Missionary profile – Omphemetse Kepuyamore

By Mercy Kambura

Omphemetse Kepuyamore , Botswana

Missionary to the Khoisan

I didn’t know my father; I was told he rejected me before my birth. But now I’m a missionary among the Khoisan in Botswana, telling them about the good Father in Heaven who sent His Son to save them. I’m the least likely candidate for such a hefty assignment.

I grew up in a single-parent family in my grandparent’s house with about 16 people in one homestead. The whole family was deep in a cult, belonging to a ‘church’ that claimed to believe in the Lord, but did not use the Bible.

When I was seven, my cousin failed in her junior school and was treated meanly. Frustrated, she went to speak to a pastor. He prayed for her and she became the first true Christian in the family. She took me with her to church. I loved the transformation in her, so I, too, became a Christian. We were taught about salvation, our fallen nature, and the need for a Saviour.

Before long, my uncles and aunties dispersed. I was left, a lone teenager in a huge compound. I resorted to sleeping in a neighbour’s house, hungry and heartbroken.

In school, I was the leader of Scripture Union, and I evangelized every chance I got. I finished secondary school and went to college for business management, but I dropped out after the first year. I was still preaching.

Then I met a Christian brother who had attended the CAPRO School of Mission and thought I was a good candidate, too. I didn’t know anything about cross-cultural missions; I just knew about evangelizing in my village.

I enrolled and was trained on cross-cultural missions and went on faith trips where they took everything from us and encouraged us to trust the Lord. I grew in my conviction about missions. We went to the Khoisan for a one month, and I was moved by their need for the gospel.

I’ve been a missionary among the Khoisan, and I have also taken short mission trips to people groups in South Africa, Zambia and Botswana. I work with my church, the Apostolic Faith Mission.

I want the Batswana to know that they, too, can be missionaries. Most people here think missionaries are only Westerners, and I’m the unlikely example of God’s grace.

I encourage the church to pray for the Lord give them a vision and burden for world missions — the heartbeat of God, not an initiative of any organization. Jesus Himself was a missionary — he crossed many barriers to reach us. If we love God, we should take part in missions.

#Pray:

For the church to be taught missions and understand the need to support missionaries in the field.
For the Lord to soften people’s hearts to hear the gospel.
For financial support to help me stay in the field for a long time. I’m forced to retreat every once in a while to earn some upkeep.