Missionary profile – Andrew Okpako Ufuoma

By Mercy Kambura

Nigerian missionary

My greatest fear as a boy was the Rapture. I knew if it happened, I’d be left behind. I’d often go to my brother’s home to check if he was still on earth. He was a Christian. I’d return satisfied that the Rapture hadn’t happened. Later, the Lord save me too. Now, I’m preparing for the second coming of Christ and helping the unreached to be ready too.

We’re mobilizing the Church in Africa, training pastors, and visiting mission fields. We also distribute Bibles translated into the local languages. This year alone, I’ve been to the Gambia and Guinea Bissau.

I got saved in Junior High School when a teacher preached to us. I felt so peaceful and light on the week I got saved. I had dreams about Jesus and heaven and was no longer scared of the Rapture—I was looking forward to it. Fifteen years later, I still am.

I couldn’t stop myself from evangelizing. My relationship with Jesus grew stronger every day. My elder brother used to receive Christian magazines, such as The Herald of His Coming, from overseas. In these magazines, I found articles about the unreached people in Africa. I didn’t even fully understand what that meant.

I found a mission body at the university called Christian Students in Missions (CSIM.) They focused on mobilizing students for mission activities –praying, giving, and going. They told us about the 10/40 window, frontier missions, and other mission terms that were very new but immensely intriguing to me.

I followed them for a weekend and interacted with the missionaries in the field. I then made it a habit to visit unreached people groups during the holidays. I was studying Electrical and Electronic engineering, but by the time I was done with university, I knew I wanted to be a missionary.

I chose to serve with CAPRO for one year, which also involved a one-month training in their School of Mission. I was writing many stories about the unreached and the work needed there. Many people were asking about what I wrote, and they wanted to go to the field and serve among the people they saw. I’d send them to CAPRO mission fields.

I felt I needed autonomy to travel to various places in Africa. Therefore, I started a mission mobilization and sending agency, Sahara Oasis Outreach International. My vision is to mobilize for cross-cultural missions through training, deploying believers, and planting churches. I partner with CAPRO and send missionaries to their mission schools and fields.

There are still many unreached people that the Church is unaware of. Everyone needs to be plugged in. Many people are passionate about reaching out, but we’re evangelizing to Christians already in church. Passion is wrongly directed because of a lack of knowledge.

We need to mobilize more. Mobilization will kill nominalism and poor mission engagement.

#Pray:

For God’s strength and grace for us. There’s a lot of work, and we need more mission-minded hands and hearts.
For more partners to work with us and support our work in praying, giving, and going.
For God to help our activities to be fruitful.