Paul Myhill's Blog

Continuum of Care (introduction)

I wrote the following entry, and a few that follow, at 4:00 AM as a storm rained down on a tin roof overlooking a courtyard in Bujumbura, Burundi last year. I’m not sure why it took me so long to post them, perhaps because they fall more into a ministry philosophy category than one of in-field reporting. Regardless, we have developed this model considerably further since I penned these initial thoughts based on our discussions. I look forward to sharing more with you on that later...

Continuum of Care (introduction)

True holistic or ‘whole’ ministry not only means providing for all the functional needs of the individual, but possessing all the potential solutions available for that individual. It entails having all the options at your disposal to meet the needs according to a ‘continuum of care.’ Where an individual’s needs and circumstances fall on that spectrum dictates the prospective approaches and solutions. For the potential orphan, it involves first trying to prevent orphaning, second, rescuing the child after orphaning.

More specifically, the rescue and care of abandoned and orphaned children should follow a progressive continuum of options that all involve the coordination and direct involvement of the local indigenous church located in the community.

PREVENTION/DELAY

Prevention involvement should primarily focus on keeping dying families or guardians alive for as long as possible, or by supporting high-risk struggling, impoverished, or single-parent families. In other words, the goal should be to avert orphaning and abandonment, or to at least significantly delay it.

Indigenous churches, as they engage their communities, conduct home care visits and provide much-needed medicines, food and other assistance for this purpose. Naturally, they also have significant additional ministry opportunities into these families as a result.

TRANSITION/RESIDENTIAL PLACEMENT

If orphaning is still imminent, the church already has a history with and familiarity of these children due to its prevention and delay involvement. Requisite trust has been built with the families and the kids. The church prepares the family for death through counsel and practical programs that help to safeguard memories, family heritage and continuity. Meanwhile, the church looks to see what extended family options currently exist or helps to convince and support otherwise uncommitted relatives to step up and take in these children. Again, this provides further inlets for the church to reach and minister to families. The church is given witnessing avenues beyond just the interest in the children.

If these first two options don’t exist or have failed, then the church turns to its own congregation – first to see if church members can raise and care for the children as their own (adoption) or as an intermediate step until another family is found (foster care). The church therefore serves as an integral community-based solution.

If the church’s capacity has already reached its upper limits, then a church-based residential care solution is needed in order to keeps kids off of the streets, herded into institutions, preyed upon by traffickers, or being exploited as domestic slaves in other community homes.

Group residential care, however, still has to be designed to provide a family environment, albeit a large one of fifteen children or so. Church families, that may have existing kids of their own, are recruited to care for these additional children in church-based homes with full funding provided for food, clothing, education and other critical needs. It’s a long-term obligation - a lifelong commitment - to what, in essence, equates to a group adoption.

In these large family settings, widows can complement the live-in care provision. Formerly disenfranchised and ostracized, many of these ladies need a home themselves and a renewed sense of purpose and belonging. They know loss and pain and are therefore uniquely qualified to counsel and comfort children who have lost their parents.

Volunteers from the church body are also on hand to provide assistance, mentoring, and skills development for the children in the group home.

RESCUE

There exist many young children already struggling on the streets and in garbage dumps and brothels. The indigenous church still goes through the necessary steps to find and support extended families for their rescue. But, absent that, these children also need to be incorporated into families within homes overseen and run by the church.

TRANSITION/REHABILITATION

Many orphan care ministries speak in terms of ‘transition’ or ‘reintegration’ concerning children that age-out of the system. For the children in World Orphans’ church-based homes, these words carry less meaning. Under our current ministry model, our children remain fully integrated in their communities and daily experience what healthy families look like. There is no big disconnection between the environment of their upbringing and the next season of life in the ‘real world,’ only the normal anxieties typically associated with making it on your own.

What’s more, these children never graduate from a home, much like we would never graduate from our own families. The families are told that their care for the children is not a 5, 10 or 15-year commitment. It’s a 65-year commitment! These kids are now part of families, families that they will still visit; families that they will celebrate life’s achievements and milestones with; families that will gather together for reunions and holidays.

There are children we serve, however, that can be deemed as in need of transition. These are children in countries that raise their orphans in state institutions, or in countries where circumstances placed them into large privately-run orphanages. They also include latter-stage children that have been on the streets or rescued from other dire circumstances. These kids need comprehensive help through well-designed intervention programs that prepare them for the next stage of life.

In many cases, these children are immediately placed at the mercy of evil forces that prey upon them as soon as they are released from institutional care. If the church doesn’t step in at that point, the kids are soon immersed into a world of drugs, prostitution, slavery, or forced military conscription. Their lives are typically harsh...and short.

To avoid this highly-vulnerable period following institutional release, World Orphans is establishing transition homes, again owned and run by indigenous churches, that take in children before malevolent parties have a chance to grab them. This residential care format provides the necessary training (including social and skills development) to allow the children to better integrate into broader society at a later date.

SELF-SUSTAINABILITY

Whether it’s a child leaving a primary or transitional home, or directly aging out of an institutional orphanage, there is a further opportunity and responsibility for an indigenous church. Much like we would help our own children with ‘next steps’ resourcing and care, so is it with children from any type of residential care program. They need assistance to take the first strides of self sufficiency. That may come in the form of additional training or higher education, but can often mean a simple micro-loan to establish them in a trade, small business, or other income-generating scenario.

Why go this extra mile?

Because it could mean the difference between stopping or perpetuating the vicious cycle of orphaning and abandonment. It’s not just the specific child (now young adult) in question, but also their future offspring. The child needs to have every chance to be successful and self supporting so that they don’t, in turn, abandon children or fall to the ills that take and destroy lives after children are born.

Miriam's Malady

Miriam is an alcoholic. She is a young single mother who loves her eight year-old girl, Galina, and her four year-old niece, Raia. They both reside with her. She lives in a poor village in Moldova and works in the fields where she slaves for ten hours a day for three straight days just to earn two pounds of wheat flour – barely enough to survive.

On our visit, Miriam is presented with a small grocery bag with dried beans, rice, cooking oil and a few other staples. It’s about what my family eats in a single meal.

It will last her and the two kids for a full month.

The Moldovan government wants to take Galina and Raia away from Miriam. They are trying to get the children placed into state orphanages. The ministry we are working with on this day believes that Miriam can be helped and rehabilitated. They believe that she is receptive to the Gospel. They desire to not only see her come into the Kingdom, but to prevent two more children from becoming statistics, from entering a institution where they could be used and abused.

Along with the bag of food, Miriam is given a Bible that she warmly receives and cradles in her arms. It is evident to us immediately that she will treasure it.

Miriam started off as a squatter in a home that had been abandoned by its former inhabitants, a man and his family in the village, after a fire swept through the building and made it structurally unsound. Upon learning that Miriam and the children were living in a building that he didn’t even want anymore, he started making demands. The rental price? – wine and sex.

Miriam, unable to provide a roof over their heads otherwise, and hardly able to feed the two children under her care, has to give this man wine and sex upon demand in order to stay in the property that he willingly deserted.

To keep the act away from his wife and family this man, no doubt, imposes himself upon Miriam in the home she lives in. The children would either be sent out or, in the dead of winter, presumably be within earshot as they normally sleep in a chair beside Miriam’s bed. Miriam has to suffer the shame and humiliation in close proximity to the children she is trying to keep alive, trying to prevent from introduction into a state orphanage.

Such is the face of evil that drives men to take advantage of the widow and orphan.

"Woe to those who…rob the poor of my people of their rights, so that widows may be their spoil and that they may plunder the orphans." (Isaiah 10:1a-2b, NASB)

"Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry."  (Exodus 22:22-23, NIV)

Roman

You can see the sadness in his eyes. It bears down deep into his soul.

During our time at one of our church-based children’s homes in the Ivano-Frankivsk oblast (province) of Ukraine, Roman had his head downcast and didn’t interact with the other children around him. It was explained to us that he doesn’t talk, doesn’t play, doesn’t act like a normal child in search of fun and friendship.

(Image: Roman)

For good reason...

Roman’s young eyes witnessed a tragic horror that no boy of any age should have to experience.

During a drunken argument between his parents, Roman’s mother grabbed a large carving knife and, in a frenzied rage, stabbed Roman’s father multiple times. Roman and his two sisters watched their father crumple to the ground as blood spewed out of his punctured and torn body. He bled to death right in front of their frightened, tear-filled eyes.

Roman’s mother is now in prison, her parental rights and freedom permanently terminated. She didn’t just murder her husband on that sad day. She murdered her family. She murdered her kids’ sense of security and identity. Both of their parents were ripped away from them on that day. They were orphaned in a single, angry, blood-stained moment.

But the Church is there to help Roman and his sisters. It is there to ‘bind up the wounds of the brokenhearted’ and to ‘care for the orphan in distress.’

Roman’s new home is in the same building as the church that meets there, each sharing one end of the common structure. Both figuratively and literally, the home and church are one. Roman has found care in the house of the Lord, through the love of the Lord’s people.

(Image: Children in front of the church-based children's home funded by World Orphans. They live in family units in the left side of the building (closest portion in photo) and the church is situated on the right side (farthest portion in photo).)

It will take time. Such trauma and loss isn’t overcome easily. But only the Church has the power, the love, the motivation, and the resolve to see it through and to see deep healing and transformation occur. Only the church can take a broken little boy like Roman and turn him into a hopeful young man who realizes his divine purpose. Only the church can turn his tragic experience into a tool and means for giving God glory.

"We Give Them Dreams"

The Father’s House in Kiev, Ukraine (not related to Father's House in Romania), rescues children from the streets through a multi-step process that begins with a two-and-a-half month ‘camp’ set on an island in the broad Dnieper river. The Dnieper slowly flows through Kiev towards the Black Sea and provides a unique barrier of separation between the harsh streets and the idyllic setting of the campsite.

(Image: Step One - The Father's House campsite. A place of rehabilitation.)

The camp is followed by a nine month group residential care program where children continue to learn about their value and responsibility. Afterwards, they are placed into family units in an adjoining apartment complex that is also owned by the ministry. Here, families from the church have volunteered to look after eight children each over a two year period.

(Image: One of the street boys currently at the camp)

There are six families currently in the apartment complex, helping to raise a total of 48 children that have progressed through these structured rehabilitation and development steps. After they have learned the value of family, and about a Father who loves them so much, many of these children are adopted into Christian families (often the very same families that volunteered to raise them for two years in the apartments) or placed into more permanent foster-care arrangements so that other children can eventually take their places to undergo the transformation course.

 

(Image: Step Two - The Father's House group residential home)

(Image: Step Three - Children are placed into family units in a separate apartment building on the property. Eight children are assigned to each family.)

The orphaned and abandoned children of Father’s House have many painful stories - stories of young lives of abuse and exploitation.

We were told of an eight year-old girl who ran away from home after being continually prostituted for vodka by her alcoholic mother. Nobody knows for sure when her torment began, perhaps when she was as young as six. Men would simply show up with a bottle of the liquor in order to have time with her. After receiving the alcohol, her mother would then show them into the little girl’s room. She would drink while the men freely had their way with her daughter. I can’t imagine the screams and cries that were drowned out by a drunken haze.

(Image: A young girl plays with a puppy on the playground at Father's House)

A seven year-old girl ended up in the Father’s House program after being rescued from constant physical and sexual abuse as a slave. Her impoverished parents had sold her to a gypsy family for such a purpose. When a family gets to the point of selling their own children in order to survive, especially when selling them into obviously horrible circumstances, the depth of human desperation and degeneration has reached its lowest point.

A six year old boy was taken off of the streets. He couldn’t talk and didn’t even know the name of his country. He could barely walk. He had apparently been forcibly confined to a wheelchair for years. He was not allowed to talk or get out of his prison on wheels, so that his family could use him as a prop as they begged on the streets of Kiev.

We see it time and time again – children treated as commodities in order to feed earnings or addictions.

And then there’s the story of Tatiana (not her real name). At eleven or twelve years of age, Tatiana was repeatedly tied to a metal bed and beaten severely by her alcoholic mother. During these and other beatings, her teeth were knocked out of her head. On one occasion the mother punished Tatiana by trying to cut the nose right off of her face.

During a particularly brutal episode, Tatiana’s head was forced into an oven and her hair caught on fire. The searing follicles were doused out by the pot of boiling water that was on the stovetop.

It has now taken sixteen surgeries to reconstruct Tatiana’s beautiful face. It took more work and time to reconstruct her sense of worth.

After ‘graduating’ the Father’s House program, Tatiana was adopted into a loving family and is now receiving a college education. Her nightmare turned into a dream.

(Image: A picture of Tatiana, after her reconstructive surgeries, hangs on the wall at Father's House)

"We give them dreams," said Ruslan, the Director of Father's House. "They come to us with no hope for tomorrow. They don't know if tomorrow will even come for them. They have to live and survive in the present. They don't know how to hope and dream. We give that back to them...or maybe give it to them for the first time."

The Children of Father's House

Let me introduce you to some of the children that are part of The Father’s House ministry here in the Medias area of Romania. They have defied the odds. They have a hope and a future.

(Image: Father's House, "Tatalui Casa," Medias, Romania)

Flavius

(Image: Flavius riding his bike)

Flavius is an eight year-old boy. His father deserted the family when he was born. Subsequently unwanted and despised by his mother, he was literally treated like an unloved dog in her home. Scraps of food were thrown at him while he wriggled around unattended on the filthy floor. When he was rescued at two years old, he had to be bathed six times just to get the deeply-embedded dirt out of his skin.

He is now a charming child with a soft countenance and warm smile. He shyly told us that he loves his new ‘mama’ and is doing well at school. His favorite subject is mathematics and he proudly showed us a merit certificate indicating his superior performance. We met him on the day before his birthday but, partly due to our visit, he was allowed to enjoy his present - a new bike - while we were there.

From crawling in dirt and eating discarded morsels, to riding a shiny new bicycle in front of his home, Flavius has seized hold of his new opportunity for childhood, family, and love.

His life is still not without struggles, though. Coming from a Roma Gypsy background, he is discriminated harshly by other children his age. While we were with him we were told that he frequently asks, “Why do the other children not want to play with me?”

Flavius has loving support, counsel and encouragement to overcome such things. More importantly, he knows Jesus. He will find comfort in understanding that his true identity is in Christ.

Anca

 

(Image: Anca playing the violin for us)

This bright-eyed little seven year-old lit up the whole room when she came in. She and her sister, Denisa, were taken in by the state after their mother died and their alcoholic father abandoned them. Our host, Peter, shared with us that Anca and Denisa were “clinging to each other” and were “inseparable” when they were initially placed into a local institutional orphanage. They slept tightly together in the same bunk bed. They were the only family that each other had.

Then, the most heartbreaking scenario occurred. They were split up and placed into two different orphanages. I can’t imagine what drives even a secular governmental organization to do such an unwise and cruel thing. After a painful one-and-a-half years apart, the Father’s House ministry received the children and reunited them in a family home environment.

Nine year-old Denisa was away at a mandolin lesson when we arrived. Her little sister wanted to join her, just to be with her and listen to her play, but was asked to be at the home to spend some time with us. Anca shared her own aptitude for stringed instruments and entertained us on the violin with Fairest Lord Jesus. She loves to make music with her sister and a new brother who plays the keyboard. Once abandoned and left to die, she now offers beautiful melodies to the Lord as part of an informal family band that includes the sister she loves so much.

Alexandra and Alexandro

 

(Image: Alexandra and Alexandro with their foster mother)

Alexandra and Alexandro are two year-old twins from a poor Roma Gypsy family. Their mother left them near an unsafe wood-burning stove that ignited and consumed their home. The blaze killed their older sister and left Alexandra, at six months old, severely burned over most of her body. Her leg scars are so thick and inflexible that she will probably have great difficulty and pain walking when she grows older.

After the fire, the parents were tried for negligent manslaughter and the court removed Alexandra and Alexandro from their custody. Already poor, all their resources are being usurped by their legal fees.

Father’s House stepped in to arrange care for the children. During our visit, Alexandra was teething. The tears streaming down her face betrayed her true demeanor and happiness. She is typically a very joyful child...except when her parents come to visit. She and Alexandro are very uncomfortable and unhappy when they are around. Their reaction is one of pain and fear, fear that they might have to return to the life of neglect that left their sister dead and themselves physically and emotionally damaged.

The parents have not visited for quite a long time now. It appears that they will never have custody again and have little ability or desire to continue with their visitation rights. It truly is a tragedy. The blessing, of course, is that these two precious children have not been confined to an institution; have not been separated from one another. They share a common pain, but now share a common hope.

Anna Marie

(Image: Anna Marie with the Father's House social worker, Miriam)

Eleven year-old Anna Marie was abandoned at birth. She was placed successively into three different state-supported foster families. There were ‘problems’ with each family and she was forced into the home of the parents that had thrown her away three years before. There, she was beaten and abused. She was locked up and not fed.  She became severely malnourished.

At ten years of age, Anna Marie couldn’t even walk. The lack of sustenance and mobility caused her muscles to atrophy. She was frightened, broken and emaciated. Father’s House then came to the rescue and placed her into a loving home. She now feels treasured and secure, but often steals food from the home - an indication that her scars and fears run deep, not knowing if her time of plenty will come to an abrupt end as with the foster families she was initially placed with.

Vanessa

 

(Image: Paul with Vanessa)

We looked forward to meeting the next child. We were told that she was seven, but didn’t look her age. I naturally assumed that she would appear small and developmentally delayed. To our surprise a very robust healthy girl, who looked well beyond her years, confidently walked in with a gleaming smile.

Vanessa, also abandoned at birth, was confined to her crib at a government orphanage for the first two years of her young life. She was malnourished and developed rickets. Her hands and feet curled inwards. She couldn’t walk and was very sullen in outlook and attitude.

The girl before us now struck quite the contrast to her sad beginnings. She was jovial and comical, talking up a storm and giggling as she told stories about the pigeons and hens on the property. She freely gave hugs to Scott and me, clearly overjoyed at having visitors from the West.

All these children have been released – released from hopelessness; released from physical and mental ailments; released from the claws of the enemy.

All these children have been transformed - transformed by the tangible love extended by the Body of Christ; transformed into children of hope.

Natalia

Her father was killed because of drugs. Her mother and older brother are in jail because of drugs. Because of drugs, she is effectively orphaned. Marijuana and crack cocaine willingly claim their victims and leave the children to suffer.

Natalia is twelve years old. She can’t read or write. She and her younger brothers, Rodrigo and Tiago, are being raised in a favela by their older sister.

(Image: Natalia in her home)

As we entered her slum community, we were warned to not take photographs on the approach because a drug-gang lookout was posted to watch and assess all who entered. I managed to get a quick shot off before being noticed.

(Image: Natalia's favela)

Having successfully negotiated that first obstacle, Natalia proudly toured me around her home, a two-storied wooden shanty divided into four small rooms by sheets hanging from the ceiling. She showed me her humble room on the second floor, visibly excited that somebody from the U.S. would actually come in and see it. She will now be able to tell all her friends that a ‘special visitor from America’ visited her home and room.

(Image: The stairs up to Natalia's room)

Natalia is one of the 200 slum and street children that are touched by Projeto Vida Nova (Project New Life), a ministry of the Alliance Church that sits amongst pockets of favelas in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She knows about Jesus and actively participates in the programs offered at the center.

Natalia is certainly not free from the dangers of drugs. Thugs may still recruit or force her to be a drug mule or dealer. She is also a pretty girl that will have difficulty escaping the eyes of child prostitution and trafficking rings. In the slums, evil always lurks around the next corner. It comes in many forms.

But the Church knows her and loves her. She will be watched over closely...and relentlessly prayed for.

Please join in the communion of prayer for her and her brothers now.

(Image: Paul with Natalia's little brother, Tiago)

No Greater Love

Daniel Munoz was featured in an Ecuadorian newspaper as the poster boy street child - dirty, grimy and possessing thick scars testifying to multiple skirmishes with authorities and rivals. By age 14 he was leading his own gang, a status obtained by proving oneself through significant acts of crime and violence.

He also fathered a child.

Substance abuse and petty theft were the daily norm but elevated to occasional drug-induced frenzies where adversaries lost their lives. Daniel was known by other gang leaders as a formidable foe and destructive force.

That all changed six years ago while he was still just 14 years old.

Daniel found Christ through the work of the Alliance Church of Batan in Quito, Ecuador. When World Orphans helped to fund the church’s Opcion de Vida building two years ago, Daniel found his place in leadership. He desired to become a pastor and had a burning passion to "give his life" to reaching out to his former peers - street boys and girls immersed in a world of anguish and hate. He wanted to sacrifice his time and energies for his friends and former enemies.

He knew it was dangerous work and would be putting his life on the line daily. But his love of the Lord, and for those still in bondage to the streets, gave him peace and purpose.

We were told that most of the thirty to forty homeless children frequenting the Opcion de Vida ministry are there as a result of Daniel. He tirelessly went about his work as a fisher of men in the streets and alleys of Quito.

(Image: Daniel's best friend, Mike, now mentors and disciples other street boys)

Last month, Daniel was invited to go out with a friend. As they were going home for the evening they were attacked by a gang leader that recognized Daniel from his former life. Daniel and his friend were immediately stabbed without provocation.

Daniel bled out on the street for three hours before being welcomed into eternity by his Lord. His blood soaked into the very streets that have opened up to receive the spilled blood of many children. Daniel’s friend survived to share the details of the tragedy but later went into hiding for his own safety.

When reporters figured out that Daniel was the same street boy profiled in an article six years ago, they jumped on the story. Daniel was again featured in the newspaper but, this time, the piece portrayed a transformed life, a young man who desired nothing more than to see all the children of the streets rescued and taught the love of Christ.

The media attention caused the news to spread quickly and widely. As such, the funeral was highly attended. Many gang members came to the church and the Opcion de Vida grounds to seek more information and to find counsel, consolation and closure. Many came to Christ.

The mother of Daniel’s child was one of the first to accept the Lord after going to his funeral service.

Daniel did indeed give his life for his friends. Many found Christ in his lifetime. Others found Christ as a result of his death.

It’s a potent testimony to the life and worth of even one redeemed street child. There are many more Daniels out there; many more that can not only be taken out of the problem, but can become part of the solution by giving it their all.

(Image: Daniel. Photo courtesy of Opcion de Vida, Quito, Ecuador)

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13, NIV)

The Mega-issue (part four)

We have talked about two chain reactions, two cycles.

The first is how the rescue of orphaned and abandoned children (the mega-issue) affects so many other problems and concerns – poverty, HIV/AIDS, prostitution, child exploitation and other interrelated matters. To save children is to proactively attack and diminish all these societal plagues and afflictions. As children are liberated from the vicious cycle, parts of the cycle unravel, producing a geometric impact that reaches through generations. It’s not just about the current statistical decline of these troubles; it’s about the rescued children’s children, grand-children, great-grand children and beyond, who are now freed from the cause and effect spiral of despair. The changes project forward exponentially...because of children’s removal from the cycle.

The second regards an expanding numerical impact also. As the Church is the vehicle and purpose of rescue, children learn about their value in God’s eyes. They learn what the Bible has to say about teaching others, helping others, changing others. The children are removed from the problem but also become part of the solution as they teach against abuse, addiction and exploitation. They become an army of change agents for their communities, nation and world. The changes project forward exponentially...because of more workers attacking the cycle.

We have also talked about the spiritual element inherent in the church being the means of rescue and how this also has additional and multiplicative ramifications for eternity. People are attracted to the church because of the church’s love for the children. And the children above not only go into the world teaching about the issues of the temporal world, but they go teaching about the gift of eternity. These children become an army in another sense – an army of missionaries, spreading the greater truth of love and transformation. The changes project forward eternally...because of the spread of the message of new life.

It is this last thought that I’d like to now briefly expand upon.

Many parts of the developing world have evangelical Christian populations of less than 5%. In most of those same regions the composition of born-again believers is 2% and under. These are the same areas where significant orphaned and abandoned children struggle to survive.

In a sense, those red areas of blemish described in the previous section The Mega-issue (part three) also represent areas where Biblical Christianity is less than 5% established. As the white crosses of hope serve to shrink those red sections, the percentage of believers increases accordingly. Those believers, in turn, can expand the Kingdom exponentially as they take on the task of outreach and evangelism.

In short, orphans represent a unique opportunity for the recruitment and training of workers for the harvest fields of eternity. What a huge opportunity that really is...tens of millions of children ready to be raised by the Church family; tens of millions of children that have been orphaned and abandoned out of Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and animistic families; tens of millions of children that will be ‘sent out’ as missionaries to those same communities.

God works in all things. The tragedy of our time is also the greatest prospect of our time.

Do you want to know what the evangelical Christian response should be to radical Islamic schools that take in children, indoctrinate them, and send them out as terrorists, as armies of hatred and destruction?

Answer: Support indigenous churches all over the world to take in the orphaned children of Muslim communities, train them up in the knowledge of the Lord, and send them out as missionaries, as armies of love and reconciliation!

The mega-issue is now. The mega-opportunity is now.

The Mega-issue (part three)

All of society’s woes are related to one thing...sin. This is the point of commonality.

The world and everything in it was originally created as flawless, unspoiled...perfect. The world we live in today is not that world. It has been gravely corrupted as a consequence of a devastating choice. Everything we now see as imperfect, evil and tragic can be traced back to that specific moment that shattered the timeline forward. Murder followed. Disease followed. Abuses of children followed. Orphans followed.

The first Adam brought death and disease. The second Adam, Christ, brought life and healing.

Christ established His Body, the Church. The Spirit uses the Church to regenerate, restore and reconcile. The Church is God’s principal instrument to tackle the core commonality. Only the Church can truly address the mega-issue and everything it touches and represents.

God has positioned His Church around the world for such a time as this...

Orphaned and abandoned children flood the region previously known as the Third World. The burden knows no boundaries or borders. The whole area is awash with the weeping of desperate children that don’t ask for much...just simple safety, security, and sustenance...and the knowledge that somebody loves them. Much of that same area is populated by the Church, local indigenous bodies of believers that understand the call and strength of James 1:27 and over forty other passages of Scripture related to orphans; that understand the heart of God for the lost children who are abandoned and polluted by this cruel and wicked world.

Visualize a map of the developing world produced on a letter-sized piece of paper. Imagine that all the areas where significant orphan populations exist are represented by blood-red dots. In India, Africa and Southeast Asia, these red dots converge to form huge swatches and blotches across large urban areas. Whole regions are bathed in crimson.

Now think of a second map copied onto a similarly-sized transparency sheet. It is faint and translucent accept for opaque white crosses printed all over it, each symbolizing where specific indigenous churches are established. In those same large city agglomerations above, the white crosses join hands to form a white field, a safety net of rescue, a mesh of hope.

Now imagine placing the transparency sheet on top of the red-stained sheet. The blood and cries of the children are covered by the crosses. The regions of red blemishes are punctuated by little white points of intersection and hope. Most areas where orphans live and die are populated by native churches that are strategically placed to rescue them, temporally and eternally.

The numbers of people represented by these white crosses aren’t necessarily large; the sizes of the crosses aren’t very big in some areas; the spacing between crosses is quite far apart in others. But they are spread out over the same geography where the mega-issue continually and persistently rears its ugly head. There is a presence. There are partners for the task.

Indigenous churches are uniquely positioned to care for the children of their communities. Most have the heart and are responding in obedience and love with limited resources; they just need a boost to more broadly and effectively engage the task.

As these churches do engage the task, they expand. Rescued children accept the promises of Christ and commit to love and serve Him. Surrounding communities, warmed by the affection of the church towards their children, are attracted to the church and find love and forgiveness there. The children, themselves, go out amongst neighbors and peers who witness their transformation and want a part of it. The churches grow.

Imagine those white crosses increasing in size and numbers as they start to take in the 150 million orphans in their vicinities. Imagine them absorbing the scarlet stains like sponges, swelling and multiplying as a result; the purity and hope of Christ covering the abuses and corruptions of man. Churches develop and extend. The Kingdom advances.

The Least of These

Jacob has slept on a hard concrete sidewalk for the past two years, huddled with many other boys and girls that are clothed in tattered rags and hopelessness

Elena, a frightened 10-year old, has just been forced into prostitution by the local slum lord

Sanjay spends the day scavenging the garbage heaps for scraps of food and sniffing glue to numb his hunger pangs and sorrows

Ursula is frightened and alone after witnessing her family savagely killed with machetes during an "ethnic cleansing" campaign

Serge worriedly tries to comfort his sick baby sister during yet another long, cold night under a frozen bridge

"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." - Jesus (Matthew 25:40 NIV)

(Acronym: Copyright World Orphans 2006)