Author: Jim Cantelon

July 10, 2024

According to a recent report, our world appears to be drowning in debt to the tune of 90 trillion(!) dollars. This amounts to 90% of the world economy. Economists are warning us that the day of reckoning is near. A global financial collapse will impact us all. There have always been doom and gloom reports, however. The “Henny Pennys” are always raising the alarm with their bleak theories. But, this seems to be different. Actual dollars eclipse the “possibilities” and even “probabilities” of theoretical economic science. At some point soon our world will have to “pay the piper”. If and when that...

June 27, 2024

This past week my wife and I attended not one but three funerals. The first one was for a 97-year-old woman we’ve known for over 50 years. Mother, grand and great mother, she was an elegant, refined, intelligent, and beautiful woman who exemplified the Proverbs 31 paragon of virtue. Her profound faith in the Lord is her lasting legacy, a point stressed again and again by those who delivered eulogies. The service was inspiring. The second funeral was equally inspiring. This was for an 87-year-old man who I’ve known for most of my life. He was someone whose profound impact on our world through...

June 19, 2024

When my wife Kathy and I incorporated “Visionledd” (now known as “WOW”-Working for Orphans and Widows) 25 years ago, we had no idea where this vision would take us. All we knew was that we felt led to do something about the HIV and AIDS pandemic that was decimating the population of young adults and children in sub-Saharan Africa. We had a vision for the churches of that vast region of countries to be engaged in care for orphans and widows who were dying in the thousands from this always fatal (at that time) disease. Our call was, “Every church a Mother Theresa”. If that little Albanian nun...

June 5, 2024

I saw a commercial the other day retailing a certain investment company whose tag line was,” A life well planned”. An appeal to our need for security and control always resonates. Yet… How often “the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft a-gley”, as the famous Scottish poet Robbie Burns wrote. Our strategies and intentions are so easily eclipsed by random events. Especially these days with so many international conflicts, environmental disasters, and volatile politics we can rightly feel our whole world is anything but “well planned”. The only comfort for men and women of faith is our trust...

May 23, 2024

We’ve all read the report on the sudden descent of a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore with one person dead and scores injured in the sudden fall. Apparently it hit turbulence and fell 6000 feet in a matter of minutes. People who were not wearing seatbelts were thrown all over the interior with many hitting the ceiling with their heads. Some of the most seriously injured were attendants standing in the aisles serving breakfast to the passengers. Fortunately the pilots were able to make an emergency landing in Bangkok. For those who fly, this event is disturbing to say the least....

May 13, 2024

I was a guest speaker at a church recently where the setting was inner city and the congregants bore the signs of “living rough”- some living on the street, others on welfare, and many the “working poor”. Compared to the poor that we minister to in Africa, they had/have much more in terms of a social safety net, but with economies of scale are just as vulnerable. Yet, in terms of spiritual sensitivity and love for God, they are on a parallel track. The service was sweet. The atmosphere was gentle and worshipful. The singing was soft but sincere. I felt the presence of the holy. Once again, I...

April 24, 2024

One would think that after 25 years of working with orphans and widows in Sub-Saharan Africa my wife Kathy and I would be somewhat acclimatized to the suffering of “the least of these”, but we’re not. Recently we visited our champion partners in South Africa, Zambia, and Malawi. We were very impressed with the growth in their ministries to orphans and widows in distress- impressed and moved with compassion. Thanks to the availability of antiretroviral medicines the impact of HIV and AIDS has been mitigated but the impact of opportunistic diseases remains. On this visit we met and prayed...

April 10, 2024

Were you “eclipsed” by the recent solar eclipse in North America? Millions were. The massive crowds with their eclipse glasses lined the route of the eclipse as it moved diagonally from southwest to northeast. It was a once in a lifetime phenomenon. The enthusiasm was huge. Loud cheering, like that at big sports events, ricocheted from sea to sea. People were kids again. It struck me that we’re all kids at heart. Little things can thrill us and big things can overwhelm us, especially when the stimulus is the natural world. Vast mountain ranges, roaring rivers, endless forests, deep blue lakes,...

March 27, 2024

WOW (Working for Orphans and Widows) is 25 years old, founded by my wife and I in January 1999. We did so in response to the devastating HIV and AIDS pandemic that swept through Sub-Saharan Africa in the last two decades of the twentieth century, creating the biggest orphan and widow crisis in history. Our response was directly informed by the scripture stating that “God is a father to the fatherless and defender of widows” (Psalm 68:5). Our call to the African churches was “Every church a Mother Theresa”. If that little Albanian nun could challenge the world by her ministry to the dying in...

March 13, 2024

I just received a report on the drought and consequent pending famine that Zambia is now facing. This on the heels of a cholera pandemic. Sorrow on sorrow. Our partner ministries there, CHRESO in Lusaka and Impact Community Outreach (ICO) in Kabwe, are in the midst of all this and by extension so is WOW (Working for Orphans and Widows). We’ve been helping fund their desperate struggle against cholera, now this. We’re assessing the need and will respond with the compassionate support of WOW’s faithful supporters. The world is in trouble on several fronts but it’s a great privilege and responsibility...