Andy Mendonsa’s “Spiritual Widowhood” calls readers to help the widowed and fatherless

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (May. 22, 2017) – As baby boomers grow older, and women continue to outlive their husbands, the Christian church will soon be faced with the needs of the largest widowed population since Social Security’s inception. Andy Mendonsa, founder of Widows Harvest Ministries, addresses this abject neglect of widows by the church in “Spiritual Widowhood.”

The book’s chief aim is to present what Mendonsa believes to be a Scripturally-based litmus test for determining the condition of the church based on truly worshiping God in “spirit and in truth,” the way Scripture prescribes and Jesus modeled.

“At this point in my life/walk, I have a deep concern for the future leadership of the church, Christ’s bride,” said Mendonsa. “Current church leadership has done almost nothing to prepare future leaders to care for widows in general, much less their own widowed wives when they are left behind.”

The book is not solely based on his 25 years of research and study of James 1:27, which directly calls us to better serve widows. Serving with Widows Harvest Ministries—which Mendonsa helped found in 1987 to assist low-income Chattanooga widows with home repairs—also helped him gain an understanding for their care in the context of worship.

“I realized God was telling me to start a ministry for widows, and that he was showing me the need for all churches to specifically serve widows,” said Mendonsa. “Widows need a place to both serve and receive help from church members.”

Since its founding in 1987, the ministry has seen 30 years of promoting and providing prayer group opportunities for widows, helping them with home repair and lawn care needs, and helping widows realize their new identity in God’s eyes, in terms of their own value, worth, and purpose in the church.

“The goal is that widows will no longer be invisible,” Mendonsa remarked. “This will only happen when the church begins to comply with the mandate in James 1:27 for ‘visiting the widow and the fatherless in their distress.’ When widows truly know they are not forgotten, the church will begin to resemble the bride that God desires her to be.”

“Spiritual Widowhood”

By Andy Mendonsa

ISBN: 978-1-51276-844-2 (softcover); 978-1-51276-845-9 (hardcover); 978-1-51276-843-5 (e-book)

Available at the Westbow Press website and Amazon

About the author

Andy Mendonsa and his wife Gloria live in Tennessee with their 2 dogs. Founded in 1885 and located at the foot of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee, they have resided in this diverse urban neighborhood since 1985. Mendonsa continues to serve as servant director of Widows Harvest Ministries, the ministry he helped found in 1987. To learn more about Mendonsa and Widows Harvest Ministries, please visit the website.

###

Support the River Cities' Reader

Get 12 Reader issues mailed monthly for $48/year.

Old School Subscription for Your Support

Get the printed Reader edition mailed to you (or anyone you want) first-class for 12 months for $48.
$24 goes to postage and handling, $24 goes to keeping the doors open!

Click this link to Old School Subscribe now.



Help Keep the Reader Alive and Free Since '93!

 

"We're the River Cities' Reader, and we've kept the Quad Cities' only independently owned newspaper alive and free since 1993.

So please help the Reader keep going with your one-time, monthly, or annual support. With your financial support the Reader can continue providing uncensored, non-scripted, and independent journalism alongside the Quad Cities' area's most comprehensive cultural coverage." - Todd McGreevy, Publisher