5 Reasons the Church Can't Ignore the Plight of the Orphan Any Longer

http://timothyjnelson.blogspot.com/2009/01/1.html

How many orphans do you think?

Today I am thinking about all the orphans in the world. Can you guess how many there are? In 2006 there were 12.4 million orphans in India, according to CSA (Catalysts for Social Action. Millions of orphans in Africa. Worldwide, it is estimated that more than 15 million children under 18 have been orphaned as a result of AIDS. Around 11.6 million of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa. Millions of orphans in China are abandoned due to strict laws controlling the number of children each family can have. Over 4.5 million orphans in Iraq. According to the United Nations, UNICEF, and Save the Children:

• The number of orphans worldwide is estimated at 210 million, rapidly increasing due to the AIDS epidemic, natural disasters, low world health standards, immense poverty, and food shortages made worse now by our global financial collapse. Millions more everywhere....all over the world.

from world of orphans:

The Problem

The number of children in the world that have lost their mother or father, are parentless, or have been abandoned…now exceeds 143 million. This absolutely staggering number is almost equivalent to one-half of the total population of the United States. Can you imagine if one out of every two Americans was a child living on the streets, living in absolute hopelessness and despair?

Chronic disease, bloodshed, horrific natural disasters, severe poverty, famine, unsanitary water sources, restrictive population controls, and societal devaluation of female children, have all contributed to this global tragedy of monumental proportions.



In the past hour…

1,625 children were forced to live on the streets by the death or abuse of an adult

1,667 children under the age of five died from malnutrition and vaccine-preventable diseases

115 children became prostitutes

66 children under 15 were infected with HIV

257 children were orphaned because of HIV/AIDS



Most children are under the age of fifteen and are…

Sleeping on concrete beds and rancid garbage piles every night – streets, sewers, dumps

Scavenging amongst human waste and excreta for rotting morsels and scraps to eat

Huffing glue and other substances in order to numb the cold, hunger, pain…and shame

Prostituting themselves for basic food and shelter

Trafficked and sold into sexual bondage, even at five years old and younger (see Sexual Exploitation)

Abused and brutalized by sexual predators, local gangs, corrupt police officers, and slum lords

Victimized by HIV/AIDS-infected men who believe that sleeping with young virgins can cure the disease

Recruited into lives of thievery, smuggling and drug dealing

Abducted to serve as child soldiers or the sex slaves of soldiers

Exploited as child laborers or slaves in sweatshops

Executed by local businessmen and officials who view them as a dirty pests interfering with trade and commerce

Sacrificed in occult/witchcraft rituals

Robbed of childhoods; Robbed of self esteem; Robbed of innocence;

Robbed of hope


What should we do? What can we do? We can adopt a child of our own! Just think how many orphans lives could be changed by bringing them in an instant FAMILY! One day they have no one, no home. The next day, they have YOU! We can PRAY. Real fervent intercession for them that touches the heart of God. We can GIVE. Maybe you cannot adopt....but you can give. Just think if every Christian financially supported adoption and orphan outreaches!!!

We even have some friends at our church that started this outreach you could give to: http://www.orphanshield.com/

Something to consider....something worth considering........

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

World Orphans
http://www.worldorphans.org/about/faith.htm

The ABBA fund blog-
http://abbafund.wordpress.com/about/

America World
http://www.awaa.org/whoweare/

How's the adoption going?

That is the question I occasionally get when people think of it. It's so strange. To have to wait SO long for something so life changing. I think some people ask us about is as if maybe we are not adopting anymore....or maybe we've lost interest.

China is branded in our hearts. Our children's hearts! Just the other day Phoebe was sad because she doesn't have a sister. She said, "I mean, I know that Hope is coming, but it is so hard right now!" Yes, it is.

We go about our lives with many plans and things to do, but at the end of the day, we think about Hope and how one day, our family will be complete. It is so great to know that we can make our family, control it as much as we think... and then God can add to it as HE likes! And in that lies the joy of being God's own, totally surrendered to HIS plan and HIS will. It makes life so much more interesting...just to relax and watch God work!

So here's the update: YES, we are still waiting. And it is going to be a long one. At current trends, our wait will be over 5 years. It doesn't scare me....although I don't know why because it seems to scare everyone else! I just think about end times and how our time on Earth is shorter and shorter these days....and I want to help so many children.....

If I had a lot of money, I would build a big home on a nice big plot of land and adopt many children.....MANY. Daniel and I have always wanted a big family...however, my body DID NOT. Now I know why we have the desire!

So in the mean time, I really sense God revealing to me the way He is going to bring financial provision to us. When He guides, He provides!

So when you think of us and China, please pray that the leaders of China would have a change of heart, and that they would have a desire to put these orphans into our arms quickly. As long as it takes, though, we will wait!

The little ones wait for their forever families to come.....

Current Wait- 27 months...

People getting their babies now have been waiting for around 27 months. Our agency tells us this: " the current wait time is 27 to 28 months with the trend of increasing by roughly a half to a full month each month." Considering the trend, the wait time could increase to over 4 years, nearing 5. I knew this months ago.

God is in control. We think about Hope coming into our lives everyday. I think about how old our kids will be, HOW OLD I WILL BE! But nothing is an issue. God's grace is upon us and His Hand is guiding us.

Just thought I'd check in with my readers! Thank you for you support!

A special song for us!

Third Day is one of my favorite groups. There is a song on their Christmas album written by a bandmember who was in the process of adopting a little girl from China. Daniel told me that the song touched him so much as he heard it last Christmas that tears filled his eyes. This was before we had even talked again about adoption. God was preparing his heart, even then. Now this year, as we listen to it, the song has a whole new meaning! Here are the lyrics to this beautiful song. I hope it touches your heart, too!

Merry Christmas by Third Day

There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for momma's arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
There the forgotten are

But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights
I'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,
Make angels in the snow

But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears
And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child
and we celebrate his perfect gift of love
He came to earth to give his life
and prepare a place for us
so we could have a home with him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep, I'll hold you in my arms
And I'll tell you from my heart, and I'll you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas

LID November 2, 2007

So quick! We just received word that our dossier was logged into China on November 2, 2007! LID- Log in date. We are finally official. China has logged us in and we are on the list! Yippee!! We are so excited. We feel one step closer to little Hope. The adoption agency told us the current wait is 2 years with a trend of increasing quickly. We don't care. God is in control. Whenever it is time for us to receive little Hope, we are ready!