Heaven's Family Magazine
March 2017 Issue

Widows & Abandoned Women Ministry

Special Issue: 2016 Ministry Directors' Reports

Bruce and Patty Harris, Widows & Abandoned Women Ministry

Beatrice (second from right) loves her new teaching vocation, and the students love her

Impregnated by the boss’s son and then framed for petty theft as a likely effort to get rid of her and her illegitimate child, Beatrice’s spirit all but died when she walked through the iron gates of Embu Prison to serve a three-year sentence. Her unborn child also received the same sentence because, after birth behind bars, he remained with his mother until her release—a common practice in Kenya and many other countries.

And that misfortune came after abandonment by her alcoholic husband, which had forced her to get that job to support their daughter, whom she was separated from while in prison. By this time Beatrice felt abandoned by all, including God.

But while in prison, Beatrice participated in a training program run by one of our partners in Nairobi, in which she studied to be a conversational English instructor. She worked hard in the program, and became so skilled that she began teaching other inmates. After her release, our partner hired Beatrice to teach English to their Somali and Ethiopian students. The fog of depression, which had enveloped her in prison, finally departed as she saw Jesus’ hands and feet in loving action towards her and other inmates. Beatrice is amazed at all the Lord has done in and through her life, and knows that He is the God of miracles and restoration.

Through generous donations to the Widows & Abandoned Women Ministry, this formerly hopeless inmate is now able to provide for herself and her two children. Beatrice is also now fulfilling another dream—she’s enrolled in college with savings from her teaching job, and hopes to earn her degree in Early Childhood Development!

Beatrice is just one example of the many hurting women who are helped by the Widows & Abandoned Women Ministry of Heaven’s Family. Although many are abandoned by their husbands, many others to whom we minister have become widows following the death of their spouses; still others are refugees widowed by war.

“Only the love of Christ can heal all the pain, the hatred, and the desire for revenge,” one partner told me. Although filled with pain and loss, God is using believers like you to touch their lives with His love and heal their broken hearts.

Hearts are being changed, and we’re sincerely thankful to those who have chosen to be a part of His grand plan!

Help sustain impoverished Christian widows and abandoned women

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