American Evangelical Enterprise in Africa: The Case of the United Presbyterian Mission in Cameroon, 1879-1957

This book chronicles the United Presbyterian Mission in Cameroun – a well-conceived, well-organized, and well-orchestrated enterprise that exemplified the best of the American spirit of adventure, sacrifice, generosity, and service to humanity. The graves of dead missionaries in Cameroun and elsewhere in Africa are evidence of the supreme sacrifice they made in their efforts to extend Christianity, Western education, better living conditions, and modern technology to Cameroun. However, these benefits came at a cost: an erosion of local identity, customs, and traditions as well as of dignity, as a result of missionary and colonialist connivance and exaction. This book demonstrates that though imperfect, the influence of the United Presbyterian Mission in Cameroun was a positive one on the whole.