By Meredith Chase, Director of For the Widow Ministries
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family!
It has been a wonderful month at For the Widow Ministries. In the Dominican Republic, Thanksgiving is celebrated on December 24th, followed by Christmas on the 25th. This year, on December 23rd, we provided food and festive decorations to each of the widows in our care. They were thrilled to receive lights, Christmas decorations, and a special Christmas candy. This was quite a surprise for them, as they could not purchase these items for themselves. We were delighted to add a bit of holiday warmth and cheer to their homes.
This time of year also brings particular concerns for the people of the Dominican Republic. The widows have expressed worries regarding the safety of their families during the holiday period. The end-of-year festivities sometimes lead to less cautious celebrations, such as parties and drinking, which result in accidents and various problems. Please join us in praying for the safety and well-being of their families during this time.
While the primary mission of the ministry is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with widows, we also provide for their physical and emotional needs. We believe God wants us to be the hands and feet of Jesus in their everyday lives. To continue our work, we need to increase our staff in Barahona, provide transportation to our program director for widow visits, and establish a mission base for our operations. As we approach the end of the year, please consider making a one-time donation by December 31 to help us sustain and expand our efforts.
Thank you for your continued support and generosity.
Widow Updates
For more information about sponsoring a widow, visit https://forthewidow.org/sponsor-a-widow/
UNSPONSORED WIDOWS
Antonia (Los Robles)
Antonia is doing very well. She told Miqueas that she wasn’t sure when he was coming to visit, so she was very happy and surprised that he came on December 23. The next day (December 24) was Thanksgiving in the Dominican Republic, and she didn’t have anything special to cook. Since he brought her food, she was able to have something for their family.
What do you like about Christmas?
Antonia knows about Jesus and the celebration of his birth. In addition, she likes to spend time with her family because she does not have her own children and sometimes feels lonely. She also loves the activities that the communities do in the church on December 25. They go to a special service at the church.
Prayer Requests:
Her family and that other people are safe during this time of the year. As a ministry, we are praying Antonia will start visiting church on a more regular basis rather than just around the holidays.
Antonia (Alidia) (Mena Arriba)
Antonia loves December because she gets to see the most family members at this time. They move around to different places to see family and spend time with each other. Her daughter took her to Santo Domingo for 2 days to visit with some of her family. Other members of her family live in the US or different countries and they came to the DR during Christmas.
What do you like about Christmas?
Christmas is her favorite time of the year. She likes to see how different things look at this time – pretty lights on the houses and in the park. She loves Christmas decorations. She really liked the Christmas decorations we brought her because she did not have decorations up at her house. Her son really liked the lights!! She likes for the house to feel a little different in December.
Prayer Requests:
Safe travels and protection for her family who lives in Santo Domingo and other countries
SPONSORED WIDOWS
Jungara (Mena Arriba)
Jungara did not get to spend time with a lot of her family this year. She misses her family very much. Her grandson was able to be there with her for Christmas. Her daughter is in Santo Domingo and ended up not being able to come because she was in the hospital. Neither of her sons was able to come and see her this year.
What do you like about Christmas?
Jungara didn’t have any food to make for Thanksgiving this year, but she said to Miqueas, “Now Jesus sent you, and you brought me the food for tomorrow (Thanksgiving).” Miqueas reminded Jungara that God is with us and our family even when we can’t be together. Miqueas shared the meaning of Christmas with Jungara. He told her to stay in her house where she would be safe and just share that time with her grandkids. They cooked and talked and ate together.
Elvira (Barahona)
Élvira was excited because she didn’t know what day Miqueas was coming to visit her. So his visit was a surprise! When she saw the Christmas lights we delivered to her she was excited because she had nothing to decorate. She loved the Christmas hat! She even asked Miqueas to put it on for her with great excitement. She expressed her gratitude to Miqueas, her sponsors, and the ministry for taking care of her and helping her in meeting her needs.
What do you like about Christmas?
Christmas for Elvira is celebrating the birth of Jesus and a time of reflection. Her children, who live in Santo Domingo, came to see her and brought her gifts for Christmas. She really enjoys Christmas because it is a time that brings the family together the most. She is not very mobile at 90 years old but over Christmas she was able to go to other places and visit people because they take great care of her and serve her. One of the things Elvira worries about is that she will receive bad news that something has happened to her family. She has 14 children and countless grand and great grandchildren. A lot to keep up with!
Nosilia (Los Robles)
Nosilia is so happy this holiday season because her son just got married and for a long time he didn’t have a girlfriend. Miqueas played music during the wedding activities and saw Nosilia. When he visited her at the house and brought her food, Nosilia was telling Miqueas that she was a little sad also because she makes coffee for her son every day. The day after the wedding she made coffee but forgot that he wasn’t there anymore!
What do you like about Christmas?
She knows that the reason for Christmas is Jesus and knows who Jesus is, but she does not have a personal relationship with him. We are working on telling her what salvation in Jesus Christ looks like. This Christmas is a blessing for Nosilia because her son is married. Most of her family came to spend time with her. Two of her sons were there for Christmas activities, and it had been a long time since she had seen them. She was very sad when they had to leave.
Betania (Mena Arriba)
Betania is shy and doesn’t like to talk very much, so you have to ask her a lot of questions to get her to talk. She was very tired when Miqueas visited her. She said that the government does an activity in each community. They bring things for the kids to do and have a big party throughout the night with loud music. Betania doesn’t sleep very well when this party is going on because her windows are not good and it’s very loud in the house.
What do you like about Christmas?
A cultural tradition in the Dominican Republic is to have new clothes and shoes for Christmas and New Year’s Eve. It really helped Betania for the widow’s ministry to buy her sons new shoes because they were able to use these for Christmas and will wear them on New Year’s Eve as well. She is very thankful for the help.
Betania loves Christmas because she gets to see part of her family that she doesn’t normally see… her deceased husband’s family. She talked about how much love there is during this time, but it is also very hard for her because she remembers her husband and misses not having him with them. She also worries about all of the crazy things that go on around Christmas… fighting, accidents, drinking, etc.
Santa (La Guazara)
When Santa heard Miqueas coming, she said, “I don’t believe it!” The night before, Santa was thinking of Miqueas, wondering if he would come and visit her. She was thinking about how she didn’t have any food in the house to prepare for Thanksgiving. She has a lot of family who live close to her, and they share everything with each other. She was planning to use part of the food we delivered to share with the family for Thanksgiving.
What do you like about Christmas?
She knows that this is a time to remember Jesus coming to change everything and bring salvation to everyone. She wishes that people would understand that! She had a special time in the church. Everyone brings food to the church and eats together. She was so happy about that activity and thankful she had food to take to the church.
Agripina (La Guazara)
Agripina was not at home this time. She was visiting with her son during the time of visits, but Miqueas will be visiting with her after the holidays.
Rellita (La Guazara)
Rellita LOVES visitors. She asked Miqueas, “Why did you forget me?” (He was just there two weeks ago, but she can’t get enough!) She wants him to come and stay all day so they can have a good time together. However, she did tell him that even if he can’t stay all day, she is so happy because he is coming!
What do you like about Christmas?
Rellita loves Christmas, but this Christmas is hard for her because her grandson was recently in an accident and died. He was only 34 years old and was in the military. Rellita and the family are very sad about this situation. Miqueas encouraged Rellita to continue to pray because he knows what she needs and is in control of everything. He is even with her in her sadness and the hard situations she goes through. He told her to try and share with her family the good news of Jesus during this time. She has started visiting a local Bible-preaching church. We are still assessing this church.
Prayer Requests:
The family is dealing with the loss of Rellita’s grandson
