Christian Daily International (CDI), a global Christian news site with reporters and editors in different regions of the world, is pleased to welcome Dr Jay Mātenga as its Opinion Editor. Three decades of service to cross-cultural missions combined with his personal mixed background with Māori heritage, Mātenga is uniquely positioned to take charge of CDI’s opinion section, ensuring it will serve as a platform featuring biblical Christian voices from every part of the world.
“We are delighted about Dr Mātenga‘s appointment, which will strengthen CDI’s ability to elevate challenging voices from the Global South and from the margins – from where the Christian church has been at its most transformative (and biblical) through the centuries. Watch this space for new stimulating and thought-provoking opinion articles,” says Gordon Showell-Rogers, CDI International Director who formerly served as Associate Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA).
Assuming his new role today, August 1, Mātenga will also continue in his role heading up the WEA Mission Commission, which will create excellent opportunities for synergy.
In an inaugural op-ed, Mātenga shares about his own life experience “from a volatile upbringing in a hostile context without Jesus to a place of flourishing and influence because of Jesus”, testifying about “a life transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit”.
Looking at the beginning part of Proverbs 31, he highlights the influence of the mother of King Lemuel who taught him to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves” and “ensure justice” (Proverbs 31:8-9), which Mātenga takes as inspiration for his new role.
Not limiting CDI to the well-known voices, he desires to ensure that “believers from throughout the majority World, living with a disability, in impoverished or hostile contexts, and others on the margins of influence will feature over time. They are not mute. They are all perfectly able to communicate themselves. Yet their voices are too easily muted by others with powerful megaphones.”
“We will share evidence-based analysis from biblically faithful believers located all over the world, but my desire for the opinion section of Christian Daily International is to develop a balanced harmony by amplifying the perspectives of those previously unheard,” Mātenga says.
“As they bear witness to their lived experience of an integrated gospel, we will all be influenced by their faithfulness to the Lord, often in hostile contexts. Furthermore, their stories, perspectives, and convictions will help to nurture a greater sense of Christian unity across the nations.”
Dr Jay Mātenga’s passion is to strengthen participation in God’s purposes throughout the world, informed by a maturing world Christianity. His intercultural studies have resulted in degrees earned in Australia, United Kingdom and USA. For twenty-five years he served missionary sending agencies, fifteen of those in national and international leadership. Prior to joining CDI, from 2015 he led the missionary and outreach association of Aotearoa New Zealand, Missions Interlink. Mātenga has been an Associate of the WEA Mission Commission since 2006, leader of the mission mobilization network 2011-2019, Associate Director 2018-2020, and now in his second term as Executive Director, appointed in 2020. During his first term he also served as Director of the WEA’s Global Witness Department, part of the WEA Senior Leadership Team. He has authored numerous articles, book chapters, and presented papers with particular emphasis on indigenous and Majority World perspectives as counterpoint to prevailing Western assumptions in the global Church.
Christian Daily International provides biblical, factual and personal news, stories and perspectives from every region of the world, focusing on religious freedom, integrated gospel and other issues that are relevant to the global Church today. For more information and to get the latest news accessible for free, visit christiandaily.com, or visit www.diariocristiano.org for CDI’s Spanish edition.
