On September 7, 2013, we had the joy of doing a Both Hands Project!
What is a Both Hands Project?
I'm glad you asked...
It is a rescue mission for adoptive families to help raise funds for their adoption expenses.
This is how it works:
We search for a widow in our area who needs help with her home.
Our widow's name is Leigh Baker. She is only in her early 40's. She tragically lost her husband of 14 years last September, 2012. He also left behind two young children, Samuel, 9 and Abigail, 7. Leigh is disabled and couldn't take care of all the problems inside and outside their home.
Then we make a list of all the things that she needs help with, like painting, cleaning, yard work, etc.
Here is the list of things that we were able to complete for her:
Inside:
- Painting- Living room, Play room, Leigh's bedroom, Kid's bedroom, 2 bathrooms
- Cleaning- Whole house, top to bottom, including washing all the kids clothes and bedding
- Organizing- Toys and clothes, picking up clutter
Outside:
- Put up 125' of fence
- Put up skirting around trailer
- Power washed entire house
- Dug french drain and fixed driveway
- Finished building retaining wall
- Took out trees and brush
Get everything we need for the project, tools and supplies, donated by local merchants.
Here is a list of some of the things that were donated:
- Entire chain link fence
- Gravel
- Concrete
- Mortar
- Cleaning supplies
- Painting Supplies
- Organization bins/shelves
- Food and water for the volunteers
Then get a team together to spend an entire day working inside and outside the widow's home.
We had a total of 49 volunteers who gave up their Saturday to bless the Baker family. When the last volunteers left, we had been working for 12 hours!
Before the workday, the entire team sends out letters to friends and family asking for sponsorship while we work on the house. Since the materials for the workday are donated, 100% of the sponsorship that comes in goes directly to rescuing orphans.
We are trying to raise $30,000 for orphans. We could need anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000 to finish our adoption expenses depending on how many children we get. We don't get any of the money personally. It all goes into an account at a non-profit organization (Lifesong for Orphans). Anything that comes in beyond what we need will go to another family in the form of a grant. So our goal is to raise as much as we can, so we can impact the lives of as many orphans as we can!
So that is why it is a "Both Hands" project. One hand is helping the widow, and the other hand is helping the orphan. Both hands come together to fulfill James 1:27
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God,
the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction.”
We are so amazed by the support that we have gotten from our friends and family in this project and throughout the adoption process! We have seen God's hands touch so many lives and hearts in the last two years. We are truly grateful that God has allowed us to be a part of this amazing process and we just can't wait to meet our children!!
Watch our project video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWSz6_wSRD8&feature=youtu.be
You can still donate! For more information on how to donate, go to: http://bothhandsfoundation.org/Justin-and-Kathy-Hansen
For more information about Both Hands or Lifesong for Orphans, visit:
http://bothhandsfoundation.org/
http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/
