Turning Loss Into Ministry: A Church’s Mission to Serve Widows

THE CHURCH
First Baptist Church in Grand Prairie, Texas

THE CHALLENGE
Widows often feel lonely.

ONE BIG IDEA
Create a ministry that connects widows to each other and their community.

Beth Campbell did not set out to start a ministry for widows—she was simply trying to survive the loss of her husband Rex.

In 2016, she and Rex had joined First Baptist Church in Grand Prairie, Texas, after years of faithful involvement at another congregation. First Baptist became home, and it was there that Beth would later find herself walking through the most difficult season of her life.

In January 2021, Rex died from COVID-19. Because of hospital restrictions at the time, she had to say goodbye to him over the phone. 

“As soon as I hung up, I said out loud, ‘God, I know you have a purpose and a plan in this. I don’t know what it is, but I’m going to wait,’” she remembers.

That waiting changed everything. Beth learned “how to be still,” then began to notice something else happening. 

“He keeps putting widows in front of me,” she told a friend during a GriefShare group at her church.

The Challenge of Loneliness Among Widows

Not long after, a small group of widows began to sense God forming something new. One Sunday, a friend came to Beth with a name and logo sketched out, and the Overcomers ministry came to be. 

Today, Overcomers is a fellowship ministry that connects widows to each other and their community through monthly outreaches. A typical two-hour Overcomers meeting includes games and activities, lunch, work on a mission project, a devotion and prayer. The members also enjoy excursions like a trip through the bluebonnet trails of Texas and a visit to a local museum.

Overcomers offers a place where the members can “be with others that understand,” Beth remarks. 

Education and awareness are also part of the meetings, with members receiving information from experts about topics such as personal safety and making and updating a will.

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Beth, who serves as Texas Woman’s Missionary Union communications consultant and the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions project manager, shares that the ministry that started with 18 women coming to the first meeting has now grown beyond her church.

“The ladies need to be seen, and they need to be heard,” Beth says.