Friday, October 1, 2010

Now that I have seen (or heard) I am responsible…

You have to start somewhere. Where I started was hearing about children in an emergency shelter in Fresno who were abused and neglected. This led my family, while I was in high school, to start a tradition of throwing a Christmas party for them each year. When I saw these children it inspired me to do something about it…

I was then led by God to major in social work in college. I had a huge heart for adoption and kids in the foster care system. When the time came for me to intern for credits to graduate my program I immediately jumped on the opportunity to do my hours at a foster agency.

There at the agency I no longer just “heard” or “met”a foster kid, I knew them. I knew their stories, their hopes, and their fears. I was able to help facilitate families through the adoption process. Like Jacob…



Jacob was born at the hospital and then abandoned there. Mel and Al were licensed foster parents for only two weeks and never had been parents before. They got a call from the foster agency I was working at that this newborn needed a home. They picked him up from the hospital and a little over a year later they had the privilege to adopt him as their son!

After I got married, Daniel and I had a chance to take a group from our church to Kenya. While we were there we met several orphans. Our friend Emmanuel who started a school had so much compassion on them he let them attend his school for free. When we talked to him he said it cost him about $30 US dollars a month to educate, cloth and feed them. You see, in Africa you have to pay for school whether its a public or private one. School is a privilege for them, not a right. So after hearing this Daniel and I said, “We can do something about this, we can get families in our church to sponsor them!” 

The point I am trying to make in telling you all this is that many of us do not think about orphans, let alone know an orphan.

Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes.”- David Platt

Friends, you may have not seen or held an orphan before, but now you have heard. These are real life stories.

A popular Christian artist Brooke Fraser has a song called Albertine that she wrote after building a relationship with an orphan while in Rwanda. This one lyric haunts me daily…
Now that I have seen, I am responsible. Faith with out deeds is dead.

We have seen and heard today. Now we are responsible to act. How is God calling you to act?

2 comments:

  1. Alright Miss Whitney. You have my attention and God is moving in my heart. I'm not sure what that means for my family, but pray that my husband and I would be of one accord in this. I'd love to hear more. Keep posting!

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  2. I will never forget the kids at Craycroft. They were so precious. Thanks for this post. Lots to think about. These children do need our love.

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