MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (BP) — It was nighttime when Philip Nache received a call he’ll never forget. The doctor was asking for his approval to place his wife on a ventilator.

“The doctor said, ‘Jummai — maybe she’s gone even as we’re speaking with you.’” Philip recalled.

In 2021, just a few weeks before that fateful call, Nache, a Send Network church planter, and his wife Jummai were busy serving God in Minneapolis. The Nigerian couple had been reaching out to the African community in their city ever since they were forced to flee Nigeria due to persecution in 2015.

Their ministry in the States resulted in two church plants in the Minneapolis area — Hope of Nations Gospel Church and Hope of Nations Fellowship Church — where refugees and immigrants from African nations, people from Muslim backgrounds and people from Christian backgrounds alike come to seek hope and find the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In 2019, the Naches were featured missionaries during the Week of Prayer for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering. Since then, their ministry has grown to include training programs for other churches on developing relationships with their Muslim neighbors.

But even though they had faced persecution by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram while living in Nigeria, Philip and Jummai had never faced something this dire.

“The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) said, apart from the people who died, Jummai has got the worst of this pandemic,” Philip said.

As a result of complications from COVID-19, Jummai spent months in the hospital, eventually having to undergo amputation of her left arm, three fingers on her right hand, and a double leg amputation below her knees.

“God preserved my wife’s life in a miraculous way in response to all the prayers of the church,” Philip said on the couple’s GoFundMe page, which the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention started on behalf of the Nache family to assist with ongoing medical expenses.

But the Nache family’s needs went beyond medical expenses. They needed a handicap-accessible van and several renovations to their home so that Jummai could get around. The Southern Baptist family rallied around the Naches to provide them with both. Attendees to the 2023 North American Mission Board (NAMB) Send Luncheon in New Orleans witnessed the Naches receiving the van.

“The North American Mission Board and Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention have come together to provide for us a van, which has been very, very helpful,” Philip said. “Even after she was discharged, virtually every week we have to go to the hospital for checkups three times, four times within a week. And with this van, the Lord has helped us and we’re able to also engage in ministry.”

Even in the midst of this trial, the Naches’ ministry never stopped. As people visited Jummai in the hospital, they were stunned and encouraged by her unwavering peace and joy in Christ.

“My desire is to continue to serve the Lord even in the pain,” Jummai said.

“When people came to visit in order to encourage me, they would hear my story and say I am the one that is encouraging them. So, I tell them, I can’t do this on my own; it’s from the comfort God has given me.”

At one point, Philip told Jummai that he was ready to retire from their ministry to take care of her. However, as they prayed, Philip and Jummai heard an answer from God they weren’t quite expecting.

“The Lord started to reveal to us, ‘No, you are just beginning to have a new work that I’m calling you to. In fact, this situation is like an open door for you to do another ministry,’” said Philip.

Now, the Naches are moving toward starting an intercultural interaction center at their church — a place where people from all backgrounds can come to build relationships through English classes and more. Already, they’ve seen how God uses Jummai’s story — and the questions people ask when they notice her missing limbs — to spark conversations about God and the gospel.

“It’s amazing that even in this difficult situation, God is turning it around to help us reach out to people,” Jummai said. “And we are trusting that God is going to do tremendous things through the church He has given us.”

The Naches radiate thankfulness wherever they go — gratefulness to God for preserving Jummai’s life when doctors said she might not survive and gratefulness for all the people God placed around them to help them walk the journey.

“We thank the family of NAMB,” said Philip. “We are privileged to be part of this family and what God is doing. We are also privileged to be part of the SBC (Southern Baptist Convention) family, from which so many people have reached out to us. Thank you.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE — The North American Mission Board communications team compiled this report.)