manna program

"Lord, You know the hopes of the helpless. Surely You will listen to their cries and comfort them." Psalms 10:17

It's a very "helpless" situation when one gets old and has no one to care for them. The Lord helped RHM to see the plight of the widow in 2006. Before that time, they simply blended in with the rest of the poverty around them. Perhaps like many of you, we had never really thought about the elderly of a poor nation. On the surface, India seems like a culture of close-knit families, but in early 2006 we began to hear stories that brought pain to our hearts. With few nursing homes and little help from the government, multitudes of widows are treated as a burden by their children, grandchildren or others that could care for them.

Made to stay on the verandah (porch), in a small hut added to the home or on a neighbor's verandah, many are not allowed inside the home. Many are fed sparingly, with the hope that they will soon die. Then there are others whose children truly struggle to feed them. The HOPE Orphanage recently added a widow who's living with her daughter, who sells leaves which people use for cooking; she barely makes enough to feed herself, let alone feed her mother also. When a widow has no one who wants to care for them, what happens to them when they lose control of their bladder, need medication or become senile? It's not a good scenario. Go to the HOPE Website»»Widows Profiles to read some of their stories.

But our loving God, "a Father to the fatherless and Judge for the widow" (Ps. 68:5) knows their difficulty and their fears, and is using His people to make a difference in the lives of many widows. The demand far outweighs the supply, but we're so thankful He's put it in our hearts to begin the Manna Program, an outreach of feeding widows and providing for their basic needs. This ministry started at the HOPE Orphanage in late 2006, and now HOPE is feeding more than 30 widows (and 2 widowers) twice a day. They also provide new clothes once a year, sweaters and blankets as needed, repair their huts if leaking, and have built several new huts when the old hut was beyond repair or someone else is willing to let them have a hut on their property. God's also enabled us to provide exams, glasses and cataract surgeries for many of their eyes. Most of them are able to come to daily devotions before the lunch meal. We always want to keep their spiritual needs at the top of the list. At this time, there are a few widows living at HOPE, having been kicked out of their child's home or who have no one to care for them. The Manna Program has also been a great avenue for teaching the orphanage children to become givers of themselves, helping widows with various needs. In the photo above 3 yr old Mary is helping Suvarthamma get to the dining hall for the lunch meal.

We're branching out beyond the HOPE Manna Program, trusting the Lord to expand this ministry to be able to help many other widows in different places. The Gospel Band is a group of churches in about 50 towns and villages, and we know there are MANY widows within these churches that need help. PLEASE PRAY ABOUT HELPING US REACH OUT TO MANY MORE WIDOWS. THE MANNA PROGRAM IS RUN ALMOST ENTIRELY ON FUNDS DESIGNATED FOR THE WIDOWS.