Dr Georges Atido, an alumni of the Center for World Christianity at Africa International University, was in August 2017, appointed as the twelfth President of Université Shalom de Bunia in Northeastern Congo.
Atido was born in an African Inland Mission station in Northeastern Congo. He grew up in a family that exposed him to Christian faith in his early age. “I accepted Christ as my Savior and Lord at the age of six and was baptized by immersion at the age of twelve,” he says. He and his siblings moved with their parents in different villages in DRC where their father, Rev Atido Kunde Dong’ went in his evangelistic and pastoral ministry. Atido’s father’s dedication to missions inspired George Atido from an early age to serve Christ.
He developed a keen interest in literature which he studied in a public college in Congo. After graduating with a Master of Education in French and African Linguistics in 1998, he was invited to teach French at Université Shalom de Bunia. It was in this seminary where his urge for theological studies was kindled as his calling into full time ministry was reaffirmed.
Atido and his family moved to Nairobi in Kenya in 2002 where he was enrolled for a masters in missions at Nairobi International School of Theology, (NIST) a seminary affiliated to Campus Crusade for Christ. “My faith in Christ grew significantly as God miraculously provided for my needs,” says Atido. Upon graduation, Atido’s family moved into inland Kenya where George served as pastor among the Kamba ethnic community with a Brethren church denomination known as The Fellowship of Believers (FOB). In 2007, Atido family relocated in Congo where Atido was appointed the Assistant to Dr Katho, then President of Université Shalom de Bunia.
In 2009, Atido and his family returned Nairobi where Atido enrolled for a master of theology, followed by a doctoral program in World Christianity at the Center for World Christianity in Africa International University (AIU). “It was here,” Atido says, “I was introduced to sound evangelical theology, church history and missions related studies including Evangelical Revitalization Movement Theory developed by Professor Mark Shaw.” As part of my doctoral studies, Atido travelled to Edinburgh in Scotland to the Centre for the Studies of World Christianity where he enrolled for seminars in relation to his PhD research. “In Edinburgh I interacted with Andrew Walls, Brian Stanley and Afe Adogame who introduced me to important features of World Christianity,” Atido says. He graduated with a PhD in World Christianity in 2015 with a dissertation on “Religious Mobility and Identity among Alur Christians in Northeastern Congo” in July 2015.
Atido and his family returned to Congo where he was appointed Executive Secretary to the President of the Université Shalom de Bunia. The following year Atido was appointed Associate Professor of Missiology and World Christianity and taught courses in master’s program and seminars for PhD students. He is also co-supervising a PhD dissertation at the Universite Shalom de Bunia alongside Hannes Wiher, a distinguished francophone professor of missiology in the Faculté Libre de Théologie Evangélique at Vaux-sur-Seine in Paris in France. His student is researching on the mission model of the “Communauté Evangélique au Centre de l’Afrique (CECA 20) in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 1912 to 2012.
“My research interests include interrogating African indigenous expression of Christianity and their connectedness with African cultural, economic, social, and political context,” says Atido. His most recent research on this area includes a study done on a flourishing Congolese indigenous church known as Fraternité Evangélique de Pentecôte en Afrique au Congo (FEPACO.) This research was funded by The Templeton Foundation through the Nagel Institute for the Studies of World Christianity in 2016-17. The main findings of this work will be submitted to the International Bulletin of Mission Research (IBMR). Atido belongs to the Langham Scholar family in addition to his commitment to the Observatoire Interdisciplinaire du Religieux au Congo (OIR). Atido also serves in the editorial board of Africa Review of Interdisciplinary Studies (ARIS) based at Kinshasa.
The Université Shalom de Bunia, was founded in 1957 by five Protestant evangelical denominations in eastern Congo. The school started as a seminary in 1961 then developed to a university in 2007. Université Shalom de Bunia provides accredited degrees in Evangelical Theology, Development Studies, Medical Studies, Management, Agriculture, and Environmental Science at both the undergraduate and graduate level to about 800 students. It opened inaugurated a PhD program in Theology in 2012. “My dream is is to see Université Shalom de Bunia producing Christlike pastors and professionals who will serve in the Democratic Republic of Congo and beyond,” says Atido. He adds, “my family will appreciate prayers as I embark in this new responsibility.” George and Jacqueline Atido are blessed with five children, Divine, Deborah, David, Daniel and Dora.
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