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Rees Howells, an early nineteenth century missionary and prayer warrior, once felt God challenge him to become a “father to the fatherless.” There was a family of orphan children in Rees’ town, and God challenge him to take them as his own. “I thought You were the Father to the fatherless, God,” Rees countered in protest. “Yes,” God replied. “But you are part of my Body. You are my hands and feet. For Me to truly be a Father to the fatherless, I must be one through you.”
God wants us to be fathers and mothers to the orphans of the world, to demonstrate the love of Christ, not just in words, but in real-life action. It’s a sacred call upon every one of our lives – not a special call – as James 1:27 clearly states.
If you feel a stirring in your heart to live a more others-focused life, this article is meant to help give you practical ideas for how to begin – specifically with the area of orphans. (We’ll explore other great needs such as slaves, prisoners, and the poor in our upcoming issues.) By no means is this an exhaustive list of the orphan opportunities that are out there. It is very possible that God will open up something for you that’s completely different than what I’ve mentioned here. It’s so important that we allow God to guide and direct our steps when it comes to these decisions. He knows the plans He has for us, and if we are diligent to seek Him, He will make our path clear. However, just because we don’t have clarity on all of the details shouldn’t stop us from moving forward. Often, God will only give us a small ray of light to follow, keeping all the “hows” and “whens” hidden until we take that first step of obedience.
They are victims of a dysfunctional system that is heavy on policies but severely lacking in personal advocacy. When foster care kids are of age, many are simply kicked out of the system and left to fend for themselves. I’ve heard people try to defend the foster care system in America, or downplay the fact that these children should truly be considered orphans worthy of our assistance. But the startling fact that seventy percent of prisoners in America are former foster kids speaks volumes about the urgent need for reform.
Ask God to show you where to start. Sometimes, He asks us to begin with one. When Eric and I first began to feel the call of God to reach the orphans of the world, the idea was daunting. We didn’t know where to begin. And then, we heard about a 2-month-old orphan girl from South Korea with no fingers. And we knew this was the one God wanted us to start with. (Today, this little girl is our daughter, Harper Grace Ludy).
When you allow God to place orphans on your radar screen and ask Him to open doors for you to reach them, you’ll be amazed at the doors that open.
Visit orphan websites to increase your awareness of the need and opportunities with orphans around the world. Some of my favorites are:
Help Meet Orphans’ Needs:
Give an orphanage a washing machine, crib, package of diapers, etc. At www.helporphans.org, you can click on the “Gift from the Heart” section and designate a financial gift to be used for an item of your choice to be given to an orphanage in the country of your choice. You can also organize a drive to collect shoes or other supplies for orphans around the world. Visit www.shoesfororphansouls.org, or www.gainusa.org and click on “Projects.” At www.worldorphans.org, you can learn how a gift of a few thousand dollars can cover building costs of a new orphanage in one of dozens of countries. Consider helping raise this money through your small group or church.
Attend the Annual Orphan Summit (sponsored by Focus on the Family, Family Life and Shaohannah’s Hope). This is an annual three-day conference in which orphan advocates gather together to learn more about orphan needs around the world, connect with others in orphan-ministry, and gain God’s heart for the Fatherless. Eric and I have attended this event numerous times and have always been deeply impacted and practically assisted in our efforts to stand for orphans. For more information about this event, visit www.cryoftheorphan.org.
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Pray for Orphans. Here is a practical prayer suggestion from Family Life Today’s Orphan Ministry:
There are countless numbers of “waiting children” around the world, and in our own country; kids who are up for adoption, hoping and praying for a forever-family. Pray for waiting kids whenever you are “waiting.” Go online to find a waiting child listing. A few of these listings include: www.adoptuskids.org; www.rainbowkids.com; www.precious.org. Print out a picture and description of a waiting child and tape it to your dashboard. Every time you find yourself waiting – in traffic, at a stoplight, in the drive-thru – pray for this child. Plead with the Father on their behalf. Organize an evening prayer vigil on behalf of the orphan and waiting child. Invite other churches to join you as well. You can pray for children all over the world or you can ask your local foster care office for pictures and names of waiting children in your city to pray for (you can also get these online.)
You can also become a spokesperson for waiting kids. Keep a picture of a waiting child in your wallet or purse. When you are visiting with other believers, pull it out and ask if they, or someone else they know, would consider giving this child a home. Often, the idea of adopting a waiting child seems impossible from a distance, but when people are able to take an up-close look at a specific child, their entire perspective changes.
Visit an Orphanage
You can go on a construction trip, a medical trip, or just a simple outreach trip to interact with these precious children and show them the love of Christ. One orphanage director I spoke with recently said that just having someone spend individual time with an orphanage child can make a huge impact – because so often these kids cannot receive one-on-one attention. Some ministries that organize frequent trips to orphanages around the world are:
Sponsor an Orphan
This includes both monthly financial support and a ministry of ongoing encouragement though letter writing. Visit www.hopechest.org, www.visiontrust.org, or www.worldhelp.org to learn more. Child sponsorship can make the difference between health or sickness, education or poverty, hope or despair, and usually requires such a small sacrifice on our part.
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Consider Long-term Orphan-Work Positions
It’s easy to assume that there are lots of other people out there working to solve the orphan crisis. But with 143 million orphans in the world, the need is not going to disappear anytime soon. In many impoverished countries, you can simply walk down the street and observe hundreds of street children, begging for food, scouring through trash, and sleeping in gutters or on dumps. Most orphanages I’ve encountered started with one simple man, woman, or couple who moved to a developing nation and made themselves available to orphans. Without fail, orphans flocked to them as a refuge and safe haven – and that’s how the orphanage was launched. It didn’t require a lot of money, strategy, or expertise. It simply required availability and a mighty faith in God.
If God is stirring your heart to pour-out your life for orphans on a more permanent basis, I would encourage you to follow His lead! Visit orphanages around the world and ask Him to show you where and how to begin. Typically orphanages in developing nations are desperately needing full-time staff to care for the children, administrate finances, teach, and disciple. Don’t worry about the fact that you do not know the language or that you lack experience. Allow God to expand your vision and fill your heart with courage to step out in faith and confidence that He will direct your steps!
Help Facilitate Adoption
Psalm 68:5 says that God is a Father to the fatherless, and He “sets the solitary in families.” Isaiah 58 says that those who “bring the poor that are cast out into their house” will be blessed by God. Adoption is very close to God’s heart. In fact, adoption is an amazing picture of the Gospel. When we receive Christ, we are adopted into the family of God, and receive the amazing, unmatched privilege of being His sons and daughters for eternity. A “forever family” is the number one desire of every orphan child. One orphan worker told me recently of a six-year-old girl in Guatemala who cries herself to sleep every night because she longs so desperately for a family. Millions of children echo her cries.
In spite of the desperate need for families for the orphans of the world, adoption is not as popular or wide-spread as might be expected. Only 17,000 international adoptions take place in the U.S. each year. That’s not many considering the millions and millions of babies and children desperately needing families.
Having personally walked through two adoption processes, I understand why the adoption numbers are so low. The process, in most cases, is extremely expensive and very intimidating. Families feel unable to afford it, and overwhelmed by the endless piles of paperwork, government forms and invasive home-studies from social-workers. Like I said earlier, it’s far easier and cheaper to obtain an orphan child for corrupt purposes than to rescue one for the Kingdom of God.
But there is a lot that you can do to help make adoption more viable for Christian families. Churches around this country are beginning to awaken to the idea of launching ministry expressly dedicated to orphans and waiting children, providing funding, support, prayer, and practical help to families seeking to adopt. You can become the catalyst in your church for launching an orphan/adoption ministry. To learn how, visit www.shaohannahshope.org or www.HopeForOrphans.com.
You can also give financially to two organizations that provide grant money to families seeking to adopt. From personal experience, I can say that both of these organizations were truly amazing and critical in helping us afford our daughter’s adoption from Korea. To find out more, visit www.lifesongfororphans.org and www.shaohannahshope.org.
Here are some more ways to support adoption:
Become a licensed social worker, and provide home-study services through a local Christian adoption agency. Most Christian families dread the idea of walking through the home-study process, in which a social worker meets with you to ask you personal questions about your marriage, lifestyle and how you raise your kids. Just knowing that they will have the opportunity to work with a like-minded Christian social worker provides a huge amount of relief, and often makes the difference between a family saying yes or no to adoption.
Jackie Pullinger knew only that she was supposed to “go” and reach poor people with the hope of Christ. She boarded a ship that was sailing around the world and prayed about where God would have her get off. Gladys Aylward knew only that God wanted her in China, so with virtually no money or contacts, she boarded a train and allowed God to handle the details. Lydia Prince felt a draw to Jerusalem. She had no idea how God would choose to use her there, but she went anyway. In every case, God performed miracle after miracle to direct these courageous women’s paths. When we step out in obedience to Him, He will always go with us!
As you read through the practical ideas offered in this article, I would encourage you to pray that God’s Spirit would be your guide. Ask Him to stir your heart toward a specific cause. Ask Him to clarify how He might want to use your life to build His Kingdom. And ask Him to give you courage to take the first step forward.
There are 145 million orphans in the world today. They are hungry, sick, scared and alone. They ache for love, for a family, for an advocate. Their world is harsh and cruel. Countless millions live on the streets. They are treated as the scum of society. They must scavenge through dumps to find food. They inhale chemical solvents to ease their hunger pains. In many countries, even stray dogs get more respect than these precious little ones. They hide in cemeteries or old buildings to escape being shot and killed by corrupt men, and to avoid being kidnapped and forced into sex slavery. Many do not live past their sixteenth birthday. They perish in agony from hunger, sickness, glue-addiction, and sexually transmitted disease.
The AIDS crisis is one of the largest disasters in world history. Children are the greatest victims. 10 million have already been orphaned in Africa because of AIDS. But the staggering fact is that within the next two years, that number is predicted to jump to 40 million. The children orphaned by AIDS are often infected with HIV themselves, facing a bleak future of starvation, sickness and death.
In Haiti, Cambodia, Vietnam, and many other countries, staggering numbers of orphan girls are being kidnapped and forced into slave prostitution – some as young as five years old.
Even in America, orphans exist. They are known as foster care children. It is politically incorrect to call them “orphans” nowadays, so often the church overlooks them as not truly being in need of assistance. But foster care children are often as needy as the abandoned street children around the world. The lucky ones are placed into loving Christian homes. But the majority of them are trapped in chaotic, unhealthy, abusive living environments, overlooked, rejected and unloved.
If you know a family thinking about adoption, encourage them and offer practical support. A great resource is the booklet Welcome Home: Eight Steps to Adoption, available through Family Life Today. (1-800-FLTODAY). There is also a great book called Successful Adoption – a guide for Christian families, filled with essential information and inspiring adoption stories. If it seems appropriate, purchase these resources and give them to Christian families you know who are contemplating adoption. Sometimes just having someone give them a little encouraging push in the right direction is all it takes.
If you know of someone who is adopting, offer to throw a shower for them. The adoption process is just as exciting, emotional, and lifelong as pregnancy and childbirth, but often adoptive parents don’t get treated with the same support or enthusiasm from friends and family. By throwing the adoptive family a shower, you can help them celebrate the miracle of adopting a child into their home, just as if they were bringing a child into their home by birth. You can also organize meals to be taken to an adoptive family upon the arrival of their child. When Harper came home from Korea, one of our neighbors organized the several families from the neighborhood to bring meals to us for the first week. It was so helpful and appreciated – especially since we were getting very little sleep, and didn’t have time or energy to cook!
Another great way to support adoption is to connect with a local crisis pregnancy center (also called pregnancy resource centers.) You can volunteer to become a counselor for women facing unwanted pregnancies, or help the pregnancy ministry in many other practical ways. It is a sad reality that Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion organizations receive millions of dollars of funding from the government and other sources, while pro-adoption ministries often struggle to make ends meet. You can offer to help your local pregnancy center with their fund-raising efforts and even become trained as a grant-writer, to propose and submit grants to various organizations that may potentially offer financial support. Visit www.care-net.org for a list of pregnancy centers around the country.
Note: If you are seriously considering adoption for yourself, a great starting place would be getting the two resources I mentioned earlier: Welcome Home: Eight Steps to Adoption, available through Family Life Today. (1-800-FLTODAY) and the book Successful Adoption – a guide for Christian families.
Reach out to Foster Care Children
Over 20,000 teens a year “age out” of the U.S. foster care system with no place to call home. Call your local foster care office and let them know you have the desire to be a support for a child who is aging out of foster care. I recently encountered a nineteen year old Christian single young woman who has launched a support system for teens who have aged-out of the foster care system. She helps them gain practical skills, emotional support, and day-to-day assistance to help them make a strong start in their new life and overcome many of the intense challenges they face. We are in need of many, many more advocates for these young people across our country.
Other ways to reach them:
-Become a Court Appointed Special Advocate. These are people who volunteer their time to get to know a child in foster care and speak to the court on their behalf. You can find out more by visiting www.nationalcasa.org.
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-Care packages for crisis situations. Because of drugs, alcohol, violence and abuse, foster children are sometimes pulled out of their homes with no warning, even in the middle of the night. They are often thrust into a new environment without their familiar toys, blankets, clothes, or basic necessities. Volunteer to make a care package for children who are taken out of crisis situations – and include items such as stuffed animals, blankets, toothbrush and toothpaste. It can be a simple way to bring comfort and peace in an emotionally turbulent moment.
-Support local foster care families by volunteering to baby sit, help with housework, cook a meal for them once a week, etc. Commit to praying for these courageous families, and offer them words of encouragement. Offer to provide “respite care”, meaning temporary foster care, to give the long-term foster families a reprieve. You can connect with foster care families through your local foster care agency – just do a quick search online and you’ll find a list of options.
-Get Creative. Here’s one example. A couple of years ago, a seventeen-year-old girl Florida girl named Lindsay began praying about an outreach - some sort of ministry she could participate in - some way to utilize her unique gifts for God's glory. Lindsay got the idea to launch a ministry called Taylor 's Closet. It allows girls in foster care to come into a store-like environment and "shop" for whatever clothes they liked - completely free of charge. The idea was just to put a smile on their face for a moment and let them know they weren't alone.
Since then God has blessed this ministry in some huge and wonderful ways. In December of 2006, Taylor’s Closet opened its first permanent "store" for foster girls – a boutique filled with new or barely-used designer clothes, which the girls can take home for free. Taylor’s Closet receives clothing donations from all over the world and gives girls in foster-care a place to come where they feel loved in a truly practical way. Visit ww.taylorscloset.org to get the full story and perhaps be inspired toward your own unique idea for reaching out to these precious foster care kids.
Here are a few more examples:
In Colorado, two Christian men recently started something called Project 127 (as in James 1:27) with the goal to help get all of our state’s 800 “waiting kids” into adoptive Christian families. They hold seminars in churches all over the region, linking prospective parents with waiting children, helping facilitate the adoption process, and providing support, encouragement, and practical help for those who adopt.
Another local ministry, Portraits of Hope, takes beautifully portrait-style photography of waiting children and displays them in church lobbies and at Christian seminars, so that potential families can see the children up-close and catch a vision for the idea of adopting them.
Orphans are very close to the heart of God. Being His hands and His feet to them is our sacred privilege. Every small step you take to fulfill this calling upon your life will be backed by the assistance of Heaven, and every decision you make to put the orphan’s needs above your own comfort will bless the heart of your Father.
“God watched over me. . .His lamp shone upon my head, and by His light I walked through darkness. . .because I delivered the poor who cried out; the fatherless and the one who had no helper.” (Job 29:2-3,12)
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GIVEN.PHOTOGRAPHY
GIVEN.PHOTOGRAPHY
Q&A
January/ February Issue 2010