Working with Orphans

James tells us in the first chapter of his letter that pure religion is to visit orphans and widows in their day of trouble. For seven years our ministry has remained single-minded by pouring love, encouragement and the Word into the widows of the world. I believe that God opened a new vista as we ministered to orphans and street children in Kenya during the month of August. One of our hosts, Erastus Omukhango, has poured himself into these street children and orphans so that they will receive a quality education, nutritious food, and safe shelter.

There is a teenager whose name is Naomi. At the age of 12, she became an orphan. A man enticed her to marry him. This is illegal in Kenya. Marriage age is 18. Naomi has a child who is now 3 years old. When Pastor Erastus found Naomi on the street, she was destitute. He has placed her in his school where she is excelling to the point of having the highest math score out of over 500 schools in Nairobi. She has only been in his school for two years. Naomi is due to graduate from eighth grade soon. Pastor Erastus has asked me to seek funding for her to attend secondary school. I have met with her. She is sweet and bright and waiting for God to do something for her. She will be taking her boards in November and receiving her results in December. Then, the school board will decide on her placement, allowing her three different secondary schools to pick from. If anyone who is reading this would like to partner with our ministry to see Naomi have the opportunity I know God would want her to have, please contact us. Pastor Erastus is responsible for 500 students. He does not have the funding to send Naomi to the boarding school. The tuition, room and board is about $2,000 a year. I really believe that someone who is reading this account will help her.

While at the Korogocho Estate, Wally and Linda had the opportunity to address orphans and street children on four different occasions. These children were so responsive and polite that it was truly a pleasure. Widow's Might Ministry has donated money to this ministry so that these children will have fresh fruit with their lunches. This has never been done for them before. Their meals consist of porridge in the morning and beans and rice for lunch. It is our hope that we will be able to continue ministering to these very dear youngsters on a consistent basis. As you can see, God has increased our territory.

Kenyan Widows Conference

Our Kenya trip proved to be very successful! Dr. David Kitonga hosted us in Kawangware, the second largest slum in Nairobi. 300,000 indigenous Kenyans reside there. No running water, no electricity and no plumbing make for a difficult life. While there, we sponsored a widows conference on Saturday. Over 70 widows came, not knowing what to expect. By the end of the day we were great friends. Many of them gave testimonies after the program.

One woman had been evicted from her home. She wasn't even able to return to her home to gather her personal belongings. Another woman had prayed that day that God would supply 1,000 Kenyan shillings before 4 pm that day so that she could pay for her daughter's school fees. Another woman told us that she sold hard boiled eggs on the street and had barely enough money left over to feed her children. A woman who has been suffering with breast cancer for three years was so thankful to have these gifts bestowed upon her. She had prayed that morning that God would give her the strength to walk to the meeting. She told us that she felt much improved after we had prayed with her. A Sudanese refugee was grateful for the love that was shown to her even though she was not Kenyan. She said that she would tell her friends of this wonderful widows ministry so that they would be able to participate in future meetings. Because of the monetary love gifts that we had collected while in the States, these women's lives were turned around that day and i'm sure that if we would have had time enough to hear from other women, we would have received more testimonies. But greater than that was the fact that the Holy Spirit ministered to them in a powerful way. Twelve of the women came to know Jesus as their personal Savior at the conference. Praise God! Pastor Andrew, who had issued invitations to the churches, said that he could see that the ministry to the widows from myself was from deep to deep.

The food was delicious! And the women really enjoyed the luxury of having meat with their vegetables and rice. They cheered when they were invited to join with other widows of the world to pray and were surprised to each receive a beautiful scarf and 4 pounds of rice.
God's joy filled the church. Several pastors also attended and were ministered to by Wally and me.

We came away from the day filled with awesome appreciation for what God had done. Six pastors, 2 being widows have been selected to head up Widow's Might Ministry, Int'l. in Kawangware. Please pray for their success and that the widows of Kawangware will see themselves as beautiful women of God. To those of you who live in America and are helping us follow God's will in this ministry; we really want to thank you!

Wally, my husband, preached on Sunday. It was a great day of thanksgiving. 15 souls were saved! We also conducted two workshops for the teachers at Dr. Kitonga's school. His school is educating 1,400 students in the midst of the slum. They are the healthiest children, fed 2 meals a day and seen by a nurse every week. The Kitongas have done a beautiful job and God has honored their vision. Everyone we met who served the widows and the children were sold out to the Lord.