wanted it to. (About 7 years later). I wanted another motivation in this work of evangelism with ICT. Then one day, a local cell phone operator (MTN) called me to ask me to help them set up a service to offer their subscribers SMS messages from the Bible. I was asked to come up with some suggestions for headings and content.

This simply confirmed to me that, in fact, God had really entrusted this corridor to me. We negotiated for 2 years, and in 2010, the SMS Bible service was launched. After invading the net with Cameroonforjesus.net 10 years earlier, we set our sights on the cell phone.

BibleSMS is a service aimed at all Cameroonians, with or without an interest in the Bible, and specifically at those who claim to be Christians and who read the Bible often, fairly often or regularly.

For full details of the service, visit http://biblesms.net

How exactly does bible SMS work? How do I subscribe?

The service is available (primarily to MTN subscribers) in subscription and on-demand modes.

In subscription mode,it is billed to the subscriber at 1000 (one thousand) CFA francs per subscribed heading, deducted in a single payment for 30 (thirty) days by the operator directly from the communication credit available at the time of subscription.A message would then cost 33.33 CFA francs/day , which is less than the normal cost of an SMS in Cameroon.

Before subscribing, you should therefore make sure that you have a credit of 1000 CFA francs.

When the subscription is made on a principal basis, and if a minimum communication credit of 1000 Frs CFA is still available at the end of the 30 days of reception, this subscription is automatically renewed every month. If the available credit at the end of the 30 days is less than 1000 Frs, a message asking to renew the subscription is sent, and after three unsuccessful reminders, the subscription is automatically cancelled by the operator. Subscribers can also cancel their subscription to the service by logging into their account on the operator's website.

On request,the service is billed at 75 CFA francs per message requested.

We have identified 9 sections:

TABLE OF CONTENTS, DESCRIPTIONS AND CODES

In a concrete way:

To subscribe to the main service,simplytext the CODE corresponding to the desired section and languageto8760.

To request a message without being a subscriber, simplytext the following combination to 8760: YELLO+space+CODE of the desired section and in the desired language.

You can also offer the subscription to a third party (in this case, you'll have to do it via the operator's website or, if you don't have Internet access or an MTN number, through us). The person will receive the messages, but it's the offerer who will be billed. In this case, the subscription is for 30 days only, with no possibility of renewal.

Can you tell us about the Prayer SMS project, how it works and how to subscribe?

The PRAYER SMS service is an answer to a prayer we've been raising to the Lord since the launch of the Cameroonforejesus.net portal: that of being able to mobilize the Church of Cameroon to stand as one before God in favor of Cameroon. Admittedly, it's physically impossible to bring together all Cameroonian Christians, both inside and outside the country, to intercede on behalf of the nation. However, all Cameroonians (or almost all) have a cell phone, unlike e-mail. It seemed appropriate to us to launch such a service, which was effectively launched in August 2011 and has met with massive support from the Church of Cameroon.

The principle is simple. We have chosen Wednesday as the day of prayer. Everyone gives us (by registering using the form available on http://prayersms.com) their contact details, (especially their telephone number) and chooses the time at which he/she wishes to receive his/her prayer subject and the desired language.

Every Wednesday, our server sends a prayer subject every hour (from 24:00 to 23:00). The service is free of charge, but we are asking for support for the purchase of SMS messages.

To date, we send SMS messages to almost 5,000 people every Wednesday.

How would you assess the use of the bible SMS service, prayer SMS and the Cameroon for Jesus.net portal by Cameroonians? Do you have any testimonials? Are there any challenges?

After more than 10 years of effective service with Cameroonforjesus.net, which, it should be remembered, is the VERY first Christian website in Cameroon and one of the few in Cameroon with more than 10 years of effective and uninterrupted presence online. A few years ago, we were receiving more than 10,000 visitors a day from over 50 different countries. It has to be said that much has been achieved in various fields, and much remains to be done. And with the BiblesSMS, PrayerSMS and other services yet to be developed.

The main challenge is to find workers dedicated to the work of spreading the gospel, edification and prayer using modern communication methods. Means (especially financial) are also a big handicap, but we have a principle and a Word from the Lord. What He expects of us is simply to be faithful in our task.

How can we support these projects (PrayerSMS', biblesms, cameroonforjesus...)?

The support we need (and this applies to all Christian works) can be summed up in three words:

Involvement | Prayer | Finance

You can get personally involved by contributing your time and talents

You can pray for us and our projects (for more workers, for God's wisdom and guidance, for financial provision)

You can support us financially

Is there any follow-up being done, any kind of mobilization of people praying for the nation?

For the time being, we're content to send out prayer requests by SMS, so that people can pray in the privacy of their own homes. Our aim is not to hold physical gatherings, because there are already other people doing that, and we know what it costs to want to do that.

You recently joined the TopChrétien team as head of Africa. Why did you make this decision, what is your mission in this new role and, in view of your new responsibilities, what does the future hold for {cameroonforjesus, biblesms, PrayerSMS' and objectif Cameroun}?

The launch of TopChrétien.com in Africa is a long-standing project (9 years) which was first mentioned in 2003 when I received its founder (Eric Célérier) in Cameroon as part of SEBILIC (Semaine de la Bible et du Livre Chrétien). At the time I wasn't convinced, but I finally understood (9 years later) that every Christian is at the Lord's service, and He disposes of us as He sees fit, assigning us as He pleases wherever the need arises. He certainly inspired me to create and develop Cameroonforjesus.net (CFJ) and the services around it. I believe that if (CFJ) and its services are God's work, He can call me elsewhere and raise up someone else to continue it. If I cling to CFJ and refuse "God's assignment" to the Top (or elsewhere), it would mean that I'm no longer at His service but at my own, and that CFJ is not God's work but MY THING.

I'm still a CFJ facilitator, but I'm no longer (or won't be) the main person in charge, because until then, I keep praying that God will reveal to me or bring to me the person who will assist me, work under my direction and eventually take things in hand.

In a word, God entrusts us with a ministry, we are its stewards, and He can reshuffle things as He sees fit at any time. If we are at His service and not our own, if the ministry is for God and entrusted to us and not ours as some people often say (MY MINISTRY), we have only one thing to do: OBEY.

The missions, roles and responsibilities assigned to Top for Africa are as follows:

- Ensure the development of TopChrétien.com and its services;

- Build a network of advisors and partner churches;

- Train advisors and delegates to follow up contacts;

- Promote TopChrétien.com and ConnaîtreDieu.com;

- Mobilize support for our work;

- Support churches in their evangelization efforts using modern communication methods.

-Etc.

As far as Objectif Cameroun is concerned, it's simply the association under which we carry out our activities.

How can I partner with you in this mission entrusted to you by Top Chrétien?

All you have to do is fill in the partnership form, and depending on your level of involvement, we'll send you the relevant documents. Partnerships are possible with individuals, churches and other Christian organizations. Send an e-mail to afrique@topchretien.comVoiror visit http://afrique.topchretien.com

What are your short- and medium-term plans for the cameroon for Jesus.net portal, the Bible and Prayer SMS services and the Africa coordination of top Chrétien?

While I'm making myself available for the coordination of TopChrétien in Africa, whose obligations are admittedly no different from anything I've done so far with CFJ (just that I'm doing them in a different dimension), projects for the Cameroonforjesus.net portal and its existing services (BibleSMS, PrayerSMS) and those to come, are above all to find the team that will take over from me to give the site a total and complete overhaul (which hasn't been done since 2008), take care of the SMS services, which require a lot of work, and develop the others that are still in the pipeline.

Do you have an appeal to make to the Internet users who will be reading this interview on camfaith.org?

I'd just like to remind you of the Lord's words in Luke 10:2: "The harvest is great, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

Let's not just pray, let's say to the Lord, I WANT TO GO.

Let's invest our 3 T's (Time Talent Treasure) in a worthwhile cause. Evangelization is one of them!

Thank you

This is me thanking you