It was joy unspeakable as about 17,000 widows in Odeomu in Osun state enjoyed the immense shower of blessings and prayers from the presiding pastor of the Kings International Christian Centre, KICC, Pastor Mathew Ashimolowo, when he touched their lives through his annual outreach for widows.
The outreach which holds annually with his wife witness its 2018 editions at Kings University, Odeomu, Osun state as the celebrated man of Gd gave out relief materials such as clothings, food and money to widows.
Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo said he considered this period an important one for him as it put smiles on the faces of these widows.
He further noted that doing this for the widows annually was what he considers as an important period for him as he commences the year, assisting the widows.
Ashimolowo who was recently in Lagos at a program hosted by Reverend Felix Funke Adejumo disclosed that the widows programme which started with only 308 widows in his household, had been giving him so much joy particularly now that the project has grown in leaps and bounds with many widows as beneficiaries coming from six towns fin Osun State.
Pastor Ashimolowo said the project is not the project of the church but that of his wife and himself. He therefore called on the leaders of the nation to create social security programmes that would cater for the needs of the widows and the elderly especially at this period when the nation is experiencing some challenges.
“I must say that this is the momentous time for me as the year begins. We started with 308 widows, 11 years ago and last year we thought we had seen mega widows event when we had about 5,500. This year we are dealing with 17,000 thousand.
“Suddenly, we are having to handle six towns, Ikire and Apomu, Modakake, Ile ife, Odeomu and Osogbo and there are still adjourning towns from where some widows come from. It’s a great joy to celebrate with the widows, to celebrate them, to give them food, clothing and put brand new mint money in their hands, the kind which some of them don’t handle in the whole year. It’s a great joy,” he disclosed.
He also said.“Nigeria doesn’t have a Social Security System whereby there will be provision for needy people. Many of these women, what we are giving to them is like the biggest thing some of them will handle in the year, it may not be much to somebody but it’s a lot to them”.
“Initially we used to give scholarship to students from our own town, Odeomu, but I’ve diverted that to be giving it to those who come to Kings University, as long as they qualify”.
“It’s heartbreaking if one of the richest nations in the world has one of the worst road networks. Our leaders need to wake up or else you might just push people to the brink. Many have come out of this area, who have used the name of this area to become senators, honourable and ministers, but you can’t see what anyone is doing. But I’m glad I’m doing this for Christ and his Kingdom,”the pastor concluded.
The programme also witnessed the presence of some ministers of God, one of which is the presiding Bishop of Agape Christian Ministries Worldwide, Bishop Felix Adejumo, who spoke, commending the gesture of Pastor Ashimolowo.
“This is what you call Christianity in action. This is practical Christianity because without touching the poor, the widows, your message is incomplete. So what he is doing, he is attracting more grace to himself, because I am too sure these widows will never forget him. They will pray for his family, that is the secret of longevity and the secret of long life.
“If you have it and you are not sharing it, it is not good. So I am impressed with what Pastor Ashimolowo is doing because we also do it in our church. I will implore wealthy Nigerians to follow this kind of examples.
It was a great joy for the beneficiary as each left the venue of the welfare program full of smiles after getting gifts from Pastor Mathew Ashimolowo. They thanked God for his life and prayed for the entirety of his family.
