Emmanuel and Kahindo Mbodwam

While growing up, Emmanuel attended Hillcrest School, a Christian missionary school in Jos, Nigeria, where he committed his life to serving Jesus Christ. Soon after, he decided to apply his interest in aviation and technology to serve in mission aviation. He continued on to attend Moody Bible Institute where he received training as a pilot and airplane mechanic and earned a B.S. in Mission Aviation Technology. Emmanuel speaks English, French, and Hausa fluently.

Kahindo was born in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to Congolese missionary parents. Her grandfather became the first Congolese pastor in his village, Nyankunde, and started the first church there. This legacy continued as Kahindo’s parents became missionaries with Agape (CRU). Kahindo lived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, and Kenya before moving to the USA in 1987.

Kahindo spent the greater part of her middle and high school years in Deerfield and Moline, Illinois, while her dad completed his PhD studies in Christian Education at Trinity International University. Her parents went on to plant Campus pour Christ in Cameroon where Kahindo attended Rainforest International, a Wycliffe Bible Translators school in Yaounde, Cameroon. Having been active in her church youth group in the US, Kahindo quickly noticed the absence of vibrant Christian youth ministries for young people in Africa. She began to envision a youth ministry in Africa to teach young people the Word of God while providing wholesome recreational activities and opportunities for knowledge and skills training. In 1997, Kahindo returned to the US where she earned a B.A. in Educational Ministries at Moody Bible Institute. During the Mbodwams’ first four years serving in DRC, Kahindo taught Kindergarten at The American School of Kinshasa.  In 2021, she left the comfort and security of that position to start Poiema International Academy, A Classical Christian school in Kinshasa. Kahindo speaks English, French, Swahili and Lingala.

The Mbodwams are part of the leadership team at their local church, the International Protestant Church of Kinshasa (IPCK) where Emmanuel teaches Sunday school and Kahindo serves on the administrative board and Christian education committee.

The Mbodwams are on-loan from MAF-France to MAF-US.