widows harvest ministries

(download pdf)

Dear Partners:

I want to thank each one of you for faithfully praying, volunteering and supporting us financially. Over 450 projects were completed on widow’s homes last year in partnership with nearly 1400 volunteers.

Last year we, also, more than met our Project 100 goal, which was to raise $50 thousand dollars in order to insure that the home repair needs of widows continued to be met without interruption.

Beginning this month we will again initiate Project 100 in order to fund widow’s home repair projects throughout the rest of 2008 and into the first quarter of 2009.

Again, this initiative is posted on our web site, widows.org, so that anyone desiring to can monitor it’s progress. Please consider being one of the 100 donors that we are seeking to make a onetime gift of $500 or more to this fund.

If you would like to see some of the volunteer groups that served with us in 2007 up to the present, you can view video footage on our blog site, widows. chattablogs.com. Short term mission groups that we have recently worked with over their Spring breaks include a college campus ministry group from 1st Presbyterian Church, Ann Arbor, MI, that works with students at the University of Michigan; a high school youth group from Seymour 1st Church of the Nazarene, Seymour, Indiana, and another high school youth group from Key Biscayne Presbyterian Church in Key Biscayne, Fla.

For those of you that do not also receive our e-mail updates I want to let you know about Dick Mason (long time widow’s home repair coordinator). He was recently diagnosed as having prostate cancer. A bone scan was done soon after to determine if the cancer has spread and, praise God, it has not. He and his wife, Brenda, are praying about which direction to go for treatment. We are all praying for Dick’s Complete healing.

In light of this, Dick has asked for staffing help. Whatever treatment they choose, it will place limitations, at least temporarily, on his time for helping widows and leading volunteers in home repair projects. Please pray for both the provision of an individual that can assist Dick in all that he does as well as the funds to support this position. With a busy summer coming up, Dick will also need several interns to help him out this summer, which will also need to be funded.

Dick’s passion for the Lord, which is so profoundly demonstrated on a daily basis through his, seemingly, inexhaustible drive for meeting the needs of widows, has not only blessed thousands of widows in our City and beyond, but he has also served as an inspiration for 10’s of thousands of teenagers that he has supervised, mentored and discipled on widow’s home repair projects.

Widows Sing Week and our annual "Gertrude Gaston" Widow’s Prayer Gathering is almost here. This year "Widows Sing Week" will begin on Saturday, May 10, and end on Saturday May 17, culminating with our annual prayer gathering. This year we are highly honored to have Dr. Evelyn Polite, Founder and Director of Widows Harvest Savannah, Georgia, as our speaker. Dr. Polite, who spoke at our 2007 widow’s Thanksgiving service and luncheon, is a truly gifted and passionate communicator of God’s word. We are all tremendously excited about her return and we are filled with great anticipation for the ways that God will use her for His glory while she is with us.

The deadline for registering for the prayer gathering is May 5th. Please contact us if you would like us to send you a registration form, or visit our web site and simply fill out the online form. Cost for widows, as always, is free, so that we might both bless and honor them. For non-widows the cost is $25. Our costs will be significantly less this year since this will not be held at the Chattanooga Convention and Trade Center, but instead will be held at St. Elmo Ave. Baptist Church. There are still costs involved, though, and at present, we need to raise $3000.

For those coming from out-of-town, a special rate is available at the Staybridge Suites downtown (which is about 5 minutes from the Church). For reservations call 423-267-0900 and tell them you are with Widows Harvest Ministries.

Please remember that May 15, of this week, is International Widows Prayer Day. It is both for non-widows to pray for the plight of widows around the world, as well as widows to pray for the Church, to be the spotless bride that God desires her to be.

For details on all of these events please visit our web site’s home page, scroll down to the appropriate heading and then click on the link.

Another prayer need is for Chiquita Bass, who began ministering with us over a year ago. God has used her so quickly to bear so much fruit for His glory and honor.

Chiquita just recently lost her brother, who lived in Atlanta and worked in the school of medicine at Morehouse College. Not only was his death completely unexpected, but at the time of his passing he had been making preparations to move their recently widowed mother, and 2 older handicapped siblings that live with her, from Washington D.C. to live with him in his home. Their care is now in Chiquita’s hands. She will, quite soon, be moving them to Chattanooga to live with her and her 2 daughters.

One of Chiquita’s key areas of ministry is the annual widow’s prayer gathering, so you can imagine, with all that she is presently doing unto the Lord, she will be stretched even thinner. I know that she would truly desire your prayers at this critical juncture in the life of her family as well as the ministry God has called her to.

I want to give special thanks to local Christian radio stations, J103 (103.1 FM) and WMBW (88.9 FM) for promoting so many of the ongoing Ministry events of Widows Harvest. J103 has generously donated a full year of radio spots to us and WMBW has been promoting, quite vigorously, the upcoming widow’s events in May, and also our Joint Mission opportunity that is being offered to local church youth groups called "Bearing Christ’s Reproach." This very unique mission opportunity which is in full partnership with Lurone Jennings (Director of the Bethlem Center) and Alfred Johnson (Pastor of Church of the First Born), still has weeks available this summer. For more information about this opportunity for local youth groups as well as mission opportunities for groups located outside the Chattanooga area visit our web site.

Blessings and Thanksgiving,

andy mendonsa
Widows Harvest Ministries

(download pdf)

Dear Partners:

Recently, I received a letter from a widow who Dick Mason, Widows Harvest Home Repair Coordinator, had repaired several things for her on her home.

To all of Widows Harvest:

I want to thank all of you for the work you all are doing helping widows. I am a widow 82 years old. I couldn’t have got my shower fixed if you all hadn’t put me in a new shower. And I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Also you put gutters up on the front of my house. I am sending you all a $10 love gift. I know its not much, but I am on fixed income. I will try to send some every month, so you all will be able to help other people in need the way I was. So, again, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I pray for you all every night.

So God Bless you all,

Sincerely,

Ruth

I think there is a perception that all that is generally needed in order for us to meet a widow’s home repair need is the cost of materials. The truth is, there is actually a lot of time and expense that is involved in meeting just one widow’s home repair need. A widow must first, personally, contact us by phone and request help. Next, Lisa Eames, Widows Harvest Administrative Assistant and Bookkeeper, assesses this information to determine if the widow meets our criteria for assistance. Once this has been determined she will pass this information on to Chiquita Bass, Widows Harvest Special Projects Director, who will then schedule a time with this widow for an informal, in-home interview. Once she gathers information on this widow and prays with her, this information then goes to Dick Mason so that he can schedule a construction needs assessment on her house, and it also goes back to Lisa in order for her to record the information in our data base.

Chiquita invites every widow she makes contact with to the ongoing widow’s weekly prayer ministry, but whether the widow becomes a part of this or not, Chiquita continues to maintain contact with her.

After Dick Mason makes an assessment of the construction need(s) on the widows home, he will then put a plan together for what it will take to meet the need(s), which includes numbers of volunteers, tools and equipment as well as construction materials and costs. This information is also passed along to Lisa for her to record in our database.

Finally, when Dick has the volunteers and the necessary materials to be able to complete the project, a-work-day will be scheduled at the widow’s house. On that day Dick will have all of the necessary tools and equipment as well as the construction materials onsite so that when the volunteers arrive they can start working immediately without any organizational delays. Dick will also provide the volunteers with onsite construction expertise and supervision, which means that a group does not have to have any skills in order to volunteer with us. Once the project has been completed that information is, again, passed on to Lisa in order for her to record it.

As you can, hopefully, tell the construction material cost for meeting a widow’s home repair need is only a part of the cost. That is why, back in the spring, Chiquita Bass initiated a fundraising effort called, "Project 100." The focus of this fund is to ask 100 people to make a one-time donation of, at least, $500, for the purpose of helping us to continue to help widows with their many home repair needs. Please pray about giving to "Project 100" this year. Our goal was, initially, to raise $50,000, but in light of the rising cost of gas, which has increased the cost of almost everything else, including construction materials, we now need much more than that.

To date 29 donors have donated $38,500.00. To learn more about this fund as well as to keep track of the results visit our web site: www.widows.org, and simply follow the link on the home page. Contributions can also be made securely through this site.

There is another letter that I would like to share with you as well. Back in the summer I received this letter via email through our web site. It was from a man named, Keith Case. Keith went to McCallie High School and then Covenant College. After he graduated from Covenant he moved into our office (a turn of the century house) in order to conduct a discipleship ministry with male college students, which were also housed there. After Keith left Chattanooga to go to Seminary I lost complete touch with him for well over 5 years. His email came not only as a surprise, but also as an overwhelming encouragement.

Hey Andy and Dick,

This is Keith Case. I used to live in the house on Mitchell (widows harvest former office). I work now with Youth and Young Adults down here in Miami at a church called Key Biscayne Pres. In all those years of working with Widows ministry in High School and then living in the house, I can’t stop thinking about Widows. You guys have blessed me more than you know. I have been here at this church for a little over a year now, but one of the first things I did when I got here was to start a prayer team for our ministry. We have five widows that pray for me the leaders and all the youth everyday. We also have lunches with them right now once every new Season. This December we are hosting a dinner for them at our church. We are, also, currently trying to put a list together of all the widows and live-ins on the Key so that our youth can begin visiting them and serving them. I know you guys are super busy, but if you have any resources for Bible Studies on line or if you can tell me where to find some good material, I would really appreciate it.

Much love,

Keith Case

Sometimes years go by and you wonder whether what you are doing in ministry is really having an impact on anyone at all. The great commission is to make disciples, not just converts, and I have come to believe that the differences are light years apart. The bottom line for me has always been that regardless of how big your budget is, how large your staff is, or how big your building is (to name but a few of the things we tend to base our success on), are lives being changed and transformed to be more like Christ? To be more like Christ, for me, means that our lives increasingly becomes more of one who serves others without any expectations or demands for being served. I am continuously convicted by this fact, that regardless of our positions and stations in life (including all levels of ministry) we never rise above the lowly status of servant, particularly with those that God has placed us in positions of authority and care over. Based on Christ’s example these are the very ones that Christ has called us to wash their feet and to be their server at the banquet table.

Let me close with a wonderful offering of thanksgiving to God for all that is continuing to be provided for the widows in Miwani, Kenya, where Joshua and Abigael Atieno direct Widows Harvest Africa. The widows there are now taking shifts and praying around the clock in the Hadrienne Kathleen Widows Prayer and Ministry Center. A middle school for girls, whose mothers are widows, was started in the center earlier in the year. This school has now received its certification by local authorities. An addition was recently added to the Center that will soon be used as a medical clinic. Earlier in the year we also started raising money to buy a tractor for the widows. The soil is very rich and fertile in this area and many of the widows own a plot of land around their homes (many of which we have funded to be built), but it has been too costly to have their fields plowed. All of the money has now been raised and they have purchased this new tractor with it.

Blessings and Thanksgiving,

Widows Harvest Ministries.

P.S. Don’t forget to check our blog occasionally (widows.chattablogs.com). For those of you that do not receive our e-mail notification updates, pictures and video footage are continuously being posted on this site of current Widows Harvest projects and events.

IN ALL THINGS GIVE THANKS TO OUR HEAVENLY FATHER IN CHRIST JESUS NAME

September 19, 2007

Dear Partners:

I try and be conservative in my pleas for funding, but we have reached a financial crisis that I need to let you know about, both for prayers as well as to ask you to help us out financially.

Typically, giving tends begin to fall off through the summer months all the way until the end of November. We have been very blessed not to encounter any financial needs thus far since this season began. In fact, I believe decisions that I made back at the beginning of the year have contributed significantly to this. Our budget for 2007 is more than 25% less than it was for 2006. All of us, who God has called to this ministry, are now sharing expenses that were once being paid by Widows Harvest.

A wise man told me a number of years ago that you don’t wait until you are in a financial crisis to begin finding ways to cut back, instead, you look for ways to cut back on an ongoing basis so that when you are in financially difficult times the strain will be much less. This wise man’s father came to this Country in the early part of the last century with the clothes on his back and a suitcase filled with pots and pans. He soon opened a merchantile business in downtown Savannah, Georgia and by the time the rest of the Country was feeling the effects of the depression, he was financially secure. So much so, that he was able to send all of his sons to either Harvard or Yale business school. All of his sons, after graduating, returned to Savannah and took over their father’s business. In only a few short years, though, they had completely bankrupted his business (which had been worth millions). Since their father was uneducated, and they had received such superior educations, they did not listen to the very sound and practical business advice that he had tried to instill in them over the years.

This story was told to me by one of this man’s surviving sons. He was in his eighties at the time. This was, perhaps, some of the best advice I have ever received (and it wasn’t even being told to me as advice). Carrying it out has become a deep conviction of mine ever since.

Our success cannot be measured in the amount of our budgets, the building(s) we own, or the number of staff, to name but a few of the things we tend to use as gauges for the assessment of such things. Rather, success should be based on the number of lives that have been significantly transformed and impacted for the kingdom.

Next week an area business, the Rug Rack, owned by Miriam and Mike Thompson, are having their annual truck load rug and tapestry sale. A percentage of the proceeds are going to be donated to Widows Harvest. This came about because both of the Thompson’s daughters were volunteers with Widows Harvest through the community outreach program at Chattanooga Christian School. According to Miriam and Mike, the widows their daughters served had such a great impact on them that they were led to both promote Widows Harvest as well as raise some support for us as well. Even if you don’t buy a rug from them they will also be taking donations on our behalf. Miriam has had a puzzle made with 99 pieces in it. She will be selling each piece of the puzzle for a $25 donation. My understanding is that some puzzle pieces will have prizes attached to them. When all of the pieces are put together a picture is formed. That may be a surprise, so I won’t say anymore about that.

This sale also coincides with our own Project 100 fundraising effort. We are seeking 100 individuals, business, churches and corporations to make a one time $500 donation in order to help out with the ongoing home repair needs of widows. To date $14,000 has been raised and we will continue to post not only the amount but also the donors on our web site.

Just as a note, this Friday, which is also payday, we will have approximately $5550.00 due in bills and payroll, with what we are already in the hole for (over $5000) this will mean that our deficit is actually well over $10,000.

Blessings and Thanksgiving,
andy mendonsa
widows harvest ministries

"Who we are is mostly others who have been long forgotten."

Dear Friends and Supporters:

At 8:15 PM on May 23, 2005, our phone rang at home. It was the phone call that every parent dreads even the thought of getting. The voice on the other end, a friend of our son Asher’s, told me that he was with Asher and Asher had just fallen almost 5 stories inside an abandoned building while taking pictures, and that the paramedics were there working on him.

A little over 5 years ago, at around 10 PM at night, I got a call from the chaplain at Mercy hospital in Durango, CO. telling me that my father had slipped and fallen 60 feet off the trail he had been hiking on with my step-mother, Suzanne, and had just died from his injuries.

It would have been horrible enough getting the news about my son, but immediately having to also relive that phone call I had received about my father was almost too much for me to bear.

Gloria and I were almost in a panic to get to Asher. Fortunately, he was only about 5 minutes away from where we live. When we got there, though, they had already loaded him into the ambulance and were about to leave. We knew it was really serious when they wouldn’t let Gloria ride with him or even let us see him.

Finally, about 11 that night the Neurologist that had examined him came in to tell us what his condition was. He had a broken neck, a broken back, a compound fracture to his right femur and head trauma that included swelling on the front part of his brain as well as a bruised brain stem. All he could tell us beyond that was that he really couldn’t tell us anything. He said he might walk again, but he might not. He might wake up from his coma, but he didn’t know when or if he would wake up at all.

I had called my mother to let her know as soon as we got to the emergency room so that she could get word out to all of our widows to start praying. In a very short time their prayers began to spread all over the city, the country and many parts of the world. There are now widows in Africa who have been praying 24 hours a day, 7 days a week since they first learned about it.

Asher spent 1 day shy of 4 weeks in intensive care. They just moved him to an intermediate care room on Sunday, June 19 about 4 PM in the afternoon. Asher is now completely off a ventilator and breathing on his own. He has started making sounds and trying to talk. His eyes have been opened for about 2 weeks now, but he is still technically in a coma. On the scale of 0 to 14 (14 being normal) that is used to measure what level of a coma someone is in Asher is about a 2, possibly approaching a 3. He has come a remarkably long way in just over a month, but he is still at the foot of the mountain that he really needs to start climbing up very soon.

Today (June 23) we were very thankful to learn that Asher has been accepted at the Shepherd Spinal Center in Atlanta. He could be moved there on Monday, June 27th, at the earliest. This is more of an incredible answer to prayer than you will ever know. Actually, every day since Asher was injured has been filled with answered prayer after answered prayer. And his full recovery still lies in the realm of the miraculous.

Daily updates are posted online at: http://asher.chattablogs.com. (The Asher Update).

It seems so evident to me that since the first of the year Widows Harvest has been hit by the enemy again and again. First, he hit us in our finances. We have been running with a $12,000.00 a month deficit since January. Then, in April, our new administrative assistant, Leda Goodman’s husband, Ian, became seriously ill and was initially hospitalized in Chattanooga for a week and a half. He did better for a few days after his release, but then became even more ill and finally went to St. Louis where he was admitted to Barnes Hospital. At Barnes they were able to discover the cause of his illness and he returned home after a couple of weeks. He is still having some difficulties, but is much better.

Leda had a critical role in helping to organize our annual widow’s prayer gathering this year. When Ian became so ill, this, of course, prevented her from being able to help out as much as she would have ordinarily.

Interestingly, last year my mother was in charge of organizing most of the prayer gathering, and about a month before it was scheduled to take place she fell and broke her wrist. Then about week later they decided that they needed to perform surgery on it and pin it together so, for her, it was like breaking it all over again (pain and trauma wise). She was still able to help out, but not on the level that she would have if she had not fallen and injured herself.

I really don’t have any words to describe all that God did at this years widow’s prayer gathering and conference. It is no wonder that the devil tries to interfere the ways that he does each year. He especially does not want widows to pray either here or anywhere else or to learn about the necessity for doing so.

In just a little over a week after our widow’s prayer gathering and conference (May 13-14) and our annual day of fasting and praying for widows (May 15), the devil struck another severe blow to Widows Harvest. By laying a trap for my son and trying to take his life, though, the devil has only caused there to be, not only a great outpouring of prayer by thousands and thousands of people, but many have been drawn to God’s incredible mercy and grace through the pain and suffering being experienced by so many as a result of knowing about Asher’s critical injuries.

Since Asher was first admitted to the hospital Gloria, Hadrienne and I have been there with Asher during every possible visiting hour while he was in ICU and around the clock with him now that he is in an intermediate care room. Which means that I have not been able to carry out those functions in the Ministry that I ordinarily need to do.

This also has prevented my daughter, Hadrienne, from working as an intern again this summer with Dick Mason, our Projects Director. Which basically has meant that we had to start the summer off with no help to assist Dick with all of our summer mission teams and work projects.

In my last newsletter I listed quite a number of financial needs that the Ministry has both for what we are doing here in Chattanooga and other parts of the Country as well as in a number of other countries including Israel, Africa and India.

It is not our claim, but it has become, with more frequency, the claim of others that Widows Harvest is the model for widows ministries both here and around the world because we have been operating for at least 15 years longer than others widows ministries which have only just begun to spring up in the last 2 to 3 years.

I am still convinced that the devil has no defense against "pure and undefiled worship" which, according to James 1:27, is considered by God to be the care of the widows and the fatherless. By fulfilling James 1:27, it has the added benefit of giving rise to one of the most invaluable resources that the Church has available to it, and that is the prayers of the widows.

Last week I received a letter in the mail from a local Christian foundation informing me that after 15 years of giving support to this ministry that we were no longer a priority with them to receive support this year. Of course, if none of the other circumstances that I have shared with you in this letter had not occurred, especially what we have been going through with my son over the last month, this news would have not have been as difficult to receive. Given it’s timing, though, it was more than discouraging. It was like being kicked while I was already on the ground.

There are 2 more grant request opportunities for us to apply for between now and the middle of July, but under these present circumstances, it does not look like it will be possible for us to apply for them. As much as grant money from foundations can be of a tremendous help to a ministry like ours, the process for applying for them has always struck me, personally, as demeaning. I know that is not the intention of those who oversee the approval of these grants, but one cannot help the way one feels.

It is interesting, though, that when I have the opportunity to honestly share my heart, like in a newsletter, and people are moved in their own hearts to respond through prayers and giving, the process is not demeaning for me in any way. Perhaps it is because the money and prayers that are given are given in the spirit of unconditional love that all good gifts should be offered in.

I guess I don’t know how to finish this letter other than to just plainly say to you that we really need help and we really need a lot of it now. Those who serve with us are depending on it, as well as widows throughout the world. I feel like there has never been a more crucial time for helping us to advance the kingdom of God in the ways that He has been calling us to since 1987 than right now. In a year from now I do not think that I will be able to make the same claim, but if it doesn’t happen now, then I honestly believe that a year from now will not be the same either.

Ever your servant in Him,

Andy Mendonsa
Widows harvest ministries

Dear Friends and Supporters,

We are writing this letter to ask for your assistance. As many of you are aware, our director Andy Mendonsa and his family have experienced a life altering event. Andy and Gloria’s 17-year-old son, Asher, had an accident that has left him paralyzed and comatose. You have prayed and expressed concern, so we personally and on behalf of the Mendonsa family, thank God for you.

After the initial shock, these situations must be dealt with around practical matters. Asher is now in Shepherd’s Spinal Clinic in Atlanta, Georgia. The family is totally focused on Asher’s recovery, so the board is assisting with the ministry functions. To that end we are making a special appeal to you, our supporters and fellow laborers in the Widow’s ministry.

Please prayerfully consider the following financial needs:

General support for the dozens of widow’s repair projects is an ongoing concern. On behalf of the widow’s we are asking for special gifts to be provided.

Our ministry vehicle that was leased has been turned in. The need for a new vehicle is acute in that Andy will need to travel to Atlanta on a regular basis to visit Asher and the family as well as conduct ministry business.

Andy and his family are experiencing special financial needs with housing, travel and living expenses while staying in Atlanta. A special fund has been established for Asher to which designated giving will be applied. You can get updates on the Mendonsa family’s journey through this time at http://asher.chattablogs.com.

Thank you for your support of the work God is doing through this ministry of mercy.

Sincerely,

Tom

Tom Haymes, Jr. CPA

Board Chairman