Pastor Powell's Column

January 2011

Orphan Care

Something new is stirring in The Fellowship in response to the challenge of orphan care on National Adoption Sunday.

God’s Word makes clear that “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and blameless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. In addition the recurrent phrase “widows, orphans and aliens” is used across the Old Testament in expressions of compassion that is God’s and that is godly.

Adoption is exalted in the New Testament when it is used as a symbol of the Gospel, of the Holy Spirit’s work, and of end-time hope.

As a church we need to hear what God is saying to us about orphan care through the activism of our youth: Care for AIDS orphans in Africa (Jenna); orphanage work in Jaipur, India (Brianna); rescuing street children-at-risk and trafficked young women in Mumbai, India (Bethany and Heidi); and fighting to end the enslavement of 27 million worldwide, predominantly children (Peter).

The recent earth earthquake relief team we sent to Haiti started work on a new home for the orphans they got so close to. The long term teams we are building in Mumbai and Central Asia have an orphan care dimension.

Do we detect a trend here?

Orphan care goes beyond adoption. Yes, many in our church have adopted, and perhaps even more would if we could help mobilize support. Denver and Washington, D.C. are places where churches are mobilizing to reduce or eliminate the number of children on waiting lists for adoption or foster care.

Yet not everyone can adopt. Even if many more would do so, it’s not likely we will see homes for all 143 million orphans in the world. Yet we can all be involved in orphan care. As advocates, orphanage supporters, mentors, prayer partners, adoption underwriters . . . the list is an eye opener! We circulated a list of “Ten Ways Every Christian Can Care for the Orphan and the Waiting Child.” Each item is loaded with practical ideas and heartwarming stories. See this well presented sheet at HopeForOrphans.org.

For our own congregation and locale, we would like to develop a Task Force for Orphan Care. If you would like to be involved, please let us know at the church office.