Shombo, Cédrick Olenga
Cédrick Olenga Shombo 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.
A lay member of Bishop Lunge United Methodist Church, related to the Central Congo Annual Conference, Cédrick is the president of the youth agency and the monitor of children’s ministry. He earned postgraduate degrees in English-language education and English-language teaching.
Born into a Christian family, Cédrick heard biblical teachings at home and at church. However, he recalled, “I lived in darkness until I discovered the truth, as the psalmist says: ‘Your word is a lamp to my feet.’”
During an evangelistic campaign, he decided to follow Jesus. From the Gospel of John (12:25 and 3:16), he said, “I understood that Jesus Christ is my life, my way and my truth. After that, things changed. [Jesus] gave me grace. I began to serve him as a youth evangelist at the district level, while also being an evangelist in the parish. I made several trips to evangelize in territories of the province. God took me from there and raised me to become youth president. I still serve him, and I understand today that it was a good decision.”
When Cédrick was young, the elders told him that The United Methodist Church is present in Africa because people left their countries, their families and their jobs to share the good news. They were missionaries, he learned. “I told them directly that one day, I, too, would be a missionary. I would go far from my country to serve Jesus Christ,” Cédrick said. “I grew up with this vision.”
In 2024, a friend told him about Global Mission Fellows. “I thanked God for this opportunity,” Cédrick said. “If we want to have a living church, we must send missionaries all over the world. I am very motivated.”
Matthew 28:19, about making disciples of all nations, Cédrick said, “tells me that the mission we have received from God is a global mission that has no limits. Finally, I thought of John Wesley who said, ‘My parish is the whole world.’ It is a thought that motivates me daily. It means that God asks me to be a global instrument for God, touching everybody through me.”
He continued, “I am a son of The United Methodist Church. I was born and raised in this church. From an early age, I dreamed of becoming a missionary. I will travel around the world to help people and serve God by being a missionary. Indeed, while having this vision of becoming a missionary, we have made several trips in the province, for the purpose of evangelizing people.
“I am a singer and evangelist,” Cedrick added. “I sometimes spent days away from my father, mother and biological brothers. I always felt happy because I was among my brothers and sisters in the Lord. To serve God far from my country is the leading will of God, so I am ready for that.”
Cédrick is confident that Global Mission Fellows will equip him “to live and work in a team and to open up to people while acquiring other cultural values, which will allow me better to continue my mission and complete the mission of Jesus Christ.”
Pointing out that Jesus is the master teacher, Cédrick said, “By being his disciples, we follow his line of conduct. We have very diverse abilities. I am an educator. I teach children, adolescents and adults, including the elderly.
“We do it because we have been instructed for it. As a missionary, everything depends on the need that will arise, and we hope that we will better develop our skills. All my skills will be oriented in the area where the need is,” he added. “I have knowledge about children’s ministry and counseling. I will apply those skills as soon as the work begins.”