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Tag: Home based care

April 02, 2025

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

Recently a few personal friends have been diagnosed with serious illnesses. As is often the case these afflictions came on suddenly. From one day to the next they went from life as usual to what Shakespeare famously described as “a walking shadow who struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more”. It’s brutal being blindsided by our mortality.The transitory nature of life is a key component in WOW’s vision for ministry to the dying. As mentioned in my last blog, the spectre of certain death is again rearing its ugly head in Africa due to the suspension of PEPFAR funding for ARV (antiretroviral) medication. HIV afflicted people who had been living free from worry because of these meds are now facing a grim future ending in an early grave.So WOW is back to square one facing the urgencies of an always fatal disease like we did when we started 25 years ago. But we’re committed to the faithful care of the “least of these” in spite of the perfect storm of sorrow that prevails. Every patient we have cared for through our champion volunteer partners over the years has felt the physical touch of the extended “hands and feet of Jesus” to their last breath.And as we reach out in Jesus’ name we’re reminded of our own mortality. Truly “the times of our lives are in his hands”.

March 19, 2025

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

The recent decision by the White House to shut down USAID is having a chilling effect on WOW’s African ministry partners. For 25 years WOW has been on the forefront mobilizing local African churches in the care of orphans and widows victimized by HIV and AIDS. This has seen us engaged not only with this fatal disease but also with the opportunistic infections and poverty related afflictions that accompany the pandemic. And pandemic it is, even though HIV and AIDS has been on the back burner of global awareness since anti-retroviral medication (ARVs) arrived on the scene about 20 years ago.

These lifesaving meds have muted the reality that hundreds of thousands of Africans still live with HIV. Now, however, with former president Bush’s amazing intervention called PEPFAR (Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) no longer paying for ARVs (due to USAID withdrawal) the myriad of Africans living with HIV have been medically orphaned and face the grim reality of living with a 100% fatal disease. For us at WOW this means our Home Based Care ministry (HBC) to thousands has been dealt a major blow.

We’re back to ministering exclusively to the dying. This, of course, is what we did in the early days of WOW, so our on the ground ministry partners in Zambia, South Africa, Malawi, and India are not being caught flatfooted. But they are chagrined.

The key in every circumstance is faithfulness. We have been for 25 years, and will be for the indefinite future, totally committed to ministering to whom Jesus called “the least of these”. Our local church based volunteers will continue to provide HBC in Jesus’ name and WOW will continue to raise awareness and funding for the massive challenge ahead.

June 19, 2024

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

When my wife Kathy and I incorporated “Visionledd” (now known as “WOW”-Working for Orphans and Widows) 25 years ago, we had no idea where this vision would take us. All we knew was that we felt led to do something about the HIV and AIDS pandemic that was decimating the population of young adults and children in sub-Saharan Africa. We had a vision for the churches of that vast region of countries to be engaged in care for orphans and widows who were dying in the thousands from this always fatal (at that time) disease. Our call was, “Every church a Mother Theresa”. If that little Albanian nun could impact the world by ministering to the dying in Calcutta India, what could the thousands of African churches do for the sick and dying in their vast continent? So we resigned our pastorate in Vancouver and took the leap, “by faith and not by sight”.

Today, two and a half decades later, we’re amazed at how that “small beginning” has grown (check out our website, Instagram, and Facebook). And who knew that two of our key country engagements would be currently seen as sub-Sahara’s most seriously afflicted by drought, food insecurity, and disease? Zambia and Malawi are both in crisis.

Because of our long track record and bond with church leaders and volunteers in those two countries, we are very involved in their time of need. The rains have not come, the crops have failed, their staple food (maize) is decimated, and cholera is rampant.

So we’ve amped up our support of these needy friends. We’re doubling down on our Home Based Care for afflicted orphans and widows and providing life-saving relief. Of course, we’re not able to meet the needs of everyone but we are faithfully doing our best for those in our care.

It’s both humbling and inspiring to minister to “the least of these” in Jesus’ name. Challenging and relentless for sure. But so rewarding to both preach and live the Gospel at this critical moment.