“What are some ways you can care for orphans?” I asked my 5-year old twins today…
“Give them clothes, give them food, pray every night for them. Pray for their mamas. Send them Christmas gifts. If I get five puppies, I won’t keep any of them but I’ll give them all to Congo and let the kids be happy with the puppies.”
It seems to simple in the mind of a child: generosity, giving of ourselves and our things…and is it much more complicated in the mind of an adult? The Orphan Crisis has been given much attention in the past decade, especially in the evangelical Christian movement–and in some ways it is just as simple as this: to simply give, giving as the Lord calls us to (whether financially, time, to bring a child into our family, etc)…
…And yet in other ways, we must recognize the ways that it is not simple. The Orphan Crisis is a crisis of community; a crisis of family; a crisis of broken systems; a crisis of desperate women; innocent children–brokenness and effects of the Fall. When we simplify orphan care to look only at the children it effects, we ignore–and in many cases we unknowingly exacerbate–the plight of the vulnerable family, of the poor community, of the women who are doing all they can to simply keep their children alive.
As our church is in the early stages of starting an Orphan Care Ministry Team, I am challenged to think more holistically about what this may look like: locally in our own city; across the world where my passion lies with the Congolese people; and in ways that may not be expected. How can an attorney, a teacher, a stay-at-home mom, a doctor, a factory worker, a politician, a salesperson, a child, a teenager contribute meaningfully to the care of orphans and vulnerable families? Join me in thinking creatively; I surely believe that if our Father has commanded unequivocally in Scripture to care for orphans, then surely He will direct ways for us all to meaningfully do just that. How can you help to think out of the box!?
