CENTRAL ASIA — Jumagul’s* story is one of amazing redemption: after becoming a Christian, she was beaten and abused by her husband. But God heard Jumagul’s prayers and transformed her husband – and her marriage. After her husband’s death, Jumagul continues to follow Jesus – despite persecution from her local community. Jumagul* lives in a…
Crissy Sanchez-Cochran, Executive Director of Communications of City Serve discusses The Widow — A Compassion Initiative — a biblical template for how the local church can care for the widow in their sadness and loss. It is often the case that ministries are led most effectively by those who have a heart for a particular…
PUEBLO, CO — International ministry World Challenge recently helped build houses for 60 impoverished widows in Guatemala, reported Christian Post.[1] As part of World Challenge’s widow ministry program, which seeks to fulfill the biblical directive to care for widows, local partners meet practical, daily needs of widows, such as food, medicine and shelter. Partners also…
LAOS — Last year, three Christians in Laos, Southeast Asia were arrested because of their faith. Here, they recount their experiences – and how they knew God was with them. As one of them told an Open Doors partner, “Even when I was in prison, I felt I was not alone. I felt your prayers.”…
IRAQ — Iraqi law forbids a person from changing their religion from ‘Muslim’ to ‘Christian on their official ID. Believers who find themselves in this situation can be extremely isolated, treated with suspicion by the Christian community while also rejected by Muslims. Mr Youhanna* gives legal counsel to Christians like Matti* who suffers this discrimination….
NIGERIA – In Nigeria persecution is on the increase and so the trauma believers suffer is increasing. However through Open Doors partners working in trauma care, Christians are receiving hope and healing. Anuhu* (name changed for security reasons) who leads the trauma care programme shares the story of how a Nigerian widow, one of the…
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – The premature death of a spouse threatens the stability of a family and leaves a gaping emotional hole for the surviving wife or husband. An Israeli organization is reaching out to families, widows, and orphans using the Bible as their guide. Chris Mitchell, CBN News: Once a week this home is filled…
NASHVILLE – In May 2019, One by One – a UK-based global missions organization with a heart for the poor and broken across the Third World – opened King’s Children’s Home, near Lahore in Pakistan, to rehouse and give hope to children rescued from brick factory bonded labor in that country. The home opened with…
SOUTH ASIA – Lalita is a widow who was struggling to make ends meet after her husband passed away. Through its Christmas Gift Catalog GFA World (Gospel for Asia) gave her a sewing machine which enabled her to earn a living through tailoring work. How one simple tool provided income for a family in desperate…
NIGERIA – Last summer, Open Doors shared the story of Rose from Nigeria. Her husband, a pastor, had been murdered by Fulani militants. Their partners recently visited her again and she told them, despite her troubles: “The Lord has not forsaken me.” When Open Doors met Rose in June 2020, we found a woman who…
WILLS POINT, TX — COVID-19 is making a heart-wrenching situation even worse for abused and outcast widows around the world, says a new report released surrounding International Widows Day, June 23, an annual awareness event. The pandemic is a widow-maker for thousands of the world’s most vulnerable women, causing them an “unbearable level” of sorrow…
ETHIOPIA — When Abebu’s husband was killed in Ethiopia for his faith in 2013 Christian charity Open Doors stepped in to support her family. But seven years later when Covid-19 restrictions again left her unable to feed her children, the charity provided vital help to her as well as thousands of other families across Africa…
RUSSIA — An annual event launched by Slavic Gospel Association in 2002 — is on target to distribute Christmas gifts, children’s Bibles, and personalized ornaments to 50,000 Children in Russia. Despite lockdown restrictions SGA church partners are reaching out into hospital, orphanages and the homes of vulnerable children as part of their Immanuel’s Child outreach….
COLORADO SPRINGS – “What Matters” is an interesting phrase. Devoid of punctuation, it could be a statement, a question, or an exclamation. Regardless, it is important that we all know what matters . . . what really matters. What Matters Ministries and Missions is the faith-based organization founded by Ivan and Kim Tait in 1997….
LOVES PARK, IL — A U.S.-based evangelical mission that partners with local churches to serve orphans, widows, and others in need across Russia and the former Soviet Union aims to share the true meaning and hope of Christmas with 50,000 needy ‘forgotten’ children this year. From Russia’s capital Moscow to the Siberian wastelands — and…
WILLS POINT, TX — One of the world’s biggest poverty-alleviating organizations spotlights the huge “uphill battle” facing many of the world’s 258 million widows in a recently-released report. Treatment of widows is often startlingly unfair and cruel, catapulting them into a crisis of survival, says the new global report by Texas-based Gospel for Asia (GFA…
DILLSBURG, PA – The Forgotten Voices ministry is committed to doing its part to transform the lives of some of the 4.1 million orphaned and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi. Although it is a small organization compare to like-minded global outreaches, its impact is, nevertheless, soul-stirring. Forgotten Voices follows a local church-based, family-focused,…
KANSAS CITY, MO – The Global Orphan Project (GO) began when a successful Kansas City businessman and his wife visited an orphanage while on a short-term mission trip. “The situation was horrific, but the people were wonderful . . . The heart of the people who were caring for these kids, who were not their…
ENUMCLAW, WA — When a woman loses her husband to death, the situation is permanent, often unforeseen, and disorienting. A widow finds herself in an unfamiliar situation of aloneness. She suddenly becomes the decision-maker, the one who is solely responsible for her and her family’s future. Mary Bruce found herself in this very circumstance the…
Missions Agency Confronts Violence Against Women During International Observance, Nov. 25 WILLS POINT, TX — A staggering one-third of women and girls around the world will suffer physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, missions agency Gospel for Asia (GFA) reports, as the organization marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women…
KAMPALA, UGANDA – Last September, her world was turned upside down when her husband passed away. The 54-year-old mother of eight children was now a widow with a family to support. Searching for hope, she placed her faith in Jesus Christ when the pastor of a small church shared the Bible with her. Joy returned…
WILLS POINT, TX — Leading faith-based humanitarian agency Gospel for Asia (GFA), announced today it will provide crucial aid and spiritual support to hundreds of “shunned and shamed” widows to mark International Widows Day, Sunday, June 23. “In some Asian cultures, when a woman’s husband dies, she is often stripped of her dignity, her worth,…
WILLS POINT, TEXAS – Gospel for Asia (GFA) has been a leader in ministering to “the least of these”—the millions of people living in abject poverty in Asia—for nearly 40 years. Dr. K.P. Yohannan‘s, Gospel for Asia (GFA) founder, ground-breaking book Revolution in World Missions accurately foretold the need for a dramatic change of methodology…
Gospel for Asia (GFA) calls attention to plight of widows worldwide who need help to face tragedy and overcome the many indignations of widowhood. WILLS POINT, Texas — More than seven years after the United Nations formally called attention to the plight of widows, millions of bereaved women \still find themselves subjected to abuse, humiliation, ostracism…
Gospel for Asia (GFA World) Special Report: Hope to Overcome the Challenges of Widowhood Written By Ken Walker of InChrist Communications Accounts of the humiliations, insults and indignations suffered by widows worldwide would make anyone cringe. Gulika, a widow in Asia, experienced helplessness after the people in her village turned their backs on her after…
WILLS POINT, Texas – The United Nations has set aside June 23rd of each year as International Widows Day “as an opportunity for action towards achieving full rights and recognition for widows. According to the UN, “It has been estimated that there are some 258 million widows around the world, with over 115 million of…
SENAU, ARUNACHAL PRADESH – Members of the Believer’s Eastern Church in Senua reached out to help about 30 widows living in the village on International Widows Day, What the church did was quite unusual, at least for westerners, yet deeply appreciated by the recipients. The Senua BEC regularly looks after the needs of widows with…
One of the widows touched by Gospel for Asia-supported teams’ help-and-hope visits speaks of her ‘beautiful house’ made possible by simple donation WILLS POINT, Texas—The message of God’s sheltering love for the destitute and disenfranchised was spelled out practically with tin sheets and umbrellas when Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported teams reached out to some of…
KENAI, Alaska – In partnership with local Russian evangelical churches, SOAR International is planning to distribute Easter gift baskets to orphaned children in Far Eastern Russia in Communities across the Bering Sea from Nome, Alaska. SOAR (Service & Outreach Alaska to Russia) began its ministries to Russian in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, but now has…
