What can one person do?
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultess is this:
to look after orphans and widows in their distress
and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
(James 1:27)
But how can you help the orphans in Africa?
What difference can you make in the life of a widow?
One person can actually make a difference.
Facts
In the U.S. alone, more than 225 million people claim Christianity as their faith. Believers are called to care for the orphans and widows.
We have 163 million orphans in our global community.
If we each reach one: problem solved …. in abundance!
Your Turn
Today…
1) Know their stories. Getting beyond the statistics allows you to grasp depth of the struggles for the children. Read about Kaole and Roy for an intimate look into their lives.
2) Pray for the orphans and widows. Meditate on James 1:27; Deuteronomy 14:29; Job 31:16,17, 21; Psalm 146:9; Isaiah 1:17, 23. Ask the Lord to break your heart for the needs and ways He wants you to respond.
This Week…
3) Read the Hole in Our Gospel. Author Richard Stearn’s journey from corporate CEO to president of World Vision will move you to go beyond “religion” of the pews.
4) Explore microfinancing. Providing mini-loans enables widows in developing countries enables them to start businesses of sewing, baking, gardening and more. You can help lift a single mom out of poverty with a loan as small as $50! Many microfinancers exist. Google and review to discern which one works best for you and your family.
This Month…
5) Serve locally. Give to local ministries that strive to prevent homelessness and care for the needy. Sign up to help in the soup kitchen, thrift store, or volunteer in the office.
6) Sponsor a child. Several non-profits are making huge differences in the lives of children worldwide. Every Orphan’s Hope (EOH) focuses on the AIDS orphans in Zambia…transforming communities one child at a time through duplexes with eight children and one widow forming new families (a mere $27 a month). EOH also creates sustainability through chicken coops and water wells. World Vision, Compassion International and others have similar child sponsorship programs.
This Year…
7) Foster orphans. Consider opening your home to children in need. Many types of fostering are needed in your community…emergency care, older-child placement, respite care, short-term care, and more!
8) Serve on a team. Inquire about mission teams from your church. Partner with ministries that have ongoing presence with individual communities. Among the many ministries making a difference are Cranks Creek Survival Center, Every Orphan’s Hope, Forward Edge, Pittsburgh Project, Servants 4 Him, and World Vision’s West Virginia projects.
One person at a time … see the faces of poverty with our Father’s eyes.
Your arms, your feet, your voice may be the Lord’s answer to the cries of an orphan.
