Meet Pastor Dominic Machar

 I am Pastor Dominic Deng Ater Machar, founder of the African Center for Christian Leadership and Development (ACCLD). I was born in Duk Padiet, Jonglei State, South Sudan, and I am married to my dear wife and best friend, Rachel Deng.

My early childhood was characterized by pain and suffering from civil wars between the black Africans in the southern region of Sudan against the Islamized regime in Khartoum. The longevity of the war, coupled with its catastrophic outcomes, propelled the leadership of the "Sudan People Liberation Movement/Army" (SPLM/A) to order the boys from the age of 8 to 14 years to leave their villages and travel by foot to seek refuge and education in Ethiopia. I

was then registered at age ten and walked 700 miles with hundreds of other boys to Pinyudu refugee camp in Northern Ethiopia. We encountered unimaginable challenges on our way: thirst, starvation, sickness, and attacks by wild animals, in which more children lost their lives. However, our loving God protected some of us against the dangers and threats that could have endangered all our feeble lives. By the grace of God, 27,000 of us made it to Pinyudu refugee camp and stayed there for four years until when we were expelled at gunpoint to run back to South Sudan, then to Kakuma Refugee Camp, Northern Kenya.

In 1993, an Italian missionary came to the Kakuma refugee camp to minister to our weary souls. The willingness of the Italian missionary to go to such a hostile place to minister to the spiritually and physically poor and vulnerable children and the fact that he could speak the Dinka ethnic language impressed me, and my heart was moved to follow Jesus Christ. I dedicated my life to Jesus as the Lord of my life. Much later, the Holy Spirit led me to this verse in the Bible: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me" (Psalms 23:4 MEV). I read it and meditated on it repeatedly until it saturated and became part and parcel of my spiritual life. However, I was not discipled like all other children because there were no trained and discipled pastors and church leaders in the refugee camp to walk us through our new journey of faith in Christ Jesus.

In the late 1990s, God worked in the hearts of men and women in leadership in the United States to consider granting 3,500 young men and women the opportunity to be resettled in the United States. Of the 16,000 children chosen, I was among those selected and became known as the “Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan.” I was placed in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in November 2001. I worked in various factories, studied at Grand Rapids Community College and Aquinas College, and then went to Wayne State University in Detroit. I obtained degrees in Peace and Conflict Resolution and Political Science with the financial help and counsel of Pastor Bob and Shirley Shirock whom God brought to my life to help me. Pastor Bob and Shirley became my American parents, and their love and support enabled me to be God’s vessel. Indeed, God makes all things work out for good: “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28 MEV).

Call to Africa

I never thought that I would return to Africa, given the traumatic experiences I had experienced as a child without parents. I felt like Jonah, who went against God’s instructions to go to Nineveh to preach the message of repenting but instead went to Joppa, fleeing to Tarshish. However, I prayerfully decided to return to Africa after praying, reflecting, and consulting. I realized that God spared my life and took me to the United States, a gracious nation that has given me her best to be a vessel in pursuing and furthering the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. I realized that my life’s experience would be a testament to God’s unconditional love and grace to share with my African people to know, believe, love, and follow Jesus Christ.

With support from my American parents, I went to Nairobi, Kenya, in January 2013 to undertake a postgraduate study in Christian Leadership at the International Leadership University (ILU), former Nairobi School of Theology (NIST), for Campus Crusade of Christ.

I found in Nairobi a massive presence of South Sudanese churches and denominations representing different ethnic backgrounds. God put a burden of identifying, training, and coaching pastors and Christian leaders in my heart, leaders who could positively influence their people to bring about transformation at the individual, family, church, and community levels. In Nairobi, God made it more apparent to me that the lack of God-fearing, called, and competent church leaders in South Sudan was a contributing problem that needed to be addressed through training and discipling programs. At that moment, I realized that “.... The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Matthew 9:37).

By faith, I started a scholarship program at ILU to train South Sudanese pastors and church leaders in theology and Christian leadership to strengthen the church's foundation. I prayerfully ensured that for a pastor to qualify for a scholarship, he/she must be found Faithful, Available, Teachable, and willing to go back and impart to their congregation and community the knowledge, skills, and experiences acquired. The Church is the authentic Salt and the genuine Light of the world, and the future of the Church rests in the hands of its leaders. Some pastors and church leaders who went through our scholarship program are leading change in South Sudan.

Academic and Work Experience: I studied at Grand Rapids Community College, Aquinas College, and Wayne State University in Michigan, obtaining undergraduate degrees in Peace and Conflict Resolution and Political Science. I earned a Master’s in Christian Leadership from the International Leadership University, formerly Nairobi School of Theology (NIST), in Nairobi, Kenya. Further, I have been accepted for a doctorate in transformational leadership at Bakke Graduate University. Still, I deferred due to a lack of stable internet service in South Sudan and financial limitations.

I worked with the Lutherans World Federation in Kakuma refugee camp as a caseworker, trained counselor with Jesuit refugee services, and catechist entrusted with preparing new converts for baptism. I also worked in various factories in Grand Rapids, MI, as a student ambassador at Grand Rapids Community College, student assistant to Professor Federick Pearson at the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at Wayne State University, resource mobilization officer at International Leadership University (ILU), and missionary at Christian Mission Aid to East Africa. The preparation I acquired at ILU prepared me for his missionary work, which took me to the most interior and least reached places across Kenya to provide much-needed training and discipleship programs.

In 2020, I transitioned from Kenya to South Sudan, my home country, to provide sound theological and Christian leadership training and discipleship programs. I established a ministry’s presence in Juba, South Sudan, and Kakuma Refugee Camp, Northwest Kenya, with a commitment to furthering the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.

My partnership with Pastor Fred Woodward, the very man after God’s heart, enables me to provide virtual Tour of the Bible Training to pastors and church leaders in Juba, South Sudan, and Kakuma refugee camp, Northwest Kenya. Pastor Woodward’s book: “Let Me Be Your Guide: A Clear and Understandable Tour of the Bible,” provides a better grasp of the Bible as academic and holy in its unpacking. Our pastors and church leaders who have gone through Pastor Woodward’s virtual tour of the Bible training have planted churches, preached, and led their churches effectively. Pastor Woodward is now the Chairman of our U.S. Partnership Committee, whom I am so privileged to serve with him.

Though noble, the task ahead of me and PIEI-ACCLD can only be achieved through a concerted partnership with men and women after God’s heart. PIEI-ACCLD requests your faithful partnership to better equip and empower our pastors, church leaders, and community leaders with much-needed biblical and leadership knowledge, skills, and exposure. If you want to know more about our ministry, contact Pastor Fred Woodward, Board Chairman, at accldchair@piei.org.

Thank you!

Yours Faithfully,

Pastor Dominic Deng A. Machar, National Director, PIEI-ACCLD South Sudan