Both Hands...one for the widow and one for the orphan

Here we go on to our next fundraiser. I have to say though that this one is near and dear to my heart. One of my favorite verses in the bible is Isaiah 1:17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

We have the opportunity to do just that.....so we're really excited.

We've partnered with Both Hands Foundation and Lifesong for Orphans to raise funds to bring our sweet Josiah home while spending a day working on a widow's home in our community. I don't think it gets much closer to the heart of God than that.  So how can you help, you say? : )

The Organization: Both Hands is a non-profit organization that serves widows in the community in a very specific way, while helping families adopt. Both Hands partners with Lifesong for Orphans, whose mission is “ to bring joy and purpose to orphans.”

The Family: Our journey into the fields of the fatherless started in 2007 as we sensed God calling us.  We were united with our daughter Izzy in 2008.  Little did we know that we would go back in 2010 to meet our daughter Marianna. We have since stepped back out in faith and obedience in an amazing story that is taking us soon back to China to our son Josiah. We are humbled and excited to be partnering with so many to fulfill God’s plan for the “least of these” and us.

The Orphan: Josiah Jian Guo is two years old and waiting for us (his forever family) in Xiangfan Social Welfare Institute in Hubei Province in the People’s Republic of China. God led us to Josiah in the spring of 2011. How he came to us is nothing short of amazing. We can’t wait to bring him home and for him to be orphaned no more. 

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.” Psalm 68:5

The Widow: Meet Debbie, a wonderful woman who loves the Lord and who leans heavily on Him for provision. She lost her husband to liver cancer two years ago. She is plugged into her faith family, but her children live far away. 

Living alone is hard and even harder to take care of her home and property by herself.  She has prayed for help for sometime and is humbled and overjoyed that such a thing like this would happen to her. We can’t wait to serve her in this way !

An orphan in China. A widow in Mississippi. A team of people desiring to be the hands and feet of Jesus. What do these three things have in common?  All three are coming together to play a key role in an exciting fundraising opportunity taking place all day on March 10th. This fundraiser will help us in our journey to bringing our sweet Josiah home while we spend the day working on Debbie’s home.

We have partnered with Lifesong for Orphans and Both Hands in an innovative way to help remove the financial barrier of adoption. Think of it like a charity golf outing, but instead of us golfing to raise money, we are going to support a widow in need. We want to give you an opportunity to participate in this awesome project. All money raised for our work will go to support the adoption of our son Josiah.

We are not all called to adopt, but we can all play a role in serving the widows and the fatherless. Would you consider taking part in this by sponsoring us to work for a day on a widow’s home so we can raise the funds to bring our son home?

For more information on Lifesong for Orphans and Both Hands

 

These are the ways you can help:

1.) Pray

· Pray for Josiah as he waits for us and for God to prepare his heart to be adopted as well as all the others still waiting. Pray for our family as we wait and for us to be used by God to serve the fatherless. Pray for Debbie as she receives this blessing on March 10th. Finally, please pray for the ministries of the Both Hands Foundation and Lifesong for Orphans as they do amazing work in the name of the widows and the orphans.

2.) Donate

· Please consider making a tax deductible donation to help reduce our adoption expenses and sponsor us as we work with our team to be a source of encouragement and support in the life of this widow.

· There are two easy ways to donate:

•    On-line: Go to our project page by clicking here  and click the “Donate” button unde our family photo. Follow online instructions to pay safely with your credit card or PayPal account.

· Send a check: Make your tax-deductible check payable to Lifesong for Orphans. Please write “preference Braniff Adoption #2486” in the memo section of your check, attach the form below, and mail it to Lifesong for Orphans by March 31, 2012.