by Dr. Jo* 

Republished with permission from faithfulwitness.org.  

“I have become one of the elders who sits under the tree,” Oday* grins through a grey beard.  

He and his wife Dot* have been agents of peace in East Africa for most of their adult lives. As Faithful Witness team leaders, they enjoy a vital role connecting Christian professionals from around the world to serve as university professors in a nation rebuilding from civil war. Oday explains, “I represent the clan of modern professionals in our city. We are trusted partners to bless, to make peace, to build up, and not to harm.”  

Oday sits “under the tree” directing two-way traffic between the elders’ traditional decision-making structures and the influx of modern technologies and world views. It is from this privileged in-between position that he and Dot hope to mobilise many more faithful witnesses to join them in a nation that is otherwise isolated from the gospel. 

A gap in the barrier 

Some areas where Faithful Witness teams serve are too sensitive to mention by name. This region of East Africa is nearly 100 percent Muslim. Islam is ingrained in every aspect of daily life. Sharia law is enforced. Of nearly five million people, only a small handful are known Jesus-followers.  Although few places in the world have less Gospel access, Dot and Oday have walked through a gap in the barrier to the Good News. 

“Most of life is preparation. I see that now,” Oday says, as he reflects on how God used a refugee crisis to prepare them for their current ministry.  Thousands of refugees fled civil war into the neighbouring nation, where Dot and Oday had served for two decades. Meeting the needs of a vulnerable displaced people, they not only mastered the language but also learned to navigate the traditional clan structures, the glue that prevented this people from collapsing into anarchy. 

Two years ago, they were invited to relocate to the refugees’ homeland. They have since established partnerships with several universities there that want to attract experts from around the world to help rebuild the nation’s infrastructure. This is a new and amazing opportunity to influence five million people who would otherwise live and die without hearing about Jesus. 

Christian professionals, not professional Christians 

Dot teaches agriculture at one of the universities. She says, “It’s not big business agriculture. We are talking about kitchen gardens, subsistence farming.”  Capacity building is the process of strengthening the skills and abilities a community needs to thrive in a changing world. Training a new generation to produce its own healthy vegetables is fundamental and vital. Fresh produce is a palpable blessing for which Dot is much loved by her students.  She works shoulder to shoulder with them, hands in the soil of the university’s experimental garden, cultivating redemptive relationships. 

Oday explains that most of the current team is made up of medical professionals, preparing students to rebuild the nation’s healthcare system. “Doctors are no longer our biggest recruitment need. We already have so many,” he laughs. Oday continues, 

“There is a bigger need for engineers, chemists, botanists, computer programmers, veterinarians, math and language teachers, especially English and French… A carpenter craftsman is joining the team soon. We are excited about this new possibility to build redemptive relationships.” 

Oday and Dot hope believing engineers, botanists, language teachers, etc. will read these very words. They have spent their whole lives preparing the way for Christian professionals to make disciples of Jesus Christ in a forgotten community. Their prayer is that the Holy Spirit will inspire many more faithful witnesses to join them. 

GO: Do you have a heart to use your skills and gifts to make the Gospel known in least reached community with Faithful Witness? Speak to a Mission Mobiliser today by filling in the form on the back page or visiting sim.org.au/faithfulwitness.  

*Names changed for security purposes