Article December 17, 2012 ISSUE

God leads our family

A husband sees that God is the true head of the house, not one spouse or the other.

Paul Fotié

This article was published in the July–August 2007 edition of the French Herald, Le Héraut de la Science Chrétienne.

When I first got married, I proclaimed myself founder and supreme head of my family. Often, according to commonly accepted traditions in Cameroon, a wife has no power compared to her husband. Her role is to give birth to children, according to the will of her husband, to prepare meals, do farm work and chores, etc. So these were roles I imposed on my wife.

With the passage of the years, I dictated the terms of my relationship to my wife, as well as to my children. My wife was in no position to deny the tradition. She submitted to me for the sake of our relationship, as well as for my family. In Africa, in many cases, once a woman is married, she becomes part of the husband’s family. I continued for several years with our traditions, until I found Christian Science.