TRANSCRIPT

NATHAN JONES

Thank you for joining me once again as we head to the country of Chad in Africa to visit with Clément Hlama as he shares about his ministry to youth, the persecuted church, and other kingdom work.

I'm your host, Nathan Jones, and you are listening to the Inspiring Stewards podcast.

Well, Clément, thank you for the time today. I am always excited to be connected to leaders around the world who are living out a faithful life of stewardship, and I look forward to learning more about your story.

So, help us get to know you a bit. Where are you from, and what was life like growing up?

CLÉMENT HLAMA

Thank you Nathan. Greetings from Chad. Chad is in Central Africa. We are east of Sudan, south of Libya, and west of Nigeria. I was born into a small city in southern Chad called Bongo. And then, grew up in rural villages where my father was a pastor.

I grew up farming and raising cattle. I did my primary school in a village and came to the city for my secondary school. Lived with many families away from my family because my father was pastoring villages where there was no school. And so, grew up in much poverty, but I'm grateful that I learned some things.

NATHAN

How did you come to know the Lord, and what impact did that have on your life?

CLÉMENT

Although I was born in a Christian family, I grew up not knowing the Lord personally. I attended Sunday school faithfully. Grew up knowing the Bible intellectually. Then in 1975, I stayed after church to give my life to the Lord, but it was more of like an intellectual exercise. My life remained empty.

I started enjoying sin, and Christian life meant nothing to me personally, although I was a pastor's son. And, in the village, there were a lot of illiterate people. So, I found myself teaching the Bible to others.

But by ‘79, God challenged me as I was studying the Bible to teach others. The Spirit rebuked me for my hypocrisy and my immoral life. And I realized that I was just a religious person, and I didn't have a personal relationship with the Lord. So, I broke down. Without anybody guiding me, I just surrendered my life to Christ and asked Christ to come into my life and take over.

Christ did, and what used to be head knowledge became a personal relationship. I found peace and joy as I was walking with the Lord. Although before I was fighting endlessly with immorality and sin, then I found that, you know, God gave me power that transformed me and created a spiritual hunger in me.

I started reading a lot of books, attending Bible teaching, you know, and listening to a lot of Bible teaching on radio. So, it was good to me. Later, I moved to a town, another town called Kelo. There, I came across people who were more mature in the faith and who helped me grow and discipled me, and taught me the Word of God, taught me how to witness to others, and later taught me about missions. So, I see my life changing from that point.

Although I don't know the exact date, I can't remember the exact date. However, I know one thing is that that was a turning point in my life because my life changed. There was my life before that time. There was that moment where I met the Lord face to face, and then, there was the moment afterwards, and I saw change in my life. Christ is not only my Savior, He is my Lord, and I'm grateful.

NATHAN

Thank you for sharing. That's a powerful story of transformation of how the Lord has worked in your life. Well, catch us up to today. What ministry and work does He have you involved in now?

CLÉMENT

So, after I received Christ in my life, I started studying the Bible, attending Bible classes. And so, I was committed in church, and also, in the fellowship in the secondary school. We had a Christian fellowship in the secondary school. I became a Sunday school teacher and was a youth leader.

By 1985, I left Chad to go to Nigeria to seek an opportunity to be trained for ministry. I was trained as a child evangelist, tract evangelist, cross-cultural missionary, and also as a pastor. Then, I returned to Chad in 1992, then started a mission resource center where I was doing discipleship, research, mobilization, training for cross-cultural missionaries and local evangelists.

We were facing issues with converts, so, I was doing convert care. I was also involved in monitoring persecution and also training people to face persecution. Then as the country was facing more humanitarian crisis, I became involved in relief and humanitarian assistance, and also trauma healing as churches were facing hostility, the Christian church persecution in many areas.

Then I was involved in coaching, mentoring, and leadership development. Then, I started a Christian school where we have over 400 children in the neighborhood. And I've been doing a lot of things. Presently, I'm a board member of the National Evangelical Fellowship. I'm a GTP trainer and also the GTP Country Coordinator.

NATHAN

Clément, I’m curious if you are able to share. For those of us that are in other parts of the world, we hear through the news of the persecution happening in Nigeria against Christians. Can you give us a little bit from your perspective on the depth of that, and maybe some ways that we could be praying?

CLÉMENT

I studied in Nigeria in the context of persecution. I remembered many times where in the Bible college or in the seminary, we were faced with threats of being attacked. We heard stories of churches being burned down. And we faced many situations of individuals that were persecuted.

The church in Nigeria and in the Lake Chad region and also in the Sahel as a general, is facing persecution because, you see, there are two factors. The non-Christian religions are growing stronger.

In Nigeria, you have heard many churches burned down. For example, in 2006, there was a story where some women were having a meeting in a church, in a town on the extreme northeastern side of Nigeria. As these women were gathered, some Muslim guys came and set the church on fire. Imagine somebody with a heart that could do that. Women were there, some women were having babies. So, women tried to tie their children in their back and tried to run. And imagine these people were outside, armed, putting fire.

You have cases of situations where some church leaders were kidnapped. Some were killed. Some were tortured. And you know, horrible situations of, you know, people coming to kidnap children in school. Imagine that!

Children in their beds, not well-dressed, being kidnapped by people that take them to the bush. And you know, this period of the year, it's a little bit cold. And imagine those children living under horrible situations. The situation is serious. It's serious, not only for Nigeria and northern Cameroon.

For Chad, we are grateful for our army that is fighting and doing a lot of things. You face those situations in many countries in the sub-region. And so, being a Christian is a dangerous thing in some areas. You lose your land and all that.

But at the same time, in places like Chad and other places, we have another form of persecution also, which is the revival of the traditional African religion that becomes so violent. Like in Chad, you have heard situations where we had pastors that were buried alive, and so, things like that.

NATHAN

This is the Inspiring Stewards podcast. So, share with us what role the principle of stewardship plays out in your life and work.

CLÉMENT

Stewardship is an important thing, and it plays a big role in my life. I'm someone who has benefited greatly from the generosity of others in my life, in my family, and ministry. And also, because of the generosity of others who were able to help some people who are suffering, widows, people who lost their homes, and all that.

But, you know, stewardship is also a challenge because God blesses us, and the big thing is, how do we manage what He has given us?

And for me, there were things I didn't learn well in life. And so, I'm grateful for GTP that God has brought along my way to help me learn the principles I've learned over the years.

In my ministry, not only (you know) I was benefiting from the generosity of others, but I started also teaching locals, particularly as I was growing in my understanding of the church, the indigenous church, and also the resilience of the church in light of the hostility. Because it's possible that one day we will wake up and there are no expatriates around us, and then we find ourselves. And so, we need to think: What can we do?

And the lesson of stewardship is that, you know, God is generous and He is able to provide for me, for us, even if nobody else is around us. Because God has put a lot of things. God has created everything before creating man. So, He has put a lot of resources. And it's a principle that wherever we find ourselves.

I've been in difficult situations in life. I've experienced prison. I've experienced some few things. And what I know is that in whatever situation, God has already prepared a way for you, no matter what comes up.

And so, through GTP, I'm learning, and it's good. I took the JOE (Journey of Empowerment) course, which helped me to reaffirm my identity in Christ, to understand that God's call in my life needs to be carried out in a community, in a team. You know, I'm not by myself, and I need to operate in a team and in a community.

God is able to save any situation I find myself in. The key is accountability, and I haven't developed that much in the past, but I'm learning. I'm learning I need to learn more.

And then, the courses that I'm taking are helping. Like, you know, The Council helps to supplement my theology of the church and holes in my pastoral training. Then, when I took When Money Goes on Mission, it helped me reaffirm the principle of accountability in the ministry. Because it's not just an issue of we need more money, but there are a lot of things to put into practice. And I'm learning that.

And I'm also teaching discipleship, teaching responsibility, and generosity. So, I'm trusting the Lord, you know, after sitting down and re-evaluating my life after taking When Money Goes on Mission.

First of all, to develop Christlikeness in me. I need to develop it more. I need to articulate clearly and in a better way my vision and mission purpose. I need to trust God to provide for me and my ministry. I need to work more in the team, not just lead the team, but work with the team.

Then I need also to improve my track record, the record of the ministry, the management, and all that. That's an area I need to work to improve more. Then I need to work more to prepare the younger generation.

I'm already growing. I say I'm in the afternoon and very soon, my strength will reduce. I will not be able to do much. So, now I need to be able to prepare more the younger generation. So, stewardship is a challenge.  For me, it’s a learning process, and I'm trusting the Lord to learn more.

NATHAN

Thanks for sharing. So, getting towards the end of our time, one final question before I give you a chance to share anything else you want us to hear today is: how are you seeing God at work uniquely in the world, whether it's locally in your area or even at a more global scale?

CLÉMENT

Well, I see God greatly at work, particularly raising up many young people who are passionate about the Lord. So, I come across those young people. They need coaching. They need mentoring to reach their full potential and serve the Lord fully.

I see the Lord at work in making my path cross, and our path, and the path of many people, crossing. Some meetings, some strategic people to help us become better person and serve God better.

I don't know how I came across GTP. But I'm grateful for such a resource agency that trains people and organizations to be better equipped in principles, in norms, and in standards.

I see God also at work in opening many opportunities for ministries these days. Even when we think that the devil has messed up everything, God is on His throne, and He is at work. We simply need to be quiet, listen to His voice, and see that the harvest is right.

I see also God at work globally in the world, and it reaffirms the biblical truth that the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord. Christ would win.

You know, we see many anti-Christian agitations in the world, either through those fanatical groups, through humanism, or through many other things. And yet, we know Christ will win. That gives me courage in ministry. That gives me the drive to persevere.

NATHAN

Well, Clément, as we wrap up our time, any final thoughts you would have for us today?

CLÉMENT

Well, thank you, Nathan, for providing us with this opportunity, particularly for me to reflect and to share my little story.

I'm grateful also for Gary, for pouring his life into us and challenging us to be more strategic. I'm grateful for GTP. I wish I knew about GTP earlier. But, you know, in the fullness of time, God allowed me to come across GTP, and I'm grateful.

I wish more resources are translated into French. You know, the French world, either in Europe, in Canada, or here in Africa, you know, we need more compared to the English world. We need more help in radical discipleship, in training, in things like principles, norms, and standards for ministry.

So, I pray that, you know, the Lord will provide and that we will have more resources. We're hoping also to organize some GTP trainings here in Chad in the near future. So, we covet prayer, and we pray that people support that we have the resources for that. I am very grateful to share this little thing.

And I pray God's blessing on those who are listening and on GTP leadership, as the Lord helps them lead the organization so that more nations are blessed.

NATHAN

Amen, Clément, thank you. I appreciate your time.

CLÉMENT

Thanks.