Village Bible Church || Aurora | Indian Creek | Sugar Grove | IL

by Dennis Rainey, FamilyLife President

The number of children worldwide without families to love and care for them is overwhelming. There are 5.5 million orphans in Africa, 3.5 million orphans in Asia, 1.5 million orphans in Eastern Europe, 400,000 orphans in Latin America, and 135,000 children available for adoption in the U.S. foster care system.

It’s easy to forget that each and every one of these orphaned children is precious to the Savior. Throughout Scripture we see God as “ … the helper of the orphan” (Psalm 10:14). Christians should be leading the international dialogue about our responsibility to provide a home and a family for those who have none.

As adopted children in God’s family, believers should be the first to reach out to orphaned and abandoned children around the world. Yet many are unaware of the great need, or of God’s call on the church to be actively involved in helping the fatherless.

We cannot escape the words of James 1:27a: “This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans … in their distress.” Nor can we turn a deaf ear when we know the heartbeat of the Father resonates with the needs of the fatherless (Psalm 10:17-18).

In his book, Fields of the Fatherless, C. Thomas Davis writes, “If you searched the Bible from front to back, you’d find many issues close to God’s heart. But you’d also notice three groups of people coming up again and again. They appear so many times, in fact, you have to conclude that God mentions them purposely to make sure they are at the top of our priority list.”

Who are these three groups of people? They are orphans, widows, and aliens (or strangers). These are three groups of people that especially matter to God. Deuteronomy 24:19 illustrates God’s care and provision for these three groups. When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God bless you in all the work of your hands.

In addition, Proverbs 23:10-11 demonstrates another one of God’s attributes specifically as it relates to the fatherless: Do not move an ancient boundary stone, or encroach on the fields of the fatherless. For their Defender is strong; He will take up their case against you.

God doesn’t stop at caring for and defending those close to His heart. He tells us that we must do so as well if we want to practice pure religion. James 1:27-28 says: 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.

Not only has God commanded that His people care for those in need, but He has also modeled and ordained the institution of adoption. Anyone who has placed their trust in Christ has been adopted into God’s family. Ephesians 1:4-5 tell us: … In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.

Adoption is a legal transaction that redeems another. God did that for us through His son. We have the wonderful opportunity to do that in the life of a child.

Caring for the fatherless is not simply a compassionate and kind act, and adoption is not merely an additional means of growing our families to the desired size. Caring for the fatherless and adoption are at the very heart of God. Caring for orphans is about obedience . . . it is about knowing the God whom we serve.

Perhaps God is calling you and your family to change a precious little one’s life today. What an awesome opportunity we have to reach the world for Christ, one home, and one child at a time.

Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute. —Psalm 82:3