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Personal Stories

Rev. Amina Isaias, Retiree, Mozambique

For the Reverend Amina Isaias, the ministry has been a family affair. Rev. Isaias is now retired after 23 years. Her husband served as a pastor for 17 years, before his death in 1989.

Rev. Isaias, an itinerant elder, receives two pension payments from the Church—one as a surviving spouse and another for her years of service—yet it is still not enough. “I have a daughter who has had a permanent disease since she was a little child. She now has a daughter of her own, and I support both of them,” she says.

She struggles to even pay for clean water.

“The water comes through pipes owned by the city, and when I cannot pay for it, I get a warning, then they cut it off,” she says. “If I can pay what I owe within a certain time, they simply turn it on again. If I miss that deadline, then I have to pay more to re-enlist as a water customer.”

However, she is grateful for the extra pension payments she received, due to an emergency grant from the Central Conference Pension Initiative (CCPI).

“The emergency grants do not solve all of our problems, but they are a significant improvement, and we are all grateful,” she says.

Rev. Isaias is still active in the Church. Pastors who grew up in her church often invite her to preach at their own churches, and the district superintendent asks her to visit churches that he cannot.

But she is most passionate about working with the United Methodist Women.

“It was not in vain that Mary received the Holy Spirit,” says Rev. Isaias. “Women have the role to provide salvation to the people. Mary gave birth, and all of us who give birth show women that they are the source of God’s salvation for all life.”

For more information on the initiative, explore www.ccpi-umc.org or write to ccpi@gbophb.org. Donations can be made online or by calling (847) 866-4230.