We equip African churches to care for orphans and widows.

Working in sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of HIV & AIDS has created the largest number of orphans and widows in history. Women and children are particularly vulnerable to the impact and affects of HIV & AIDS in poverty-stricken communities; resulting in child-headed households, gender-based violence, food insecurity, and a lack of income, healthcare, education and clean water.

And yet, the African church body is the most powerful and pervasive entity in Africa today. More influential and sustainable than any political, ideological or military force, having existed for over 1,700 years.

What if every church made it their mission to serve the vulnerable?

WOW imparts a biblical message of righteousness and justice (right relationship with God, right relationship with people), to thousands of African pastors and church leaders every year through conferences and training.

From here, local champions who have caught this vision begin to emerge. Through training, they learn to use existing resources (usually “manpower”) to care for the vulnerable in their communities. Once a commitment to serve orphans and widows has been demonstrated, we come alongside to offer additional resources to enhance and expand the impact of their work. The remarkable thing is, in the process of lifting up the weakest, the orphan and the widow, entire communities are lifted from the bonds of poverty and transformed for life.

WOW provides a ministry to the dying called Home Based Care (HBC). While partnering with other ministries in Africa that specialize in wells, schools, medical care, etc, while we specialize exclusively on the primary calling to dying orphans and widows.

In this area alone we made 263,000 HBC visits in 2016. These were made by our “army”of local church volunteers (mainly widows themselves) from various denominations, who lovingly cared for the dying with great dignity.

Our needs in HBC are great. We are committed to supplying our HBC volunteers with cooking oil, sugar, and maize meal for their own humble needs (so they can have the strength to walk kilometres per day in their ministry to the dying), and we must supply the basic costs of supplying salves, aspirin, minor medications etc., necessary to their work.

Medical care is considered a basic necessity of life by many.  But for a widow or orphan ravaged by AIDS in a remote African village, medical care is often nothing more than a distant dream. Outside the reach of urban hospitals and clinics, thousands die every year from treatable diseases.

Bringing medical teams and supplies into villages throughout sub-Saharan Africa, we ensure that those in need of care will have access to it without needing to make a difficult trip to the city. The clinics offer HIV testing, counseling and treat a number of diseases that too often claim lives.

HIV & AIDS Support Groups are critical for physical, spiritual, and emotional health of those suffering under the affects of HIV & AIDS. On a weekly basis, they come together to learn about nutrition, supplements, and antiretroviral therapy (ARVs) from a community health educator. Through bible studies, prayer, and counselling amongst the group, individuals no longer have to suffer by themselves – they have the support of a community.

For the full story of WOW's approach to supporting orphans and widows click here