Six degrees of separation: It’s a small world after all

OC donors Debbie and Chris Canfield from Fulton, New York, supported an OC scholarship years ago through their church. They never dreamed of all that would come of it. “This is a wonderful story of how our loving God has the whole world in His hands, directs our paths and binds us together as part of His family,” Debbie says.

Thomas Shelwah was born in Liberia and gave his life to Christ in the midst of the Liberian civil war in 1991. His life of gang activity ceased, and he became active in church and felt the call to serve the Lord as a full-time missionary/pastor. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Missions and Evangelism from OC partner school Jos ECWA Theological Seminary (JETSN), Nigeria. There he met his wife, Hauwa, and they served among Liberian refugees before returning to study for their Master’s degrees at OC partner school Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology (NEGST), Kenya, in 2004.

The Canfields began financially supporting OC scholarships in 1998. In 2004, their church, Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church, funded an OC scholarship for Thomas. He never knew who was funding his scholarship, but he expressed his thanks in letters each year. “Thank you for your financial support toward my studies at NEGST,” he wrote. “I’m very grateful for your generous financial support toward equipping me for the great ministry task in war-ravished Liberia.”

After Thomas and Hauwa graduated, the Canfields didn’t receive any more updates. It wasn’t until Debbie became a volunteer auditor for Wycliffe Associates, a ministry supporting the work of Bible translation around the world, that the Canfields found the Shelwahs again. Through Wycliffe, Debbie and Chris met Serge and Olivia Razafinjatoniary, graduates of NEGST who just happened to be good friends with Thomas and Hauwa and had kept in touch with them. The Canfields were thrilled!

Now Debbie and the Shelwahs stay in touch via email. Thomas and Hauwa work for Samaritan’s Purse (SP) International Relief - Liberia. Hauwa is a Senior Manager overseeing children's ministry and SP bases, and Thomas is a Ministry Program Manager. He writes, “It has been very humbling and equally rewarding to be a part of what the Lord is doing through SP to strengthen the post-war church of Liberia.”

Hauwa expressed thanks to the Canfields: “[We] extend our wholehearted appreciation and thanks to you through OC and your church for the support given to us while we were at NEGST. You may never know the extent to which your giving has helped to keep us in school as well as build our hope and dependence on God, but I can clearly tell you we are living testimonies of that.”

Debbie says, “Back in 2004 when our church approved providing a student scholarship, we did so with the belief that it would make a big difference in the life of a person and through that person to many others. We did this by faith. How wonderful it is that God gave us this sight to go with it!”