Have you ever heard of a ministry that cares for orphans … while caring for the widows?
I sure hadn’t!
That is, until a few weeks ago, I was handed a book called The Orphan, the Widow & Me. I was told that it was an amazing story about a ministry helping families with adoption and local widows. My first question was, “How can you do both simultaneously?”
As I flipped through the pages, I read about JT Olson. The founder and president of a ministry called Both Hands (BH). BH answers the call found in James 1:27 that says,
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
As a child, Olson and his four siblings faced tragedy when his parents suffered a fatal car accident. On an awful afternoon, the Olson siblings learned they had a new title – orphans. In the book, Olson further explained this life-changing event and showed readers how it impacted him. Thankfully, a close relative was able to help raise the sibling set. But it wasn’t until Olson and his wife Sara began the process of adopting a child from China that he realized all that adoption took.
“It opened my eyes to adoption – to the joy of it, the challenge of it, and the cost of it,” said Olson.
According to BH, most adoptions cost anywhere between $20,000 to $60,000, prohibiting some couples from choosing to adopt. Olson wanted to do something to help make the process more feasible. So, he opened BH. The ministry’s motto, and encouragement to volunteers, is to use both hands – “One for the widow. One for the orphan.”
But how are the two connected?
Well, I’m so glad you asked!
Before BH began, Olson was working on a golf fundraiser. He had mailed letters hoping to have friends and family sponsor him as he putted along the green. But, one response stuck out to him like a sore thumb. A friend had returned the letter with the following words:
JT, if you told me you were working on a widow’s house, I might sponsor you. But you’re just golfing. Nice cause, but not for my money.
The Lord used those sentences, coupled with Olson’s heart for adoption, to spark an idea that would change the lives of families nationwide. Since its inception in 2008, they have served 1,218 families and raised more than 16.6 million for adoptive families. And they did that by repairing the homes of widows in need.
Below is a quick overview of what it takes to conduct a BH project.
- Apply for application.
- Gather a team of 10-15 friends and family excited about the adoption but willing to write letters and serve a needy widow.
- Select a widow to serve.
- Mail handwritten letters to family, friends, and friends of friends, explaining the project and asking for financial adoption support.
- Select a Saturday and serve the widow alongside community and team members.
Sounds pretty simple, right? That’s because it is.
All adoptive parents and families must do is have a heart for adoption and widows! And over the last two years, the ministry has raised $22,000 per adoption on average. Olson is so grateful for how the Lord has worked in this ministry. But he is also thankful for how He has worked in his own life.
“I was 12 when I lost my parents, and I was 52 when I started Both Hands,” Olson said. “That’s 40 years. I feel like God was saying, ‘Did you think for a minute that I’m going to waste that pain or those tears?’ He told me that we were going to turn this pain into passion and make a difference for a whole bunch of people.”
For more about Both Hands and Olson, see the July edition of The Stand print. Or check out their website at bothhands.org
