If you’ve worked with Kinship United before, you know our mission. You know we restore the childhoods of orphans and give widows the opportunity to care for them in a loving family environment, the Kinship Home. But have you ever wondered why orphans and widows?
They connect on a level not everyone can. They both know the excruciating heartbreak of losing someone they love so much. A feeling you might know as well.
What’s worse, in many countries around the world, orphans and widows are shunned and mistreated. Their families reject them and they find themselves alone and vulnerable.
Like little Khartik in India, for example. After his parents died, Khartik’s extended family abandoned him when he needed them the most. At his mother’s funeral, Khartik was wandering around, alone, as the adults prepared for his mother’s traditional burial. He was thirsty and picked up what he thought was a bottle of water, taking a big gulp. But it wasn’t really water. What Khartik drank was actually embalming liquid: POISON. In this little boy’s darkest hour of grief and solitude, his family turned their backs on him and left him for dead.
Horrible stories like Khartik’s are far too common for orphans and widows. But in their sorrow and grief, they hold a special place in God’s heart. In the Bible, widows and orphans nearly always appear together. No less than 25 times.
God tells us to “take up the cause of the fatherless” and “plead the case of the widow” (Isaiah 1:17). He knows their pain and loneliness. He knows that they have no one else in this world. And He trusts us – all of us – to care for them during their suffering.
There’s one verse in particular that’s at the heart of everything. It’s the main reason Kinship Homes bring orphans and widows together: James 1:27. Just in case you don’t know it, the verse says, “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.”
At Kinship United every project starts with the church and transforms into a home and a family united by love, support, and the Gospel. Your gifts give them a hot meal every day, clean water to drink, and a warm, comfy bed to call their own. And because of you and generous people like you, orphans and widows can rebuild together and love one another as you have loved them.
With Kinship United, you bring together two groups of hurting people who have lost so much. You’re giving them a chance to finally start healing. You practice “pure and faultless” religion.
But this is the best part. Remember little Khartik? His story had a happy ending. Generous donors like you saved his life. Their gifts brought him into a safe Kinship Home and provided for the expensive life-saving abdominal surgery he needed.
And you can do the same for another orphan –or widow– in need.
Start today with a one-time donation or a monthly gift. You can even sponsor a Kinship Home if you feel called. But give today knowing that even though you’re not there to see their smiles, they thank God every day for you and your kindness.
And so does everyone at Kinship United.
