God’s Heart for Orphans
The national Orphan Sunday campaign led by the Christian Alliance for Orphans is an annual event held on the first weekend of November, calling Christians to adoption, foster care and global orphan ministry.
More than 130 national and international organizations have joined forces in the Christian Alliance for Orphans to promote the campaign, including household names like Bethany Christian Services, Buckner, Focus on the Family, Show Hope and Family Life.
“Orphan Sunday calls the Church to make the Gospel visible,” said Jedd Medefind, President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans. “When Christians open their hearts and homes in adoption, foster care and global orphan ministry, we mirror the God who did the same for us.”
The website www.orphansunday.org serves as a hub for the campaign, offering event ideas, downloadable materials and ways individuals can partner with orphan-serving ministries to hold local events. The site also contains a map of the country that will highlight local events nationwide as they are scheduled.
There are more than 400,000 children in the foster system in the U.S. today, with over 100,000 waiting to be adopted. Globally, an estimated 17.8 million children have lost both parents. The Orphan Sunday campaign invites Christians to be God’s answer to these needs. “We set the lonely in families because God set us in His.”
First Christian Church has always had a heart for orphan care, however over the past couple years it has moved to the forefront of our hearts. God has gathered many families within our congregation who are making a real impact for children in need. Most visibly, our Senior Minister and his family are the foster parents to a beautiful baby whom they hope to adopt as their own daughter. However, that is far from the end of our stories at FCC. Other families have celebrated adoptions, served as foster parents, and regularly work in child social services to meet these needs on a daily basis. The story that God is weaving at FCC is worth telling!
This year FCC joins our worship theme with the national Orphan Sunday on Nov 3, while also adding an additional week to create a 2 week series titled, “God’s Heart for Orphans.” Please join us and become a part of this compelling story.
*Portions of this post were taken from the press release found at http://orphansunday.org/resources/psa-and-press-release
