{Adoption Awareness Month} PRAY

Last week, I wrote a post about how November is National Adoption Awareness Month. But more than that, I want to talk about not just adoption, but orphan care as well and how you can be involved and make a difference in the life of a child. We are not all called to adoption, but we are called to do something. The Lord talks a lot about orphans in the Bible and how we are to take care of them. Probably the most quoted verse when talking about orphans is James 1:27:

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:

to look after orphans and widows in their distress

and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

God has a special place in His heart for the orphans. He doesn't just ask us to care for the orphans if we feel like it, no, He commands us to. 

This month, in honor of National Adoption Month, I am going to focus on several ways that you can make a difference in the life of the child and resources to help you get started. 

The first one is PRAY. I know, it should be a no brainer right? And the "Christian thing" to do. That may be the case, but friends, prayer is so very important. It is the most important thing we can do when talking about orphan care. I have seen the Lord move mountains when prayer was involved. In China, I saw miracle after miracle in the lives of the children I cared for. Children who should not be alive today, are not only alive, but thriving. If you do nothing else, then pray, pray, pray.

Here are some things to pray for if you need some direction:

** Pray for the children in foster families & homes, government & privately run orphanages all over the world.

** Pray for the nannies and caretakers.

** Pray for the birth families. We don't know their story or why they had to give their children up, but it was probably the most difficult thing they ever had to do. We often look at the birth parent as the "bad guy" when really, they may have given their child up out of love, to give them a chance at life.

** Pray for the funding for these foster home and orphanages. That they may provide the care these children need.

** Pray for FOREVER FAMILIES to adopt these children!

** Pray that there will be another option and that these families DO NOT have to give up their child for adoption! Pray for a way for them to stay with their birth families.

These are just a few ideas to help you get started!