"Orphans... Who Cares?"

"Pure and undefiled religion … "

God's concern for the orphan, the widow, and the alien is so central to His plan for us here on earth that He gives us a startling and profound statement in James 1:27. "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world."

Why would God tell us that caring for orphans is "pure and undefiled religion"? Perhaps because caring for an orphan teaches you about loving a person who may be slow to love you back. Perhaps because you receive just a glimpse of how God may feel when we fail to return His love for us ... when we rebel against Him. Perhaps because the world sees God's heart when He works through His people to help the helpless.

And perhaps it's because caring for orphans is such a perfect picture of our relationship with God. In our inability to please God in our own efforts, in our utter helplessness to initiate a relationship with Him, we are very much like orphans and strangers than we like to admit.

When you talk with parents who have adopted, you often see taht they understand something deep about the heart of God. Taken from the article entitled, "Orphans... Who Cares" written by David Boehi at Familylife.com
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Adoption is a legal transaction that redeems another. God did that for us through His son. We have the wonderful opportunity to do that in the life of a child.

Caring for the fatherless is not simply a compassionate and kind act, and adoption is not merely an additional means of growing our families to the desired size. Caring for the fatherless and adoption are at the very heart of God. Caring for orphans is about obedience. . . It is about knowing the God whom we serve. Taken from "Hope for Orphans" at Familylife.com (http://www.familylife.com/atf/cf/%7B8e975f2e-4c1c-4315-aaff-34a97eb367b5%7D/AdoptionGuide.pdf)

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n Every DAY 5,760 children become orphans

n Approximately 250,000 children are adopted annually, but… every YEAR 14,050,000 children still grow up as orphans.

n Every 2.2 SECONDS, another orphan child AGES OUT with no family to belong to and no place to call home

n For every child that is adopted, 600 orphans will die.

n If 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world.

Do you have room at your table for one orphan?

"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me..." Mark9:37a