As I folded clothes this morning, warm from my dryer, I turned on the television and watched a young family at the birth of the newest son. I can never watch these shows without tears running down my face and today was no exception. I thought about just a few years ago when the courts of Ethiopia decreed that Meron was the first daughter to my own daughter, Laura, and her husband, Tymm. What joy we shared in our family as we looked at this early picture of our sweet Meron.
Meron
Our joy was doubled when Mebrate joined our family less than one year ago.
Joy on the television at the birth of a baby and joy in our family as each of our little ones were to be added to our family. There is a huge exception in this entry...147 million exceptions. There are millions and millions of children from tiny ones to teens, healthy and with special needs, far away and nearby. They need families. Readers of this blog...do you hear me? They need families.
The Orphan Care Ministry of First Christian Church in Kernersville and High Point, NC has dedicated ourselves to assisting parentless children. Previous entries to this blog have shown some of the ways we have worked to provide a better life for fatherless children. We have yet to tackle the giant steps of finding foster families and families willing to adopt. In July our mission team will return from Rwanda and also Ethiopia, the home of my granddaughters. When the dust settles and hearts have absorbed all that was seen, experienced and learned, we need to move on to finding families for some of the millions of children who need mothers and fathers.
There are so many children who will never have a family to love them enough to shed tears of joy at their birth. Never love them enough to snuggle them close to feed them while they are tiny. Never love them enough to teach them about the love of a family. Never love them enough to teach them that our heavenly Father sent His own Son to provide salvation for them. Never love them. Unless we do something.
Will you start to pray today? Pray that the Orphan Care Ministry will know how to encourage and lead families toward foster care and adoption. Pray that we will find families who will answer the Lord's call to care for orphans. Pray for yourself - yes, you who are reading this blog. Is the Lord preparing your own heart and your own family to bring a child home? Pray that we, as a ministry, will connect with local agencies who will lead us to matching forever families. Pray that we, as a ministry, will find ways to assist families financially as they move through the adoption maze.
I am asking you to pray. I am pleading with you to pray. Fall on your knees, calling out to our Father, asking Him to lead us. If you will join me in prayer between now and the end of July, please let me hear from you. We have had few comments to this blog but I am hoping for hundreds of responses in this call to pray. If you do not want to comment on the blog (or cannot figure out how to comment) please email your promise to pray to orphancarefccm@earthlink.net
Will you pray?
sandra ward, Orphan Care Ministry
