My beautiful story – Abigail Mensah

“It all began when I was seeking God fervently concerning His plan for me. I prayed continuously, “Father, bless this new business I am about to venture in. You know my heart is for you and your kingdom. I would give to promote its work from the profits I made”. But God had another plan. His gentle voice came to me one day as I continued in prayer, “What if I give through you and not necessarily to you? Would that be fine with you?“ He asked.

Age 49 and married for 24 years with four boys, Abigail Mensah never dreamed she would end up in a football ministry. She loved it as a young girl, even staying up late to watch Big League Soccer on the TV. She came to Christ at age 11, through the influence of her older siblings, who came to know the Lord one by one after the oldest sister “brought Christ home”.

Thoughts of ministry really started when God spoke to her about working through her and she understood that she was going to be a channel through whom His word, His grace, His blessing and His life would reach others.

She recounts: “It didn’t matter who I was. To my flesh, it didn’t sound pretty, but I knew that the best place to be was where God was… and so I said a big ‘yes!’“ God also gave me the name of the work: BEAUTIFUL FEET.

Little by little God revealed his plan to her and it took six years for things to get moving. In 2011, the ministry was born with 28 boys on a football field at Tesano in Ghana. Now, it has multiplied to other cities in other regions, and it is the boys whom they are discipling who are taking the mission work forward!

However, it has been a winding road. Abi thought that women with young children could not be involved in ministry, but as she began her husband stepped in to fill the role of father and mother when she needed to travel. Many of her family and friends were doubtful but now some of them are her most ardent supporters.

Abi used to believe that people in ministry were miserable because of lack of provision, but found the idea to be completely wrong. She says, “God has FULLY provided for his work till now. Let me quote Hudson Taylor here, ‘Depend on it. God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply’”. Everything that has been needed has been covered by those whom God has chosen.

The most amazing provision came when there was a completely impossible mission of sending a team to participate in the first-ever Christian Football World Cup in India. God said “Go ahead” and He made it happen. She says, “He did it! Just to show me that He can do whatever He says He will do.”

When asked what her greatest joy in ministry is, Abi replied: “When I see transformation gradually unfold in my disciples/mentees and also when I see other coaches actively discipling their teams. It is a joy to see the emerging leaders share the Gospel with their teammates and younger brothers at training every week and even more so when they take mission trips to either plant more teams or strengthened old ones.”

This was not necessarily so in the beginning: one of her deepest disappointments is losing converts at the beginning of the ministry. She thought that hearing the word of God was sufficient for them, but she was wrong and ended up losing some of them to the world due to their background. Now she prioritizes discipleship.

Abi also recounts what she would change if she could go back: “I think I would spend more time learning from those who have been in ministry ahead of me.” She sees the value of godly counsel, and has sat at the feet of mentors who have given fatherly advice.

She counsels young people who want to go into ministry: “They should tarry in prayer and wait for the leading of the Holy Spirit. Keep an eye on their families and learn from others.”

Today, Beautiful Feet has five stations and 4 affiliates where boys and young men are being discipled through regular football coaching and weekly off-the-pitch Bible studies.

Abi says: “We desire to see football stations of young people established all over Ghana, in the sub-region and in Africa as a whole. We desire to develop skill and career, character and faith in all these stations and even more critically develop emerging leaders who will be Torchbearers and Torchlighters in this dark and perverse world.”

God brought her to this ministry, and has used her availability and her talents. He has brought others to provide, to pray, and to serve alongside to reach a generation.

When asked if the price was worth paying, Abi responded: “Would I do it all over again if time was rewound? Definitely! Every obedience, every wait, every frustration, every pain, every high and every low has been all worth it.”

Taken from an interview with Mrs. Abigail Mensah, the founder of Beautiful Feet, a sports ministry dedicated to evangelizing and discipling young boys, by Rhoda Oluwakemi Appiah. Mrs. Appiah is married with three children. She is a pioneering missionary of Fullstature Missions International together with her husband, Rev. Daniel Hyde Appiah. She is a lover of God and His word, with an overwhelming desire to see God’s kingdom advance in every sphere of society. Rhoda can be reached at kemiappiah@gmail.com.