Professor Zacharias Tanee Fomum was born in the flesh on 20th June 1945 and born of the Holy Spirit on 13th June 1956. He made an absolute surrender of himself to the Lord Jesus and to His service on 1st October 1966 and was filled with the Holy Spirit on 24th October 1970.
He was admitted to a first class in the Bachelor of Science degree and graduated as a prize-winning student from Fourah Bay College in the University of Sierra Leone in October 1969. His research in Organic Chemistry led to the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) awarded by the University of Makerere, Kampala, in Uganda in October 1973. His published scientific works were recently evaluated by the University of Durham in Great Britain and found to be research of high distinction, for which he was awarded the Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) in October 2005. As a Professor of Organic Chemistry in the University of Yaounde in Cameroon, Professor Zacharias Tanee Fomum supervised and co-supervised more than a 100 Master’s and Doctoral Degree theses and co-authored over 160 scientific articles in leading international journals. He considered scientific research as an act of obedience to God’s command to “subdue the earth” (Genesis 1:28). He also knew that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord of Science. “For by Him all things were created…” (Colossians 1:16). He made the Lord Jesus the Director of his research laboratory and he, Professor Fomum, took the place of deputy director. He attributed his scientific success to the revelational leadership of the Lord Jesus. In his passion to know Jesus and to make Him known, he read over 1350 books on the Christian faith and authored over 150 to advance the Gospel of Christ. Four million of his books are in circulation in 11 languages. Sixteen million Gospel tracts authored by him are in circulation in 17 languages.
Professor Fomum considered prayer to be the most important work that can be done on earth for God and for man. He was a man of faith who believed that God answers prayers. He had over 50 000 recorded answers to written Prayer Topics. He strove more and more to know God and to move Him to answer prayer. With his team, they carried out over 57 Prayer Crusades (periods of 40 days and nights during which at least 8 hours are invested into prayer each day). They also carried out over 80 Prayer Sieges (times of near non-stop praying that range from 24 to 120 hours).
He carried out over 100 Prayer Walks of between 5 and 47 kilometers in towns and cities around the world. He taught on prayer over and over, even though he was in many ways just a beginner in the profound science of prayer.
He also considered fasting as one of the major weapons for Christian Spiritual Warfare. He carried out over 250 fasts ranging from 3 to 40 days, drinking water only. During some of his long fasts he also took water-soluble vitamins. Recently, the Lord called the Professor to battle with the hosts of wickedness in heavenly places through supra-long fasts (between 52 and 80 days). In obedience to this call, he accomplished 3 of such supra-long fasts. Professor Fomum saw the importance of redeeming money and investing it into reaching those without Christ with the glorious Gospel. He therefore chose a life-style of simplicity and “self-imposed poverty” in order that their income should be invested into the critical work of evangelism, soul-winning, church-planting and the perfecting of the saints. His wife and him grew to investing 92.5% of their earned income from all sources (salaries, allowances, royalties and cash gifts) into the Gospel. This was with the hope that, as they grew in the knowledge and the love of the Lord and the perishing souls of men, they would one day invest 99% of their income into the Gospel.
In the last 40 years, 99% of the time, this Spiritual Leader spent between 15 minutes and 6 hours daily with God alone in what he called Daily Dynamic Encounters with God (DDEWG). During these times, he read God’s Word, meditated on It, listened to God’s voice, heard God speak to him, recorded what God was saying to him and prayed it through. He thus had over 18 000 recorded Daily Dynamic Encounters with God. He considered these daily meetings with God around His Word, the determinant strength of his life. These Daily Dynamic Encounters with God were coupled with over 60 periods of withdrawing to seek God alone for periods that ranged from 3 to 21 days (which he termed Retreats for Spiritual Progress). These slowly transformed Professor Z. T. Fomum into a man who first hungered for God; and then hungered and thirsted for God; while hoping to become a man who hungered, thirsted and gasped after God. “Oh, that I would have more of God!” was his unceasing inner cry.
As a passionate Evangelist and Preacher of the Gospel, he travelled extensively. He went out of his base in Yaounde on over 700 missionary journeys in Cameroon that ranged from 1 day to 3 weeks. He also embarked on over 500 missionary journeys that ranged from 2 days to 6 weeks, to over 70 nations on all the six continents.
Professor Fomum was the Founding Team-Leader of Christian Missionary Fellowship International (CMFI) – an evangelism, soul-winning, church-planting and disciple making movement with missionaries and Churches in over 50 nations on all the 6 continents.
Along with his team, they saw over 10,000 recorded healing miracles performed by the Lord in answer to prayer in Jesus’ Name. These included headaches disappearing, cancers disappearing, HIV positive people becoming HIV negative, the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the dumb speaking, the lame walking, demoniacs being set free, and new teeth and new organs received.
This family man was married to Prisca Zei Fomum and their 7 children are involved with them in the work of the Gospel. His wife, Prisca, is a national and international Minister to Children and specializes in winning children to the Lord Jesus and making them into His disciples. She is also involved in imparting the vision of the Ministry to Children, and in raising and building up Ministers to Children.
Professor Zacharias Tanee Fomum said he owed all that he was, and all that the Lord had done in him and through him, to the unmerited favours and blessings of the Lord God Almighty. He also owed it to his worldwide army of friends and co-workers who have generously and sacrificially invested their love, encouragement, fasts, prayers, gifts and co-operation into him and their joint ministry. Without these unmerited favours and blessings of the Lord God Almighty and the investments of his friends and co-workers, he would have amounted to nothing.
On the 14th of March 2009, while Brother Zach was on his way to Bambili, a small town in the Northwest Province of Cameroon, he was called home by the Lord. He had finished his task. It was a glorious exit. He was called home from the battle field. We can truly say of Brother Zach that he fought the good fight, he finished his course and he kept the faith. Praise be to God for a life lived for the exclusive glory of the Lord!