It's not easy to look the orphan crisis in the eyes. The truth is, it’s quite devastating if you really take time to digest the magnitude of this problem. Sometimes the most heartbreaking thing about fighting for special needs and orphaned children around the world is the nonchalance, lack of compassion and complete indifference to human life, simply because that life began in another country, in another culture, in another part of the globe.
As Christians, it shouldn’t just be our option to care about the vulnerable and the marginalized; it should be our very privilege and battle cry no matter where they are. In fact, it’s our calling and commandment.
James 1:27: “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.”
Psalm 82:3: “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.”
Proverbs 31:8-9: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
Because in the end, we are not just Americans or Westerners or members of any one class or group. In the end, we are ALL just one of HIS. But slowly in this country, we’ve stopped running to ALL of His. We’ve become desensitized, and our senses of urgency have become tragically dulled to the ones who need us most.
You may not know that international adoptions in the United States have decreased more than 80% since 2004, and many adoption advocates estimate that, at this rate, they may become completely extinct by 2022. Here in this space, we stand 200% behind the rights of children to grow up not as orphans but in families; not in institutions, but in homes.
Research shows the long-term scars that institutional care and lack of early attachment leave on a child for the rest of his life. And although we believe that a loving family in a child’s birth country is the most beneficial so a child can easily maintain his culture and heritage, we know that it is not always possible. When an adoptive family is not viable or available in his or her home country, his human right to grow up in a family where he can enjoy attachment, protection and provision should not be relinquished. No child is better served by living in his home country as a forever orphan in an institution than by growing up in a different culture as a beloved son or daughter.
It's easy to sit back and wonder how one can even make a dent in this overwhelming problem. But the truth is, we cannot afford to sit back. We cannot afford to be silent. We cannot afford to do nothing. Because in many cases - and for many sick, needy and special needs superheroes - it could literally mean death.
Two passionate mamas, Michelle at Of Capes and Combat Boots and Lisa at Open Hearts for Orphans have created a special toolkit to inspire and guide you in the battle, because we absolutely must engage in the war to save international adoption. We know that - ultimately - adoption of EVERY kind has the ability to heal, transform and even save children’s lives. And if we don’t speak for the voiceless and the vulnerable, who will?
"Orphan Care Warfare" is a simple, prayerful, five-step guide to advocacy. As we take inventory of our everyday personal blessings, let us remember, and pray for, the forgotten ones — our little brothers and sisters in Christ scattered throughout the world. The Lord calls us to care for them.
Let’s put on the armor of God!
Download the devotional here: Orphan Care Warfare
