Papa Samuel Claude Mahop – A Life Poured Out For Souls, A Legacy Sealed In Integrity.

In 1968, he formally joined the Full Gospel Mission in Mutengene, where his calling was nurtured and refined. He received water baptism by immersion on Sunday, 5 March 1972 in Bamenda, followed by the baptism of the Holy Spirit on 14 October 1972 in Toube, marking the spiritual awakening that would define the trajectory of his life and calling.

He later received formal theological and ministerial training at the Bible school of the Full Gospel Mission in Bamenda, and further ministerial training in Ivory Coast and Liberia. He entered full-time ministry in 1975, and in 1978, he was ordained as a pastor in the Full Gospel Mission. Yet his heart remained anchored to one burden: the salvation of souls.

As an evangelist by conviction and calling, he traversed cities and villages across Cameroon, proclaiming the Good News, stirring repentance, and igniting hunger for God in both urban and rural territories. He played a strategic role in establishing Full Gospel churches in the Littoral Region, and in many other localities across the nation.

His apostolic footprints led to the establishment of assemblies in Chad, the Central African Republic, Nigeria, and Equatorial Guinea. His passion for souls led to his appointment as Head of the Department of Evangelism. He later founded MINEVA over forty years ago, which has trained hundreds of pastors and evangelists, and EGAM in the 2000s, as an interdenominational movement.

One of his most enduring contributions to the Mission remains his uncompromising stand for holiness, which became a structural pillar that greatly contributed to the Mission’s long-term stability.

Across more than four decades of faithful service, he served as Secretary General for thirty-three years. His elevation to become the first Francophone Secretary General of the Mission marked a historic turning point, consolidating national cohesion within the church structure. He occupied this office until his official retirement in 2013.

In 1987, he participated in the movement that gave birth to the Union of Pentecostal Churches, and he served as a member of CUPEC and several other interdenominational platforms, embodying a lifelong commitment to unity and collective kingdom advancement.

Even in retirement, and now in his eighties, his fire has not faded. He has remained active in ministry and continues to serve as Head of the Council of the Wise, overseeing the Mission’s affairs within the framework of safeguarding its original vision, values, and apostolic foundations.

His life cry remains the mobilisation of multitudes into evangelism. Papa Evan Samuel Claude Mahop represents a lineage of fathers whose legacy teaches that without integrity, influence cannot last, and that the central purpose of ministry in every generation is the salvation of souls.