Missionary profile – Rev (Dr.) Ishaku and Martha Amah-Kabong

By Mercy Kambura

As missionaries in Mali, my son gave a Gospel tract to a Muslim man; he refused to take it. My son wept bitterly because of this rejection. This presented an opportune time to teach him how to effectively reach out and react to negative feedback in the mission field.

My wife, Martha, and I serve as missionaries with SIM West Africa Mission Office (WAMO) in Nigeria. Previously, we served with EMS of ECWA as pioneer missionaries to Mali. We’re now mobilizing missionaries for SIM West Africa, and Martha is also a prayer coordinator for WAMO.

As a young man, I was scared into salvation when I watched the film show “The Burning Hell”. When I saw how long the villain was in hellfire, I didn’t want to end up like him. So I got saved to avoid hell. Imagine my joy when our son gave his life to Christ during a family devotion! My son getting saved through me and having me baptize him is one of my greatest joys.

After secondary school, I wanted to study theology but didn’t get admission to my school of choice. I was given admission to a school closer to home, but I refused. I felt like God didn’t want me to work for Him.

I retreated to my church and served in a youth fellowship; an older youth was discussing missions in the City Ministries of ECWA. He said I could be a missionary without studying theology!

Two days later, I went to inquire for myself. That very day, they welcomed me to teach. I asked, “teach what?” They said, “come and tell them stories!’

I started my time as a volunteer telling Bible stories to the students. I stayed there for eight years before doing my Diploma and BA.

When we moved to Mali, we moved with our children and faced all the challenges together. We make the decisions with the children and desire to bring them up to also reach their generation. Missions is about prayer, going and supporting missionaries. We pray for missionaries as a family, and our children adopt nations and families to pray for.

Missionary kids aren’t necessarily mission-minded kids. Watch us on AfriGO Conversations as we talk about how to bring up mission-minded kids with a vision to reach the next generation, on Youtube here:https://youtu.be/C5feco-48Rs?feature=shared