Believers Church Reaches Out to Thousands of BPL Widows Across India to Mark International Widows Day

- Donates income generating gifts to 8000 widows across 20 states in India

- Several Ministers, MP’s and government official attend distribution drive

In an effort to help below poverty line (BPL) widows of the country, Believers Church started a drive to make these women financially self sufficient. The drive which was started on International Widows’ Day will reach out to 8000 women across 20 states of India by end of July. 

These widows were selected by the volunteers of Believers Church in several dioceses across the country. The widows were gifted income generating things like sewing machines, cooking equipment, livestock etc. The widows received the gifts happily, while some even shed tears of joy and expressed their gratitude to the church for the humanitarian work.

The list of states include, AndhraPradesh, ArunachalPradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telengana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

Several ministers, Members of Parliament, Members of Legislative Assembly and other dignitaries are part of this drive on their respective constituencies.

Commenting on the drive Metropolitan Dr. K.P Yohannan said, “In our country widows still have to struggle to fit into a patriarchal society which has no place for them. Our sisters & mothers face discrimination in the society. The initiative is to facilitate poor widows, who are living under risk of starving in the rural areas. Through this drive we are just trying to help them earn their livelihood in order to lead a healthy and respectful life.”

The United Nations first acknowledged June 23 as International Widows' Day in 2011 to raise awareness about the poverty, alienation, violence, homelessness, health problems and human rights issues faced by widows around the world. Since then, Believers Church regularly marks the day by carrying out these drives to empower and enable widows across the country.

About Believers Church

Believers Church is a Christian denomination with congregations and parishes worldwide and over 2.6 million followers in 10 countries. The Church at present has eleven Bishops who give spiritual and administrative leadership to the various activities of the Church. The current head of the Believers Church is Metropolitan Bishop, Dr. K. P. Yohannan.

The church also undertakes various charitable programs including women empowerment, educational projects, community development programs, rehabilitation projects and relief works. 

Underlined below are some of initiatives undertaken by the Believers Church

• Believers Church has helped over 80,000 children by providing quality education and timely medical checkups under its Bridge for Hope Program.

• Believers Church has set up more than 28,000 toilets and has committed its resources to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help educate people on sanitation under the Swatch Bharat Program.

• Vocational Training and Health awareness programs have been organised for underprivileged communities.

• The church has conducted eight-month long free literacy programs, to teach the marginalised sections of society how to write and read.

• The church has provided water to communities where drinking water is scarce by constructing bore wells and community water tanks.

• The church has given sewing machines, livestock, carpentry tools, rickshaws and agricultural equipments to families to generate regular income.

• Through the Humanitarian Assistance project the Church has assisted in Nepal earthquake and Odisha Cyclone disaster relief operations through reconstruction of houses, providing food supplies, medicines, water, clothes, mosquito nets, plastic sheets for making tents, hygiene supplies and solar lights.

For more information kindly visit the links below

http://www.believerschurch.com/2016/03/diocese-delhi-supplies-15000-litres-water-world-water-day/

http://www.believerschurch.com/2016/03/diocese-gujarat-feeds-1000-hungry-people-international-womens-day/

http://www.believerschurch.com/2016/03/diocese-kathmandu-feeds-hungry-founders-day/