2 Years and 5 Months

Two years and five months had passed since Linda had been able to go to Nigeria and minister to God's beloved widows. But her prayers were answered as financial gifts from friends allowed her and her husband to return to Nigeria.

Saturday morning the widows began to arrive from around the city and from the villages outside of Onitsha. By 10am there were about 500 in attendance. Just prior to the noon hour, the crowd of widows had grown to almost 700. Lunch, a soft drink, a bottle of cooking oil and a small packet filled with items of love and appreciation along with a prayer card were given to each widow. Linda spoke to them about the power of God and the power of prayer using the story of Elisha and the widow whose oil bottles continued to miraculously produce enough oil for all of her needs. She prayed with each lady and blessed them in Jesus' name while given them each a kiss from Jesus. Between eighty and one hundred women invited Christ to be their Savior at this conference. Praise God for all the angels who were singing!

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.

3 Kenyan Widow's Conferences

As many of you remember, last November we partnered with Africa Equip Ministries in Kwangwari Estate, Nairobi, Kenya. We have just returned from Nairobi where our conference has grown from 70 to 217 widows. Dr. David Kitonga selected a board of directors to oversee this ministry. Twenty-two pastors were also in attendance. Last Saturday proved to be an exciting day for each of these women. Many came to Christ. The theme of this year's conference was 'Be Ready for God's Provision'. A wonderful lunch of rice, vegetables, and meat was provided, and everyone cheered when they heard that sodas were being served. At the close of the program, Linda prayed for each widow individually and gifted them with oil and flour. A testimony was shared by one of the widows who had attended last year's conference. She told the audience that her landlord was ready to padlock her home. After receiving a token from Widow's Might, she was able to pay her debt. She has not had any difficulty with her house payment since prayers were offered up on her behalf by Linda.

Dr. Kitonga has asked Widow's Might to help many of these ladies to begin a small entrepreneurship. He has informed us that the cost for each business "start up" will be $150.00. I would love to see us be able to do this. Please pray that God would allow us the privilege of investing in many of their lives during 2009.

Many people have been praying the prayer of Jabez for Widow's Might. Well, friends, it's working! In addition to Dr. Kitonga's ministry partnering with us, two other pastors, the first Patrick Ominde from Dandora4, hosted 60 widows. Sister Beatrice, a widow, worked very hard to organize this meeting in her own kiosk where she is a tailor and teaches sewing to other widows. The women were thrilled with Wally and Linda's Bible teaching. The Lord was working so powerfully as Linda spoke in the kiosk, a passerby was attracted and observed from a distance for a few minutes. She then walked up to Pastor Patrick and said, 'What must I do to be saved?'. That day was her day of salvation! At the same event, Wally approached a young man who was standing outside the kiosk. After several minutes of discussion, the young man said he was ready to accept Christ as his savior and Wally prayed with him. Again a lovely lunch was served and groceries were distributed.

Our last conference commenced in Erastus Omukhango's church in Korogocho, Nairobi, Kenya. We learned during our time of individual prayer that some of these women are HIV positive. Please pray for them. One of the ladies has six children and is very weak and poor. These women were overwhelmed when they received a kiss from Linda on each cheek. They were so happy and blessed to go home with an armload of flour, rice, oil, sugar and tea.

As most of you know, we invite each of the ladies to join Prayer Stations for the Nations to pray for the widows of the world. The ladies are given laminated prayer cards with scriptural prayers to use on a daily basis. When we ask them if their prayers are being answered, many raise their hands and testify because of the widows in the various nations who are praying for them. Our prayer front is growing. Widows from Siberia, Belarus, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mali, Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana are partnering to be watch women on the walls for their sisters who suffer much in widowhood. Our hope is that God is well pleased with this effort and that we will remain in the center of His perfect will. Thank you to all who are supporting this ministry with Christ's love.

Sent to Siberia

This truly has been a year of walking by faith. The Wally and Linda weren’t sure that they could or would go to Tyumen. But, God knew and they went because of His faithfulness through Cornerstone EPC. Thank you, Cornerstone. Not only were we able to use our spiritual gifts in Tyumen for kingdom work, but God continued to display to us His desire for us to journey down this path for His glory.

Blessing #1

We had no difficulties with flights, transfers, customs or luggage.

Blessing #2
We saw a young woman receive the Lord. Her name is Szveta. She had so many questions about Christianity. God brought her to the right place at the right time. She sat in Wally’s lectures on Old Testament survey, learning about the magnificence of God. During her free time she approached Linda. They sat and discussed her questions about Jesus. By the end of the week God had planted His desire in her to become a woman of God.

Blessing #3
Three widow’s conferences were conducted. As usual, tears of reunion, joy and hope were shared. Gifts were given. Meals were served and testimonies shared.

Boutique Sales benefit a Widows Luncheon

Saturday we partnered with Boutique to You to raise funds for the ministry. We are praising the Lord for those of you who purchased a purse or accessories! Through your purchases, we now have enough money to provide a meal during the conference for 85 widows. Please keep praying as we keep depending upon our Lord to meet our needs.

Boutique Shopping for a Good Cause

Thanks to a generous contact in Michigan.... We have a great fundraiser where you can purchase women's accessories and help women around the world! Mother's day is just around the corner, graduations are quickly approaching and birthdays are every month! This is an easy way to shop for these special events.

If you make a purchase on www.boutiquetou.com between now and April 25th Widows Might Ministries will receive 20% of the sales profit!

The money will then go to caring for the needs of the widows and their children in Nigeria, Mali, Ghana, Kenya and Siberia.

An additional 10% will go to Katie Beth Hostetter's Urban Arts ministry that is starting this summer and will conduct 3 weeks of inner city visual/performing arts camps in Detroit with kids who desperately need a hope and purpose for their lives!

IMPORTANT: WHEN CHECKING OUT ONLINE, PLEASE WRITE "Widow's Might Ministry" IN THE COMMENT BOX. (if this isn't done, no credit will be given!!)

Also, come to the warehouse and take a look at the goods in person! On April 26th from 1-4 pm Boutiques for You will donate 20% of the sales to Widow's Might Ministry.

Widows Conference in Nicaragua

On Wednesday, January 16th, Widow's Might conducted its first conference in Bluefields, Nicaragua. At least 6 churches were represented at our late afternoon and evening meeting. The women had never experienced anything like it, and they said they loved it and plan on coming together on a regular basis to minister and pray with each other. We were blessed to meet at a lovely location on the top of a hill overlooking the bay. Patrick Tinkam, a missionary with Partners in Christ, was such a great help behind the scenes. Everything was just right! We took a picture of each of the ladies so that we can find prayer partners for them back in the States. Since there was a hurricane last August, black beans and rice were very expensive, but Patrick was able to secure enough for us to buy so that each lady had 4 pounds of each. We invited them to begin praying for the widows of the world. They were excited!

Claudia Vajellaos translated beautifully and Darcy Graham sang His Eye is on the Sparrow and As the Deer. Two ladies from the audience also sang a solo each. Our evening went by so quickly. One of the women asked that we pray for her to be able to have a home this year. Her home burned down last year. She has three children and is a teacher and doesn't make much money. There were so many lovely ladies there. I wish all of you could have joined us.