Soul Bams Mahop

Soul,

Meme si je ne t'ai pas personnellement cotoye du fait des circonstances et de l'eloignement,les diverses histoires  que j'apprenais de toi,de tes oeuvres mais surtout ton indefectible attachement a tes origines Babimbi et New Belloise temoignent clairement du role oh! Combien rassembleur et confraternel que tu as joue dans toutes les communautes camerounaises par lesquelles tu es passe du Gabon aux Etats Unis,en passant la France. A n'en point douter,ceci a fait de toi une icone et une legende.

A la tristesse,a la melancolie et aux  regrets divers qui ont suivi la nouvelle de ta mort soudaine,je ne me suis pas empeche de dire QU'UN BAOBAB EST TOMBE.

Le verdict de la mort est tres au dessus de nos previsions et de notre controle.Nul n'est indispensable mais je ne peux m'empecher de dire que le vide que tu laisses dans ta famille et dans notre communaute ne sera jamais comble. 

Soul vas en paix et que la terre de nos ancetres te soit tres douce et legere.

Soul,

This is M'bongwa...that's how you used to pronounce my name.
It was in a Seba George video clip that I first saw you and was intrigued by your antics. From that moment on I knew you were someone special. One of those special people God sends to us now and again to show us how to appreciate the life he has given to us...and you did just that, along with your namesake Yoho Mahop, you did your job Soul, let no one tell you otherwise.

Ekambi Brillant, on a visit to my apt in White Oak where we passed the day watching Cameroon music videos and football, then told me all about you and how you started out with him Douala albeit admitting he did not know who was more famous, you or him....typical Mota Mwueny'a eh?

I'd like to say thank you, thank you for you, the way you were; God's own happy child 'sans probleme'. Your glow with self belief and confidence was often misunderstood when you first invaded the USA but I am sure many like I did, tried to emulate these indelible qualities in you.

You are now in the realm of the God of life and I am sure along with Big Ben, Yoho, Hoigen, Charlotte, Eboa, Kotto, Lobe Valo and others, you guys are jamming a storm up there; this I now for sure.

You will be sorely missed et a bientot...

Abongwa 

Soul ,this is Ngo Hegngi as you called me all the time.l can still hear your voice when you called  me six weeks ago informing me that you were  moving to Atlanta soon,l am still waiting, but you know the truth brings tears. Little did l know that you were making rounds to tell your love once byeThanks for telling me bye.l will edit these Lyrics for you by Elton John.

 

      Goodbye cameroon's hardy man,may you ever grow in our hearts,you were the grace that placed itself where lives were torn apart,you called out to our country cameroon and you whispered to those in pain,and the stars spell out your name. handyman we have lost.These empty days without your smiles and jokes.And it seems to me you lived your life like a candle in the wind.Never fading with the sunset when the rain set in.Your footsteps will always fall here along cameroon's greenest hills.your candle's burned out long before your legend ever will. REST IN PEACE SOUL.

SOUL BAMS: He is home now. He is free. In his own words after arriving in the Unites States years ago he said: "I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life." And a few days ago he surely did.

History will record his worth as a leader, an entertainer, and most importantly a people’s person.  We here have long since measured his worth as a man. Honest, compassionate, graceful, brave. He was the most plainly decent man you could ever hope to meet.

Big as he was, he never tried to make anyone feel small. Powerful as he became, he never took advantage of those who were weaker. Strength, he believed, was never more admirable than when it was applied with restraint. Shopkeeper, doorman, king or queen, it made no difference, SOUL BAMS treated everyone with the same unfailing courtesy. Acknowledging the innate dignity in us all.

 SOUL BAMS was also a deeply, unabashedly religious man. But he never made the fatal mistake of so many people in the spotlight of showbiz wearing his faith on his sleeve to gain entertaining advantage. True, he arrived in the Unites States; he came to believe that God had spared him in order that he might do good. But he accepted that as a responsibility, not a mandate. And there is a profound difference.

Humble as he was, he never would have assumed a free pass to heaven. But in his heart of hearts, I suspect he felt he would be welcome there. And so he is home. He is free.

Those of us who knew him well will have no trouble imagining his paradise. Golden fields will spread beneath a blue dome of a western sky. Live oaks will shadow the rolling hillsides. And someplace, flowing from years long past, a river will wind toward the sea. Across those fields, he will ride a gray mare he calls NEW BELL BASSA. It will, at the river in Bonapriso, carry him over the shining stones. He will rest in the shade of the trees.

Our cares are no longer his. We meet him now only in memory. But we will join him soon enough. All of us. When we are home. When we are free.

My deepest condolences.  May these few words from the Holy Scriptures bring you comfort in your time of grief...

John 11:32-45

32 And so Mary, when she arrived where Jesus was and caught sight of him, fell at his feet, saying to him: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 Jesus, therefore, when he saw her weeping and the Jews that came with her weeping, groaned in the spirit and became troubled; 34 and he said: “Where have YOU laid him?” They said to him: “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus gave way to tears. 36 Therefore the Jews began to say: “See, what affection he used to have for him!” 37 But some of them said: “Was not this [man] that opened the eyes of the blind man able to prevent this one from dying?”

38 Hence Jesus, after groaning again within himself, came to the memorial tomb. It was, in fact, a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said: “TAKE the stone away.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to him: “Lord, by now he must smell, for it is four days.” 40 Jesus said to her: “Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41 Therefore they took the stone away. Now Jesus raised his eyes heavenward and said: “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 True, I knew that you always hear me; but on account of the crowd standing around I spoke, in order that they might believe that you sent me forth.” 43 And when he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice: “Laz´a·rus, come on out!” 44 The [man] that had been dead came out with his feet and hands bound with wrappings, and his countenance was bound about with a cloth. Jesus said to them: “Loose him and let him go.”

45 Therefore many of the Jews that had come to Mary and that beheld what he did put faith in him;

Please go to the following link for more information regarding the Hope expressed in this passage

http://www.watchtower.org/e/200809/article_01.htm  

Soul, you were larger than life. You brought joy and laughter to every soul you touched. Your characteristic humor and Joie de vivre was contagious to all who hung around you. You were always ready to lend a helping hand. I will forever remember one social event which you saved from being a wreck. You know what I am talking about. You told me : "Je fais ca parceque c'est toi ".

Soul, you made a difference in many situations and I am witness. Life is a journey. Yours has come to an end too soon. Our mourning souls can  get sollace knowing that you are in a better place.

Rest in Peace Brother!!!