Tyndale Seminary Student Cares for the Fatherless and Impoverished
In his letter to the “twelve tribes”, James exhorted believers, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). Although many North American Christians struggle with this verse, Marie Angela Allen, first year MDiv Clinical Counselling, and her husband Kenroy Allen find their inspiration and calling within it.
While traveling in Africa in 2007, Marie Angela and Kenroy were struck by the needs of the local Church in ministering to the orphans and struggling mothers in their midst. They began collecting donations and spending time mentoring and serving communities in Kenya and Ghana. Ultimately, this led the Allens to found and give significant leadership to PureAide, a Canadian-based project that works towards meeting the needs of the fatherless and the impoverished. PureAide is also involved in supporting the Church in nourishing the congregation as it battles syncretism and nominalism through preaching, conferences, evangelism and outreach.
The Allens both work full-time jobs and advocate for PureAide in Canada to raise awareness, funds and partners. Through serving others, the Allens have been incredibly blessed. Marie Angela explains that once they started helping, they realized, “Whoa, this is helping me! …Knowing that more than 80% of the world does not live in the condition that we live, what more do we want? It’s given [us] a lot of peace.”
In the future PureAide hopes to establish schools and training centers, as well as scholarships for Christians in Ghana, Kenya, and Jamaica. To learn more about PureAide, click here.