My very good friend Michelle wrote this post the other day. She is so right. We should be doing MORE.....

What did your church do for orphan sunday?

I was disheartened to see that my church did nothing. I was also disheartened to see that out of 62 orphans that need to be sponsored in Africa (from an orphanage our church is supporting), not even half of them have been sponsored. At least 6 months have gone by since this was brought up to the congregation.

How can we be so selfish? How can we just walk by, or ignore the plight of the orphan all around us? This disturbs me to the core, and I often wonder how christians can justify this? Tbey can easily afford $5 a day at a coffee shop, but can't "commit" to helping an orphan. A child with nothing, no hope, no sense of unconditional love, often abused and mistreated. How can we as christains ignore this? The Bible speaks about caring for orphans at least 85 times. I see the church's being more concerned with their programs around fellowship, and sports, and small groups, and fun and entertainment, all the while ignoring the hurting all around them and all over the world. It's not right.

And I know this is not to blame the church, because I am the church, we, are all the church. It is up to us to reach out the hurting, the widows, the sick, the homeless, and the orphans. Unfortunately, with my church, I tried to present something along this line, to express my passion for the orphan, and how we as a church, all must take part in caring for them. My attempt was shut down, and not understood. Believe me, if it would have been accepted with enthusiasm and understanding, I would have been the first one up there today, presenting something about orphan sunday. It seems this particular church doesn't get it...and it's okay to ignore the mandate, and instead raise millions to build a church building, while also promoting entertainment and fun all the time. It's hard to take part in that, when I know what is happening around the world, having been there, and knowing it to be true. I have seen, felt, experienced, and touched the plight of the orphan, and I will never be the same. I cannot stand back and say nothing, do nothing, and even pretend to tolerate the church doing nothing. I will be praying...as I know that I cannot just be silent on this issue any longer. We, as the body of Christ need to pull together, in unity, to do what needs to be done to care for the orphan.