"...care for the orphans in their distress" James 1:27

Yesterday, November 3rd, was Orphan Sunday.  Glenn was the teaching elder at our church yesterday, and he decided to speak on the orphan. It was such an encouragement and blessing to everyone there! He shared these statistics:

**There are approximately 163 million orphans in the world.

**That is 19 times the population of New York City. No country is unaffected by the orphan crises.
**Approximately 40 million orphans live among the top 
100 Unreached people groups.
These people have no access to the gospel, no Bible in their own language, no church. More than 15 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS.
**Africa has the largest population of people affected by AIDS.  AIDS..that’s a whole other message right there.
**There are approximately 800 million born again Christians in the world.
So if each born again Christian were to help out with caring for the fatherless in one way or another, the orphan population would be taken care of almost 5 times over! Just imagine.
**In the US there are approx-
imately 500,000 children in foster care.
There are approximately 300,000 protestant churches in the United States. It is estimated that 4,000 new churches are being planted each year in the U.S. Foster children need the church. There are also 130,000 children in the US Foster system that are currently available for adoption at little to no financial cost

What does God’s word say about the orphans, and the fatherless, and caring for them, and adoption??
All Christians have been adopted as children of God and freed from the law. To adopt a child is to follow the lead of God who has adopted so many. There are several examples of adoption in the Bible to include Moses, Esther, and even Samuel, too. Adoption of children is a wonderful thing and God directs us to take care of the children and welcome them in. There is no better way to welcome a child in then to adopt him or her.

Here are some Bible verses that he shared:

God loves children
Mark 10:13-16
People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
Luke 9:46-48
An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. Then he said to them, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all - he is the greatest."
Psalms 8:2
From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise.
God has great compassion for orphans and fatherless children
Exodus 22:22
Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do, and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.
Deut 10:17,18
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.
Psalm 27:10
Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.
Psalm 68:5
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
John 14:18
I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.
James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
God also has compassion on the childless
Psalm 113:9
He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children.
Isaiah 54:1
"Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child, burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband," says the Lord.
We are not born into the family of God, but adopted!
Eph. 1:4-6
For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will - to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.
Romans 8:23
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
Rev. 21:7
He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
 
Then, one by one, our adopted children all got up and shared what was on their heart. There wasn't a dry eye in the house!

Then Madelyn got up and read this story book:

God Found Us You: (it's her Christmas gift to Rosie! sssshhhhh)








Oh my...then..there was a great need for tissues!!! What a great story! Then he showed this video to everyone:

I Am Loved: Watch it HERE  Okay..so then everyone was needing tissues for sure! To close out his message everyone sang Jesus Loves Me as our first hymn!! What a blessing our whole day was!

To make it even more special, our whole family donned these t-shirts yesterday at church. A gal from our church was selling them as a fund raiser for her mission's trip next month to Nicaragua to work in an orphanage. They say on the front:
 153 Million Orphans--Love one.
On the back they say:  Pray for one
                       Advocate for one
                       Foster one
                       Adopt one
                       Sponsor one
                       Visit one

"We love because He first loved us" 1 John 4:19"

An awesome way to be a testimony when we are out and about!!!