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September 4, 2015 — One of our privileges is working alongside Christian professors who want to exemplify Jesus in word and deed.

Joseph Oppong, UNT Geography professor and Associate Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School, spoke on Sept 4 about his journey from Asankrangwa, a small town in the Western region of Ghana, to life as a medical geographer and Christ-follower. He began life in extreme poverty: abandoned by his father at 3 months of age, he lived with his mother, grandmother and eight siblings in a small room “about the size of my current office.”

Lies Of A Father

He went quickly and easily through primary grades, but was unable to attend secondary school because of the family’s poverty. He moved to the city and found his father, who tricked Joseph into working for two years with the promise of paying for his education.

Once his father’s deception was uncovered, he moved in with his brother, and had a steady job, yet more setbacks occurred.”For the first time in my life, I had a regular monthly income; I rented a room, and began to ‘enjoy independent life, ‘” he told the faculty audience.

“I would probably die like my brother”

“I liked to dance, drank occasionally, and loved the girls. I maintained this life style until 1972, the year my brother was going to graduate. Six months after graduation, my brother Anthony, died. I was devastated, and resolved that I should live it up because I would probably die like my brother.”

Life DID get better for Joseph. To skip ahead in his story, he did come to know Christ in college:

“Finally, after crying for what seemed an eternity, tears streaming down my face, I looked up and prayed roughly as follows: ‘God I know I messed up this life real bad. But if you are still interested in me, please take my life and make meaning out of it.’

Woman Asian at computer copy

Living Online

The rest of his story can be read at Meet The Prof. This is a website we helped create more than five years ago when professors began mentioning how often their witnessing opportunities with student occurred online, rather than face to face. Students can read about the spiritual journeys of their professors and then engage in conversation with them, if they choose to.

As Inside Higher Ed explained about Freshman in 2015: “This year’s freshmen traded some of the hours they would normally have spent hanging out with friends or partying during their senior year in high school for time on social media, a survey of those students shows.”