Missionary profile – Josephine Oumarou

Nigerian missionary to Niger

I lost my dad when I was only seven months old. As it is wont for an orphan, life became tough. My parents were traditional worshippers, but my elder brother and sisters became Christians after my father’s death. After a while, my mother joined her children in the faith. Today, I’m a missionary spreading this love and knowledge of Christ among the unreached in Niger. l have lost my children and my husband in the mission field, but it doesn’t stop me from serving Him.

Although I grew up with Christian siblings, I wasn’t born again. In secondary school, I learned that I needed to accept Christ as my Lord. After attending a Christian fellowship, I knew I would perish without Christ. l did not want to miss the Kingdom of God, so I became a Christian.

I attended a mission conference. A presentation was made about unreached people groups, showing tribes where the Gospel had not reached and there was no church. I saw the people’s suffering and felt terrible that I wasn’t doing anything to help them. There was a strong push in my heart to reach out to them and help them.

I enrolled in a mission school almost immediately. After the training, l went as a missionary among the Zull people. There, l planted the first church with the help of Grace Foundation Inland Missions. When the church matured, l went on to reach the Bolu people in the Bauchi State of Nigeria. This is where I met my husband, who was from Niger. He, too, was a missionary. We worked together, and when the church could stand independently, we moved to Nassarawa State among the Mada people. Those churches are still standing.

Our missionary journey took us to Burkina Faso. We were there for a year, strengthening a local congregation. When we returned to Niger, the Lord called my husband home in January 2021.

I’m still serving as a missionary at Zarazon, taking care of orphans in Grace Foundation Inland Missions. When l see the people I have preached to serving God with the whole of their hearts, that’s my greatest happiness.

A missionary’s journey is not easy at all, but because of the joy and crown awaiting us, we have to be courageous and move forward. I pray for the Church in Africa to be bold and go out among the unreached people groups.

#Pray:

• For God to give me the grace to serve Him more than ever.
• For encouragement for the race that is ahead of me.
• As the Lord leads.