“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

This shows the beginning of construction on the widows' home property—the start of the administrative building. The home itself will be much larger and built on the large area shown in the property photos.

We have a beautiful piece of land that was donated to us to build the widow’s home. To start building the home itself we needed foundations, walls, doors, and windows, and first of all bricks. Thanks to supporters like you who were willing to help, this vision has come true.

In 1997 God spoke to us about the widows of Varanasi. He told us to build a home for them where some widows can live in dignity and where others can come and earn a living by doing income-generating projects like sewing, baking, jam making, and handicrafts.

The widows' home property is located in Sarnath, just outside of Varanasi—one of India’s holiest cities. Thousands of pilgrims come to this city to bathe in the Ganges River to wash away their sins. The belief is that if you die in this city, you will go straight to heaven. This is one of the reasons why so many widows come here.

Another reason is that many families who come here on pilgrimage leave their widows behind so that they don’t have to take care of them anymore. Because of this the city is filled with widows living on the streets who have no one to care for them—an estimated 10,000 of them. They earn a living by begging, working as “maids” or by prostitution.

Some widows have lost their sanity due to their desperate situations. Consequently, the city is defiling itself because it is not doing the will of God who wants us to take care of the widows so they can lead peaceful lives.

Our vision is to help these widows. In the next 10 years we want to employ 1500 widows. We want to house 50 widows who are in desperate circumstances, and provide for them and their children. We will equip them with skills so that they can earn a decent income and experience the hope that they never had. This will take time. We need a lot of staff, finances and knowledge. To begin with, we want to run seminars and Christian training courses alongside our regular activities, until the home is ‘full’ of widows and our vision is completed.

History and photos by Dave B.

Source Info

Widows Home & Surrounding Area - Information and Photos
Poor widows of Varanasi
Widows' Home – Property (2003 photos)
Widows' Home property and construction – March 2005 (Part 2)
Widows' Home property and construction – March 2005 (Part 1)
Widows' Home construction – dirt transport work - March 2005 (Part 1)
Widows' Home construction – dirt transport work - March 2005 (Part 2)
Vision, Goals & Objectives for the Widows' Home
Widows' Home - Current Financial Needs
Handicraft Card Making
Cards Available From the Widows' Home Ministry

Sarnath Photo Tour Links
Photos of Sarnath Town & Zoo
Sarnath Ancient Ruins
Dhamekh Stupa by the Ruins

Varanasi Photo Tour Links
Varanasi (Old City) Traffic & People
More Varanasi Old City Photos
Narrow Alleyways in the Old City of Varanasi
Varanasi Bathing Ghats on the Ganges River (Part 1)
Varanasi Bathing Ghats on the Ganges River (Part 2)
Photos of Flooding in Varanasi by the Ganges River
Sales of Hindu Idols in Varanasi
Sadhus on the Ghats
Water Buffalo Bathing at the Ghats
Varanasi Cantonment Area