The Unlikely Missionary to Nomads

February 3, 2021

When you invest in a neverthirst project, we connect with our local partners in the field to bring clean and living water to a remote community. Part of our model includes partnering with a local pastor, often giving them an access point into a community that they would not be able to otherwise reach.

Meet one of the Chadian pastors that has partnered with neverthirst projects: Pastor Moussa. An unlikely missionary, Moussa was born to an animist family in Chad and converted to Islam as a child.

Hear how Moussa—in his own words—came to know the Lord:

"On Christmas Day in 1979, I was sitting home alone. My father's house was next door to a church. I could hear the people laughing and singing and having a good time together. I started wondering why I was sitting home alone, with no friends, when everyone there was so happy. I decided I would go visit the church. I started attending, and very soon after hearing the message, I became a believer. I accepted Christ as my personal Savior in January 1980 in my home village and was baptized almost a year later.

My father was very angry. He was afraid my Christianity would make him lose power with his idols, as he was still an animist. He chased me around the kitchen with a knife. Another Christian who didn't live too far from my home invited me to live with him.

After my baptism, I was reading the Bible, and I discovered the true Way that takes people to heaven. I asked God this question, 'Does that mean that Muslims who don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will go to hell?' And I found the answer myself: 'Yes!' In the Bible, I read Jesus' statement: 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' (John 14:6) and again in the book of Acts, chapter 4, verse 12, it is written: 'There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people, and we must be saved by it.' And then in 1 Timothy 2:5 'For there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, Himself human.'

After reading these statements, I had a burden for the people who don't believe in Jesus, especially the Muslims. My heart was burning like it was on fire, and I began to weep for my Muslim brothers. I went out stopping people dressed in Muslim robes and said to them, 'Let me just tell you about Jesus so I can have peace!' And this eventually caused people in my village to tell my father that I was crazy, and he should consider tying me up for a while."

Moussa asked to be sent as a missionary to Libya by his local church at the age of twenty-four, but his pastor encouraged him to be discipled first. Moussa traveled with him to surrounding villages, learning from a fellow believer, and then went to a Bible college for four years. After his training, he helped to translate the Bible into his native tongue, the Kwong language.

Patiently learning, Moussa had waited nine years for the opportune time to begin missions.

My work with the nomads began on November 15, 1992 while I was helping with the Kwong Bible translation. I shared my burden for the lost souls of Islam with my missionary brother, Mark, and he was very happy and encouraged me to go out and share the gospel with nomads around me.

There are nomads traveling all over Chad according to the seasons, and I began meeting nomads around me. I [brought a letter with me] explaining who I was and what I was doing, so that I could show it to church people in the area. The letter said I was sharing the Gospel in specific regions without any financial support, and for them to welcome me as Christ for the glory of God.

I went everywhere on foot. I preached in marketplaces and by open wells and met with traditional village leaders in their homes. I saw people come to faith, and I could tell you many stories of what God did for me during that time!

Back at my home base, I spent two years cultivating friendships with nomads. It was not easy, and it took lots of work! No one wanted me there, but I visited every chance I could, and I kept sharing the love of Christ.

The first new believers were two young girls from a nomad tribe, trusting Jesus on May 1, 1994. For the next three years, we were allowed to work with this clan, leading many to the Lord. I taught the new believers and discipled them in my small home. In 1996, just before we moved to a new town, the chief of the clan came to me. He said he had lived 42 years and had never seen the kind of love that he was seeing in us. He trusted in Jesus, and sounding like Joshua from the Bible he said, 'My family, including my two wives and all my children, will follow Jesus.' He announced to his tribe that they were free to choose Islam or to follow Christ, but he called on them to follow Christ, saying 'I want even the unborn babies in their mother's stomachs to become followers of Jesus!'"

Moussa continued this work—moving to reach more nomadic tribes—for 21 years, and now resides in a town where many nomads pass through.

"Thanks to God, we have a water pump on our land, and we have baptized many in that water. Right now, the number of nomads who have given their lives to the Lord through our ministry is estimated to be more than 500 across many provinces in Chad, as well as Central African Republic, Sudan, Niger, and Nigeria. I myself have baptized 60 new believers and have recently trained 8 new evangelists to go out and make more disciples. Glory to God! Amen."

Glory to God, indeed, for the Lord's work in and through Moussa. Be encouraged, neverthirst family, by the projects, life change, and new believers that you are empowering on the other side of the world.

Give today to empower more pastors and bring clean and living water to the unreached.