Praying for Widows, Abandoned Wives, and Orphans

Project Hannah women in Ivory Coast have made God’s priorities their own. Just as Jesus fed those who were hungry and touched the sick and needy, these women reach out to widows, abandoned wives, and orphans. They offer those in need boxes of food, medicines, soap, and friendship. Sometimes they have to travel on foot to visit women in difficulty (young women whose husbands have died or are in prison, mothers left to care for their children alone, women who have changed their religion and been abandoned by their husbands, and those who are old and sick). They share God’s love, and women who are struggling are invited to find peace, rest, and healing through Jesus Christ. 

The ladies in the Yopougon prayer groups are able to drive when making their visits because Mrs. Germaine, who baptized her car “Hannah,” wants them to use her vehicle for their ministry. After distributing bags of fruit and soap to mothers and children in a hospital in October, they had one bag left over. Then one in the group remembered hearing about a neighbor whose husband had recently died. This young widow was pregnant and had a 3-year-old son. She was a stranger to the group, but they were forever changed by what God would show them as they reached out to her. They gave their gifts and in tears prayed with her and her family. God was there with them.

Project Hannah staff  often hear from Women of Hope listeners and members of our prayer groups who are widows or have been abandoned by their husbands and struggle to provide food, clothing, safe homes, medicine, and education for their children. A widowed new mother in Ivory Coast commented, “Thank you for this surprise! Frankly, I wondered what I was going to eat tonight, and then you came.”