KGM Partner FNF Widow Ministry l Rejoicing in God’s Solution for Widows

Friends Needing Friends Widow Ministry Celebrates 33 Years 
of Service to Widows Internationally

International Widow's Day is Wednesday and in honor of widows everywhere we want to highlight ministries that are serving widows and are also Kerusomen partners.

Today we want to  applaud the ladies of Friends Needing Friends Widow Ministry. They are a perfect example of sacrificial service to widows and faithful partners and friends of Kerusomen for many, many years.

They are also way too humble to toot their own horn. But we're not so here goes:

They have rescued 18 India widows who were abandoned; they assist monthly with food and medicine; 

They sent emergency food in times of crisis;

They support KGM's New Hope chickens & goats ministry;

They sponsor widows into KGM Isos, a women's savings and training ministry;

Despite most of them being on fixed budgets, they have given $7,271 to assist widows in India over the past 12 months. Incredible! 

But the physical needs, as important as they are, pale in comparison to the relationship of love they've built though their fervent prayers for each other. The FNF widows pray for a different Indian widow each month and treasure every update from the mission field.  Likewise, KGM India headquarters reports their widows call weekly to ask after their American sisters and pass on the message that they are praying constantly for them. Pastor Saha says that during their Covid lockdowns they had more concern for their sisters here, than they did for themselves.

Friends Needing Friends is a beautiful example of how God brings beauty from ashes (Isaiah 61:3) in the lives of widows. He rescues them by sending HIs church family to offer them His hope, a hope that lasts.

 

God's church, His people, are the ambassadors he sends in answer to the global widow crisis. It's not just a social or economic answer. It's an answer of LOVE. And that changes EVERYTHING.

The bond of love these American and Indian widows have for one another - even though they have never met and probably never will in this life - is reflected in the letter below from Tom Caprio, President of Kerusomen Gospel Ministries:

To Our Amazing Friends Needing Friends Partners,

Congratulations FNF on your 33rd Anniversary!

 We can never thank you enough for your prayers and generous financial support for the KGM widows in India. For several years your faithfulness and kindness has made a huge difference in their lives.  As a small token of our gratitude we have designed a bookmark just for you. Recent pictures of some of the widows you are helping in India are featured on it. Allow me introduce you to them:  

Bookmark Front  (from left to right) Pastor Kathy Caprio, Florida FNF Pastor; Vilama; Grace; KGM Board Member, Kathlein; KGM Women’s Ministry Director, Pastor Anju;  and  five KGM widows, Seemathi, Leela, Ammu, Daisy, and Danamma. Danamma is so grateful you helped her get into the Women’s Transformation Group where she is saving money to open a sewing or umbrella making business.

Bookmark Back: 

Top:  Pastor Anju giving Leela the gifts you sent at the holidays. Center: A group of younger widows thanking you for the bags of food you delivered to them and their children during the pandemic lockdown.  Bottom: A widow called “Baby” who is feeding the chickens you gave so she will be able to feed her family and make extra money from selling the eggs and chicks she raises. In the picture the blue tarps are Baby’s “roof.” Her house has no electricity, water, or plumbing. She thanks God for you “providing chickens for her survival.”  

We know India is so far away and it can be difficult to picture the widows you serve. So we hope every time you look at their faces on your bookmark you will feel closer to these sister widows in Christ and remember that they are praying for you, as well.

We also know you are anxious to hear updates on the chickens and goats. Baby got her chickens just before the second wave of Covid-19 hit India. All the animals were delivered but the new lockdowns have prevented our pastors from taking more photos. 

We will update you on more of the widows as soon as the government allows travel.

Once again, congratulations on your 33rd Anniversary. Each one of you is an important part of this God given ministry and “we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.” Col. 1:3

 God bless you richly,

 Tom Caprio, KGM President