DOVE Canada Missions partners with Kenyans to change the lives of widows and orphans
On a visit to Kenya in 2013, Ralph and Rebecca Margeson were particularly touched by the plight of the widows and orphans in their friend Walter’s home village of Manda. Many lacked proper housing, had little or no means of support, suffered from food insecurity, and had untreated medical issues. It was clear that long-term sustainable solutions needed to be found. Ralph and Rebecca felt inadequate to assist, but in turning to God, they heard Him say that it was not about their capability, but God’s desire and ability to intervene and care for His own.

Ralph and Rebecca, who now lead Living Hope, a house church in Ontario, were led to establish and register Hope for Widows. This community organization purchased a three-acre plot of land in Manda, on which a thirty-foot well was dug. Electricity was brought to the land, and over the next five years this ministry constructed a dairy unit, a small office, living quarters for the farm staff, and a poultry building with a hatchery. Widows began to harvest crops; they were each provided with sheep to tend. In 2019 through a miraculous provision, Hope for Widows drilled a well, providing filtered water to twelve taps throughout Manda, including the medical clinic and the two elementary schools.

Income is generated through the sale of chicks and eggs, as well as through small grants to enable widows to start their own businesses, such as baking or tailoring.

Ralph and Rebecca are grateful that they did not decline the challenge. They have grown in their own trust in God, as well as helped those in need in western Kenya experience God’s love. In partnership, both Canadians and Kenyans have seen the truth of Psalm 68:5, that God is “a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows.

Welcome new DMI missionaries:
Gene & Beth Stevenson

Arizona, USA