Why not adopt one of our elder widows? We want to help 50 widows with residential care. Widows who are not able to get job training. Because of their age and fysical or mental situation they need the proper care for a elderly person in our Widows home.
It cost arround $ .... per month to host a residential widow.
For employed widows it is not always possible to give their children a proper education.
You can help them with a scholarship ! of .....$ a month
Varanasi is one of India’s most holy cities. Thousands of pilgrims come to this city to bathe in the river Ganges, 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 are here.
Another reason is that many of those who come here on pilgrimage leave their widows behind, so that they don’t have to take care of them any more.
Because of this the city is crowded with widows living on the streets, having no one to care for them. There is an estimated 10,000 of them. They earn a living by begging or by prostitution. Some have lost their sanity due to the desperate situation they are in. We believe that God wants us to take care of the widows, so they will have a better life.
Our Vision:
In 1997 God spoke to us about the widows of Varanasi. He told us to build a home for them where they can live in dignity and where others can come and earn a living.
Our vision is to help these widows. We want to house 50 widows who are in desperate circumstances, and help them and their children who often accompany them. We also want to equip 1500 younger widows with skills, so that they can earn a decent income and experience the Hope that they never had.
We knew this will take time, a lot of staff, finances and know-ledge. We have built the home and have started taking in widows.
As widows are very much on God’s heart, we are committed to show God’s love by telling them the message of His love and by teaching the skills which will enable them to return into the society. We see the widows as individuals, precious in the eyes of God and we like to treat them with that same respect, not as mere numbers in an institution.
Today we have 25 widows living with us. We have trained and employed almost 100 widows in various income generating projects and we opened a small shop selling some of their products.
Our goal is to have 50 widows living in the home.
These will be widows who are living on the streets; those who are sick, handicapped or have mental problems.
Our goal is to employ 1500 widows.
Those who come daily to learn and earn through various micro enterprises i.e. handicrafts, , baking, tailoring, making soap and candle, peanut butter and jam, and making jewelry. All these articles will be sold in a shop, which has been built on the same property and at other locations as wellIn this way we started Hope Arts, a bakery and many other micro enterprises like shops, etc.
Some of the widows whom we train, will work from their own houses and bring their products to our centre once a week.
The widows home will also be used to run various training schools and seminars of Youth with a Mission (YWAM).
Children’s ministry will be a part of this home because some widows will come with small children.
It is also a place where our staff can live with the widows to help them more effectively.
We have been able to buy a piece of land of approx. 5500 square feet.
Besides the building, we need support for widows who will be living in the house as residents and for staff. Monthly need for a widow is approximately US$ 25.- and for a staff US$ 50.-
We are anxious to see this proceed, because with each delay more and more widows are dying unnecessarily on the streets of our city. In addition to that, at present we have a professional contractor from the States here in Varanasi to help us see this vision materialize. This is an incredible blessing.
In response to God’s call to care for widows, (James 1:27, Isaiah 1:17) we plan to establish a home for widows with various ministries such as children’s ministry, training and micro enterprises running along side to compliment the work.
The objective is to see a complete change in society where widows are respected and are considered valuable. In order for this to happen there needs to be a transformation of the whole “man” – physically, emotionally, and spiritually (the full gospel). We believe transformation can only come through a saving knowledge of Christ.
Not only is caring for widows very much on God’s heart, but we believe that caring for widows is an effective weapon of spiritual warfare to break the power of satan over Varanasi and this nation where people have been oppressed and placed in bondage. It specifically comes against the root spirits of selfishness and pride which is so prevalent in our society.
This home is to be a place of discipling and training where different skills can be imparted to help people to be self-employed and to give them a sense of value. It is also to be a place where widows with physical or mental needs can reside and spend their time in peace and dignity. Biblical instruction and counseling will be given to help people grow in the knowledge of Christ.
Many of the widows have small children accompanying them so we believe children’s ministry needs to be an important part of this home. Many children are growing up without any godly imput. The foundations for life are developed in the early years so we feel responsible to ensure that children are given a chance to develop strong foundations.
Apart from being a place for widows, it is also to be a place where various YWAM schools and seminars will be run for Christian workers to grow spiritually and learn skills needed for their respective ministries.
As this is a ministry of YWAM VARANASI we commit to follow the foundational values of YWAM.
GOALS
As widows are very much on God’s heart, we are committed to show God’s love through the 2 handed gospel - by discipling them and in a practical way, by providing them with skills that will help them to fit back into society. We see the widows as individuals, precious in the eyes of God and desire to treat them with that same respect, not as mere numbers in an institution.
We plan to have widows living in the home as well as widows coming in daily to learn and earn through various micro enterprises i.e. pickle, peanut butter and jam making, baking, tailoring, etc. These articles will be sold in a shop, which will be located on the same property and in other venues.
As well as being a place to cater for the needs of widows it will also be used to run various training schools and seminars.
Children’s ministry will be a part of this home especially as some widows will come with small children.
It is to be a place where staff can live comfortably with the students and widows to enable them to minister more effectively.
There will also be apartments where YWAM staff can come and stay for a short time to get refreshed.
Initially we will build only the first floor as time and finance permit. We are planning for a 3-4 story building. In the beginning the upper floors will be used for other YWAM training programs, but the first priority will be for the widows. When the widows require the entire building, we will move the training programs to another building.
OBJECTIVES
After the completion of the widow’s home our objectives are as follows: · In the first year, we will target a maximum of 10 widows. · The second year we want to accept up to 30 widows. · The fifth year, we want to target 500 widows. · The tenth year, we want to expand to 1,550 widows. (For both employment and residence.)
The initial widows will play a key role in the foundation of the home. These women will be capable, older widows (preferably Christians) who we can train as staff. Because of their age and own experiences they will have better insight into the women’s needs and be able to act as role models. At present we have some widows we are in contact with, that we are hoping can be trained up, into a leadership role.
In the early stages we will employ professionals to be involved with our income generation program, to ensure that the products are of good quality. They will equip the widows with skills in tailoring, the making of preserves, peanut butter etc. We will then provide employment for the women in these areas. They will be employed as full time workers, and paid a respectable income. This gives them dignity and self – respect.
As the number of widow’s involved increases, so will our employment opportunities. At present, we have staff in training to become more specialised in our target employment areas. We are also in the process of establishing connections with shops throughout the city, where we hope to market our products, as well as in our own shop on the widows’ home property. We feel this will give us a greater coverage and therefore better sales. This is a non-profit organisation. All profit made from the sales will be reinvested into the work, primarily to pay the widows salaries.
We knew this will take time, a lot of staff, finances and know-ledge. We have built the home and have started taking in widows.