By Susan Akyeampong, SIM International

In North Africa, one mother’s understanding of ministry has been reshaped by family life. Christians are called to live differently from the world around them so that others can see how Jesus impacts a daily life of love shown through patience and service. She has learnt that raising children, serving her husband and living together as a Christian family can be a powerful, counter-cultural witness to the Gospel.

People are often surprised by Barbara’s* husband. He’s a pastor and works long hours, but instead of heading to a coffee shop to unwind with friends at the end of the day, as many men do, he goes home to be with his family.

In their North African context, this stands out. Women typically carry most of the responsibility for the home and children. She explains, “Men aren’t usually involved in the day-to-day tasks of caring for their children.”

That expectation creates a challenge. As a pastor, her husband is expected to be available at all hours, and people don’t understand when he declines an invitation so he can be at home with his wife and children.

“It’s shocking to them that he would need to help with our children or be home in the evenings, because that is the opposite to what the culture does here,” she says.

For this family though, the choice is intentional. “That’s an element of the culture that we do want to push up against,” she explains. “We want to reflect what a family looks like where the family is focused on God, serving him and serving each other.”

Their family life has prompted conversations about why they live the way they do. A local friend once suggested that her husband’s involvement at home was simply down to their cultural background.

But Barbara was able to explain to them, “He doesn’t do it because I expect it. He does it because he loves me and he wants to serve our family as Christ serves his church. We’re different because we have Christ at the centre. And so, we want to live like He does and to value what He does.”

For Christians, being faithful often means living in ways that are counter-cultural. Family roles and expectations are deeply ingrained here, so the way Barbara and her husband love and serve one another has, in itself, become a witness.

Living as a Christian family in a majority Muslim context has meant learning which parts of the culture to embrace and which parts to challenge. It has also meant accepting that some of their most significant witness happens not through formal ministry programs, but through ordinary family life.

Before getting married and having children, Barbara served in a range of ministry roles and thrived on responsibility. “I’m someone who is probably quite type A – I like to achieve things and get things done and enjoy being busy and having a role,” she says.

Now, most of her days are spent at home with their young children. It’s not the ministry she imagined, but it has opened doors she never expected. One of the most surprising has been through grief.

In their community, it’s important to visit families soon after a death. Because Barbara does not have anyone who can babysit, they often take their young children with them. The first time they did so, Barbara worried that bringing toddlers into a house of mourning would be inappropriate.

Instead, she has found that “having our children with us has opened opportunities to talk with other parents and to bring some joy and some hope in those moments of grief.”

At these visits, men and women mourn separately, following local custom. While her husband sat with the male relatives, Barbara found herself in a room full of women she had only just met. Their children helped break the ice, leading to conversations and connections that might not otherwise have happened.

“It’s been unexpected to me how our family can be a real blessing in those situations,” she says. “Particularly to our children. It’s been quite beautiful.”

The visits have shown her that family can open doors to conversations about life, death and the Gospel. Connecting with other women in these moments has also made her more aware of a need much closer to home.

Unlike many places in the world where mothers gather through playgroups, parks or children’s activities, there are few opportunities for connection.

“It’s not a culture where people go out with children,” she explains. “Mothers often return to work while their babies are still very young, and grandparents care for children at home. There are no parks, so there’s nowhere like that to go and mingle with other mums.”

Despite this, she has built one-to-one friendships with women in her neighbourhood, and through those conversations she has realised that many local women feel the same loneliness. That realisation has given her a vision for ministry in this season of life.

“That’s really my hope and my prayer, that I can start a mother’s group for local women” she says.

In a context with so few spaces for mothers to gather, a group like this would create opportunities for friendship, community, and conversations about faith.

Looking at her life now, she says her ministry may seem smaller on paper than it once did. There are fewer official roles or measurable outcomes. But she no longer sees ministry or impact that way. Her main ministry, she says, is now her home and her children.

When she was single, she would look at families in mission work and think how hard it all seemed.

She says, “I wish I’d known the really beautiful, positive side, where there are greater opportunities because of kids, because of being a family.

“Maybe on paper, my ministry output is far less. But it’s not in the eyes of the Lord.”

Could God be calling you to serve in North Africa? We’d love to help you explore what that could look like.

Please pray

● For Barbara’s vision to start a mothers’ group in her community, that God would open doors, bring the right women together, and use it to build friendship, reduce loneliness, and create space for faith conversations.

● That Barbara and her family would continue to reflect Christ clearly through their everyday life, and that their relationships and choices would point others to Jesus in a natural and compelling way.

● For the moments of unexpected ministry they encounter, including visits in times of grief, that their family’s presence would bring comfort and opportunities for meaningful conversations.

*Names have been changed