Jacob – DMI Chats

Andrew Miller is the International Director of DMI. When he’s not snacking on Twisties in Sydney, he’s travelling around the world raising funds and DMI’s profile in developed countries or visiting the fields we support to see what’s needed and how our funds are being managed. Either way, he works tirelessly to avoid unidentifiable food and meets lots of weird and wonderful people who he just can’t resist interviewing…

#28 Jacob

Jacob Ndovya serves as a pastor in DR Congo. He’s one of our most effective ministers yet his journey has been one of personal challenges and moral struggles. In one of the most open and honest interviews I’ve ever held, Jacob shares with me his story.

Andrew: Jacob, were you born deaf or did you become deaf later in life?

I was born hearing and became deaf when I was nine years old. I caught meningitis, and it affected my leg and blocked my ears. I lost my hearing then.

How did that change your life?

My father did not believe that I was deaf and felt that I was afflicted spiritually. So he took me to a witch doctor who took a blade to my body and cut me all over and put a traditional powder into the wounds to heal my affliction. But of course, it didn’t work!

How did you feel going through that? It must have been terribly painful?

Not really. That’s just a traditional way that afflictions are treated.

Do these practices still happen today in Congo?

Yes, they continue to this day. Anyway, there’s more to my story.

Of course.

I then went to school in Butembo. It was a totally new life and at first, I found it very challenging because I couldn’t sign at all. I had to learn to sign from scratch. I eventually improved but it was hard in the beginning.

Did all your family move to Butembo with you or did you go by yourself?

No, my family stayed behind and I went by myself. I was taken in by my uncle and I stayed with his family while I went to school.

Can you tell me about your family growing up, Jacob? How many brothers and sisters did you have?

My father married twice. He had three daughters with his first wife. He then divorced her and took a second wife and had six children with her. I was the third-born to his second wife. So there were nine siblings in all in my family growing up.

Were you the only Deaf one, Jacob?

Yes, it was just me.

How did you feel being the only Deaf person in your family?

I felt very uncomfortable. I felt isolated and unloved. I couldn’t understand any of the communication and nobody really tried to communicate with me. It made me feel really useless. And when it came to any inheritance, it was like I didn’t exist.

So what happened after you graduated from school?

I graduated from primary school but there was no secondary school in Butembo. But by the grace of God I was given an opportunity to go to Uganda to study at the Bible school there. And after I graduated from there, I came back to lead the church here in Butembo.

Tell me about your spiritual beginnings. When did you become a Christian?

The Deaf school was a Roman Catholic school but they never really taught us the gospel. And my friends and I were living pretty wild lives – drinking, smoking and fooling around with girls. Then one day a pastor from the Protestant church came and preached. He brought with him a Deaf choir and that had a big impact on me. The pastor preached the gospel, and I was so moved by it that I decided to receive Jesus into my life. Things really began to change quite dramatically after that. It wasn’t long before I was invited to go to Uganda to study at the Bible school and then moved into ministry.

Can you tell me about the beginning of DAC (Deaf Action Congo)?

While I was at the Bible College in Uganda, Neville came and saw leadership qualities in me. So when I graduated from the college after three years, I was sent back to Congo to lead the work of Deaf Ministries International there. Other Deaf people from Congo followed, including Papy (the current DAC Director). At that time I was still the Director of DAC.

Are you comfortable telling me why you are no longer director of the ministry? What happened?

In 2014 I was involved in a relationship with a woman in Butembo and also with another woman in Beni. One of the women fell pregnant and there were accusations that the baby was mine. Gunnar was leading DMI at the time and he insisted that there be a DNA test and that proved that the baby was not mine. The other lady also fell pregnant and there were accusations that I was involved in an abortion but there is no proof of that. Nevertheless, because of my moral failures I was removed as director and Papy was installed as the new director.

Do you think that DMI’s response was appropriate at that time?

I don’t think DMI made a good judgement there. I wasn’t happy with the decision.

What do you think would have been an appropriate decision given that you were having relationships with different women?

This all came out about five years after the relationships had ended, and I had already confessed and asked God for forgiveness. I believe that God forgave me and so when the accusations arose I presented myself to the DAC members on my knees and I asked them to forgive me as God had forgiven me. But they removed me from the director’s position and installed Papy instead.

What happened then?

It was very difficult for me and my family. The dismissal brought great shame and economic hardship. I tried to start my own banana business. I was traveling a long way on my motorbike to buy bananas and sell them back in Butembo to support my family. I asked DMI for a business loan which they first denied but later agreed. They gave me a loan of $5000. With this money, I travelled to another place about 300 km away to start a business selling mobile phones. After a while, Gunnar felt that I was not using my ministry training and asked me to come back and meet him in Uganda with Papy. There, we had a reconciliation, and I was appointed to go and start a new ministry in Bunia.

You mentioned it was difficult for your family. Can you tell me about your family now?

I married my wife in 2012 and we have four children.

Hang on, Jacob. I want to come back to something. You married in 2012 but in 2014 you had those two extra relationships? Have you truly repented of that? Are you now completely faithful to your wife?

Yes, I confessed to my wife and I’ve been faithful to her ever since.

King David experienced a serious moral failure, but he also genuinely repented and experienced God’s forgiveness and grace. Do you see parallels between his experience and your own? How has God’s grace changed your life?

Yes, I see myself like David. I committed adultery. I confessed and repented and am now living every day under the grace of God.

What do you see for your future?

I have a big vision but to be honest I’m not sure how to achieve it.

What is the big vision that you have?

My big vision is to take the gospel of Jesus to the Deaf throughout Congo. I want to plant churches. I want to build schools for the Deaf. There are so many Deaf who do not have an education and have not heard the gospel. It’s really burning in my heart to share it with them – to give them the hope of the gospel and an education and opportunities for employment and a meaningful life.

Jacob, thank you for sharing your life so honestly with me.