In Progress and Done: Care for Orphans

I'm thankful for my school, Manhattan Christian College (MCC), for a number of reasons, but namely because of our professors. I'm thankful that 95% of my classes are about things that I want to learn about, even if they bore me at times. I'm seeing more and more as I get older that the "basic" classes I took were some of the most important and some of the "busy work" given in those classes has taught me a lot...


In particular, I took Old Testament II, along with most other freshmen, the second semester of freshman year. Toward the end of the year, we were assigned to write four Bible lessons over a major theme in the Old Testament. I like to work hard in school because I feel like, as a Christian, I'm called to work my hardest in everything I do, so I put a lot into this assignment. I ended up titling my lesson series "The Heart of a Prophet" and talking about the recurring theme throughout the Old Testament of caring for widows, orphans, sojourners, and the poor. I didn't realize how doing these short lessons would impact me in the future.

Today, I find myself deeply convicted by the Old Testament call to care for these people. Thus, I have four more life goals (more like callings). I've been able to achieve one this summer: care for orphans. Let me go ahead and say now, though, that these four goals aren't one and done. I hope to KEEP caring for orphans beyond this summer, and the same for all of the above. This is just an instance where I can say that I have certainly served those who I've been called to serve.

The Home of God's Love is a great place. It saves lives and it saves souls. It gives young people, parents, babies, and many others hope for a better tomorrow. THOGL exists to serve the orphan - a type of person often overlooked. It's interesting to me that, even as I serve here, I don't think of anyone here as an orphan, because they receive so much love and care from the people working here. These babies almost all have parents that they are allocated to, and volunteers love on them year-round. The fact still remains, though: they are orphans. They have been given up by their parents for whatever reason, or just don't have parents to take care of them. As a child, I can't imagine bearing such a burden, but these kids do it every day, overflowing with smiles and joy.

Serving orphans in some way, shape, or form should be a calling in every Christian's life. That can mean a lot of things, whether that's volunteering time at an orphanage like THOGL, sponsoring a child at a local orphanage, choosing to mentor an orphan through a program like Big Brothers Big Sisters, actually adopting a child, or whatever your heart and mind can dream of. This shouldn't just be a life goal that I want to do for myself; it should be a call to every one reading that there is a need in your very city for orphans to be loved. It is hard work at times, but it changes lives. As we have worked here the last 2 months, we have learned the cries of 19 different babies, their names, their clothe and diaper sizes, their eating habits, their personalities, their bottle colors, and anything else you can think of:

We've given our minds, hearts, and souls, because God has called us. He has called you too, so make it a point to add this one to your own bucket list: serve an orphan as soon as you can - they're everywhere. Just open your eyes, find the need, and fill it. God will be there along the way and will give more than enough help to change their life and your own.