Chaddy Ilunga Mutombo 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.
Chaddy is a member of Salem United Methodist Church, Galile District, related to the South Congo Annual Conference. As a president of the United Methodist Student Movement at Africa University, Chaddy was involved in many activities – preaching, counseling, evangelizing, social action and creating training platforms.
He earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree in theological studies at Africa University and did his Clinical Pastoral Education unit at Bonda Mission Hospital, Zimbabwe. He has volunteered through teaching children’s evangelism, visiting hospital patients, distributing mosquito nets and participating in community outreach.
Chaddy’s parents divorced when he was a year old. “The culture made it imperative that I was to stay with my father,” he said. “I grew up without knowing my mother until when I was 17 years old.”
His childhood and adolescence were difficult. Because his father was absent much of the time, Chaddy sometimes was mistreated and denied a good education. His stepmother accused Chaddy of being a witch. He was kicked out of the house several times.
“Such living conditions made me feel lonely, deserted and depressed,” Chaddy recalled. Homeless, he begged for food and sought refuge and a place to sleep in churches. He wondered, “Why me? Why can’t I live a normal life? Why do I have to suffer as if I did something wrong in my life? What is the importance of life if I have to suffer like this?”
He came across Philippians 2:3-4, NLT, which reads, “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”
Reading this passage proved a turning point for Chaddy.
“This verse enlightened my thinking about life,” he said, “because, at that time, I complained too much that no one was there to listen to my problems. It helped me to reflect on these questions. I realized that we should not be selfish by forgetting that other people also have problems, and we should be there for them, too. I decided to commit myself to helping people and giving priority to their well-being.”
Life is all about fighting for, not with, one another other, Chaddy asserted. “Life makes sense when I prioritize others,” he said. “I started seeing myself as someone who must be a pillar of people’s well-being.”
Chaddy is excited about joining Global Mission Fellows. He wants to transform society, he added, “by aiming to produce a community of justice, compassion, hope and success for the advancement of the church.”