How Christian Nonprofits Lead Global Orphan Care

Of those affected by the recent pandemic and the outbreak of war, the more than 1.5 million children who have lost parents or caregivers may be the most disturbing. Yet, in the wake of this massive loss, international child welfare agencies and advocates have bolstered their efforts to care for all newly orphaned children.

Many of those agencies are Christian nonprofit organizations like Lifeline Children’s Services and Faith to Action Initiative (FAI). Both advocacy groups exist to resource communities and churches with what’s needed to help the orphaned and fatherless children in Jesus’ name.

“COVID has had an incredibly horrifying impact on families and children worldwide,” said the president of Lifeline Children’s Services, Herbie Newell. “It’s multiplied poverty. It’s multiplied helplessness and hopelessness.”

A Collective Movement in Orphan Care

Thankfully, there is cooperation in providing optimal care for these unfortunate kids. Recently, UNICEF hosted an annual event recognizing the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. More than thirty years ago, world leaders had committed to granting children the same human rights as adults. But not until 2019 did that group sign and adopt a resolution committed to prioritizing family-based care for children over institutionalized care.

FAI presented a letter advising governments to acknowledge Christian nonprofits' critical role in caring for orphans, suggesting these organizations be included in care reform efforts. In addition, a report published by the Better Care Network cited one of the largest groups supporting orphan care internationally are Protestant evangelical churches.

Despite that reality, it can sometimes feel like UN reforms are more like mandates than collaborative solutions, said FAI’s Executive Director Elli Oswald. “We think it’s important for Christians to share their experiences. They can build their ownership over changes that need to happen.”

In the letter, FAI advised countries to be required to regulate the funding investment from a Christian nonprofit to ensure contributions go solely toward their family-based goals.

Family-Based Care

The 2019 move to recognize Christian leadership in orphan care is even more crucial today. The unforeseen outcome of a worldwide pandemic left so many with their families in chaos. A step toward family-based care on an international level—through foster care, economic support, adoption, and kinship care— will help produce better results for children to fare better in these environments.

In the United States, the most widely accepted model of orphan care is almost exclusively government-funded foster care. However, this model is becoming more prevalent in several countries worldwide. Still, in many countries, orphanages are the best care available — and are essential for children with no other place to go. But this institutional methodology isn’t always the best.

FAI and others ultimately hope to create family-based care options everywhere. In 2019, all member states in the United Nations committed to moving this effort forward. Still, the process isn’t quick or easy. While governments have been agreeable to working with faith-based organizations, FAI and its coalitions, including Bethany Christian Services, World Vision, and Catholic Relief Services, would like to see Christians get a more prominent position. They could shift reforms to gospel-centered priorities rooted in God's model shown in creation.

“Part of this shift,” said Oswald, “would include reforms to economically and strategically equip vulnerable families before orphan care is needed.” For example, many so-called orphaned children in third-world countries have at least one living parent. But because social structures rarely offer them the economic stability they need to continue parenting through difficulty, orphans and fatherless children often end up institutionalized. Part of orphan care reform would include prioritizing funds to in-tact families who just need some help to survive hard times.

Integrating Christian organizations in conversations about orphan care matters significantly. It puts the gospel front and center and amplifies committed voices advocating the care for children with their pocketbooks and their lives. The Bible calls for all Christians to “look after orphans” (James 1:27) — and it’s clear from the Genesis story the family unit is God’s intention for individuals to flourish (Genesis 1).

Newell continues, “It’s vitally important that the Church work together to ensure that institutions are the last resort for vulnerable children who don’t have a family. Adoption is still a great way to live out the gospel. We’re grateful to work with so many loving Christian families to facilitate that.”

With so many contentious issues on the line across the world, there’s one that nearly everyone can agree on: keeping children housed, fed, and loved, no matter their country of origin. Unfortunately, no perfect way exists to ensure this for every child. Still, Christian organizations like FAI, Lifeline, and others are doing all they can to make it so for as many children as possible.

Orphan Care on the Gulf Coast

On the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, LEGACY ACRES is doing its part. We exist to provide a welcoming emergency care facility for orphaned and fatherless children who need the love of Jesus Christ. To learn how you can help, call us at (228) 364-2844 or Contact Us Today.

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By Will Marler • 12 Jul, 2022

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Essential Oil

By Will Marler • 07 Jul, 2022

Essential Oil 2 Kings 4:1 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” In the fourth chapter of Second Kings, we learn of a widow left with a huge debt but only a small jar of oil to her name. A debt so insurmountable, her dead husband’s creditors were coming to enslave her sons as a reckoning. In the first verse, we begin to understand the widow’s desperation, but do we recognize the miraculous work unfolding through her faith. Circumstances do not determine our future but may reveal where our dependence lies. A Widow in Need Here we find a widow’s dependence on a miracle to be revealed. She did not seek help from a king or the governing powers, nor did she try to rectify the matter herself. Instead, she sought the help of her only connection to her creator, the prophet Elisha anointed by God. Simply put, she chose the only Savior capable of helping her in her plight. The comforts we seek, the securities we cling to, and the solutions we cultivate by our strength can create dangerous independence from God. How often do we devise well-planned solutions and present them to God? Then pray for Him to confirm our thought-out strategies to resolve our circumstances instead of releasing the problem to the Lord. Opportunity Lost In doing so, we could miss an opportunity for revelation. For God’s response to our struggles is a study in faith. In verses one through six, we find Elisha giving the woman detailed instructions to gather many vessels and fill from her limited supply of oil. Imagine this act of obedience as the desperate mother gathers all the vessels she and her sons could find. Let’s not miss the opportunity like that of the widow, whose faith was limited only by the number of vessels she collected. God’s provision is supplied by our readiness to obedience where His process allows His promises to prevail. Lesson Learned She returns home and begins pouring from her jar. One by one, she fills each vessel. Then the promise of the Father allows her to sell her abundance, pay her debts, and save her children from bondage. The Lord offers provision to all of us. One in which our debts are settled, and our lives are restored. His grace covers the debt of our past and extends to us a hopeful future. An abundance of mercy, as our sins are reconciled through the blood of Jesus. Only He is the provision that meets us where we live. Only he is the hope that sustains us. Only he is our essential oil. Not some counterfeit ideology, a government program, or a class offered in college, but a love that covers our deepest needs. He is the beginning and the end of our humanity, and there is nothing from man that should be in-between. Lord, help us to trust you. To exhibit complete dependence and obedience and the utmost faith in your plan. Help us choose your wisdom and knowledge rather than relying on my talents and resources, learning the importance of total dependence on You. Learn More If you would like more information about Legacy Acres, please contact us today . Will Marler is the executive director of Legacy Acres , a Christian non-profit that exists to provide emergency shelter to abused abandoned, and neglected children with no place to go.