This article, written by Elizabeth Styffe, Global Director of the Orphan Care Initiative, originally appeared in Ministry Today Magazine.
God’s
adoption plan provides the church with the perfect ministry model
At the heart
of orphan care at Saddleback Church is the desire to end the orphan crisis. We
believe every child deserves a loving, lasting, legal, lifelong family of their
own—and we believe this is doable. If every church empowered their members to
care for orphans in ways that helped and didn’t hurt, the orphan crisis could
be over.
Unfortunately,
though there are still more than 163 million orphans and vulnerable children in
the world today, little has been done yet to help orphans stop being
orphans. As a culture, we’ve spent years trying to put Band-Aids on the
orphanage institution. But children need more than food, shelter, clothing and
education. We don’t want children to just survive, but to thrive—and children
thrive in family.
At Saddleback,
we began asking ourselves, “How can we end the orphan crisis, and is there
something every church can do?” Here are what we believe are the answers to
those questions.
God’s
Solution
Orphans stop
being orphans when they become sons and daughters. At Saddleback, we’ve been
challenged to change everything about how we care for orphans and how we engage
members to care. We have two goals: (1) to end the orphan crisis; and (2) to
get every member on mission, caring for orphans locally and globally by helping
them find a family of their own.
Family is
God’s remedy for orphanhood. The church doing for orphans what God has done for
us is His solution. Because of this, we believe that if more Christians would
do physically for orphans what God has done spiritually for us, the orphan
crisis would be solved.
When we were
orphans, God adopted us. Scripture teaches that the reason God made the world
was so He could adopt (see Eph. 1:4-6). Our triune God, who needed nothing but
wanted a family of His own, allows us through the blood of His Son to share in
the rich communion as His sons and daughters (see Eph. 1). When God adopted us,
He made us part of His permanent family, so we would no longer be orphans. Even
though we were not His bloodline, He grafted us in through adoption, giving us
permanent security and a family, and meeting our need to belong. His adoption
of us is a legal process that cost Him everything. It gives us an inheritance
and the right to call Him Abba, or “Father” (see Gal. 4, Rom. 8). As a
result, at Saddleback we are in the work of reconciling people to God through
adoption (spiritual adoption), and helping children stay in their families, be
reunited with their families or find a new family through adoption (physical
adoption).
Church and
Family
There are 163
million children at risk in the world today but 2.4 billion people who claim
the name of Jesus. This means the solution for every child is a church where
all the members are caring about orphans. Churches can help orphans find a new
family through adoption. They can help them remain in their current family if
it is safe. Or they can help them reunite with their families if they are
separated (since most children in orphanages have families in the communities
but need the church to help the family become safe, healthy, and financially
and emotionally ready to care).
The Orphan
Care Initiative at Saddleback empowers ordinary believers to help orphans and
vulnerable children locally and globally, and it also focuses on helping
children find families. On the local level, this could mean doing several
things: volunteering to serve children recently removed from their home,
helping with sessions for people thinking about adoption, giving financially to
someone who is adopting, or caring for newly adopted children while their
families gain support. Even if you can’t adopt (and not everyone should), you
can help someone who is adopting.
This has
changed what Saddleback does cross-culturally. We send teams to help churches
start orphan ministries that provide permanent, legal, lifelong families for
children. We don’t invest in group homes or orphanages or other often harmful substitutes
for families.
We help local
churches and governments find and equip families for adoption. The emphasis is
on solving the orphan crisis through adoption. We’re not talking about
Americans adopting (although the very small and declining number of adoptions
last year in the U.S. is evidence that more people should). Instead, this is
about helping churches all over the world legally adopt children, doing what’s
best for a child and ending the orphan crisis.
Six Things
Every Church Can Do
So what can
you do to help eradicate such a global problem? Here are six things every
church (including yours!) can use to launch an orphan-care ministry:
Open your heart to God’s heart for the
orphan.
Recognize your responsibility to find
permanent families.
Prevent children from being orphaned.
Help orphans in ways that move them out of
orphanhood.
Affirm loving, legal and lasting families
by preservation, reunification, or adoption.
Never forget the local church is key.
Thinking
Differently
The church’s
approach to orphan care has changed dramatically from what it once was. Let’s
continue moving closer to God’s heart for adoption, as found in His Word. He’s given
us the perfect ministry model, so let’s embrace it. By working together, churches
can end the current worldwide orphan crisis.
(Article originally
printed in Ministry Today Magazine)
