Senior pastor at Faith Assembly International Roma Bachew has made serving God and her fellow men her life’s work, always striving to emulate the example of Jesus Christ.
Bachew preaches the gospel, heads the church’s women’s ministry, goes out into communities to offer physical and spiritual nourishment to people in need, and attends mission trips, among other things.
“It is the greatest joy, honour, and privilege to serve the Lord Jesus Christ,” Bachew said, expressing her gratitude for His ultimate sacrifice that is commemorated every Easter.
“He is not dead, He is alive! He rose triumphantly from the grave as He prophesied He would. What a hope his resurrection has given us. Because He lives, we will also live forever and we have a blessed hope that we will again see our departed loved ones who believed in Jesus. Praise God!”
Bachew is the widow of the dynamic pastor Prakash “KK” Bachew, who died of a brain aneurysm in 2012. She told WMN, “His (KK’s) death was sudden and very traumatic. He was doing a funeral when his speech started to slur, but he kept talking even as he fell down, clutching the mic and saying, ‘Oh death, where is thy sting?’ “He always said he wanted to die with his boots on, and he did just that.”
She said, as difficult as the loss of her husband was, she found solace in his signature scripture verses – Phil 3: 13 and 14: “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” “He always said, ‘Forget what lies behind and don’t look back,’ so I knew I had to look to the future and what lay ahead with my children. I know he would have been pleased.”
And although she doesn’t speak from behind the pulpit as much as in the past, her love for studying and sharing God’s word remains unwavering.
“I preach only on occasions now, sometimes once a month. You know sometimes you will feel the anointing and know it’s the Lord wanting to speak through you? Sometimes He just downloads a thought, a verse that He wants me to share. “But I don’t stamp my feet as much as my husband did when he was preaching,” she said with a chuckle.
The large church which has become a landmark at Five Rivers Junction, had humble beginnings at Crown Street, in Tacarigua.
“It was started in 1993, November 14, to be exact. Then, it was an upstairs and downstairs house, holding a maximum of 200 people. My husband had the vision to come across here, so we bought the land and started from scratch. “We knew we were doing something for the kingdom: building a place in the community where everybody could feel free to come in and utilise the service we offer here. KK and I loved serving and meeting the needs of people, and this was one of the ways in which we were able to do it. “We have services for each age group, we offer counselling, and so much more.”
Bachew, the mother of six sons and two daughters, is a former
