Preparing the Next Generation for Orphan Care

Preparing the Next Generation for Orphan Care

Do you struggle with the term godliness? How’s this for a definition: loving what God loves; hating what God hates.

Psalm 97:10 notes, “Let those who love the Lord hate evil.” In other words, we are to hate sin, including injustice to the vulnerable. But equally, we are to love the Lord and His splendor (Psalm 104:1), we are to love His church (1 Cor. 12:25-26), and we are to love righteousness (Heb 12:14). So, in light of these ordinances, how can we teach the next generation to care for the orphan, to stand up for the fatherless, and to be a protector of the vulnerable child?

It’s not that these needy children are hard to find. Just check the social services in your community. You will probably find social workers assigned to abused, abandoned, and neglected children are frightfully overwhelmed. The opportunities to help these innocents are endless, so it’s time to be creative in finding ways we can bring the love of Christ to these kids!

Here are some practical ways to train the next generation to love orphaned children as God does.

Teach Children the Biblical Doctrine of Adoption

Ephesians 1:4-5 tells us God chose us before the foundation of the world for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of His will.

God did not choose us based on our talent, attractiveness, or behavior. Instead, He decided to pursue us and save us even though it would cost the life of His only begotten Son. Of course, understanding this truth doesn’t always change the hearts of the next generation, but it is an essential reality for our children to understand God’s love for the orphan and the hope the gospel gives them.

Pray for Orphans

Nothing motivates God into action faster than unwavering prayer. As we pray with our children, make sure to include orphans and widows and kids in foster care. Pray for the thousands of children worldwide who are trafficked for labor or worse. You will plant the necessary seed for orphan care for God to nurture in the years to come. Then, our children will be more inclined to serve when the call for action comes and more than willing to defend the most vulnerable among us.

Help Them with Projects Designed for Orphan Care

Getting our children started in ministry at a young age is proper parenting. It teaches them the golden rule of Christianity: loving God and loving others, especially those who need it the most. Look for ministries or small groups within your local assembly that are committed to orphan care and get your children involved. If none exists, start one.

Even if this means you preparing the work for them. Even if it means, at first they stumble and fall. There is something powerful with children helping children in God’s Kingdom even if it means it gets sloppy at times.

Model The Risk of Ministry

Teach your kids that it is okay to take risks by helping others. Many children come out of horrible circumstances and need the love of God if they are going to survive. God chooses his people to share His love for others and that means the Church. And yes, there are times we will suffer because they have suffered but isn’t that the lesson of the Cross?

It also allows your children to see their mommy and daddy are not superheroes, and that we too need God’s intervention when things get tough. That God is the true hero of caring for orphans, but we must get involved in ways that stretch us into faithful ministry and help with God’s ultimate plan.

Remember, we are commanded by God’s Word to train the next generation to love what God loves and hate what God hates. Search the scriptures and you won’t find another principle that is so clearly stated so often than caring for the widow and orphan. Let us train the next generation to do exactly that, and we will be blessed, and they will be blessed and more importantly, these vulnerable children will be blessed with the love of God.

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.

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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.