If you call yourself a believer and follower of Jesus Christ - the orphan "issue" is your responsibility.
Disagree with me? Let's see what God says.
Oft quoted, but still as powerful as ever is James 1:27, "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God is this, to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unblemished by the world."
Exodus 22:22, "You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child." Yes - abuse, living in squalid conditions, and not eating is being mistreated. When you have it within your power to stop those things then you are part of that mistreatment.
Luke 12:48, "To everyone whom much is given, much will be required."
Deuteronomy 24:17, "You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or fatherless..." (See above)
Psalm 68:5, "Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in His holy habitation."
Psalm 82:3, "Give justice to the weak and fatherless, maintain the right of the afflicted and destitute."
There is more - so, so much more. Frankly, though, I have shared all of these verses before, and I am probably "preaching to the choir" anyway on my blog. I don't have a huge readership anyway and most of you are probably already advocating for, donating, and adopting children yourselves - so feel free to write me off as hormonal - only, truly I'm not - not today anyway.
My friend is getting down to the wire and she is not the only one. I am a member of several prayer groups and one in particular was started by a fellow orphan lover. The vast majority of the prayer requests that come through daily are for funding for adoptions. These precious families are trying their level best to fulfill God's call to the believers to care for orphans. They are sacrificing new cars, dinners out, cable television, remodeling projects, family vacations - things that here in America we call "necessities." Oh, how clueless we really are.
God's heart is for the orphan. I have only been in this arena a few short years. I have always had a heart for adoption, but not a real passion for it. It wasn't until I looked into the eyes of my son three years ago that God turned my heart totally and completely towards the most vulnerable among us. Now, these children's faces float through my mind day and night. I love them, I weep for them, I pray for them constantly. My friend Linny at A Place Called Simplicity has been in the adoption world a lot longer than I have and she testifies that God ALWAYS comes through. Rarely early, but never, ever too late. I have promised my friend Hayden that I believe that with all of my heart. And I do. But, friends, it is scary and overwhelming to be in the position they are in right now and what really, really galls me is that I don't believe they should have to be there. I know that everyone has their "thing." I know that I should not think that my "thing" is more holy than someone else's and that people are constantly asked for money for one cause or another. I get that. Believe me, my phone rings off the hook all day long with people asking me for money. Most of the time I say no. Most of the time.
But, I promise you, and I don't say this to brag but to let you know that my money is where my mouth is on this, I promise you that I NEVER say no to an orphan fundraiser. NEVER. Just ask my husband. Yes, I donate more to some than I do to others. Sometimes I donate $10 or $20 - sometimes much more. But, when one of my friends posts on their facebook that someone is raising funds for an adoption, I never ignore that. I can give $10 just about any day of the week and just skip something else I was going to do. Maybe a trip to Starbucks - with our family, $10 can't hope to cover one of those. Maybe we eat a sandwich instead of swinging through the drive thru because we don't "feel" like eating what we have at home. Maybe we eat beans and rice one night - in fact, we have been doing just that once a week for two months now - less than $7 can feed our entire family organic beans and rice. No one has complained yet. Maybe we stay home for a few days in a row and save gas money - it is possible you know. Maybe most of you already keep a tight reign on your budget, but several months ago we decided to sit down and take a hard look at our spending habits and it was embarrassing to say the least. Most of us can "find" money to use to help others when we decide to make it a priority.
So, today I challenged my Facebook "friends" to donate just $5 to my friend's orphan fund. I do not know who, if anyone donated, and quite a few of my friends have already shared her blog and donated during their fundraising process. What I do know is that when I share a cute something my 3 year old says or when I share something controversial 20, 30, sometimes 40 of my 672 "friends" will like it or comment on it. Today, 3, yes THREE people liked that status. That is not to say that only three people read it and certainly more than three people could have checked out Hayden's blog. That is wonderful, and I am not looking for comments telling me that you looked at it if you are my FB friend.
My point is that I just find that it gets conspicuously quiet when someone starts asking for money. I have a feeling that is how Hayden feels right now. Embarrassed, shy, and a bit humiliated to ask people to donate money to them for adoption costs, travel expenses, and lawyer fees. The thing is that she should not feel any of these emotions - she is the one who is going to bring this precious child into a forever family. She and her husband are the ones who will travel across the world to spend weeks in a foreign country. They will sit up with Luda at night when the nightmares come. They will listen to her cry as she works through the normal emotions of an adopted child, not to mention a teenage girl. They are the ones truly invested in this. I'm not and neither are you. We aren't really making any sacrifices in this whole thing except a few measly dollars.
I haven't really talked to Hayden about this, but I have talked to others like her and they feel frustrated, scared, overwhelmed, and sometimes a bit angry. They feel betrayed by the very people who are supposed to care for the orphan. Us, the church. We say we care, we talk about it on "Orphan Sunday" but precious few churches and precious few believers are putting their money where their mouths are. Then the families with feet on the ground are reduced to begging. They beg for money, they beg for their churches to help them advertise fundraisers, they beg and they beg and they beg. And begging should not enter the equation. This is redemption. This is an opportunity to come alongside God in His redemptive work to ransom a LIFE. We should be honored to be asked. We should be jumping at the chance to help. Shame on churches who refuse to come alongside families in their congregations who are willing to follow God's command. Shame on believers who claim they care and then turn a blind eye to the opportunity to donate to an adoption fund.
I know this is harsh, even for me, and I probably should have done more praying before writing it. This is just how I am feeling today. I am the one who told Hayden that God always comes through. I told her He always funds what He calls people to do. I do believe that, with all of my heart, but my heart is broken that it has to be this hard. So many people are willing to adopt that are too scared because of finances. I hear it all the time and Church, it just shouldn't be this way!! Please pray for my friend and please look around you at those right outside your door. Adoptive families are everywhere and most of them don't know where the money to complete their adoption is going to come from. Everyone is not called to adopt, but if you call yourself a follower of Christ you are called to help the orphan. It is not an option. Please, ask God what He would have you do. I promise you that is a prayer He will delight to answer.
No comments:
Post a Comment