Wednesday, April 6, 2011

True Religion



No, I'm not talking about jeans.

James 1:27 says (AMP), “External religious worship [religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world.

Thanks for making it clear what you care about, Lord.

I’ve heard it said (I’m pretty sure by Oswald Chambers) that adoption and foster care are callings, but orphan care is everyone’s responsibility (at least it’s every Christian’s responsibility). We all know we can give money to ministries with orphanages oversees like Life Impact International (an AWESOME organization that rescues children from sex trafficking) or Zoe Children’s Home  (that does the same thing). But here are some ideas of ways you can help orphans closer to home (thanks to www.faithlinksok.org):

1. Pray for the children in foster care and their families.
2. Collect birthday gifts for the foster children in your community.
3. Have a baby shower to collect baby essentials.
4. Collect luggage for foster children in transition.
5. Create toddler toy boxes.
6. Mentor a foster child.
7. Be an alternate caregiver for a foster family.
8. Contact your local OKDHS foster care specialist about specific needs in your community.
9. Host foster children’s visits with their birth families at your facility.
10. Become a foster parent. Xoxox
11. Cook a meal or a treat for the foster kids living in a group home.
12. If you live in Oklahoma, join the 111 Project

All of this makes me think of the song by Josh Wilson that says, “I don’t wanna live like I don’t care/I don’t want to say another empty prayer/O, I refuse to/Sit around and wait for someone else/To do what God has called me to do myself/O I could choose/Not to move/But I refuse.” Amen!

So, what will YOU do?

2 comments:

  1. I love that you encourage people to do more and to help children in need! I think we all ought to know that just talking about doing something good, doesn't do any good. I also dislike the mentality to wait around for other people to do something when we all are capable of helping others in one way or another.

    /A social worker in Sweden

    ReplyDelete
  2. BEAUTIFUL!!!! wow- we need more people in the world like you. thanks for being a light!

    ReplyDelete