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Story of Widows Intercessors Ministry
James 1:27
"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." (NIV)
In 1995 God spoke to Pastor Ruth Mwagalwa and told her that she was to gather widows and minister God's love to them. Ruth could not see how she could help hurting widows because she also was a widow with pains and hurts.
In 1998 Ruth traveled to Kenya to attend a widows camp meeting. The speaker gave a stirring message on God's command to forgive. Ruth had been homeless following the death of her husband. Her in-laws had taken the house that she and her husband had sacrificially worked to build.
As the word of God came forth powerfully that day Ruth knew she had to forgive and as she cried out to God she was instantly delivered from years of bondage to bitterness and anger. She then remembered the command God had given to her three years earlier.
Ruth saw that although the majority of widows have financial struggles, their greatest bondage is bitterness towards people, and often towards God. This bitterness arises out of real injustices done to them. When a woman's husband dies in Uganda they are disowned by the deceased's relatives, they are driven out of their homes and become homeless and penniless. In many cases the children too are either driven away with their mother of forced to go and live with relatives who do not give them the love and care they need.
The Lord told Ruth that He wanted to meet the innermost needs of widows. If they could learn to look to Him alone He would heal and deliver them from the deep hurts they carried and give them hope and joy. As a result she went to her mother-in-law and asked for forgiveness.
Since that time Ruth Mwagalwa has sacrificially obeyed the Lord and ministered to widows and orphans. She has organised many camp meetings where widows have given their lives to Christ. Many have been healed spiritually and physically. Widows have received teaching on their legal rights and hygiene. Food and clothing has been distributed given by Christians in Kampala.
Since the involvement with Open Door Missions International piglets and cows have been distributed giving an opportunity for widows to gain some income and also feed their children.
God has given a large vision. Thousands of widows are being reached with the Gospel and their lives are radically changing. On 10 acres of land that have been purchased it is planned to build a farm to provide income for the ministry, a vocational centre to teach the women to read and write and start small businesses. A ministry of compassion is planned for the very old discarded widows to have a house to live in where they can spend their remaining days interceding for the nations and where they can die in dignity.
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