I am Joseph Tobias. I was born in Nigeria, and I now serve as a pastor in Texas. Between those two places sits most of what I write about here.
My work is interdisciplinary. I preach, lead worship, and offer spiritual guidance in a congregation. I have served as a hospital chaplain, walking with patients and families through illness, grief, and the hardest decisions of their lives. I am also a PhD candidate in Religion and Contemporary Society at the University of Cape Town, where my research looks at religious leadership, social inequality, African theology, and how faith communities respond to real human suffering, with Nigeria as a central case.
Those three roles feed each other. The hospital taught me to listen before I speak. The pulpit taught me to say hard things with care. The library taught me to ask whether what we believe matches the lives people live. None of my research is abstract. Each question grows out of a hospital room, a food pantry line, or a conversation after worship.
What this blog is for
Musing of an African Child is my personal space to explore faith, community, and culture through the heart and soul of the African experience. I write for anyone who wants to journey deeper with God and into what connects us, strengthens us, and inspires young people to become agents of hope and change.
You will find four kinds of writing here.
- Faith. Scripture, prayer, doubt, and the long work of growing into belief rather than grasping at it.
- Community. The church, the neighborhood, and the practices that build a people who show up for one another.
- Culture. Nigeria, Texas, and the places in between. Identity, belonging, and what an African upbringing brings to the table.
- Reflections. Personal essays on grief, leadership, hope, and the questions I carry from one week to the next.
What I believe about this work
Ministry has to attend to the whole person: body, mind, spirit, family, and social context. A sermon that ignores the rent is incomplete. A food pantry that ignores the soul is incomplete too. The words I come back to are dignity, accompaniment, healing, justice, and hope. Everything on this site is an attempt to live those words out loud.
Join the conversation
Comments are open on every post, and I read each one. If you want new reflections by email, or you have a question or a story to share, send me a note. Thank you for being part of this journey.