Image above: Verna Graybill
A little over a year ago, God began stirring something in Verna Graybill’s heart. She had been reflecting on the role several widows have had on her faith, from her childhood until now.
“I think back to widows that I have known in my life,” she said. “They were my Sunday school teachers and Vacation Bible School teachers, and they’ve meant so much to me in my Christian walk. The church I am attending now has several women who were mentors to me. They were not just mentors, but they were special Christian friends as well.”
God kindled a desire in Verna to help widows, but she was not sure what to do with that desire yet.
Turning Desire into Action
“Throughout the Bible it says to take care of widows,” she said. “I have been blessed by the Christian witness of widows, and I want to take care of them myself, in a way.”
KBF provides a focal point for the love of Christ that is in each of us.
Verna had the compassion, but she needed direction. “Back in Acts people would lay money at the apostles’ feet, and they would distribute it. I thought, there has got to be a place to do this.”
That is when she encountered an ad for Kairos Benevolence Fund. The ad showed Verna exactly how she could bless the widows of ministers and missionaries in their time of greatest need. While all widows deserve our compassion, these widows are especially vulnerable—they often have no financial safety net to fall back on.
After wrestling with questions about how she could make a difference, Verna realized, “This ad was the answer.”
While she could care for the widows in her immediate community, a recent financial blessing gave her and her husband the opportunity to reach beyond Alva, Oklahoma, to help widows throughout the world. There was just one thing missing, and KBF had it. “They have the ability to know where those needs are,” she concluded.
Blessing Those Who Have Been a Blessing
After years of sacrificial living, widows of ministers and missionaries should not have to choose between getting groceries and keeping the lights on. While many of them hopefully have a close Christian community to support them, that is not always the case, and it does not let us off the hook—these widows are part of the global church. And today our geographic location does not change our ability to make an impact.
Verna had the compassion, but she needed direction. “This ad was the answer.”
KBF provides a focal point for the love of Christ that is in each of us. It gives clear, tangible ways for Christians like Verna to care for some of the church’s most vulnerable people.
Sometimes all it takes is a moment—even something as simple as a glance at an ad—for God to reveal the work he has been doing in our hearts all along.