Akinpelu and Adetoro Osuntoki
Akin and Toro Osuntoki are husband and wife who are sold out for Christ and have dedicated their lives to serve him. To them Aanu is not just any other charitable venture but Christian ministry of love and compassion. They are sent and supported by their local church, the Ealing Christian Centre and their movement, the Elim Pentecostal Church.
The inspiration for our missional journey started in 2009 when God started filling our hearts with compassion for the multitude of people in our direct world faced with different struggles for survival. By 2011, the consciousness of the struggling humanity had led to the conviction that God could use us to help such people. The words of Isaiah 58 especially verses 6b to 7 inspired in us the passion to act. “The kind of fasting is this: Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free. Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives.”
Since then we have done the best we can to bring Christian compassion to a suffering world! However, God used two disparate events at the tail end of 2015 to direct our attention towards full time mission. One of these was Akin making a short-term mission to the Philippines in October 2015 where God opened his eyes to the model of the love and compassion, He requires us to demonstrate to others. The second was a subsequent personal visit to Nigeria in November of the same year where God opened his eyes once again to the sufferings of many and particularly to the plight of pensioners and the aged in that country. After Akin’s visit to Nigeria, we felt an overwhelming mandate to return to the country to make a change in the lifes of this target group. Thus, started Aanu which is a Yoruba word for compassion.
Our mission at Aanu, is thus to act as facilitators of God’s love and compassion to the aged in Nigeria. The epicentre of our work in Nigeria is The Gathering Place; a Day Centre for the aged through which they can encounter Christ, have fun, social interaction, physical and mental stimulation as well as refreshment. 1 John 3:17-18 “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need, but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” “… let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth”.
Akin and Toro are blessed with 3 grown-up children.
CORE VALUES
Agape Love
Our mission is driven by the unconditional love we receive from God and our capacity as true believers to extend this love to others and for the sake of those in need of God’s love.
Compassion
To be passionate in being a source of provision to the need of others in a way our love of Christ compels us to demonstrate compassion to others and in response to the Great Commission. (Matthew 28:19&20)
Generosity:
To freely give all resources at our disposal with liberal generosity and without hesitation convinced that there is nothing we have that we have not ourselvesbeen freely given.
Genuine Relationship:
To build genuine and meaningful relationship between ourselves and the people we serve as well as to help every stakeholder to encounter and build a true relationship with God.
Community:
To build a community of stakeholders; givers or receivers, who share a common bond and a sincere commitment to one another.
Hope:
To advocate for those whose voices need to be heard and affirm the hope of a people in desperate despair about what the future holds.
Authentic Relevance:
To offer authentic and genuine platform of support to our client base with a view to championing their cause and meeting their pressing needs.