“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (John 14:18-20 ESV).
This Sunday we will join churches around the country to shine a light on the plight of orphans. As we continue our “Time to Thrive” sermon series, we want to focus on how we want to be a giving church and a giving people. We want our giving to be led by God and to be spiritually strategic, so we’re asking some questions before we give of ourselves sacrificially.
Questions like:
- Where is the greatest need in the world?
- If Jesus is found with “the least of these,” then where are they found?
It seems to me that both of these questions might be answered by really seeing the plight of the world’s orphans. Listen to these disturbing statistics:
- It is estimated that there are 210 million orphans worldwide.
- 8 million orphans live in institutions
- 5,760 become orphans every day.
- 250,000 are adopted annually, but 14.5 million orphans age out of the system every year without being adopted.
- 2 million orphans, the majority of them girls, are sexually exploited in the multibillion-dollar sex industry.
God spoke through the prophet Isaiah saying, “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow” (Isaiah 1:17 NIV84). Yet, many in the church sit comfortably, while the fatherless are left alone and defenseless.
I want you to come to WCC this Sunday prayed up and ready to give sacrificially. We’re going to give you opportunities to take action. Actions like:
- Praying for the 210 orphans in our world.
- Adopting a child or helping someone else adopt.
- Visiting the fatherless (We’re planning a trip to a Ugandan orphanage in June 2013).
- Sponsoring a child.
- Fostering a child.
- Giving sacrificially.
We’re going to have representatives from Amazing Grace Adoptions, Caroline’s Promise, the Kennedy Home, Wilson County DSS, and our own WCC Ophan Care Ministry in the foyer this Sunday, available to answer questions and to help you take action for the sake of the fatherless.
Jesus has not left us as orphans. We will leave them?