Assisting Widows in Crisis: GFA World Empowering Support and Aid

In addition to groups like the Global Fund for Widows, other NGOs seek to take part in assisting widows in the trenches of daily life. GFA World is one of the groups that have been particularly helpful during the pandemic of the past two years, aiding women like Sabela, one of 19 million widows in South Asia living in extreme poverty.


Sabela’s relatives refused to help her after her husband’s death. They scorned her for both being a widow and her Christian faith. Barely able to make enough money to buy food, she couldn’t spend money on items like warm clothing. That’s when Pastor Jabarri, the leader of her church, came to her rescue by organizing a gift distribution of warm blankets for 50 men and women.

“I am a poor widow,” Sabela said. “I could hardly arrange my daily needs. I was unable to purchase a blanket for myself, but today, I thank [the church] for providing me a good-quality and warm blanket. It really helped me greatly to protect myself from [the] cold night.”[1]

In other areas, GFA pastors have undertaken similar efforts. In one community last year, Pastor Zaccheus gathered donations to bless five widows with clothing and food packets containing 11 pounds of rice and 6.5 pounds of wheat flour. In another, a team of four from Sisters of Compassion organized an International Widows’ Day program to visit five widows’ homes to encourage them and pass out grocery kits with soap, 11 pounds of rice, two pounds of beans, and a half quart of oil.[2]

GFA World also equips women, including widows, with tools to help them break out of poverty, such as sewing machines, vocational training, and a literacy program. The latter helps tens of thousands of illiterate women in Asia to better bear life’s burdens.


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