Defender of Widows, Father to the Fatherless

D e f e n d e r o f W i d o w s , Fat h e r to t h e

Fatherless B ringing h ope t h ro u g h mi c r o e n t erprise , ed u c a t i o n , and interfait h efforts b y O bed M inc h a k p u

Takai Shamang

Sunday Agang

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n Nigeria, a three-headed demon roams the land, first creating and then devouring widows, orphans, and the weak. As religious conflict, AIDS, and poverty rob families of their loved ones, their health, and their well-being, women and children become increasingly vulnerable—to unscrupulous family members as well as to the ever-growing fundamentalist Muslim population. It is not uncommon to hear of teenage daughters of Christian widows being kidnapped and forced into Islam or being enticed with gifts to

convert to Islam without the consent of their Christian parents.The body of Christ in Nigeria is often overwhelmed with the burden of caring for this needy population.

In response to these problems, Takai Shamang, a former labor leader in Nigeria and a trade unionist for 40 years, founded Ganty’s Aid to the Widows, Orphans, and the Needy in 1997. Sparked by his family’s desire to minister to the needs of the underprivileged both inside and outside the church, the ministry eventually grew to the point where Shamang

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Widows supported by GOWAN take off on an evangelistic march.

invited two partners—Rev. Sunday Agang and Rev. Moses Bamai, both pastors of the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA)—to join him in the work.

Empowerment of widows is a primary concern. Shamang describes a culture in which widows and orphans are regularly deprived of their dead husband/father’s property. Not only are widows not cared for by their husband’s relations, but they are frequently chased from their homes. Even funeral benefits, normally provided by a man’s employer, are often snatched from the surviving wife and children. “In most cases, these widows are left with tears of sorrow throughout the mourning period and thereafter,” explains Shamang. “What’s more, the children are usually forcefully taken away from widows, who are then forced to return to their parents’ homes.

“As soon as a man dies, his relatives descend on his corpse in search of money. In some cases, the wife is falsely accused of being responsible for the man’s death,” he says.

“We have to fight against this societal vice. This is the main reason behind the emergence of our ministry.”

To enable them to be productive, GOWAN provides widows with soft loans and serves as a guarantor for those who seek loans from banks and other financial institutions.

“Some of the women sell fabric, others keep livestock, others engage in pig farming, and others operate grinding mills.

Still others sell food items,” says Shamang.

Shamang explains that the widows are empowered via a revolving loan of $50 to $100, depending on the project each is capable of handling.The money enables the widows to get into gainful activities that can generate some income for them, allowing them to care for their children’s needs.

“We encourage widows to save,” says Shamang, “and right now these widows have saved more than 1 million naira (US$100,000) in their account. The intention is to link the widows to financial institutions and use their savings as a guarantee for them to obtain loans from the banks.” From 2001 to 2004, over 500 widows received revolving loans from GOWAN.

GOWAN organizes seminars and workshops for widows, with a view to educating them in entrepreneurial opportunities and in the areas of healthcare and agricultural production.

GOWAN’s cooperative arm provides widows with agricultural seedlings and saplings from the ministry’s nursery of palm and orange trees and other plants. The aim of the ministry is to help those who think of themselves as worthless to see themselves as people capable of self-sufficiency and sustainability.

Widows and their children are also given the opportunity to become literate in information technology through the acquisition of computer keyboarding skills. Donated computers have enabled the ministry to open a computer center in the town of Manchok.

“We provide the orphans with basic skills and educate them through provision of scholarships in high schools and tertiary institutions,” Shamang explains. “We start the much younger orphans in nursery schools. Right now we have a program we call Junior Achievement, which brings together children ages 14-19 and provides them with entrepreneurial education. The aim is to enable them to start their own small-scale businesses. We give them seed money to start their businesses,” he adds.

Developing and maintaining a healthy working relationship with Muslims is a cardinal part of GOWAN’s ministry.

Its empowerment programs minister to Muslim women, both married and widowed, and orphans, as well as to Christians. They are thus exposed to the gospel as they participate in Bible studies and fellowship with Christian women and their children. According to Shamang, 15 Muslim widows are currently engaged in baking and selling peanut cakes, while others produce income with milling machines which were procured with GOWAN loans.

Shamang says that Muslim politicians have taken advantage of religious conflicts in Northern Nigeria, using them to fan clashes and going so far as to use Muslim orphans to Continued on page 22.

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point and meeting place of the community efforts. We do not set up institutions. If working with orphans, we look for families through the church who are able to take them in.

We do not own the ministry; it belongs to the church. We are there to facilitate and see it grow, but once we feel that a church has embraced it and are running with it, we move on to a new church.”

Muindi insists that the work of Life in Abundance could not go forward without its corporate commitment to Scripture-reading and prayer. “We go into areas where there is great suffering and injustice, places where evil is thriving.

It’s not something we can tackle by strategy or because we have medical training; we know that we are coming against the kingdom of darkness. But we do this because of Christ.

We’ve given our lives so that others may have life and have it in all its fullness.” n

people have begun to find their place in society,” says Muindi.

“We targeted the gangs, did retreats for them, invited them to fun events, and most of them changed. In fact, two of the former gang leaders are now youth pastors in this church.

That is transformation—when people begin to change inside in such a way that there is a physical manifestation of change.

The community has cleaned up. The church started a school so the children study right inside the church. Just the church coming to an understanding of their mandate to serve and bless the community is evidence of transformation. Today, Christians are respected in that area because they are doing exactly what they are supposed to do as a church.”

Instead of creating new institutions or launching new nonprofits, Life in Abundance empowers existing churches to do the work of the church. “Our goal is to empower the church to be the change agent. We provide pastoral training and leadership development; we teach them how to write a grant proposal and relate to partners outside the church.

Instead of building an office or new building, we work from the existing church building so that it becomes the focal

A native of Uganda, Helen Orombi is a doctoral student in ministry at Palmer Seminary in Philadelphia. She also works as an outpatient therapist with urban children.

Defender of Widows, Father to the Fatherless continued from page 19. a positive impact on the lives of the widows.

In recent years GOWAN’s activities have attracted the attention of the Kaduna State government. “In the past, Muslim leaders hated Christian communities,” says Agang.

“But now they see churches supporting Muslim widows and orphans. This has attracted the attention of Muslims in government and they are reaching Christian communities with social services. Now, Muslims from other parts of Kaduna State are asking us to extend our programs to their communities.”

“They are tired of the wars, violence, and the killings,” continues Agang. “‘Please come to us—this is the type of thing we want,’ they always plead with us. So I believe something positive is happening through this ministry, and it is encouraging. That is why we would not shy away from this approach we have taken.” n

burn Christian churches. “So we see our task as empowering these Muslim youths so that they are not idle and susceptible to being manipulated by their politicians to wreak havoc on the church,” says Shamang. “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop. That is why we have extended our activities to these Muslims. We believe that it would be difficult for politicians to recruit these youths to cause violence if they are engaged in productive activities.”

On the whole, Shamang says their ministry strives “to create a dynamic community that imbibes the spirit of tolerance. We are happy that we now have Muslim women and youths working alongside Christians in our communities.”

He also says they have seen a reduction of religious violence in the area.

GOWAN’s ministry is nondenominational and encourages interaction of Christians irrespective of their church affiliation.

In this way true Christian unity can be attained in the body of Christ. “This has now broken the suspicion that had existed between churches in these areas,” Agang says. Reports from the various churches in the area show that widows are among those who actively support mission work. The ministry leaders see this as further evidence that GOWAN is having

Obed Minchakpu (obedminchakpu@yahoo.com) is a “media missionary” with a diverse educational background in theology, journalism, physics, and mechanical engineering. He also ministers to persecuted Christians in Nigeria, where he lives with his wife and four children in the city of Jos.

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