The Story of A Toolbelt, A Widow, and an Orphan
Have you ever seen something or heard a message that resonated so deeply within you that you just couldn’t sit on your hands? Perhaps you’ve had the kind of experience Matthew West wrote about in his song, Do Something:
So, I shook my fist at Heaven
Said, “God, why don’t You do something?”
He said, “I did, yeah, I created you”
Toolbelt 68.5 Founding Team
(From left to right: Jim Welsh, Mike King, Mike Crosby, Trent Lennard)
It was just such a challenge that rocked Mike King to his core last February (2022) when he heard JT Olson, founder of Both Hands Ministries, speak at Westside. JT, who was the keynote speaker for the 2022 RE: Conference, stayed an extra day to deliver a message for all Westsiders the next morning. JT shared his personal experience being orphaned at 12 when his parents were killed in a tragic car accident. That single moment when his entire world turned upside-down began a 40-year journey that God eventually used to bless countless orphans, adoptive families, and widows across the United States.
JT’s message that morning planted, watered, and sprouted a seed in a group of Westside men. We hope their story provides inspiration to the rest of us and challenges us to listen carefully for the answer the next time we, like Matthew West, shout, "God, why don’t you do something?”
JT Olson speaks to Westside, February 6, 2022.
“I know what this church is about, and there’s a ton of unsung heroes in here,” JT Olson paused as he looked into the audience. “We might not all be called to adopt or foster a child, but we are all called to take care of the widows and the orphans.”
As JT brought his message to a close, Mike King sat in his chair, fidgeting with his hands. He and his wife, Stacey, never adopted of fostered children, but with her work as a school teacher in some of Kansas City’s most difficult districts, their home had become a refuge for many. The pair shared a heart for mercy and service.
But Mike couldn’t believe what he had just heard – as JT described his ministry, one word came to Mike’s mind. Brilliant.
“Both Hands” ministry followed a model that simultaneously helped widows and orphans. The idea was simple. Adoption can be cost-prohibitive for many families, but Both Hands offered a way for them to raise the needed funds. In this model, families put together a team of people who would each seek sponsors (similar to a charity golf tournament or 5K Run) for an upcoming work project on a widow’s home. While the labor and many of the materials were donated, the money raised directly benefited the adoptive family.
Mike walked out of the sanctuary and scanned the commons. “Why isn’t there a booth out here?” He thought. He was fired up and ready to offer to help on a work project. When he didn’t find a booth, Mike looked for his friend, Crosby. For years, the two men worked together in a ministry called “God’s Army,” repairing homes for disadvantaged people. Crosby also had a tender place in his heart for orphans. When he was a teen, his parents fostered more than a dozen kids in their home.
“Crosby!” Mike hollered as he approached his friend, quickening his step.
“Hey!” Crosby turned around with his trademark big smile. Grabbing Mike by the shoulder, he offered a greeting, “What’s up?”
“Were you just in there?” Mike skipped the niceties and went straight to the heart of the matter. Crosby knew he meant business.
“Yeah, I sure was. Powerful, wasn’t it?”
“We have to do something about this. JT’s idea was absolutely brilliant. We should do that here.”
“Yeah! I agree! Let’s do it! Like I always say, God has blessed me with two hands and two feet so I can use them for him.”
“God has blessed me with two hands and two feet so I can use them for him. ”
“OK, great. I’ll call you later and figure out a time to meet this week.”
With that, the two men parted ways. Could this be the answer to the prayer Mike had been struggling with?
For nearly 10 years, Mikd had invested his time serving the teens at Westside. The most recent group he’d shepherded recently graduated, and Mike felt a little lost. His daily runs doubled as his prayer time – when he felt closest to God, could wrestle with questions, and often found clarity. But for months, Mike had been asking, “What’s next, God? What am I gonna do?” And for months, God was seemingly silent.
The morning following JT’s message, Mike went out for his usual run and began praying.
“God, what am I gonna do about this? I feel like you’ve burdened my heart here, but how do I do this? Who do I need to talk to?” As he prayed about the idea, he felt nudged to call Jen Decker (Network 1.27) and his good friend Trent Lennard. Mike and Trent were in the same A2 community, and he knew Trent’s personal story of adopting two girls from China. He also knew Trent was in a career transition after recently retiring from the U.S. Navy. Perhaps he would be interested in a project like this.
Mike rounded the corner into his driveway. He checked his watch to ensure it wasn't too early and called Trent.
It seemed a little out of character for Mike to call him first thing in the morning so Trent answered right away.
"Hi Mike," Trent greeted his friend. “Is everything ok?”
"Hey, yeah, everything’s great. I know it's a little early, but I need to ask you – did you see the sermon yesterday?" Mike wasn’t wasting any time and got right down to business.
"Yeah, I did. My daughter Cheyanne and I saw it up at Speedway." Cheyanne was Trent's oldest of two daughters adopted from China.
"Wasn't it great?"
"Yeah, it was. It prompted a really good conversation with Cheyanne about our experience with her adoption in the car on the way home."
"That's awesome. I wanna hear about that, but I have a question for you. Mike Crosby and I want to start something like that here. Do you want to team up with us and take a closer look at what we could do?" Mike's words hung in the air as Trent took in the breadth of the idea. Trent caught his wife's eye across the room, and he knew he could only give one answer.
"Mike, I'd be happy to join you guys in investigating what we could do. I think it's a great idea. We just need to figure out how that would look for us here in Kansas."
After he finished the conversation and hung up the phone, Trent turned to his wife, Tamara. She was out of town for their younger daughter's gymnastics meet over the weekend and missed JT's message. "Remember that sermon I was telling you about last night?"
Tamara nodded.
"Well, that was Mike King, and he and Crosby want to do something similar here and asked me to look into it with them."
Tamara smiled. "Well, of course, you had to say yes. Sounds like I need to go watch that sermon today."
Later that morning, Mike dashed an email off to Jen Decker. "Hi Jen, a few of us saw JT's message on Sunday, and we want to start something like that here at Westside. What's a good time to talk?"
Jen saw the email the following day. After an intense past few weeks leading the RE: Conference, she was trying to ease into her week as best she could. The email could wait a couple of days for when she had more energy. Jen had received similar emails in the past from people with grand ideas, but when it came down to the nuts and bolts, they just wanted her team to do the work to put it together. She was tired and didn’t enjoy the prospect of having to say “no” yet again.
A few days later, Mike picked up the phone and called Jen directly.
As he began explaining the project, Jen felt a quickening in her spirit. This idea really did have merit, but she was cautious.
"Mike, I love this idea, and you can definitely do this, but I can't support you with our team to make it happen."
"Jen, we're not asking you to do that. We know God's calling us to do this thing, but we think there are some important ways we can work together."
Something was different here. These men weren't trying to make their good idea someone else's work. They had a working plan and a network of people to make it happen. What was lacking was input on how they could come alongside Network 1.27 families and serve them well.
"Well, we have a Network 1.27 meeting this week," Jen offered. "I'd love for you to come and share the idea with the team and see what they say. They'll probably have some good insight."
"We'll be there, Jen. Thank you!" Mike replied.
Within days, Mike and Trent were at the table with the Network 1.27 team. The meeting started with Jenny Venning sharing some wins from the RE: Conference. After some additional business, Jen introduced Mike and Trent. They shared their vision for a construction ministry to benefit foster and adoptive families. They explained to the group how they were working through how to fund the projects but really hoped they could connect them with families who needed help.
When a lull in the conversation presented itself, a woman across the table nervously raised her hand.
Toolbelt 68.5 volunteers get to work.
"Can I say something?" Janice* asked.
"Go ahead," Jen encouraged.
"Well, as a lot of you here know, we want to foster a couple more kids, but the state has given us a list of things in our home that must be addressed before we can be approved. We have money to do the project, but as we've talked to different contractors, they all say the project is too small for them. If I gave you the list of things that need to get done, do you think you guys could do the work for us?"
Mike's heart started beating quickly.
"Yes, we probably could," Trent turned to Mike.
"Yes, I mean, we would need to come over and look at the project to make sure it's something we are capable of, but let's see what we can do."
Within the week, the men met with Janice and her husband, Bill*, to review the project list. It was a large project, but one they certainly could do. A few days later, they scheduled a day to shop at Menards with Bill and sent an email out to their network of volunteers. About ten workers responded and showed up at the couple's home.
The project involved removing the stairwell railing and replacing it with a half-wall. Additionally, the team would frame, insulate, and sheetrock an additional room. The job took about 8 hours to complete.
Helping on the project that day was Jim Welsh. Jim and his wife Zila always wanted to have their own children, but God had another plan for them. While they loved children, they also didn’t feel called to foster or adopt. Instead, they invested their time and resources in their community and the lives of the children in their sphere of influence. When Crosby explained the project to him, Jim knew it was something he wanted to be part of. He, too, heard JT Olson speak at church that Sunday and understood the vision for what the men wanted to do.
That morning, Jim offered to help with one of the more complicated projects at Bill and Janice’s home. Trent came alongside him to help frame out the walls for a new room. It was the first time the men had met, and as they worked, they shared stories about building things as kids. Jim told Trent how his Dad would always buy him tools for Christmas – many of which he had with him that day.
Trent was impressed with Jim's skill and dedication. In the afternoon, several volunteers left for various commitments, but Jim stayed 'til the end and refused to leave until he knew the job was complete and cleaned up.
Standing in their newly remodeled space, Bill and Janice were amazed. The work they had hoped to do for months had been completed in a day. But their story didn't end there. Almost immediately after the job was done, the couple was able to provide a safe place for two children in dire need of a foster refuge.
When Janice called to tell Jen Decker and Jenny Venning what had just happened, the women were amazed.
"Jen, God is clearly doing something new," Jenny said.
"I know, I have goosebumps," Jenny replied. "Not only is he mobilizing, but he’s also equipping people to come forth with what families need to help these vulnerable children in our backyard."
That first project at Janice and Bill's became the men's proof of concept, and they were excited.
Crosby, Mike, Trent, and Jim continued meeting to discuss and plan projects while they simultaneously built out the structure of their fledgling operation. During one meeting, Trent opened the group in prayer.
When he finished his prayer, he read a devotional that included a passage from Psalm 68. "Guys, I read this today and wanted to share it with you. It felt so spot-on with our mission. Listen to this." And he began to read.
“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling. ”
Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds;
rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
God sets the lonely in families,
he leads out the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. (Psalm 68:4-6)
Mike sat quietly as Trent read. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. As Trent finished, Mike took a deep breath.
“You guys aren’t gonna believe this,” Mike began. “That was the verse I read this morning in my Old Testament reading plan. But I didn’t make the connection to our group until Trent just read that to us.”
“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling,” Crosby repeated as he locked eyes with Mike. “That has to be our mission or vision.”
“I agree,” Jim affirmed. “Whatever we call ourselves, it has to be wrapped around that verse, Psalm 68:5..”
The full name, Toolbelt 68.5 came soon after. There was just one problem. They were only serving half of the mission. As JT rightly pointed out in his message, “we are all called to take care of widows (emphasis added) and orphans.” They weren’t sure exactly how to reach the widows. Network 1.27 had been a fantastic resource for the Toolbelt 68.5 team because they didn’t have to worry about vetting people and ensuring they wouldn’t be taken advantage of, but how would they find widows who equally needed their help?
Unbeknownst to them, within months of their group starting up, another group began meeting at Westside – a community of widows. One Sunday morning, Crosby heard about the widows group and brought it up at their next Toolbelt 68.5 meeting. The men put a plan together and soon had a steady flow of requests from both foster/adoptive families and widows.
Jim, found his heart profoundly moved by each new project they took on, but in January, something new clicked for him. Jim, Trent, Crosby, and Mike were walking through the punch list of things that needed to be addressed at a widow’s home. The list was filled with small handyman-type projects. A broken shelf in the kitchen, a light fixture that needed to be installed, and a loose toilet paper holder in the master bath. Her husband probably would have addressed these things for her, but he wasn’t there. He passed away about 18 months earlier.
Jim lingered in the master bath momentarily as the rest of the group moved on.
Noticing Jim was not with the rest of the group, Trent returned to find him. “Jim, you ok?”
A police detective by trade, Jim wasn’t one to easily show his emotions, but Trent could tell something was up.
“Yeah,” Jim replied. “I was just looking at that toilet paper holder, and I realized that she’s been living with that broken thing for the last year and a half. It’s a constant reminder for her that he’s gone.” Jim shifted his gaze and locked eyes with Trent.
“You know, Trent, it’s such an easy thing to fix, yet nobody’s been here to do it for her. It’s small, but it’s the kind of thing you know will impact her every day. This is what it looks like to serve the widows.”
Jim stepped out of the bathroom, and Trent grabbed his shoulder. “I know. It’s like Crosby said in our meeting early on, God has blessed us with hands and feet so we can use them.”
Jim smiled. “Indeed he has.”
Toolbelt 68.5 has completed more than a dozen projects in the past year, with more currently under evaluation. Read their annual report HERE.
Click HERE to hear the message from JT Olson that inspired Toolbelt 68.5.
Almost exactly one year after JT Olson (center) spoke at Westside, the men of Toolbelt 68.5 gathered with him for dinner to share, discuss and dream about what God is doing.
Do you have a heart for others and construction or handiwork? Toolbelt 68.5 is always looking for volunteers. Contact Mike at toolbelt68.5@gmail.com to get on their mailing list or join their Facebook page to follow their projects and learn more.
* The names of the foster family referenced in this story (Bill and Janice) have been changed to protect their privacy.