The United Nations estimates there are 258 million widows around the world, and nearly one in ten live in extreme poverty. In some societies and cultures, women whose husbands have died stand to lose much more than the presence and love of their partner, but they could also lose financial provision, assets, social networks and even their homes.

Around the world, Anglicans are often working to provide comfort and support for widows and their families. Mothers’ Union plays a very active role in this ministry. Mothers’ Union is a charity and global network that’s been supporting families worldwide for nearly 150 years. It exists to end poverty, inequality and injustice. Members around the world, many of them women,  work in their communities to bring hope and practical support to millions of people through parenting, literacy and community development programmes.

To mark the global awareness day known as International Widows’ Day, Anglican News spoke to the Rt Revd Rose Okeno, (Bishop of Butere in Kenya); Margareth Ndonde Massawa (Provincial Coordinator of Mothers' Union for Tanzania) and the Revd Yohana Juma Muhammed (Project Manager for Mothers’ Union and part-time pastor at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in the Diocese of Central Tanganyika, Tanzania).

Why is International Widows’ Day significant for Christians?

Bishop Rose shares her passion for ministry for widows in her community in Kenya. “I have served with the community for quite a long time, over 20 years as clergy and now as a bishop, and I understand the challenges that women and particularly widows go through. Jesus’ ministry was able to overturn the world in only three years. Why? How did he do it? Because he did ministry that touched people's lives. You know, he was healing people. He was teaching, proclaiming and causing social transformation. He fed people, he raised the dead and he was compassionate. So, the Bible is full of compassion, particularly for the vulnerable, like widows.”

Revd Yohana reflects, “As you are preparing for International Widows’ Day, I wish to say that it is very important because for us Christians, we are called. James 1:27 tells us it’s a call. It is a religion that supports the widows and the orphans. It’s a spiritual mandate. If we don’t do it, who is going to do it? It’s the day that reminds us that we are standing in solidarity with, and that we advocate for, the widows.”

Provincial Coordinator for Mothers’ Union in Tanzania, Margareth, explains that Mothers’ Union hold their conference in June because they wish to tell widows “the importance of their life, that they are special to God” by marking Widows Week.

Where does your passion for widows come from?

Bishop Rose shares her memories of living in poverty as a child with her siblings being raised by her mother, who was widowed. “I experienced widowhood challenges as a child because of how my mother was struggling to raise us single-handedly, paying out for school fees, and feeding us. So, I really understand and I personally have been widowed for now 11 years. I really understand the challenges that come with that, like raising children and so on.

“It is important for individuals and communities to care for widows because that's what I have learned over time from experience and having served as a Women's Ministry Coordinator in the diocese for eight years and I know for sure that widows struggle.”

What challenges do widows face in your community?

Revd Yohana says, “There are many issues that widows face. According to the African traditions, when you are married and your husband dies, the relatives of your husband come and take everything. Things that you have obtained with your husband are taken and many widows face those challenges, but they don’t know how to oppose it and uphold their rights.”

Bishop Rose finds the very same problems in Kenya. “Cultural expectations push them [widows] to so much poverty. For example, when they are widowed, in-laws come to take what would have been their inheritance, so they have nothing. They go through all these challenges and do they even understand the law? Do they really know who to turn to?”

Butere diocese did extensive research and found that most people believed that religious leaders, such as their pastors, have solutions to their problems but in fact, they don’t have legal training or an idea of how to help these widows in a practical sense. Bishop Rose says, “They will pray and tell them ‘go in peace’ but they’re not going in peace because they are going back to a violent environment. So, they are not finding help.”

What ministries are you seeing in your area to support widows?

In Butere, Kenya, an initiative is being launched called Unboxing the Law, which aims to educate ministers and other community support stakeholders about basic legal principles so they can help others.

“We are now drawing programmes, sensitisation programmes with the communities. We are looking forward to bringing together many stakeholders, including the judiciary, provincial administrators, women leaders and religious leaders, including our own Anglican church pastors. We want everybody to come on board and be able to interact with this document so that we are now beginning to sensitise the entire community, including the victims of violence, and the widows. We are even praying moving forward that we, in the centre we have here in Butere, called African Institute for Contemporary Mission and Research, that in this institute we will be able to begin our centre for pastors to study law. Just basic law, because it's not taught.”

Bishop Rose also describes the diocesan programmes of economic empowerment for young widows and emotional support. “We have 170 congregations in 51 parishes [and in each place] there is a group of widows that meet on a monthly basis, just to be able to pray together, to share experiences, for fellowship, but also for the young widows. We have started an economic empowerment programme where we are giving them chicks to begin poultry rearing. On this International Widows' Day, we will be giving close to 500 widows at least three chicks or so to support them economically.”

In the week preceding International Widows’ Day, Mothers’ Union in Tanzania held their third National Conference in Dodoma City, which gathered 150 people together from Tanzania and also some from Kenya. Revd Yohana says that the conference “created an opportunity to share discussions, speaking their heart” as well as offering “pastoral care and counselling” and to hear from “different speakers”. These include those with legal training who can educate attendees about how to help widows retain their property after their husbands' deaths and principles of safeguarding vulnerable people, such as widows, in the community. Revd Yohana said that the in-person meeting gives people the chance to speak about the challenges they face and to know that “You are not alone.”

There have also been opportunities for widowers to come and take comfort in the teachings and activities of the conference. Revd Yohana says, “Men are not forgotten. Whatever we do, let’s not only do for the women. There are men also facing some issues and there are times they need to talk to somebody. Men also need support.”

One widower who attended the conference in Tanzania, along with 7 widows, was the Revd Jacob from The Anglican Church of Kenya. He expressed the challenges that widowers face when faced with the loss of their partners. “The biggest problem a widower will face immediately is loneliness.” He reflects on other problems a widower can face after the loss of his wife, “These days, ladies are working hard, getting into executive roles, they climb the ladder. When the woman is earning more than you, her absence becomes a big problem.”

What inspires you in your ministry with widows?

Bishop Rose reflects, “James 1:27 says ‘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’, meaning caring for the vulnerable and maintaining moral purity, which is the key role of the church. It highlights the importance of practical acts of service.

“This connects the outward acts of love and service with an inward commitment to holiness, presenting them as inseparable components of true, God-pleasing religion. And that is why I think this International Widows’ Day is crucial for faith actors, because it is the key responsibility that we are called for.”

Revd Jacob from The Anglican Church of Kenya said the conference in Tanzania offered him a place to be counselled and share ideas with people who understand his experiences. He observes, “The bible tells us, ‘let us reason together’. How I pray that we [widowers] will come together and reason together just as the women do.”

How can the global Anglican Communion pray for your ministry?

Bishop Rose asks the Communion to “Pray that God will continue to give us, as the women's ministry leadership and myself, the wisdom, the energy, the courage and good health to continue journeying with widows and these vulnerable groups in our community, including them in the church to experiencing the love of God, pray that God will give us the courage because it's not an easy thing given the context in which we are serving. The other thing I will pray for is for the necessary resources to be able to continue empowering young widows through these poultry and tailoring projects, which we are currently undertaking. And of course as well pray that our dream for a centre for law training will begin.”

Margareth sought prayers for Mothers’ Union in Tanzania, saying, “We are looking forward to having the biggest conference next year. We invited many to come but they didn’t as we needed them to because of the challenges of their funds. So, we ask God to open next year’s conference to welcome other people from different countries, men and women together.”

Learn about Mothers’ Union here.

Learn more about the ministries of the Diocese of Butere here.

See an article about Bishop Rose's advocacy work for widows.