Widow's Fund — Showing the Father Heart of God

Widows and orphans — both are identified in Scripture as precious to the Father heart of God. Our Lord looks on these with tenderness and concern — and he implores us to do the same: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world" (James 1:27).

Widow's Fund, a ministry of World Challenge, responds to the ongoing needs of widows, orphans and the abandoned elderly in meaningful and practical ways. Currently we operate Widow's Fund outreaches in Armenia, Haiti and Kenya, each touching needs specific to the culture and circumstances.

Every widow we help has a tragic story. Husbands have disappeared — some walking out, some dying from disease, some the victims of violence. In each case, children have been left behind in the care of a desperate mother who is their sole provider.

Haiti
Surviving One "Centime" at a Time

To many the story of a woman who sits beside a dirt road selling insect repellant and matches is not a picture of success. But against the harsh backdrop of Haitian life, Charles Saint Anne would disagree. She is one of a dozen women currently drawing much–needed help from a microloan program initiated by Widow's Fund in the cities of Delmas and Port–au–Prince.

Charles's husband died in a shooting in Cite Soleil, the slum where her family lives. Charles took on work in a school, and the microloan she receives from Widow's Fund enabled her to supplement her income by forming a small business. With four children to care for, every centime (the Haitian penny) counts.

Yet the microloan program provides more than income. Each woman who benefits from a loan has a newfound sense of empowerment — and renewed faith in her heavenly Father's love. No longer does she face hopelessness but sees her family's stability increasing. Widow's Fund joyfully supports this work as God's love becomes a practical reality for Haitian widows and orphans.

House of Hope, Armenia
A Name That Says it All

When Veronika Hunayan began ministering in the shadows of Armenia's cities, she simply wanted to touch the life God put in front of her. In a few short years her ministry exploded as Veronika discovered staggering numbers of homeless elderly people suffering through harsh summers and deadly winters.

"I receive phone calls from different regions asking us to come rescue people from the streets," Veronika says. Widow's Fund actively supports House of Hope, the ministry center that Veronika operates with the help of her husband and a small staff. House of Hope cares for nearly 100 people onsite and delivers food to other needy ones in the surrounding area. For many of these elderly people it is the only act of kindness they have received in decades. And what begins with a gentle, loving touch leads to the joy of salvation and healing.

"We reach them at a crucial moment," Veronika says. "They are alone and sometimes close to death. But by God's grace, they die as Spirit–filled believers in the compassion of Jesus." These precious elderly ones have the joy of celebrating their final days in an atmosphere of God's love — singing hymns and enjoying each other's company, no longer enduring days of despair. As the need increases, so will our commitment to this vital ministry.

Widows in Kenya collecting their "hamper gifts"

Kenya
One Roof, One Meal, One Heart at a Time

Like many of the world's large slums in poor nations, the vast slum in Nairobi, Kenya is overwhelming. Hundreds of thousands survive in utter poverty, their living conditions unimaginable. Working alongside ministry partners in Nairobi, we decided simply to start small and start now.

A Widow's Love Hamper ministry was created to bring help to the neediest in this slum area. The fund supports several women who once lived on the streets in appalling conditions by providing them with full–time housing. We also supply daily necessities for about twenty women, some of whom are HIV positive. The hamper gift we distribute to each of them contains maize flour, beans, cooking fat and lentils. It is a blessing to see the faces of these impoverished widows as they receive the food — and the love — they so desperately need.

As with all of the ministries under the banner of World Challenge, Widow's Fund was established in response to an anguished outcry. The sensitivity first demonstrated by our founder, David Wilkerson, continues as an example of God's kindness and compassion toward those the world has forgotten.

Often it doesn't take much to literally change the course of a person's life. For poor widows, orphans and the elderly, the love of Jesus and the promise of a meal and shelter can be nothing short of a miracle. It is an honor to deliver these simple, life–sustaining provisions in the name of the One whose heart sees them all as precious.