Serving Families with Both Hands

Pam lost her husband at the early age of 44. Amidst that deep loss, she was left with five children to raise.

 Jackie, a widow, struggled for three weeks simply trying to trim her outside bushes with a pair of scissors. 

 Stella suffered the loss of her daughter in 2019. Two years later, she lost her husband. During her loss, she still continued to serve men who were released from prison by offering them a place to stay as they worked to continue to rehabilitate back into society.

 Pam, Stella, and Jackie. All with loss. All with needs. All with their own unique story.

This is also the story of Both Hands; an organization where you use one hand to serve the widow and one to serve the orphan, and this is one more of the ways that people have the opportunity to answer the call of caring for vulnerable children and families. We know that healing can come through relationships, and we need to bring that hope and healing to those around us. That’s why we collaborate with organizations like Both Hands–to provide opportunities just like this to serve those that Christ has called us to. 

We often hear, “What if I don’t feel called to foster and adopt? Is there still a place for me to serve and live out the calling God has placed on my life?” A million times, YES! Being a part of the OCA community doesn’t require you to be a foster or adoptive parent. If you have two hands, you can serve and experience the same joy that we have seen so many experience through partners like Both Hands. 

To date, OCA has completed two Both Hands projects by supporting widows with home improvements and raising nearly $20,000 in sponsorship gifts for the work here at OCA. Pam, Stella, and Jackie are just three examples of widows that have been impacted by volunteers who serve them and meet their needs. Needs for Pam who needed yard work and house projects completed needs like Jackie who finally got her shrubs properly trimmed, and needs like Stella who needed new railings put in on her stairs, new toilets installed, and her gutters cleaned. When projects were completed, the team of volunteers gathered around each widow to pray over them. Joy and tears of gratefulness flowed from these widows as they felt the love of Christ. 

Both Hands exist to fulfill James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” With such similar missions and callings within each of our organizations, it made perfect sense to partner with them and serve in this way. The Biblical invitation that James 1:27 describes cannot be ignored. In the gospel, we are orphans and God has adopted us. If we truly believe this truth we must show others that same love. 

OCA Gateway is another way that you can be a part of the OCA Community and show that gospel-centered love that is described here in James 1:27. Gateway is an online system designed for you to request goods and services for vulnerable families and children you serve. You can simply enter a request and it will be sent via email to the volunteers in your area the very next morning. When a volunteer chooses to meet your need you will get an email with their phone number and email address so you can connect and handle the need. 

We want you to know that there are so many ways that you can serve within OCA and meet the calling that is so clearly laid out in scripture without being a foster or adoptive parent. Just remember, all you have to bring with you are your two hands. Jesus does the rest.