Ten things on Thursdays

Defend the cause of the fatherless... Isaiah 1:17

Yesterday, I mentioned that at Saint James on Sunday we are having a service for Orphan Sunday. Today I was looking on the Orphan Sunday website and came across a perfect list to work for my blog post.

Ten Ways Every Christian Can Care for the Orphan and Waiting Child

1. Pray for them

Tape a waiting child’s picture to your dashboard and pray for the child every time you’re in a car.

Organize an evening prayer vigil at your church and pray for children in foster care or an orphanage overseas.

2. Speak Up for them

Carry a waiting child’s picture and show it to other believers. Ask if they, or someone they know, would give this child a home.

Become a court appointed special advocate for a child in foster care.

3. Provide for their needs

Give sacrificially to a reputable orphanage. Financial gifts can be designated for specific items and aid needed by orphans.

Organize a drive in your church to collect school supplies for children in foster care or shoes for orphans overseas.

4. Support those who support them

Mow, baby sit, or organize meals for a week for foster parents. Pray with them and tell them you appreciate what they do.

Encourage a family adopting by hosting a shower for them.

5. Protect them from harm

Become a foster parent or emergency foster parent.

Raise money to build a children’s home to help remove children from the streets.

6. Visit them where they are

Go on a mission trip to an orphanage as an individual or family.

Take dinner to a foster group-home on a regular basis.

7. Give sacrifically to them

Support reputable orphan care organizations on a regular basis.

Contribute generously to an adoptive family to help offset their costs.

8. Encourage them to press on

Sponsor a child, support them financially, and encourage them through your letters.

Become a mentor or tutor to a teenager in a foster group-home.

9. Adopt them into your family

Give a child a home through international, domestic, or foster care adoption.

Adopt a young adult who has aged out of the system.

10. Mobilize your church for them

  Be a catalyst in your church for starting a sustained orphans ministry.

If your church already has an orphan ministry, get involved!