I nurse my four month old daughter and she gets into a comfortable state somewhere between awake and asleep while she contentedly eats. After awhile I pick her up to burp her. With her head on my shoulder she realizes that she is no longer comfortably eating and lets out a quiet cry of protest. I pat her back and gently tell her, "don't worry, there's more". She quickly quiets down, burps and then settles in to finish eating.
Each time I say, "don't worry, there's more" I find myself overwhelmed with gratefulness that I can say that to her, humbled by and thankful for God's provision. Recognizing all provision is from God's hand, at the moment I'm able to say, "don't worry, there's more" because I have enough to eat and drink so my body is producing the nourishment that she needs. Lord willing, as she gets older I'll be able to say that because my husband and I will work hard to provide for her.
For over 10 years now my heart has been breaking for children who don't have enough food to eat. But now as a new parent I find myself thinking of parents who struggle to provide for their children. My heart breaks for the moms and dads who desperately want to care and provide for their children yet poverty, drought, sickness and other challenges prevent them from being able to.
I have to admit I don't understand why. I trust God's goodness and His sovereignty, but don't understand why I find myself in a position to be able to provide warmth, shelter, protection, and food for my baby girl, while so many parents would give anything to be able to do the same and aren't able.
As I wrestle with these questions that don't have answers I find myself yet again thankful to be part of the ministry of World Orphans as we work through local churches around the world to strengthen communities, so families can be supported and encouraged, so parents are able to work and provide for their children.
One very specific way we go about this is through our
Home-Based Care Programs. The objective is t
o assist the church in their desire to provide much needed spiritual, emotional, physical and mental care for households in their community with orphaned, abandoned, or vulnerable children who are being cared for by single mothers, extended relatives, neighbors, friends, or church members.
The program is designed to ensure that the children receive: spiritual care - through discipleship during home visitations and participation in a weekly children’s program at the church; emotional care – by providing ongoing counseling, group activities, and home visitations; physical care – in the form of food, access to clean drinking water, and access to medical care; and mental care – by ensuring access and support of education.
As I feed my daughter and lay her down to sleep, faces of dear brothers and sisters I have ment through World Orphans partnerships flash through my mind. My heart aches knowing there are grieving parents putting their children to be hungry. At the same time I am very humbled by how hard parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, community members and church bodies are working to care and provide for those children.
As we seek to care for children, whether it be children under our roof or children around the world, may we never lose sight of the greatest need we all have, for our relationship with God to be restored. Praise God that He has met that need, through the Gospel of Christ. As we meet physical needs, may we never cease to point one another to the Gospel.
Currently World Orphans has Home-Based Care programs in Haiti and Ethiopia. Click HERE to read more about Home-Based Care and click HERE to start a campaign to raise money to support orphan care ministry around the world.
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing... - Psalm 68:5-6
