Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
The Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, Ondo Mega Region 1, Southwest 4, Adesuper, Akure, has trained ten women free of charge in intensive fashion design and presented each of them with a brand new sewing machine and a certificate to start their own businesses, in an empowerment programme that also provided grinding machines to widows and awarded scholarships to twenty indigent pupils of Mountain Top Nursery and Primary School, Akure.
The initiative, announced in a statement made available to PUNCH Online on Friday, October 9, 2026, underscores the growing role of faith-based organisations in providing community support, promoting skills development and assisting with education as complementary aspects of social outreach. The training was aimed at equipping members with practical skills for self-reliance and sustainable livelihoods. The church also empowered widows with brand new grinding machines to support their livelihoods and strengthen their businesses. In addition, it awarded scholarships to twenty indigent pupils of Mountain Top Nursery and Primary School, Akure, in line with the vision of the General Overseer, Dr Daniel Kolawole Olukoya, to raise young people through quality education, sound spiritual development and godly values.
The programmes form part of the church's broader efforts to combine spiritual activities with women, men, teenage and youth empowerment, entrepreneurship and productivity. The Mega Regional Overseer of MFM Ondo Mega Region 1, Pastor Ademola Adeniyi, said the initiative was the vision of the General Overseer to make people financially independent and promote self-reliance. "Our father in the Lord directed that all MFM churches must impact positively on the lives of members and host communities through explosive evangelism, not only by preaching and deliverance but also by empowering them," he said. "Through these skills, we can ensure they have a source of livelihood that can put food on their tables and they become better than the way they came."
Adeniyi described Dr Olukoya and his wife, Dr Mrs Folashade Elizabeth Olukoya, as philanthropists passionate about transforming lives. He said the MFM Ondo Mega Region 1 Resource Centre on the church premises at Adesuper has trained over one hundred women, teenagers and youths free of charge in fashion designing and provided them with sewing machines. He urged the trainees to put their skills into practice and called on members and the public to patronise them. On the scholarships, Adeniyi commended the board members of Mountain Top Nursery and Primary School for their support, saying the awards represented an investment in the future of the beneficiaries. He said MFM goes beyond meeting physical, health and emotional needs as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility and evangelism, offering cash gifts, free skill acquisition to widows, women and youths, and engaging youths through sports.
The beneficiaries of the various empowerment initiatives commended the church for its interventions aimed at improving women's livelihoods, supporting widows and promoting education among young people. They thanked God for using the church to establish and expand their tailoring businesses, which would in turn help them achieve greater economic independence. The recipients expressed appreciation for the gesture, describing the sewing machines as valuable tools that would enable them to generate income and support their families. The beneficiaries of the free scholarships and their families expressed gratitude for the assistance, noting that it would help reduce the financial burden associated with schooling. The support was intended to alleviate some of the economic challenges faced by women responsible for providing for their households. According to the organisers, the initiative was designed to provide beneficiaries with sustainable means of livelihood.
The empowerment programme is the latest in a series of initiatives by MFM Ondo Mega Region 1 aimed at promoting self-reliance and supporting vulnerable members of the community. In November 2025, the church trained 127 young women and adult females in bakery and confectionery skills free of charge and provided starter packs to all participants to enable them to begin their own small businesses immediately after the training. That gesture was in furtherance of the church's commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 5 on women's empowerment and followed an earlier programme in which the church trained more than fifty women in free fashion design and presented each participant with a sewing machine. In September 2025, the church distributed food items to over 2,000 families in Akure as part of its Food Evangelism outreach and awarded scholarships to fifty indigent pupils of Mountain Top Nursery and Primary School. The church has also provided cash gifts to physically challenged persons and regularly supports widows with food supplies and financial assistance.
The broader context of the initiative is one of growing reliance on faith-based organisations to fill gaps in social welfare and economic empowerment in Nigeria. With government social protection programmes reaching only a fraction of those in need and unemployment and underemployment remaining high, churches, mosques and other religious institutions have increasingly become providers of vocational training, scholarships, healthcare and small business support. The MFM's programmes are among the more structured and sustained of such initiatives, combining training, equipment, certification and follow-up support in a single package. The church's emphasis on sustainability is reflected in its decision to provide beneficiaries with the tools they need to generate income rather than one-off cash handouts, a model that development practitioners say is more likely to produce lasting improvements in livelihoods.
The political context of the programme is less direct than its social impact. The 2027 general elections are less than four months away, and the role of religious institutions in shaping public discourse and community welfare continues to be significant. However, the MFM initiative is framed explicitly as a humanitarian and evangelistic outreach rather than a political intervention, and its beneficiaries are drawn from the church's members and the host community regardless of political affiliation. The programme's focus on women, widows and children aligns with broader national and international development priorities, including the Sustainable Development Goals on gender equality, decent work and quality education.
For the ten women who completed the fashion design training, the sewing machines represent an immediate pathway to income generation. For the widows who received grinding machines, the equipment offers a means of strengthening their businesses and meeting household expenses. For the twenty pupils who received scholarships, the support eases the financial burden of schooling and increases their chances of remaining in education. As Adeniyi put it, the objective is to ensure that beneficiaries have a source of livelihood that can put food on their tables and that they become better than the way they came. The coming months will determine whether the skills and equipment provided translate into sustainable businesses and improved livelihoods for the beneficiaries, and whether the model can be replicated across other MFM regions and other faith-based organisations seeking to make a lasting difference in their communities.
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