Lady Rev. Abena Tay’s call to serve
Describing her as a woman of many parts may sound like a cliché but that is the phrase that best describes the Founder, Abena Tay Ministries (ATM), Lady Reverend Abena Tay.
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Lady Rev. Tay is not the first woman to be ordained a reverend minister but her approach, style and sense of fashion are what caught the attention of this reporter.
What she shares on her social media handles were only a small part of her work as she has spent close to three decades impacting society through her different roles.
On her Instagram page alone, she has close to 20,000 followers who she regularly shares the word of God with and has some projects going on.
Speaking to The Mirror last Tuesday, she said she believed that platforms such as Instagram and Facebook gave her access to many young people, particularly, females whom she had impacted through her works.
She explained that various social media pages sexualised females, giving the impression that a woman was only attractive if she exposed her nudity or posed as a sex object.
Lady Rev Tay speaking at a breast cancer awareness and screening event organised in collaboration with Breast Care International at Tema Station in Accra
“I set out to make a difference to enable people to know that you can be beautiful in a “Godly and goodly” way and make an impact in society. In my line of work, I meet women in ministry who are afraid to look good because they are scared of what people will say about them or they have allowed the struggles of life to overburden them.
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“Now, there are many young women I mentor who go to my page to look at how I dress for inspiration. I know this because they tell me themselves.
Gradually, people are beginning to change the misconception about how women in ministry should look and young girls are also learning that they can be beautifully dressed while fully covered,” she explained.
Charity works
In 1997, long before she became a reverend minister, she registered a charity organisation, Child In Need (CIN) that focused on supporting children in deprived areas.
She was grateful to her late mother who supported her when she embarked on such projects. Back then, she did not know of donor organisations nor could she rely on the Internet or social media to find the support she needed.
Lady Rev Tay (middle) being ordained as a Reverend Minister
Her main work, the Sensels School, located at Taifa, a suburb of Accra, had about 20 students then, as a result, she could not make enough revenue to support her charity work.
“Out of the 20 schoolchildren I had, about 10 of them were on full scholarships. How do you make money from a school where about 50 per cent of the children enrolled attended for free?” she asked.
“There were days, I would take some clothes from my children and donate to people. The urge to serve is built and God always connected me to people who were willing to give food, clothes and money to support the less privileged.
My late mother too did everything within her means to support the projects. It was when the school started growing that I started using resources from there to fund my projects,” she explained.
Lady Rev. Tay’s charity work has grown to include many other areas and she is still willing to give either in kind or by sharing life lessons with the younger generation.
Focus on women
Although her ministry has impacted the lives of many people across the country, her focus is on women.
According to her, she was raised by a single mother and so she knew firsthand what women went through to raise their families and some of the challenges women went through.
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“I had seen and heard the struggles women faced. Some in their marriages, careers, relationships and personal growth. I think God was preparing me to understand the peculiar issues women faced so I can lead them better,” she added.
Lady Rev Tay (left) interacting with widows at her annual charity event dubbed, Operation Smile
According to her, she decided to enter full-time ministry 10 years ago. Therefore, after her ordination, she started a fellowship focused on women.
Prior to that, she served as a secretary to a reverend minister at the Assemblies of God Church for eight years.
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“Then, it didn’t make sense to me because I am a mother of five boys so I was more engaged in raising boys and tackling issues concerning boys but there I was, with a strong urge to concentrate on women.
My call to ministry was confirmed by a few more prophecies from other men of God,” she stated.
Lady Rev. Tay’s ministry didn’t start like a typical church but with a focus on women within her vicinity at Taifa.
She recounted when her area was underdeveloped with many women struggling to make ends meet.
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She took it upon herself to pick up clothes, food and other useful items from friends and family, gather these women and distribute the gifts to them while sharing the word of God in the community.
With time, the ministry, which she funded with proceeds from her personal business and support from some benevolent donors, spread throughout the community to other places where widows also benefitted.
One of the early communities to benefit from her ministry was the OsuroDompe community at Nsawam in the Eastern Region.
There, she supported families in different ways and held services regularly with members of the community.
“A family I can’t forget is a mother and her children who had become blind after continuously drinking from a contaminated source of water. Sadly, their situation was not detected early and so they all lost their sight.
Lady Rev Tay praying with a mother whose baby was on admission at the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital
I remember I was asleep one dawn when I received a call from the mother that their mud house had been destroyed by rain.
This was around 2 a.m. and I could imagine the kind of distress they were going through. We decided to build them a more comfortable and safer place to live and we put up a self-contained house for them,” she recounted.
Her concern is not only on their physical or emotional needs but also to build their spiritual lives. At her Bible School,
Chavaah Rhema Leadership and Bible Institute, she teaches women how to take up their divine assignments and serve God.
“Society frowns on female pastors. I have had my share, people always ask if a woman must serve communion on the pulpit. I put my pictures on my social media pages and some say she is a “Jezebel”.
I realised a lot of women who want to enter ministry are afraid of the backlash from society. I have been on a mission to help women identify their purpose. In the past five years, we have trained about 35 women,” she said.
The Chavaah Rhema Leadership and Bible Institute is one of the many women empowerment projects she runs under her Daughters Ministries International.
Taking up more responsibilities
The projects mentioned above are only a small part of her ministry. There are many other projects she has embarked on in the past, including the popular “When Women Worship” event where she leads women to worship God and recognises the works of some outstanding women in society.
She helped in the refurbishment of a ward for the elderly at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital
This year marks the 10th anniversary of her ordination and to mark it, she is launching yet another project, “Jesus Girl” Club that targets young people on university campuses.
She is also taking her annual event “When Women Worship” to the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons where she will be joined by female gospel musicians to minister to female inmates.
Asked if she is not overwhelmed by her projects considering the fact that she is still actively managing her school, fashion line and other businesses, she said: “I am thankful to God that I am able to give a bit of myself to the many projects I lead.
I have also been blessed with people who have worked closely with me for decades and many others who support my ministry.”
On her social media pages, she shares the word of God and life nuggets
“My family has been so supportive. I had to leave home most of the time to follow up on projects so my late mother and my husband often took care of my sons and the home. I am also extremely passionate about the work I do. Once I set out to do something, I give it all my best till I get the results I need,” she mentioned.