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Tag: Working for Orphans & Widows

Oct 15, 2025

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

Recently in Malawi Africa, Kathy and I spent a few days with our team of volunteers visiting and praying for dying villagers. The dusty ox cart trails between the villages and the oppressive heat exacerbated our awareness of the adversities these precious people face every day. Over the past 25 years we’ve prayed for countless patients under the care of local church based volunteers, true angels of mercy.

In the picture you see us praying for a noble looking 65yr old man who is HIV positive and has leprosy. As I prayed, I recalled how Jesus healed many lepers and, against cultural convention, touched them as he ministered. I felt I could do no less. So I placed my hand on his head and held him up before the Lord.

In the picture, you also see our dedicated volunteers reaching out in fervent, compassionate prayer. Over the past 25 yrs of WOW’s ministry, several hundreds of these ministering angels have faithfully provided Home Based Care for “the least of these” as Jesus put it in his name. They are true heroes sometimes spending an entire day walking to and from the care of their patients. Their dedication is humbling and inspiring.

It’s an honour to partner with them.

Oct 1, 2025

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

Many times over the years Kathy and I have visited remote African villages where our local church volunteers are compassionately providing home-based care (HBC) for afflicted and/or dying orphans and widows. In the dust, heat, and adversities of disease and soul stressing poverty, these indomitable volunteers provide the loving extension of Jesus’ hands to “the least of these”, as he put it. They are truly agents of healing and hope.

Many of them are widows themselves living on the edge. Some are living with HIV, their viral load managed by medication, and all are poor. But WOW, through our local champion pastors, makes sure they have food and medical care to enable them in their selfless work. WOW also provides bicycles enabling them to travel the long rutted roads to their patients in a third of the time it would take to walk.

I see them as ministering angels.

What has impressed and humbled us over and over these past 25 years is their total gratitude for our help. What’s more they see our support as a gift from God and they give him the glory with guileless child like enthusiasm. Even the elderly widows sing and dance for joy.

I’m always aware that our work is supported by the Lord and his people. It truly is a team effort. And we praise the Lord with our African brothers and sisters for his steadfast love and faithfulness.

Sept 17, 2025

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

One of WOW’s ministry countries is Malawi in Southern Africa. It is the 4th poorest nation in that massive continent. Like most other African nations, over 50% of the population is under 30 yrs of age. Under educated and under employed, this huge number of young adults are an explosion waiting to happen, especially now in that a general election is about to take place. During the last election hundreds of young adults demonstrated against what they saw as a rigged process with stone throwing, burning tires on the roadways, and threatening unwary drivers with violence. We were caught in one of those uprisings with our ministry team but escaped unharmed. Scary nonetheless.

Election tensions in combination with food shortages, electrical “brown outs”, ongoing HIV and AIDS crises, opportunistic diseases, a massive fuel shortage, and the stresses of ongoing poverty are some of the heavy burdens Malawians have to bear. Malawi is broken.

But there is hope. WOW’s champion partner “Somebody Cares” is lighting a candle in the darkness. Caring for thousands of orphans and widows in the name of Jesus they are without doubt “salt and light”. We’ve been working together for 23 years seamlessly and redemptively. Many of the young orphans we cared for two decades ago are now proactive young adults making a saving impact on the nation.

The scriptures say that the Lord knows them that are His. There’s no doubt that His known ones are present and hard at work bringing hope to “the least of these”. Malawi may be down but by God’s grace they’re not out.

Sept 03, 2025

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

Without doubt Jesus captured the essence of the prophetic message of the Old Testament when he responded to a young lawyer’s inquiry: what does God expect of us? Jesus said, “Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:28-31).

First of all, Jesus declares there is one God. This was/is light to the idolatrous nations surrounding Israel whose gods were numerous. Then he says that the love of God and of neighbor fulfills God’s expectation that we be both righteous and just. There is no call to religious fervour or legalistic dogma but a command that we love God and neighbor with our intellect (soul/mind), emotion (heart), and will (strength). These summarize all that God requires of us.

Sounds fairly succinct but it encompasses all of life. Indeed it engages us every day.

This is why in our ministry we stress both gospel teaching (Jim Cantelon Today TV) and gospel living (Working for Orphans & Widows). Righteousness and justice. It’s our mandate. By God’s grace we march to the beat of that heavenly drum.

July 23, 2025

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

In the gospel of Mark there is an interesting anecdote about children. Let me quote my comments on this passage from my book, Cantelon’s Casual Commentary:

Jesus had a high view of [children], as he did of women…Mark tells us about Jesus and the little children. He mentions that Jesus and the disciples were “in the house”. He doesn’t tell us whose it was or where it was. Regardless, a crowd gathered and began to press in with their children hoping Jesus “would place his hands on them” in order to bless them. The guard-dog disciples tried to push them back, but Jesus, “indignant” at his disciples and compassionate towards the children, opened his arms and said,” Let the little children come to me.” These youngsters were the ones to whom “the kingdom of God belongs.” He took each one in his arms and blessed them. I’d love to read the story of what those blessed children became.

[Then] Jesus gave another blunt teaching when he said,” anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Adult doubts, skepticism, and second thoughts can sabotage faith. Only those with the childlike capacity to throw oneself into Jesus’ arms, as it were, will ever enter into the Lord’s eternal presence. The guileless child has the imagination and trust to act on simple belief. “Jesus loves me? Great! I’m his.”

I remember this always as we at WOW minister to children at risk in Africa and India. The kingdom of heaven is theirs.

May 28, 2025

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

I’ve been asked over the past 25 years why we do what we do with WOW. The short answer is that it’s clear from scripture that we should care for orphans and widows in their distress. The long answer is that one hears and obeys the Lord’s calling to service over one’s entire lifetime. Sometimes that “hearing and calling” comes via an “epiphany”. In a book I’m currently writing, I reference the Apostle Paul’s conversion from Saul, the rabidly anti-christian rabbi, to Paul, the first missionary to the Gentiles and author of most of the New Testament’s theology:
“Blinded by the intense heavenly light Saul fell from his horse and hitting the ground called out, ’What should I do Lord?’ In this immediate response Saul knew with whom he was dealing. This was his enemy, Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified and resurrected one, but he was enemy no more- now he was ‘Lord’. There is no explanation for this instant recognition of the Lord other than this encounter was both vision and epiphany, a manifestation of the divine. It was focused on the solitary Saul. The others with him ‘saw the light’ but did not hear the voice. It was the moment this single soul became a ‘witness unto all men’ of the deity of the risen Christ.”
So, vision in combination with calling can produce unexpected and life changing outcomes. One needs to hear and obey the heavenly voice.

April 30, 2025

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

As is always the case WOW’s ministry on the ground in Africa is awash in adversity. From drought, crop failure, electrical grid “load shedding” (up to 18hrs a day without electricity!) and the grind of endemic poverty, to recent USAID funding withdrawal, our champions and their impoverished, diseased volunteers and communities are hard pressed to find hope.

The most pressing of these urgencies is the USAID abandonment of the anti-retro-viral (ARV) programs that have literally saved millions of Africans and Indians from death these past 20 years. Former US President George W. Bush initiated his PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) vision during his tenure. It no doubt will be his lasting legacy, eclipsing even that iconic moment when he took the loud speaker on the pile of ruins at the site of the 911 attack.

WOW is taking this personally. We have about 1200 volunteers at work. The majority of them are widows themselves and are HIV positive. But ARV’s have kept their viral loads at an imperceptible level giving them life. ARV’s, however, only suppress the disease. As soon as a patient stops or is forced to discontinue the meds the HIV virus reawakens and slowly but surely death is at the door.

Suddenly, because of the precipitate action of the White House, we’re back to where we were 25 years ago where an HIV diagnosis is 100% fatal.

So there is a rising tide of anxiety as the current stockpile of ARV meds is about to be exhausted. What’s more the aforementioned crop failure in MALAWI has seen the cost of maize meal, their daily staple, increase by 35%. Indeed the cost of everything in MALAWI, ZAMBIA, and SOUTH AFRICA has gone up significantly. Stress is pandemic.

Rather than a wail of woe, however, I choose to see opportunity in this dark picture. We’ve always seen ourselves as lighting a candle rather than cursing the darkness, and now, more than ever in our 25 year history I believe WOW has “come to the Kingdom for such a time as this”.

We’ve already increased our food support to Somebody Cares Malawi by 35%. We’ve added a solar electric system to Rob’s Farm in Zambia so that the new maize mill we provided can operate during load shedding hours, and we’ve also funded a solar system for our CHRESO ministry in the rural south.

In Johannesburg our champion ministry CrossConnect have just about completed the second House Nehemiah that we funded last year and it will be focused on the rescue and care of sexually abused girls.

And in war ravaged UKRAINE where our support is so valued we continue to provide food and clothing relief for our partner “Loads of Love” (LOL). We give little public profile to this work but there are several faithful WOW donors who share our compassion for these beleaguered people. Just last week the Russians attacked a neighbourhood a few blocks from one of LOL’s distribution centres with 6 children killed.

The Lord loves “the least of these” and so do we in Jesus’ name. Money is no issue for Him. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and will supply our need according to his riches in glory. All we need to do is to stay faithful and keep growing.

Which we will.

Jim

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.

October 16, 2024

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

Kathy and I had no idea when we founded WOW 25 years ago that one day we’d be engaged with two of the five most needy counties in Sub Saharan Africa. Zambia and Malawi are in crisis with severe electricity and food shortages.

WOW has a significant footprint in both countries where we’re involved in the care of thousands of widows, orphans, and others at risk of starvation and/ or death from disease and opportunistic infections. With 2-3 hours of electricity a day, and sometimes none for a couple of days at a time Zambia especially is suffering. Malawi at least has hydro. Added to that is the doubling of food costs because of drought and crop failure. There is sorrow on every hand. Indeed the WHO says that 21 million children are potential victims of famine. The UN says, “Southern Africa is enduring its worst hunger crisis in decades due to El Niño.”

Rather than “curse the darkness” WOW continues to faithfully “light a candle”. It is daunting for sure but the faithfulness of compassionate donors is stemming the tide of sorrow for thousands.

We are so grateful for these friends who see their support as “the hands and feet of Jesus”. Together we’re ministering hope in a very dark place.

October 2, 2024

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

My wife Kathy and I recently participated in a Zoom call with our ministry partners in South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, and India. They gave us and each other updates on their work with orphans, widows, and other vulnerable people in distress. They are true champions, soldiering on faithfully in the midst of limitless adversity.

Facing drought, disease, violence and endemic food insecurity our WOW partners continue to reach out to “the least of these” (to use Jesus’ term) with home based (and in India, street based) care. They are like ministering angels.

They could yield to discouragement and despair but their core values of righteousness, justice, and servanthood provide a “North Star” in their compassionate pursuit of bringing hope to the hopeless. They descend into the pit of their neighbours’ sorrow and bring the light of God’s love to broken souls.

Indeed the words of Psalm 103 come to mind where David declared:

“Bless the Lord, O my soul
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord…
Who redeems your life
from the pit
Who crowns you with
steadfast love and
mercy….”

The “pit” may threaten to consume but the “steadfast love” of the Lord rescues and redeems. Our WOW champions believe and practise this. In a dark world they are letting their light shine.

June 27, 2024

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

This past week my wife and I attended not one but three funerals. The first one was for a 97-year-old woman we’ve known for over 50 years. Mother, grand and great mother, she was an elegant, refined, intelligent, and beautiful woman who exemplified the Proverbs 31 paragon of virtue. Her profound faith in the Lord is her lasting legacy, a point stressed again and again by those who delivered eulogies. The service was inspiring.

The second funeral was equally inspiring. This was for an 87-year-old man who I’ve known for most of my life. He was someone whose profound impact on our world through his championing of the poor saw him admired by thousands. Nevertheless his journey had seen much turmoil and failure in the first half of his life, as he himself acknowledged. But tragedy catalyzed the birth of a profound faith in his early 40’s and led to his amazing international impact. The hymns he chose to be sung at his funeral reflected his spiritual depth. We began the service by singing “O love of God, how rich and pure, how measureless and strong…” and then “When I come to die give me Jesus…”.

The third was for a retired Presbyterian pastor with whom I worked 50 years ago with Youth for Christ in Montreal. He spent much of his life in Bahrain pastoring a thriving church and then pastored in western Canada. His ebullient personality and love of worship music had endeared him to his congregations. As we committed his body to the ground the words of one of his favorite hymns resonated,” O Love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee…”.

What struck me in all three funerals was the powerful impact that men and women of faithful service to God and neighbor have had as they lived out their heavenly calling. Yes, we were confronted with our mortality (as is the case with all funerals) but the palpable presence of the Lord in these memorials predominated. We left all three refreshed and encouraged to continue to pour out our lives for the Kingdom till we die.