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Liberia-Minnesota based nurse ordained as pastor

James Fasuekoi

By James Kokulo Fasuekoi|Editor-Publisher

Nearly ten months ago Sister Martha Watson Foley walked down the aisle and said, “I do!” to Hope Tabernacle Evangelistic Ministries International Children Ministery’s director, elder Richard B. Foley. Today, she again took another giant leap, officially becoming an ordained minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and would shepherd the Hope Tabernacle Evangelistic Ministries at 227 Coon Rapids Blvd, Coon Rapids, Minnesota in the coming years.

Pastor Foley, dressed in her new pastoral white outfits is seen sandwiched by Most Rev. Christo Crayton (L) and the church founder Rev. Isaac Marwieh (R)

With husband Brother Richard Foley standing by her side, Martha was led through the required induction protocols this afternoon before a record crowd and received ordination as a senior pastor for the church. Officiating clergies at the ceremony numbered more than eight pastors, among them, Destiny International Church Bishop, Most Rev. Christo C. Crayton I, and Hope Tabernacle Evangelistic Ministries’ founder and general overseer, Rev. Isaac Marwieh.

Rev. Christo C. Crayton who performed the ordination ceremony advised the congregation, particularly women, to show appreciation for the new pastor and make her feel at ease, and not make her feel uncomfortable, noting “it is God who brought her” hence, “she’s not going nowhere!”

Audience

Prior to becoming an ordained pastor, Rev. Foley had been helping since September 4, 2022, to pastor the church that is about 20 years old. The decision to appoint another pastor began in July 2022 after the Lord, according to the church’s founder Rev. Isaac Marwieh, revealed to him to appoint a second pastor, preferably a female, to oversee the Coon Rapids branch of the church. 

He obeyed and after a search he said he found Rev. Foley qualified. “She was sent like Abraham who was sent by God, not knowing where she was going and the people she was going to serve,” stated the church’s brochure for the event.

Pastor Foley is being assisted with her outfit by a senior pastor.

An immigrant Liberian, Pastor Martha Foley hails from northern Liberia’s Lofa County and has worked as registered nurse for many years. She’s a 2005 graduate with distinction, from the Tubman National Institute of Medical Arts (TNIMA), one of Liberia’s leading nursing schools in the capital, Monrovia. Mrs. Foley presently studies for a degree in Biblical Theology at Spiritual Life Bible College/Seminary in Minnesota.

During much of the civil war and political upheavals in her native Liberia during the 90s, she also worked for a number of humanitarian organizations including France, Switzerland, Belgium based Medicine San frontier (MSF), the International Rescue Committee (IRS), and the WHO.

The following is a pictorial from the induction program by Global Ekklesia News Magazine. Photos by author James Kokulo Fasuekoi.

Editor’s Note: Story has been updated.

For comments on this story or any of our articles, please contact us at: editor@globalekklesia.com