Nadège Impote Welo is an author, song writer and worship leader. For several decades, she has accompanied French-speaking Christians with her angelic voice. We have known her in groups such as Gaël but she is most popular standing next to her husband, Pastor Athoms Mbuma. Athoms and Nadège are, without exaggerating, one of the most consistent couples in their message and authentic in the way they live their faith.
Pastor Nadège is my inspiration for the month of March, a month dedicated to women in general and more specifically to women’s rights. She is for me the epitome of sacrifice and service. Certainly, having been raised by a pastoral couple, I myself have experienced the emotional toll that comes with ministry but her testimony has crystallized something in me.
In an interview, she shared how she had to leave her baby, her second daughter, for a whole week to go serve. As a young mother I immediately thought about the stress of that because I find it hard to leave my children for a few hours though they are no longer dependent on breastfeeding for food. Imagining how she was able to do this for a week really spoke to me. Serving God, serving others must be something of incomparable value for a mother to accept this burden. The more I listened to her talk, the more I realized that the beautiful videos we love so much are actually very expensive.
Later in the same interview, she tells how on another occasion she had to leave the same baby for 42 days and how on the way back from that trip, she sat on the plane and started to cry. Moreover, the first day of her return, the child did not recognize her. In this testimony she insisted on the fact that God does not forget the sacrifices but while she was speaking, I directly thought of the time when Nadège was leading worship on EMCI TV and I wondered how she manages to transport her audience, in a worship atmosphere, in front of a screen. There is no secret anymore, Nadège Mbuma is a leader who answers the call even when the conditions are not favorable. I humbly say, I am not at all at her level, but she has shown me that it is possible, and that God enables us.
There are certainly many things to say about Pastor Nadège and I would write more about what her ministry inspires me but for this month, let me leave you with the following points:
- As long as you remain faithful to your calling, all your sacrifices will be rewarded
- When you have a conviction, that it comes from God, be quick to act
- God created women with a special strength, don’t waste your time in the business of parity
- No matter how old you are, you have something to do with God
See the integrity of the interview (only available in French):
For me, Nadège Mbuma is a woman of hope.
By Josie
