So I'm guessing that some people did a double take with that title. Another post from Hannah about orphans...wait, did she say NOT to support orphans (even though God says to do just that)?
Today is National Orphan Sunday. I thought about writing a post about God's commands for us to take care of the orphan and what you can do, but I knew that the excuses that I always hear would be what many would be thinking. I would guess that most of us that have adopted have heard something like "I think it is so great that you are helping orphans, I would love to do something like that BUT....
1. "We just don't have the money." Let's be honest with each other here. I bet that everyone that has ever said that to me has two cars, an iphone/ ipad (droid) or multiple in their house, eats out several times a month, has bought new clothes in the last six months, etc. Now I also fit in the above categories, and I'm not saying we shouldn't enjoy those things, but we should not indulge in luxury if it becomes an excuse not to give.
Good news though even if your monthly spending leaves nothing left over for others: You can now give to charity simply by buying. Thanks to Jen Hatmaker and Sarah Bessey, I now am aware of Pure Charity. You can read more about this at Jen and Sarah's posts, but basically you can connect your everyday spending to a charity.
2. "Something might be wrong with them." So I don't want to get into the fundamental problem with this statement and how we judge who is worthy of our love or worthy to belong to a family. But I will say, that this is true. Most likely an orphans complete medical and family histories will not be known to you in adoption. But neither is it when we birth children from our tummies. And I missed the part in the gospel where we only love the perfect people. Both Davis and Gabre were adopted off of waiting child lists, and in both cases we did not know all the information about their medical histories that we know now, but OH how we would have missed out if that had stopped us. Just look at these faces...
3. "I think children need to stay in their own countries supported by people with their culture." If this is your belief, the good news is this does not have to stop you from living out the gospel! There are so many organizations that you can support that are working to do just this. Three of my favorite are ZOE, Bring Love In and Project Hopeful Awassa. These are a GREAT way to support orphans without adopting.
And one last statement that I so kindly ask you to consider before saying "Why didn't you adopt domestically? We need to take care of the children in the US first.". Please do not say this to anyone if YOU have not adopted or fostered in the US. But if this is your viewpoint, there are MANY ways (including thousands of children available for adoption and fostering) right here that you can support. Two I recommend are Methodist Home for Children and The Forgotten Initiative.
These are only a few of the fantastic organizations you can get involved with. I hope that today, on Orphan Sunday, you will consider what you can do in 2013 to make a difference in the life of an orphan. It will bless you more than you can imagine.
Today is National Orphan Sunday. I thought about writing a post about God's commands for us to take care of the orphan and what you can do, but I knew that the excuses that I always hear would be what many would be thinking. I would guess that most of us that have adopted have heard something like "I think it is so great that you are helping orphans, I would love to do something like that BUT....
1. "We just don't have the money." Let's be honest with each other here. I bet that everyone that has ever said that to me has two cars, an iphone/ ipad (droid) or multiple in their house, eats out several times a month, has bought new clothes in the last six months, etc. Now I also fit in the above categories, and I'm not saying we shouldn't enjoy those things, but we should not indulge in luxury if it becomes an excuse not to give.
Good news though even if your monthly spending leaves nothing left over for others: You can now give to charity simply by buying. Thanks to Jen Hatmaker and Sarah Bessey, I now am aware of Pure Charity. You can read more about this at Jen and Sarah's posts, but basically you can connect your everyday spending to a charity.
2. "Something might be wrong with them." So I don't want to get into the fundamental problem with this statement and how we judge who is worthy of our love or worthy to belong to a family. But I will say, that this is true. Most likely an orphans complete medical and family histories will not be known to you in adoption. But neither is it when we birth children from our tummies. And I missed the part in the gospel where we only love the perfect people. Both Davis and Gabre were adopted off of waiting child lists, and in both cases we did not know all the information about their medical histories that we know now, but OH how we would have missed out if that had stopped us. Just look at these faces...
3. "I think children need to stay in their own countries supported by people with their culture." If this is your belief, the good news is this does not have to stop you from living out the gospel! There are so many organizations that you can support that are working to do just this. Three of my favorite are ZOE, Bring Love In and Project Hopeful Awassa. These are a GREAT way to support orphans without adopting.
And one last statement that I so kindly ask you to consider before saying "Why didn't you adopt domestically? We need to take care of the children in the US first.". Please do not say this to anyone if YOU have not adopted or fostered in the US. But if this is your viewpoint, there are MANY ways (including thousands of children available for adoption and fostering) right here that you can support. Two I recommend are Methodist Home for Children and The Forgotten Initiative.
These are only a few of the fantastic organizations you can get involved with. I hope that today, on Orphan Sunday, you will consider what you can do in 2013 to make a difference in the life of an orphan. It will bless you more than you can imagine.
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