{"id":607,"date":"2006-11-13T20:47:33","date_gmt":"2006-11-13T20:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/2006\/11\/how-do-you-care.html"},"modified":"2006-11-13T20:47:33","modified_gmt":"2006-11-13T20:47:33","slug":"how-do-you-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2006\/11\/how-do-you-care.html","title":{"rendered":"How Do You Care for an Orphan?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you think of caring for orphans, what comes to mind? What does it mean to provide Justice<\/a> to the orphan? Is it simply to provide food and clothing? What about just visiting them to say hello and tell them God loves them? What is care?<\/p>\n

I firmly believe the answer is found in Psalm 68:5-6, "A Father to the fatherless…is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families." To care for the orphan means to provide as much of a sense of family as possible. <\/p>\n

Think of caring for orphans in these terms: How can we provide as much of the same kind of care to them as we would our own children? Well, you would provide a sense of family. And this is a long=-term goal, not a short-term one. It’s not quick and fast, it’s for a lifetime. Of course a part of this care would be food, clothing, and shelter. But you would also add education, safety, and hope for a better future. They would also need counseling, medical care, and most important, discipleship. That’s why Children’s HopeChest<\/a> believes in holistic care for orphans in 5 areas: Educational, Spiritual, Physical, Medical\/Dental, and Emotional.<\/p>\n

Family is a reality for these kids through our Family Centers<\/a>. Hope is provided through all that Ministry Centers<\/a> offer. For a safe place to live, that comes from the Independent Living Programs<\/a>. The end-goal is to see orphans who had no hope become leaders in their communities. They will be the doctors, lawyers, judges, politicians, and entrepreneurs of their day!<\/p>\n

Our challenge as a community of people who care about the needs of orphans is to design and get behind programs that provide a sense of family for kids who have never had one. It takes work and our programs need to be well planned. But these kids are worth it and we need to do everything in our power to give them justice. God has plans for them, to give them "a hope and a future<\/a>." So should we!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you think of caring for orphans, what comes to mind? What does it mean to provide Justice to the orphan? Is it simply to provide food and clothing? What about just visiting them to say hello and tell them God loves them? What is care? 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A tireless advocate for fatherless children, Davis has spent most of his adult life calling U.S. believers to become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to the 143 million orphans living around the world. Through those connections, thousands of orphans now have the bright and hopeful future--one that is filled with opportunities and the love of the one true Father. Davis speaks hundreds of times each year at churches and conferences, mobilizing the church to action on behalf of the poor. He is the author of four books. His most recent novel, SCARED is a fictionalized account of his first-hand experiencing living and working with orphans in Swaziland, Africa. Davis' blog is the premier resource for the latest developments in Christian orphan ministry. Davis also currently teaches courses as adjunct professor at George Fox University in Newberg, OR. When not traveling the globe, Davis resides in the mountains of Colorado in the small community of Palmer Lake. He and his wife Emily have seven children, including two adopted daughters from Russia.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/author\/tdavis"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}