G. Seza is a Global Missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church. As the agricultural coordinator for the Central Africa, he focuses on agriculture, livestock and social justice. He earned a master’s degree in crop improvement and biotechnology, as well as a diploma of agronomist at Lubumbashi University. Along with working in research related to his field, Seza has taught at Katanga Methodist University and Philip Lemon University (Adventist University) and directed development for The United Methodist Church. A lay member of Paroisse Jerusalem Francophone Church in Haut-Katanga, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Seza is married, and the couple has two sons. “I was born into a Christian family of a Catholic father and a Methodist mother,” Seza said. “I was consecrated as a baby in The United Methodist Church.” As a child, he participated in the Youth for Christ cadet group. From age 12, he held leadership roles with the group as secretary, director of education, vice president and president. At the same time, Seza was part of the parish evangelist-intercessor team. This allowed him to learn from a trained evangelist and preacher. Today he is the chaplain’s assistant and a preacher at the Episcopal Administration Team and one of the preachers at the French-speaking Jerusalem parish. “In my Christian life,” Seza said, “I have experienced the hand of God in various circumstances. Today my faith is such that I find every solution in the name of the Lord Jesus, and I confirm that if you believe, you will see the glory of God.” His favorite Bible passage is Philippians 4:13, which reads, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” “I know how to live in abundance [and] in scarcity,” Seza continued. “If God is for me, who will be against me? I believe in the Resurrection of Christ, the foundation of our faith. I believe in eternal life, the resurrection of the dead and the Trinity. Through the love of God, Christ has saved us totally, spiritually, physically, financially and materially because with God, everything is possible, God being the providential source of our life.” Seza’s missionary call, he explained, “is a response to my call from God, who wants us to be sources of blessing for others. God calls us to go to all nations [and to] make disciples of Christ through the gospel and through social works such as agriculture.” Seza is excited about becoming a missionary. “Like clay in the potter’s hand,” he said, “I am ready to serve God by putting my professional skills, my professional experiences through my Christian faith and my abilities to contribute to doing good to others in humility, flexibility and peace and by the grace of God.” He sees missionary service as “a commitment to work for God, who created us to be faithful servants.” Quoting from Matthew 9:37-38, he said, “The harvest is great, but there are few workers. I come as one of the workers available to serve. I say, ‘Here I am, Lord. Send me!’” Email Me

Pedro Zavala is a Global Missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries. He is an academic officer associate and professor at the United Evangelical Theological Seminary in Madrid, Spain. A lay member of La Santísima Trinidad, Gante Church in Mexico City, he earned doctoral and master’s degrees in Latin American philosophy at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). He served as a professor and an academic dean at Seminario Metodista “Dr. Gonzalo Báez Camargo” as former GBGM National in Mission (NIM), and private educational institutions (ITESM, UCSJ, CTM). He and his spouse, Cecilia López Bátiz, are the parents of a young son, Xavier. Growing up in the Methodist Church of Gante, Mexico City, Pedro treasures memories of times with his parents and sister, “I remember Sundays with my whole family, before, during and after the service. I remember laughing with them, chatting, being together – great times! They have always supported me in my plans and projects; they have always been generous with me.” He continued: “Time goes by. As boys, we ate pizza and played soccer and video games. As adolescents, we visited people in jail (you think you are going to share, and in the end, you come out blessed). We went to homes on the margins of the city and brought medical campaigns there. My parents were serving as physicians. We went to children and youth living on the streets and [in] sewers (some struggling with addictions) in Tepito, a hard zone near downtown).” Pedro saw the church’s work as “valuable and necessary in a selfish society and world of injustice.” Involved in social work with laity and clergy, Pedro taught children’s Sunday school, led a Wednesday prayer circle, worked with youth and edited a church newspaper. “Then I engaged with district and conference levels,” he said, “until becoming the representative of Mexico to the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI).” Motivated by what was happening in his country and the region, Pedro decided to study theology and philosophy from a Latin American liberation perspective. “I had great professors and classmates who helped me deepen my doubts,” he remembers. “I found my ministry in education and seminarians formation seeking for justice and peace.” Every day, he asked himself: How can I serve better? “I knew God’s calling for me through a gradual listening and discernment process,” Pedro said. “From my childhood and youth involvement in the Methodist Church, where I learned hymns and stories and engaged in social work, to holding various positions within the church as I grew older, the question of what I could do to support the work of God in my community was always in my mind. Over time, I began recognizing signs and experiences that pointed me toward a deeper commitment to serving through a ministry related to education.” The calling was always there, Pedro realized, “dancing between play and doubt, between the smiles and the fears. Sometimes I heard it. Other times, I was afraid to repeat it in my mind. So, as time went on, the question changed from “What do you want from me, God?” to “What can I do to make better all this work?” to “I don’t know what will happen, and God is with me.”