The Bible clearly states… “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” James 1:27
This scripture has been our guiding principle to minister through God’s Word in accordance with the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Life is especially difficult for widows here. They face poverty, loneliness and a scarcity of the basics required for quality of life.
As part of our ministry times we were having weekly Bible studies where many of the local widows heard and accepted the salvation message. We were feeding them spiritually, but there were obvious physical needs as well. Rice, vitamins, clothing, soap, medicines, eye glasses and flip flops were among the supplies we were able to bless them with because of donations to our ministry.
A dear widow named Nanay Bili, whose age no one knew and was believed to be about 85, became very dear to us. She had two children, one was dead and the other had been missing for over 40 years. She had never attended school, couldn’t read or write and had never been off the island in her life. Her frail body had been ravaged by Tuberculosis, Pneumonia, Congestive heart failure, Edema (swelling of the legs), malnutrition and respiratory complications.
We first met Nanay Bili when her only son died. Nanay Bili was one of the first widows involved in witchcraft in her area to later accept Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior through our Mercy Ministry. We gave her food, uncontaminated water and visited daily with her in the tiny 6 x 4 ft. hut she called home. She cooked over a fire and smoke filled her hut, making it unfit to breathe even from the outside. She also had no CR (comfort room) or washroom as we refer to it.
As we ministered to her, others saw love and hope in action. They became curious and we had opportunity to start a Bible study. We saw those who attended start to gain victory over alcoholism, gossiping, gambling and a lazy spirit.
In her younger years Nanay Bili wove mats, fished and farmed root crops. Right into her senior years this amazing woman even broke large pieces of rock into smaller pieces by hand with a hammer. This is an extremely back breaking job even for a younger person. A 50 lb. cement sac of broken rocks sold to construction projects generates 15 pesos of income. 40 pesos= $1
We ministered to Nanay Bili for over 2 years providing food as well as spiritual and physical care each week. Her body was deteriorating quickly. HOPE made every effort to minister to Nanay in a way that would honor God and let her live out the remainder of her days with dignity. It was a tear filled day when Nanay Bili drew her last breath on Dec 1, 2007 and went home to be with Jesus. Before she died, she expressed thanks to God and HOPE for being faithful to her. We miss you Nanay Bili!
