The behind-the-scenes work of the finance teams at the OM offices throughout Africa has seen an influx of new workers at just the right time.
The behind-the-scenes work of the finance teams at the OM offices throughout Africa has seen an influx of new workers at just the right time.
Juan (South Africa), the regional chief finance officer for OM in Africa, shared that over the past few years, the finance teams for 14 fields across Africa have been through a lot of challenges, but that God has provided for their needs.
He said, "Finances teams in OM comprise of bookkeepers and accountants that serve our leaders diligently to help them be good stewards of the resources that God provides. They are an essential part of our mission to see new vibrant communities of Jesus followers established among the least reached."
But at the beginning of 2024, the picture was very different. One of the core finance team members requested to be released from most of the work she was doing to focus more on her family and supporting her husband’s business.
“This was quite a shock since most of the team is overworked as it is,” Juan recalled. “However, God was not in shock. He had already been preparing Miriro — an experienced accountant from Zimbabwe who loves Jesus — who had approached us for volunteer service near the end of 2023.”
New team members
To compound the blessings, God added another two volunteers to the finance team in 2024. Sarah (Madagascar) is an accountant with many years’ experience, including nine years previously with OM, who will serve as finance officer for the Sahel region.
Juan said, “This is an amazing fit, since she can speak both French and English on top of her local Malagasy language, which puts her in the perfect position to serve French-speaking leaders in West Africa.”
Chartered accountant Chris (UK), who has many years of experience in corporate and non-profit environments, is the new chief finance officer for the team in Zambia. As part of his orientation, he travelled across Zambia to meet many of the local leaders and ministry workers and took part in trainings, such as the Missions Mobilising Training in South Africa. Chris has also started to work on growing the finance team in Zambia that has been working under immense pressure due to staff shortages.
God’s provision
"We can testify to the faithfulness of God — the Lord of the harvest! In this past year He has been faithful to send multiple highly skilled, experienced and, in some cases, self-supported, finance staff to join the teams in Africa. He keeps on sending us the right people for strategic finance roles in Africa and equipping the amazing people serving diligently,” Juan said.
“We’ve been very grateful to see Him at work in sending workers into the harvest in our finance teams across Africa, allowing us to better serve our leaders on the front lines. God seems to be teaching us to remain faithful, seek Him and trust Him; He’s got us. We continue to serve in His rhythms of grace. His grace is sufficient for us.
“I look forward to seeing one of the Finance Leaders in Africa stepping into my role in the not-too-distant future. Thanks for praying with us as we follow after Jesus!”
Pray with us that God will continue to call the right people for strategic roles in finance. Ask God to help the team create a culture of discipleship and multiplication, learning from one another as they grow into finance professionals while becoming more like Jesus. Please pray for God’s provision to make a dream for the next in-person finance training in Kenya to become a reality in the first quarter of 2025.