Tridia Kamwanga Wa Kasamba is an international Global Mission Fellow with the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, engaged in a two-year term of service. The Global Mission Fellows program takes young adults ages 20-30 out of their home environments and places them in new contexts for mission experience and service. The program has a strong emphasis on faith and justice. Global Mission Fellows become active parts of their new local communities. They connect the church in mission across cultural and geographical boundaries. They grow in personal and social holiness and become strong young leaders working to build just communities in a peaceful world. Tridia is a member of Mount Nebo United Methodist Church in the Southwest Katanga Annual Conference. She is a member of Youth for Christ and a children’s monitor. She earned a diploma/certificate in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel at ITM Africa, Lubumbashi, DRC, and interned at a local radio station. Tridia is eager to help people through The United Methodist Church. “My contribution to Global Mission Fellows,” she said, “would be to share the little knowledge I have about my faith and my conversion as a born-again Christian. For me, it is an opportunity to learn more and to open myself to the Christian life and to all these advantages as a member of the church.” Tridia described her conversion to Christianity as “a very beautiful experience.” As children of God, she noted, “we must have a reference and a way of convincing others about the faith because it is the only thing that a Christian must not lose. All are called to serve and to remain faithful from generation to generation. “Even lost like bad apples, we always end up coming back to our church, and it’s a mystery that only true Christians can understand.” Being a Global Mission Fellow is “a huge honor for me and my community,” Tridia said, “especially for my family to know that [I am] serving The United Methodist Church. Tridia looks forward to meeting God in community with other Christians. “There is nothing better,” she said, “than learning new things and putting them into practice, while discovering other places in the world.”

Akouvi Blessing?Dedjinou?is an International Global Mission Fellow with the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, engaged in a two-year term of service. The Global Mission Fellows program offers young adults ages 20-30 an opportunity to travel from their home environments to live and work in new contexts for mission experience and service. The program has a strong emphasis on faith and justice. Global Mission Fellows become active parts of their new local communities. They connect the church in mission across cultural and geographical boundaries. They grow in personal and social holiness and become strong leaders working to build just communities in a peaceful world.? Akouvi is a member of the Methodist Church of Togo, on the west coast of Africa. “I started going to church from a young age,” she recalled, “because my parents are Christians and they taught me how to walk with God. Yet, Christian life is not about just going to church but also having a personal relationship with the Creator. “As I grew, I began to seek the Lord’s will for my life. God, with overflowing grace, met me, and it was in 2020 that I really gave my life to Christ.” In 2023, Akouvi is taking the final steps to obtain her bachelor’s degree in chemistry. Watching her older sister struggle with a severe digestive disease, Akouvi hopes to use her degree to concentrate on nutrition, food contaminants and what the body needs to stay healthy. “I now understand that many of the diseases we face are caused by the food we eat,” Akouvi said. “For this reason, we need to focus on food security for the development of the whole population so that we can all live healthy lives.” The origins of her sister’s diagnosis turned out to be poor nutrition from a poor food source. In addition to her passion to improve food security, Akouvi expresses a strong desire to help young people understand God’s call on their lives and how they can develop good relationships with God. “I see myself, by the grace of God, available to do God’s mission here on earth,” she said, “so that others can learn from my experience and get closer to God.”