Take the population of New York City. Over 8 million people.
Now add to that the entire population of Los Angeles. We’ve got 12 million so far.
Now add Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, and Phoenix. 20 million people. It’s almost hard to even imagine such an incredible number.
Yet even more incredible is the fact that each one of these 20 million people have faces and names, likes and dislikes. They have favorite movies or books. Most love pizza. Some don’t like coffee or chocolate. Some are allergic to peanuts. They have hopes, dreams, and aspirations.
Of these 20 million, some are cat people. Some are dog people. They have weird talents and odd features. They have deep secrets. You’ve got democrats, republicans, writers, teachers, children.
Some cry over random things and don’t know why. Some love to go to the gym or read a book or play video games.
But each of these 20 million people has a distinct personality and background that has shaped them into the people they have become. You and I may never meet any of them, and yet this reality holds no consequence to the importance of their lives. They’ll try new things, discover new abilities, travel to wild places, and dream impossible dreams, all while having never met you or me.
Are we really so self-centered that we could allow ourselves to ignore 20 million people, solely based on the fact that we’ll probably never meet them?
What if I told you they were orphans?
What if I told you that every single one of these 20 million orphans were living in India today?
What if these people whom we ignore because they aren’t in our social circle or country or hemisphere had names and faces and likes and dislikes? What if you personally knew the hopes and dreams and aspirations of the 20 million orphans living in India right now? What if even one of these very real children loved dogs over cats, or could do a funny trick with his fingers, or was able to captivate her friends with her wild stories and imagination?
How real do these children need to become before you do something?
How many millions of children need to be left in the street without moms and dads to care for them before you take action?
How often does our God need to remind us that we were fatherless before He took action before we do as our Father does? (John 14:18)
In Exodus 22 and Deuteronomy 14, His Law protects and provides for the widows and orphans. The psalms praise His name as a helper, defender, and Father to the fatherless (10, 68, 82, 146). Paul writes in Romans 8 and Galatians 4 that because of Christ’s sacrifice, we are no longer sons of darkness but adopted heirs to the Kingdom of God!
How can we stand by and withhold care for the fatherless when we’ve been chosen and adopted by the God of the universe?
To quote my pastor from college, Marcus Bellamy, in his sermon on our responsibility to care for orphans, “Once I acknowledge what God has done for me, it becomes much easier for me to respond to the needs of others.”
You can close your eyes and raise your hands and sing “You hold the orphans in Your loving arms, this is who You are” all day long, but if that lyric doesn’t motivate you to walk in holiness and hold the orphan in your loving arms, then what are you even singing?
One last challenge: I read a staggering statistic yesterday. If one family from one out of every three churches in the U.S. were to adopt a child from foster care today, there would be no more orphans in the United States.
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” – James 1:27
Global Adoption Services, Inc. – http://www.adoptglobal.org/
America World Adoption Association – http://www.awaa.org/default.aspx
Bethany Christian Services – https://www.bethany.org/
KidsPeace Foster Care – http://fostercare.com/
AdoptUSKids – http://adoptuskids.org/
Reclaimed Project – http://reclaimedproject.org/
Feel free to leave links for adoption/foster care agencies in the comment section, and I will add them to this list.
As always, the comment section is open for any way my team and I can pray for you.
End of post.
