Another Way Your Generosity Makes A Difference

When the Board of Directors of the Final Frontiers Foundation voted me in as president some years ago, one of the first internal policies I drafted was a death benefit for the families of supported church planters who died while in service. This is something that, unfortunately, we have used more than a few times since its adoption.

In the past, when a preacher died, it was up to the sponsor if they wanted to continue to help fund the widow and their family after their loved one had gone on to be with The Lord. The question of what comes next was always a tough one with many facets. Sometimes, the sponsor would opt to continue support of the widow, but more often, they would not. Thankfully, some would choose to support a different church planter, but more often, they fully suspended support. A sad fact that pained me and frequently kept me up at night. 

However, in this particular scenario, the supporting church in Michigan has continued to help.

This brings me to the subject of this story, Samuel Ahmed and his wife Minna.

Minna, widow of Rev. Samuel Ahmed, continues to serve the Lord as a teacher of children and women and still goes door to door in villages to spread the Gospel.

Rev. Ahmed was born in Nigeria on a balmy Tuesday, January 15, 1952. He was raised in a Muslim household and completed his recitation of the Quran in 1963 at the age of 12. Later, as a young adult in his mid-twenties, he attended a film screening that talked about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. During the screening of this contraband film, police broke in and arrested him and everyone else who was in attendance.

Samuel wrote, “I gave my life to Jesus that December 1978. It was a powerful experience.”

Sometime later, he was gifted an audio cassette by an American woman who was serving as a missionary in Nigeria. It was a recording of a sermon by her pastor back home titled “What do you mean, Lord?” This sermon would change the course of Samuel’s life. It was this recorded sermon that made him feel called to share the Gospel. While Samuel knew he did not want to be a “pastor,” he did feel called to evangelize and start churches but wasn’t sure how.

Fast forward to 1986, when Samuel and Minna were married. Minna was also raised in a Muslim household and later converted and began to serve the Lord. She came to Christ at an open-air crusade and was baptized soon after.

Samuel and Minna had five children, Mercy, the oldest born in 1988, followed by Emmanuel, Victoria, Joy, and the youngest, Precious, who was born in 2007.

In 2014, we received Samuel’s application for support and began to assist him in his church-planting efforts. By this time, he had started two churches and led hundreds to Christ.

Then, in May 2022, we received sad news from the group’s director, which read, “It is with a heavy heart to announce to you today of the passing of one the men in my group, Pastor (Samuel) Ahmed Otaru (4820). Nearly two years ago, FFF raised enough money for him to undergo treatment when he found out he had prostrate problems. After medical attention, he was able to get better, and though could not do ministry like before, he was thankful he was active. Two weeks ago, pastor Ahmed was hospitalized, and the doctors said he had Leukemia, and just this morning, he went home to be with the Lord.” 

During Samuel’s eight years in our program, he started another twenty churches, with a total of twenty-two in his life. He recorded 599 salvations and 408 baptisms baptisms.

Because of the generosity of donors like you, not only are we able to continue supporting Samuel’s family on a monthly basis but we were able to provide them with a lump sum benefit upon his death to help with their expenses. 

While Samuel has run his race and finished the course, Minna continues to serve the Lord as a teacher of children and women and still goes door to door in villages to spread the Gospel.

In the most recent report received in July she reported that she had witnessed in two new villages and that her house and part of the church’s roof needs to be repaired. She also wrote, “Since the passing of my husband the support has been helping us with feeding of my family.”

Late this summer, I was forwarded a text message that she sent to the director for him to pass along to us.

“May God bless and protect in all your journey as you do the work of God. He will never forget  your labour of love. I shouted for joy when I saw the money because we didn’t have anything to eat. We are very grateful. Please extend our greetings to all those who have been helping us. The work of God is moving on.” 

It’s easy for me to forget sometimes that what we do as a team (yourself included!) makes such a difference. This message reminded me of that, and I wanted to share it with you.

You can help other widows by donating below to our Bags of Hope fund.