NYSTV Family Widows

This will be evenly distributed to registered widows in NYSTV Family Fellowship. 
NYSTV FELLOWSHIP 
 

A widow is a woman whose husband has died. Often in Scripture, when widows are referred to, it appears to carry the idea of a woman whose husband has died who also has no one to provide for her. Thus, widows are often grouped with vulnerable members of society such as the fatherless, aliens, and the poor (Deuteronomy 14:29; 16:11; 24:20; 26:12). The Bible says widows are to be treated with honor and compassion and offered protection so that no one takes advantage of them.

God recognized the widow’s plight and rose to her defense: “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling” (Psalm 68:5). A person who denied justice to a widow was cursed by God: “Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow” (Deuteronomy 27:19). Laws and special provisions were put in place to safeguard widows against neglect and abuse.

At harvest time, widows could glean in the fields of grain and gather leftover grapes and olives: “When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands” (Deuteronomy 24:19).

In the New Testament, widows are also given special consideration. Proper religious work, according to God, involves caring for widows and orphans: “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” (James 1:27). Jesus condemned the Pharisees for their ill-treatment of widows (Mark 12:40).

God has deep compassion for those who are left alone, and the church is to demonstrate that same compassion. In 1 Timothy 5, the apostle Paul gives a detailed outline of how the church and individual families are to care for widows.

According to Paul, a widow who received financial and material support from the church had to meet certain qualifications. First and foremost, the widow had to be truly in need and completely alone in the world: “But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God” (1 Timothy 5:4).

Paul goes on to give guidelines for a widow to be eligible to receive the church’s support. Besides having no one to take care of her, she ought to be a woman of prayer, a dedicated servant of the Lord, more than sixty years of age, faithful to her husband when he was alive, and committed to good deeds like caring for children, showing hospitality, and serving God’s people (1 Timothy 5:9–10). Apparently, in order to receive charity in the early Christian church, eligible widows were enrolled on a list (verse 11). The age designation was likely because sixty was considered the age of retirement in the first century, and these women were probably past the age of remarrying. Younger widows were more likely to remarry; in fact, Paul counsels them to do so (verse 14).

Since God honors widows and treats them with compassion, believers should do the same: “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow” (Isaiah 1:17).





Kim Ruane
Shalom,
Here I am with my gift, my husband of 37 years, Sean. I miss him every day but I know I will see him in New Jerusalem, HalleluYah.
Since becoming a widow Yahuah has always been right on time with provision.
The NYSTV, Jon Pounders Widows Fund has been such a blessing to me. The seed, that has been gifted to me has met so many needs.
A year ago, my Dad was stricken with Alzheimer's and I had to move him into my home to care for him. The cost of what I needed to make this happen was overwhelming. I reached out to my sister at NYSTV and expressed my situation and that I had fallen behind on my rent because of costs in the move. A check was sent to me and it was the EXACT amount that I was short on my rent. Another time I had need for a car battery, again my need was
met.
When I have received Feast Day funds, it freed me up to be able to have peace from financial stress. Yahuah has been so good.




Gail Ferguson
Eight years ago as I sat and watched my husband breathing his last breath, I was fantasizing about putting all of his pain medicines in a big bowl and getting a big spoon to take them and joining him in heaven. I had been with my husband since I was a young girl. We were married 44 years and he raised me and was my everything. My life was over. Just then I heard the Lord say to me, “you are going to have adventures with me. “So, I said, “OK Lord… Whatever you open up I’m gonna go into”. Poof...the fantasy of ending my life vanished. From that time on I have determined to see everything as an adventure with God. Good, bad and ugly… Adventures are not always fun. I wanted to learn about the Hebraic roots of the faith and a friend invited me to live in Israel. I lived there for 3 1/2 years and could not get a permanent visa even though I had appealed it several times. The government notified me that I had been denied my last appeal and I had to leave. When they tell you this you have to leave the next day. I was crying to the Lord not knowing what to do or where to go. I live on Social Security and my family is not involved in my life, so I had nowhere to go. As I was crying out to the Lord, the phone rang and it was a minister I had met in Israel who lived in North Carolina. He said he and his wife were praying and they felt I needed to come and help them in their prayer ministry. He asked me if I could think about coming to live there. I said how about tomorrow? He laughed and said come on. So, I’ve been in North Carolina and now Alabama praying and witnessing in the inner city.
Jon, John and David have taught me things that I have never known. NYSTV opened a whole new world up for me and I feel like you are my family. I had been trained with my husband for the ministry at Dallas Theological Seminary and as you can imagine I had much to relearn. What adventures I’ve been on with the Lord! I do not want to be an old lady watching Jeopardy on TV and doing a crossword puzzle. I want to go out of this life with my hair on fire ministering for the Lord! I am 71 and going after the Lord and his kingdom with all my might. What a blessing your ministry has been to me and I learn something every time I listen. Your gift to me last year was literally life-saving as I live on Social Security! All my love and gratitude,



Dorinda Johnson
Hello from Alabama! It has cooled down to 85 degrees in the afternoons this week. I want to let you know how awesome, wonderful, great our Heavenly Father has been to me. My ever need has been met since my husband died. I currently do not have an income but he has always made a way for my simple needs. This past spring, your gift was the exact amount I needed to have to get all my bills paid and buy groceries. I was surprised at the exact amount. It is amazing how he works through us all. I am not afraid for I know he watches over widows. I am living proof. I have seen his hand work in my life. I have seen his compassion. During our fall holy days please celebrate with me his love and compassion I have seen and I am very grateful. I still ache and hurt. I am still very lonely without my husband. I do believe our Heavenly Father will see me through it all in the days, weeks and months ahead.

May Yah bless you in everything you do.
Dorinda Johnson


Nancy Beegle
I'm deeply grateful for the NYSTV widows fund. Last spring the check i received helped me and the girls to eat safe healthy food while waiting for my benefits to be transferred up here. It took until July for me to get food assistance because of the lockdown. I'm sure you've seen enough about our governor lol.
Last fall, I was able to use the blessing from this fund to get some things to celebrate Sukkot with Matthew and the girls. It was such a joy to see their happy little faces learning about Yah's Feasts and to be able to enjoy His blessings from a deeper understanding of them and His character. This year we're still hoping and praying that the girls will be here for Sukkot again and that's what I’m hoping to use whatever I’m blessed with. Or towards going back to NC to bring the girls home.
There's no doubt there are many things towards which i could use the hel but Abba's ways and my grandchildren come first.
Thank you so much NYSTV for how you do your utmost to obey the commandments of Yah, and don't leave the group of us widows feeling alone and abandoned. You've been such a tremendous blessing and encouragement to us all. May Yah continue to bless and keep you and multiply all that you do and share with all who desire to know the Father and Messiah and obey.

Love in Messiah to you and all of my family at NYSTV and FOJC.

Nancy