Wow is all I can say. When I was living in Africa, we went to an orphanage that absolutely broke my heart. Its amazing how far out of sight, out of mind can really be amongst the comfort , busyness, and bubbles of our lives. 

  To paint you a picture of this place I want you to imagine your child, your precious baby, lying in a crib, along with almost 40 other babies in the same room, all day, with dirty diapers, diaper rash, and little to no love or affection. I saw babies that weighed less than 6 pounds, babies who laid there for hours on end with a poopie diaper, babies who rocked themselves, and stared into the sky, and just laid in their crib, for most, if not all, day. There were over 20 cribs in the one room, some with two babies per crib, all just laying there. In other parts of the orphanage there was a place for all the special needs babies and children, who also just laid or sat there. Words could never describe the situation. Some smelled of throw up, and another was CHAINED TO A CHAIR the previous visit, according to our friend. Did you read that? Please think about it!! Your child, chained to a chair: WHAT!

  As I walked in, I just began to cry, and not just cry, my body began to weep. Inwardly of course, as I didnt want to offend anyone, so I just shook, and jerked with every inward sob. These are Gods children, and as much as I love my own children, and remember how I felt for them when they were first born: so innocent, fragile, and completely helpless; I just felt God speaking to my heart about how much more He loved them and just got the picture of Him WEEPING in heaven. Weeping because He sees them, and they are in serious situations, weeping because there are so many “hands and feet”, HIS hands & feet, that aren’t holding them, and weeping because every day we live our comfortable lives, these babies lay there and cry to almost no ones attention, poop to have no one change their diaper, sit there and stare at the sky, and have little to no hope of any sort of life.  

They are sick, throwing up, have horrible diaper rash, and day after day after day, they are still there: unwanted and alone.  

  I can’t help but question how this can be??? Are there not over 65 MILLION confessing Christians? Does North America not own over half of the entire worlds Christian wealth? Doesn’t Gods word not make it clear that we are to meet the needs of the poor and orphaned?  Doesn’t God say He places the “fatherless in families”…Psalms 68:5  

Where are his hands and feet? Where is love in action? What is happening!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

   It’s comforting to say “we cant help everyone” and that is absolutely true, we can’t. That is one of the things that keeps me from feeling an overwhelming sense of despair far too often.  However, we also must be willing to be honest with ourselves and truly think about Gods command to care for the orphan.  And in doing so, I think we must ask these questions:  
“Would God really say no if I wanted to adopt a child”.  

Can we honestly picture this being His answer:  
“NO, as a Father who loves them as much as I do, I would prefer them to lay in a crib with no one to hold them all day.  I prefer them to grow up with out the love and nurture of a family, without learning about who I am, and getting to see, physically, the spiritual reality of how I have welcomed all my children into my family through adoption.  I’d prefer they grow up being raised by the State.  I’d prefer they find their food in the trash instead be given a home cooked meal, made with love, from a real physical MOTHER”.  I’d prefer there be no one to wipe away their tears, hug them when they fall, support them, discipline them, LOVE THEM.  

And even though I have given you a home about 10 times as big as the average size home in a third world country, I understand that you don’t have room.  Even though you are in the top 16% in the entire world in wealth if you make over $10,000, I would definitely leave the child to live where those around him/her live on less than $1/ day.   

Is this the answer we think that God would give?  While I can’t speak for God, I do know His heart, from His word, and His word says He is the “defender of the orphan”.  
I understand there are situations which would warrant a family truly not being able to adopt.  However, this is the exception, NOT THE RULE!  It is far to easy to reason that it is someone else’s job, then to take the responsibility ourselves.  That is why our foster care system in America still has kids waiting for a forever family, while statistically, there are 3 churches for every 1 child!  That means that literally, if only 1 family, from 1 of the 3 churches adopted out of foster care, THERE WOULDN’T BE A FOSTER CARE SYSTEM!  

There are enough families for every orphan.  There is.  It reminds me of the question:
“I wanted to ask the Lord why He has allowed suffering, orphans, poverty, etc. but I was afraid He would ask me the same question”  

God has given the world enough families, and resources to end all of those things, He has just left it up to us to DISTRIBUTE the resources.  
Are we?  

Christians in America spend:  
• $3 billion/ year on bottled water
• $4 billion/ year on cosmetics
• $7 billion on sports events
• $11 billion a year on coffee
• $13 billion a year on pets and diet programs
• $17 billion a year on golf & boating
• $20 billion a year on soft drinks
• $21 billion on cable TV
• $76 billion a year on eating out
Meanwhile, over $2 Billion people live on less than $2 a day!  

We have the resources.  We have the room.  We must use them for what God intended them to be used for.  

“I Have been generous to you SO THAT you can be generous to others”.

SO THAT….
Its not just for us, its for others.  Maybe we live in the richest country in the world, not because we’re super Christians that deserve more, but maybe its SO THAT we can bless others.  I don’t think its a coincidence that God has given us the exact resources that most of the unreached, unchristian world is longing for… SO THAT we can bless them, love them, help them, show them the LOVE and CHARACTER of OUR GREAT GOD!  

And just maybe, HE has blessed us with EXTREMELY LARGE HOMES (considering the average size home for a family of 6 in many parts of Africa is 8 x 8ft) SO THAT we can share our room with little children who don’t have a home at all.  

Yes, this could be considered a hard read, Yes it could be somewhat convicting.  But please don’t let the enemy confuse this.  This isn’t condemnation, this isn’t harsh, this is caring for another orphan child as though it were our own, and we would fight to the death to maker sure our child was cared for.  We would be…
OFFENSIVE….AGGRESSIVE….CHALLENGING….if that was what it took for our child to have a home.   
As  parents, if we were getting ready to die, would we accept it if no one would agree to take our kids because of …(you name all the millions of reasons).  Would we just accept it?  No, we would beg and plead with someone, to take our kids in regardless of whether they felt “called” to care for them or not.  They are our kids, and they deserve a family, not a dumpster, not an orphanage, not the cold street.  Because we love our kids so much, if we were going to die, we would have every plan set for who would take our kids, and it would come with much thought and prayer.  We choose the absolute best for OUR KIDS, and would accept nothing less.  
Hasn’t God done the same.  He knew He wouldn’t be on this earth physically, EXCEPT THROUGH US, so His plan, out of His great love for His children, was for His family-US-to take them in, and love them, and care for them.  
ARE WE?  

WE must ask these questions.  And we must NOT be offended because even more offensive then these questions is the reality that approximately 20 babies have died of hunger in the time it took someone to read this.  Approximately the same amount have become orphans.  More than anything, this is what NEEDS TO OFFEND US and then MOVE US TO ACTION!

Please join me in praying and asking God to show ME, YOU, how to respond to His command to care for orphans.  After all, it IS REQUIRED of us!

“To whom much is given, much is REQUIRED”…