It is hard to believe Daniel is now the vice president of the Baptist church association in Chad, Africa. As a young man, he had always thought, “A pastor’s work is too hard.” And he knew how hard it was, growing up the son of a pastor.
The hardest moments had to have been during Chad’s “cultural revolution” in 1973. This often-violent movement attempted to bring Chadians back to their African roots, which included tribal religions with their demonic practices. BMM missionaries were forced out of the country during those dark years. But the darkest point came when 13 Chadian Baptist pastors were machine gunned and buried in a common grave. The government had ordered them to bow down and worship the head witch doctor—and they had refused.
Daniel’s family fled to neighboring Central African Republic, but his unsaved relatives found them and took Daniel to the secret “initiation camps” to force him into their tribal religion. Daniel described his time there as Satanic. He was cut with razors in traditional fashion but was not allowed to cry out. He still bears long scars on the sides of his forehead and face. After three months in the camp, Daniel was found and rescued by his father.
In time, the storm of persecutions subsided, and Daniel’s family returned home. Daniel received the Lord and walked with Him. But having little desire to follow in his father’s footsteps, Daniel found a job with a humanitarian relief organization. But in 1993, God’s call on Daniel’s life had become unmistakable: Daniel was to be a pastor.
Today, Daniel leads a 400-member church that he started after graduating from seminary. At a BMM-founded Bible institute, Daniel also helps train other Chadians for the pastorate. Daniel wouldn’t trade God’s pastoral call on his life for anything, saying: “We were created to do good works in Christ.”