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Wrap up a Bicycle

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

In September Kathy and I flew to Africa to visit our champion partners in South Africa, Zambia and Malawi. It had been Three Long Years since our last visit. So good to connect in person rather than the stopgap ZOOM meetings we’d conducted during the Covid pandemic. We were grateful and humbled to see that our ministry to at-risk orphans and widows has grown and is thriving.Kathy called it “The Fruit of our Labor” trip

It was especially gratifying to see that the workforce of local church-based volunteers continues to grow as well with the involvement of a whole new group of fresh young twenty-somethings! Many were vulnerable orphans when we first met twenty years ago. Now they’re “giving back” in Jesus’ name.

As we accompanied the volunteers we discovered that many of these “angels of mercy” walk an average of 20 miles a day (!), to provide Home Based Care (HBC) to the many suffering souls in very remote areas. That’s 20 miles over rutted, almost impassable roads in relentless heat.
20 miles of blowing dust and exposure to the elements… 20 miles of thirst…

Women walking alone can be especially vulnerable to the risk of sexual assault.

I stopped and “Did the Math”. At an average walking speed of 2.5 miles an hour that’s 8 hours per day! At an average speed of 10 miles per hour on a bike their travel time would be reduced from 8 hours to 2 hours. Can you imagine their relief?

It was clear to us that they needed bicycles. A bicycle for them is like giving a car to someone in North America. It’s HUGE.

The last time we gave bicycles to our volunteers was 10 years ago. We saw many of those 10-year-old “work-horses” at a recent gathering of over 600 people at Kapunula Village in rural Malawi. Parked under the trees, row upon row of well-used (& well-loved) bicycles. We were pleased to see them in good working order and highly valued!

Bicycles are needed! The number of new volunteers requires a new infusion of these two-wheeled wonders. We need to provide scores more.

With a bulk order we can purchase them for about $100 per bicycle. And another $10 will provide a repair kit. For such a small amount we can literally liberate a godly volunteer.

And what joy to celebrate Jesus’ birth by the gift of a bicycle to dedicated volunteers working as his hands and feet providing vital life giving ministry to “the least of these”.

So I’m inviting you to “Wrap Up a Bicycle” this Christmas! Let’s do it for love’s sake!
And Merry Christmas!

Jim Cantelon – President
WOW – Working for Orphans & Widows

 

A Double Blessing

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

I think we’re all troubled by the world of hurt in which we live. On the heels of a slow three-year COVID-19 retreat we’re suddenly facing serious environmental news – major rivers drying up (Germany’s Rhine, the Colorado in the US, the Yangtze in China, and even the Jordan in Israel), horrific pollution of “sacred” rivers in Nepal and India, scorching heat in Europe and the UK, wildfires and drought threatening global food supply, flooding and earthquake… to say nothing of the universal collateral damage of the ongoing war in Ukraine. As is often the case in history Africa seems to be bearing the brunt of much of this adversity.

As a valued partner in WOW’s ministry you’re committed to bringing some healing to the beleaguered “least of these” as Jesus put it. Because you care I’d like to bring you an update on the recent challenges of our African and Indian ministries and what your prayer and giving is accomplishing.

As is the case everywhere costs have escalated. Fuel prices have doubled, porridge is up 81%, bars of soap are up 300%, while the local currency (the Kwacha) has been devalued by 25%. These increases directly impact the Home Based Care (HBC) of thousands of at-risk orphans and widows. And the “lowest of the low”, elderly widows, are suffering the most.

Yet there has been an increase in local church volunteers who have initiated a program linking young Christian teens and adults with what they’re calling “surrogate grannies” so that these senior souls will be comforted and cared for.

What’s more our “Home of Mercy” in Lilongwe is expanding. YOU responded generously to our Matching Fund appeal to build added facilities for this vital safe house compound for young widows and at-risk girl orphans who’ve been sexually abused. And, to further encourage you, our champions “Somebody Cares” report that their evangelism outreach has never been greater. It’s dark out there but SC is lighting a candle in 35,000 humble homes.

My wife Kathy and I began WOW’s ministry 22 years ago, responding to the ravages of the HIV&AIDS pandemic in South Africa. We’ve been engaged there ever since, even as we’ve expanded to Zambia, Malawi, India, and most recently Ukraine.

Our ministry champion in SA is “Cross Connect” who has established an effective ministry in an “irregular settlement” (read squatter camp). With strong support from a partner church, WOW has recently funded the purchase of a large home to be a safe house for orphans and widows in duress called “House Nehemiah”. Much needed renovations are almost complete. They’re already flooded with desperate calls for help. It’s such a privilege, and responsibility, to be the Lord’s hands and feet for these precious souls.

 

 

WOW has a significant signature in Zambia comprised of two champion ministries.“Impact Community Outreach” (ICO) in Kabwe is centrally located in the nation with a semi-urban/rural HBC ministry to hundreds of HIV&AIDS and COVID-19 afflicted orphans and widows. All costs have doubled, in some cases tripled, during the COVID pandemic.When the local clinics prescribe medications there’s often no drugs to fill the prescriptions, and when there are drugs there’s no money to purchase them. So ICO relies on WOW to help fund those vital meds.The latest news is a bit disturbing: there’s a sudden resurgence of drug resistant TB (tuberculosis). Much prayer for protection of the vulnerable needed. Nevertheless ICO is soldiering on with more impact than ever in its history. All in Jesus’ name…

Our other Zambian champion ministry is CHRESO (from a Greek word “crezo” – “need”).Their work is comprehensive and national in scope. WOW helps support their work with orphans and widows afflicted with HIV. Our engagement with CHRESO is both urban with a clinic in Lusaka for those living with HIV, and rural via mobile clinics in impoverished villages. The need is relentless. Costs have doubled.

Due to a recent governmental crackdown on Christian charities there is little that can be said in terms of the name and location of our champion ministry in India.Yet there is great progress in spite of the adversity. Our ministry there has just increased its reach to the number of orphans and widows suffering from both HIV and COVID-19 complications and they have recently included two unreached people groups who are considered sub if not non-human by Indians: Gypsies and “Snake Catchers”(!).The Gypsies are homeless and the Snake Catchers are outcasts as they catch venomous snakes to protect rural villagers.Talk about the “least of these”! Their costs, like our other champion ministries, have doubled.

 

 

As you know WOW has been helping fund the feeding needs of hundreds of widows and orphans as they flee the war and are temporarily housed in churches that have become refugee centers.We are only a small player in this massive crisis but by God’s grace we, and YOU, are making a difference. We need to double our support.

 

 

A Double Cost requires a Double Blessing!

I’m calling on you, especially if you’re a monthly donor, to consider increasing or even doubling your gift to WOW at least for the short term. We don’t expect the COVID pandemic in Africa and India nor the war in Ukraine to last indefinitely. But between now and then, at this very vulnerable time,WOW is committed to meeting the need “according to God’s riches in glory”.

 

 

 

Please do your best as always.

Jim Cantelon – President

WOW – Working for Orphans & Widows

Light a Candle in the Darkness

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

 

I don’t think any of us of the post-Second World War generation have ever experienced such dark times. There’s no need to list the litany of troubles facing us from natural disasters to pandemics and brutal regional wars. Our world is in a dark place.

But as tough as it is for us, living in the relative peace and abundance of North America, think of the pain experienced by the poor and war torn. As a supporter of WOW you’re invested in their plight.Whether it’s orphans and widows in sub-Saharan Africa and India afflicted with two pandemics – HIV/AIDS and COVID-19, or in Ukraine subjected to “Putin’s War” and fleeing in their millions, we are in a small but committed way lighting a candle in the thick darkness.

Our little light is shining in Ukraine where we are assisting a network of churches caring for desperate orphans and widows by providing food. So basic yet so necessary. Your response to our “Ukraine Rescue” appeal has been amazing!

Sexual abuse (Gender Based Violence or GBV) of young widows and girl orphans is a grim ongoing darkness in many of the countries in which we work. A few years ago we funded the construction of a safe house in Malawi for these vulnerable females through our partner “Somebody Cares”. The home is called the “Home of Mercy”. Scores of abused women and girls have been given refuge there. It is is now a walled compound of peace and serenity and has gained national prominence as a Christian response to GBV.

It has reached capacity, however, and there is an urgent need to expand its facilities. One of our long term supporters has just offered to provide half of the needed funds as WOW raises the other half – a TWO to ONE MATCH. The overall cost will be in the range of $100,000.

Here’s an opportunity for us to light another candle and dispel the darkness of GBV in Malawi.

It’s simply a candle, but as the old saying states, “It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness”. Yes we are that candle. Together we are chasing the night shadows away. Will you help?

I’m sure you will. In Jesus’ name we will light the flame.

Summer is upon us. Ours will probably be a time of rest and relaxation but let us not forget the unrest of others. Without our help, theirs will be “a summer of discontent”.

I want to thank you for your faithfulness. And for remembering WOW. You are pillars!

Let’s keep the candle burning.

Many blessings,

Jim Cantelon
Founder & President

 

 

Ukraine Orphan Rescue

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

The world is in uproar since I last wrote to you. The conflict in Ukraine is dominating our lives, easily eclipsing the ongoing Covid crisis. While we watch in horror, “Putin’s war” as it’s called, continues to decimate cities and human lives. Every day brings new destruction. Indeed by the time this letter reaches you there will be, no doubt, much more sorrow than I can refer to as I write.

At this point over 3 million refugees have fled, mostly women and children, including many orphans. As a ministry that has focused on African and Indian orphans and widows for 22 years there is no way that we can ignore this painful new horizon of orphan care.

As you know WOW is committed to working through the agency of local church pastors and volunteers in the care of these desperately vulnerable and precious souls. We also hold as a core value that our “champions” be relationally known to and trusted by us. Love and accountability must be in the partnering equation. So it’s vital that if we’re to work in Ukraine and Poland there must be a pastoral/relational base.

Thankfully that base exists. A pastor whom I’ve known and trusted for over 40 years has been overseeing a network of Ukrainian and Polish churches for several years from Slovakia. He’s a proven champion, especially now as those very churches have become refugee centers, opening their buildings for desperate women and children. These local church “safe havens” have also become rescuers of orphans. Just a few days ago (as I write) 60 orphans were bused through the night to safety in Poland. As you can expect they need funding to continue for hundreds of orphans yet to come. This, of course, is a no-brainer for us.

So I’m appealing to you to help us help these helpless souls fleeing the pounding destruction of Russian bombs. We’ve already sent our first tranche of funds but there’s so much more that we must provide to these heroic churches. This will not be at the expense of our Africa/India work but will be above and beyond. We may be only small players but we must do our part in the rescue of Ukrainian orphans.

We’ll continue to be your arm extended to a world of hurt.

 

 

Fatherlessness – The Pivot Point of Poverty

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

 

We’ve read the reports and have seen the videos of countless migrants desperately trying to reach Europe from Africa on leaky inflatables. Some make it but many perish.The look of fear and panic on the faces of those pulled from the Mediterranean is soul crushing.

Many of these migrants are young men, some of them orphans. At the root of their distress is systemic fatherlessness. They grew up without a dad to nurture and defend them. Their abandoned and/or widowed mothers did their best but were overwhelmed by poverty.

I call Fatherlessness the Pivot Point of Poverty.

Psalm 68:5 says, “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling”. He loves “the least of these”. And so He calls his Church to become his hands and feet in their care.

WOW has responded to that call. We’re only one player in a large cast of Christian NGO’s but we’re unique in our partnership with African and Indian church-based ministries. I call them our “Champions”.

SOMEBODY CARES MALAWI

21 years ago, when WOW was still an infant ministry, we began partnering with Theresa Malila in Malawi as she walked the dusty paths from village to village armed with a Bible and a bottle of anointing
oil. The Gospel of Jesus and his healing touch were all she had to offer.Today her ministry,“Somebody Cares” is reaching into 30,000 humble mud huts with Home Based Care that has become a nationally recognized standard. Food security, medical attention, blankets and clothing are administered by over 1,000 volunteers with gentleness, compassion, and constant prayer. Those who are dying are prioritized, and when they die they die in the Lord.

ZAMBIA

CHRESO began with The Reutters, two of the most productive missionaries I have ever known. (One needs to Google “CHRESO” to get an overview.) WOW plays a critical role in their expansive rural mobile medical clinics for orphans and widows, and also by providing crucial medications at their Lusaka clinic with its client base of over 50,000 people living with HIV & AIDS. The Reutters are nationally known, respected and loved.

 

ICO (Impact Community Outreach) in Kabwe cares for 5,000 orphans and widows with a large volunteer base. It
is unique in its food production at “Rob’s Farm” a remarkable agricultural enterprise founded in memory of our daughter’s husband who died doing missionary work in Zambia 10 years ago. Pastor Eric is spiritual father and defender to so many more than those in his vital church congregation.

CROSS CONNECT COMMUNITY OUTREACH, a young ministry recently begun in a vast slum area of Krugersdorp South Africa, was established by Kyle and Nicole Tolman.WOW is a found- ing funder of their work. In just 3 years they are caring for over 3,000 households headed by impoverished widows.The prevalence of sexual violence against these vulnerable young women and their little girls is so great that CCCO recently opened a house of refuge called “House Nehemiah” that can provide safety for up to 40. WOW, with the support of a compassionate and generous church in Canada, has covered the cost of defending these vulnerable young women.

MIZPAH Ministries in Chennai India is our newest champion. Working with local church pastors Vincent and Premnath Samuel, WOW is now engaged in caring for orphans and widows in that massive city’s biggest slum. Declared a COVID hotspot, Chennai is in great need.Their newly-elected city and state government recently reached out to MIZPAH for help in providing their frontline workers with COVID prevention kits.This engage- ment by government with a Christian ministry was/is unprecedented. WOW dug deep and came through with the added cost.

I want you to know that WOW
is addressing the Pivot Point of Poverty.

 

Together with You, our faithful friends, we truly are “fathers to the fatherless and defenders of widows”. Size is not the issue. Faithfulness is.

As the year draws to a close we can look back on God’s faithfulness in our lives and in the lives of “the least of these”. As you consider your year-end giving I want to thank you for your support in the past and in the days ahead.

I can’t thank you enough!

Founder & President
Working for Orphans & WIdows

 

The Cost of Survival

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

 

As I sat down to write this letter to you my WhatsApp pinged with a message from Pastor Kyle Tolman,
our partner champion in South Africa. Read it and weep…

 

The United Nations designates orphaned children raising children as “Child Headed Households”(CHH). We care for scores of these children in South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, and India. They are “at risk” in every conceivable way. They break your heart. Truly they need “a Father to the fatherless and defender of widows” (Ps. 68:5). And the Lord calls his children to take up this challenge in his name.

WOW has been faithfully doing so for 21 years. Literally tens of thousands of orphans and widows have been cared for in our Home Based Care programs administered and championed by our vast network of pastor/champions and their local church volunteers. It’s a great story of God’s love shining through his servants to those lost in desperate need.

The Covid-19 pandemic has added more than an edge of urgency to this ministry, not only in terms of added sickness and death, but also in terms of the cost of providing basic commodities (cornmeal, cooking oil, sugar, blankets, medications, etc). The rise in prices for these basics is in the range of 300%. Needless to say this puts our partners under enormous financial stress.

“Cost of Living” is now “Cost of Survival”.

 

This is not a gimmick. This is brutal reality for our thousands of orphans and widows, especially for those humble mud hut households where children are raising themselves. Their “cost of survival” is now 300% higher than it was before Covid-19 began ravaging our world.

We are more than able to reach into our abundant resources and reach out to a world of suffering. WOW is one of many ministries doing a great job. But we are in relationship with you. You trust us and we trust you. This is strength. Strength to meet the challenge of the “cost of survival” for our vulnerable little brothers and sisters in need.

 

June 2021 Update

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

I answered a WhatsApp call in the early hours of the morning. It was Prem, our church partner in Chennai, India. He confirmed my worst fears: “The pandemic is ravaging the city. The infection rates are soaring and people are dying. But, a wonderful thing has happened, Pastor! The state government has reached out to us as a trusted Charity and have urged us to provide “COVID Kits” and “Medical Kits” for those under our care. Can you help us?” What could I say? “Of course we will help!”

We’re all too aware that the COVID-19 pandemic is proving relentless. Here in the West, with the rollout of vaccines, there is incremental traction against it but in most of the developing world the crisis is growing exponentially. WOW’s fields of ministry are right in the middle of it, especially India.

 

We’re a small but trusted and effective player on the world scene with a footprint that includes South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, and South India. Our focus, as you know, is providing and equipping local church-based volunteers in an effective Home Based Care ministry. The “clients” are at-risk orphans and widows, all vulnerable to what is now a double pandemic of HIV&AIDS and COVID-19.

 

We have for several years been providing medications (non-prescriptive – painkillers, ointments, cough syrups and cold and flu relief) sourced through our terrific partnership with Health Partners International.

Once a year we do a 7 – 1 match, one dollar providing seven dollars worth of meds

What your gift funds, of course, is symptomatic relief (we cannot provide vaccines or anti-retroviral drugs), but it makes a huge difference for the afflicted!

We are again sending a shipment to our partners in Africa. Indian law makes it near impossible to ship meds, so we’re sending funds for our church partner in Chennai to purchase locally sourced supply.

I know you are motivated to give when your gift is multiplied Seven Times!

All this is done in the name of Jesus. It’s humbling and gratifying to hear “the least of these” not only rejoice but thank God for WOW’s medical intervention.

I thank you for your prayerful and generous involvement in this vital work.

Blessings,

Jim Cantelon – Founder/President
WOW – “Working for Orphans & Widows”

 

 

 

 

 

Pandemic Relief – Update from Malawi

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

As I write we’re into Year Two of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. We all feel the impact. And we’re ready for it to end. We’re tired. 

 

But, ironically, we’re also renewed in the sense that we’ve been forced to re-examine our lives, our values, our relationships, and our spirits. We’ve been “orphaned” from loved ones and from church community. We’ve been forced to go it alone.

And yet…

many of us have been surprised by the nearness of God in our isolation. It’s like we’re back to square one in our walk with Him and it feels good. Faith has been purged of much of the religious trappings that had attached themselves to the simplicity of the Gospel and we’re back to James’ clarion words:

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27)

Your partnership with us has enabled WOW to continue to grow in these troubled times.

As you know we work in South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, and Southern India. Our focus is Home Based Care, through local church volunteers, for at risk orphans and widows in their thousands. Amazing work in the name of Jesus is being done.

I’d like to highlight our partnership in Malawi.

Here’s a bullet point summary of just some of our ministry there in the past few months:

And this is just Malawi! WOW’s ministry in our other countries is thriving as well. God truly is “a Father to the fatherless and Defender of widows” (Psalm 68:5).

Because our champion ministries buy supplies locally we are faced with the COVID reality of doubled costs. We’re doing our best to adapt. So we’ve decided to provide our beleaguered partners with a COVID supplement. To do this we’ll need our support base (that would be you!) to add a little extra to your funding this quarter.

What a joy and privilege it is to link arms with you in loving these dear ones!

Thank you for your sensitivity to the heart of God.

Many blessings,

Jim Cantelon – Founder/President
WOW – “Working for Orphans & Widows”

 

 

 

2020 Update from Somebody Cares Ministries

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

2020 Update from Somebody Cares Ministries

by Rita | Mar 4, 2021

Here’s an update from one of our partners, Somebody Cares Ministry, on the wonderful work that they’ve done in Malawi.

In 2020 SCM was able to provide 450 blankets and 100 bed mats to 350 Home Based patients. They were also able to provide medication for community run ‘pharmacies’ reaching an average number 1,700 people each month.There was also a monthly restock of off-the-counter medication to volunteer medical kits for Home Based Care volunteers reaching out to over 4,000 patients. The life giving supplement, selenium was also distributed to 11,000 beneficiaries!
1,100 Critical patient support packs were distributed benefiting 3,670 Home Based Care patients and their dependents. Patient transport comprised of 200 trips monthly for 12 months to 2,014 Home Based Care patients and their primary caregivers.1,900 blankets were distributed to the elderly (originally, we intended to distribute 2 per home but the need was bigger and so reverted to giving one per home).

2,400 Volunteers Appreciation packs were distributed to help support volunteers working with critical patients and orphaned children. The packs benefitted 1,480 community volunteers and their dependents (some volunteers receive monthly while others occasionally) reaching over 7,400 beneficiaries.

They were also able to distribute monthly child headed homes support packs that include maize and food supplies to 20 child headed homes supporting 74 children. Construction on the House of Mercy was completed and monthly support was given to orphaned rescued families that include maize, food and toiletries, school fees and supplies, including support to house mothers.

Fortified porridge was provided 5 days a week to 1500 vulnerable children (this number grew to 2,800 in the month of May to August due to COVID19 effects including closures of schools).

The Berean Biblical training provided to 70 pastors and church leaders responsible for over 13,736 people affecting the church’s response to injustice as well as providing sound biblical teaching in villages. Support was also given to counsellors working with over 100 child survivors of sexual assault. Crisis packs, that are given to immediately support victims of sexual abuse, were also provided to the counsellors.As well Gender Based Awareness campaigns conducted in villages sensitizing communities on various gender-based violence, working with chiefs and community leaders reaching over 1,500 people.

600 masks were made and distributed to volunteers that continued to work within community during COVID19.Covid-19 response with distribution of 500 water buckets and 31,000 bars of soap reaching 19 marketplaces and 31,000 households to help curb the spread of COVID19.

All of this possible because of your generous donations. Thank you!