The Diocese of Kumbo hosted the National League Congress of the St Jude Apostolate this year after Bamenda did in 2005. For three days (June 29 - July 1, 2007) at the St. Augustine's College campus Nso, more non-members and would be members of the St. Society have been able to join the group members from all over Cameroon to share life time experiences of positive responses from God resulting from intensive prayer and charitable work and also joined in praying together with them.
The congress held in Kumbo this year carried the caption "Congress of Maturity". From the caption, any onlooker was able to say how much is needed from the members and would be members to be able to meet up with the spiritual demands of this prayer group.
This is the more reason why in the opening solemn mass said at the St. Augustine's College Chapel to grace the occasion by the Kumbo Diocesan chaplain of the St. Jude Apostolate, Fr. Polycarp Yukeng dwelled much on the theme of forgiveness. Forgiveness on its part alone demands a lot of maturity from individuals in order to be able to forgive one another. Forgiveness being a very impossible aspect of our lives, Fr. Polycarp W. Yukeng stressed the need for it and said it proofs that sign of maturity in the members.
Drawing inspiration from the Gospel of St. Luke, chapter 14:3-4, the chief celebrant shared with the participants, Jesus' vision about forgiveness. In the activities that characterized the holding of the congress, participants from the various chapters shared and proclaimed gospel messages through the dramatization of some selected gospel passages. The songs they sang also presented and shared another level of spirituality from that dimension.
Apart from the intensive prayer that carried the upper hand at the congress, people shared testimonies at various chapters where the St. Jude Apostolate is very active, showing very positive responses of hope brought to them by the continuous and intensive prayer they make every time. St. Jude it should be mentioned here is one of the greatest intercessors in prayers in cases of hopelessness. Coming together after two years is a time with a very wide gap in between.
That is why at the national congress, the members would not only concentrate on prayer and forget what has been planned for their project. God helping those who help themselves and with the main project at hand being the construction of the St. Jude Apostolate Shrine, there was a fund raising exercise which generated the sum of over 1 million francs. The shrine which is hoped to be constructed in the Diocese of Kumbo is highly anticipated. The realisation of this project shall serve the purpose of organizing constant prayer sessions and bringing people from all over the country on pilgrimages to offer their respective prayer intensions to God.
The group went adopting also the resolutions to guide the rule of carrying out activities in the group nation wide for the next two years. St. Jude apostolate it was found out is not a position seeking or money making group for its members. It is a prayer group which strives to bring hope to the hopeless through charity works. Individuals aspiring to become members of this prayer group are advised to put away ideas for making selfish interest in order to fit well into the group as they join to become more prayerful persons. Addressing the crowd at the congress, the outgoing president Mr. Ayunifor Gabriel of Bamenda archdiocese expressed gratitude for the success Kumbo registered in playing a diligent rule as the host diocese.
While thanking the members nation wide for the cooperation they gave him for the past two years when he became national president of the group, he joined to thank the Kumbo diocesan chaplain for St. Jude Apostolate Rev. Fr Polycarp W. Yukeng for the great animation and spiritual concern at the congress to give it a resounding success. He called on the incoming national president from the host diocese Mr. Emmanuel Nkwawir to continue the quest to the conference of the bishops of Cameroon for a national chaplain for the group while clarifying that the group has come of age and needs one. Representing the Senior Divisional Officer for Bui at the congress, Mr. Adamou Shuaibuo praised the existence of such a group in the country to reinforce the belief of the citizens in the Lord.
He called on the members to attach politics in their prayers and pray unceasingly for a positive reaction to the upcoming twin elections in the country. From Kumbo, the next national congress of the St. Jude Apostolate shall be held in the Douala archdiocese in the next two years.