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speak of a Protestant rnonastic order sounds strange and even
I irrelevant. When the Christian Church in Western Europe split,
because ofthe Reformation, Luther, Calvin and the other Reformers
refused to maintain this type of commitment in their new
denominations.
But from the middle of the 19'h Century onward, a Spiritual Revival
took place within the protestant churches which enabled religious
and monastic orders to emerge again in their spheres. As a matter
of fact, it took more than 1 00 years before this way of evangelical
Iife could be accepted amongst protestants. ,
Founding a religious order in Cameroon in the 1970s was a rcal
challenge. Mother Mai ;dsleine Mary Handy had already introduced
and presented the idea at the All African Conference of Churches
(AACC) meeting inAbidjan (1969). Infact, this booklet introduces
you to the first protestant religious community on the African soil,
-thanks to the support of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon
(PCC). Others have developed more recently in East and South
Africa and more are evidently developing.
IIISTORICAL OVBRVIEW
conception of Rev. Sr. Ma; ffiieine Marie Handy, the
S i sterhoo d o f Emmanuel B afu i c elebrated its'2 s,hannivers ary
in 1996 and by God's grace the year 2007 makes the community 36
years old. The Community was first founded in l971as "Bethany
Sisters". It was then at Makak, in thg:#enter Prövince of Cameroon.
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