Abandoned-Orphaned

The Ancients (part four)

The second-century Christian philosopher, Clement of Alexandra, authored a great trilogy of works on the development of early Christian ethics and moral conduct. In book two, Paedagogus, he produces a scathing account of the wealthy, pleasure-seeking, gossiping, unfaithful women of the time. An excerpt refers to their preference for fine animals rather than the elderly, widows and orphans:

"These women...pride themselves not in their husbands, but in those wretches which are a burden on the earth, and overlook the chaste widow, who is of far higher value than a Melitæan pup, and look askance at a just old man, who is lovelier in my estimation than a monster purchased for money. And though maintaining parrots and curlews, they do not receive the orphan child; but they expose children that are born at home, and take up the young of birds, and prefer irrational to rational creatures."

From: Philospoher Clement of Alexandra, Paedagogus (Alexander translation) 3.4, by W. L. Alexander, from Ante-Nicene Fathers

In our time and culture we don’t typically expose our babies to die while saving chicks that have fallen from nests. But this dichotomy still exists to a degree, don’t you think?

The Ancients (part three)

In a letter dated 1 BC, a Roman man writes to his pregnant wife back home:

"I am still in Alexandria...I ask and beg you to take good care of our baby son, and as soon as I receive payment I shall send it up to you. If you are delivered (before I come home), if it is a boy, keep it, if a girl, discard it."

From: Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 744, translated in Naphtali Lewis, Life in Egypt Under Roman Rule (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985), p. 54.

The casual nature of this infanticide instruction is very unsettling to us as twenty-first century Western readers, regardless of our religious beliefs and convictions. But it is clearly indicative of the low value placed on human life in the pagan Roman society of that age. It was totally acceptable, and even encouraged in many cases, to kill an unwanted child after birth. The male leader of a family was given full authority under Roman law to do so.

Death usually came through drowning - an easily accessible and quiet execution - or by exposing the child to the elements and wild beasts outside of town. Similarly, in ancient Greece, and throughout Southern and Eastern Asia, infanticide was common, widespread, and permissible.

Even the leading philosophers of the day supported and advocated for the murder of the innocents. To defend the shameful practice, Cicero referred to the Twelve Tables of Roman law that specifically expressed that it was suitable to kill weakly babies. The Twelve Tables also expressed that is was allowable to expose female infants no matter how healthy there were. It is almost incredulous to see that even revered thinkers like Plato and Aristotle viewed the killing of infants as a valid right granted by the state.

We often think of infanticide as a crime perpetuated by uneducated, illiterate, impoverished persons living in the rural areas of struggling third-world countries. The reality is that the practice was approved and legitimized in highly-civilized ancient cultures, in well-developed cities, and across all socio-economic strata. The deeper reality, of course, is that the historical path of infanticide is evidence of the ancient, corrupted heart of man.

To be continued...

Would You Press the Button? (part six)

Many people in this country physically have to push buttons in voting booths. The enfranchisement of the masses causes millions upon millions of these literal and figurative switches to be flipped in every municipality, from coast to coast.

Each button has both temporal and eternal consequences associated with it. The elected officials will help develop and define policy that directly or indirectly affects how many people will die with the further pressing of additional buttons.

Too bad that many of these elections are just popularity contests.

In strides the dashing young man, one of style and pizzazz, one of eloquent words and promises of change. People are drawn to him. His meteoric rise on the political scene is just the "underdog overcoming adversity" story that Americans crave and respect. He offers them hope for a better future, one free of war and recession.

He is confident with a commanding presence that owns the space he occupies. He represents a deviation from the "old guard" and connects well with certain constituencies of people, people who were formally disenfranchised and unfairly relegated to the periphery of society. People are attracted to him for that reason also, to see the clear wrongs of the past righted in the most visible and profound way possible.

He especially resonates with young college students and professionals. "He is our candidate," they proclaim. "No more old relics of leadership for us. We need a man who knows our generation and cares for the things we care for."

They get caught up in the cult of personality and the quest for the candidate that harmonizes with their age and energy. Even Christian youth groups throw accolades at him. Evangelical students float and fly his colors. Myspace and Facebook banners and buttons display their allegiance to him in glowing pixels.

Either out of ignorance or euphoria, the details get overlooked or lost. The potential buttons are indiscernible in the haze of celebrity and persona. It therefore doesn’t matter that this same candidate supports stabbing partially-born infants in the back of the neck with scissors, followed by the scrambling and vacuuming out of their brains prior to crushing their little skulls.

...And that he even supports seeing such heinous things funded with our tax dollars, your tax dollars.

Just because one speaks well, looks good, and connects with certain demographics, does that make them a good leader? Of good character? Just because one is youthful and hip, does that qualify to earn them the support of our Christian youth?

Push that button and millions of more babies will continue to die. Push that button and you have no excuse...their blood is on the tips of your fingers, the palms of your hands.

To be continued...

World Orphans Rescue! - Portfolios (part two)

Here are just a few current opportunities within the World Orphans project portfolios:

(Image: Rescued child in India)

SECTOR: Infanticide Rescue
REGION: South Asia (India)
PARTNERS: Impact International, New Directions International
CURRENT FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: $450,000

DESCRIPTION: World Orphans has funded a fulltime representative to help identify and establish 15 church-based homes in an area of India known for large-scale female infanticide. Some of these children have already been rescued. Others are presented to our partners by midwives who are aware of a family’s intent to kill their baby if it is a girl. These children are literally saved from the grave.

(Image: Children of Iraq)

SECTOR: Children of Conflict
REGION: NAMEstan (Iraq)
PARTNERS: Major denomination not disclosed due to security reasons
CURRENT FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: $1 million
MATCHING GRANT: All funds received by November 15th, up to $300,000, will be matched 100%

DESCRIPTION: "World Orphans Iraq" has now been officially approved as a charity in Iraq. Our office there is currently being opened and we have been given full permission to establish the first church-based orphan homes in the country. Many abandoned and orphaned children now seek stability and security. This is your opportunity to make a personal difference in this war-torn country.

(Image: Young fatherless girl in Moldova)

SECTOR: Abuse and Exploitation
REGION: Eurussia (Moldova)
PARTNERS: New Hope International
CURRENT FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: $500,000

DESCRIPTION: Moldova is the #1 trafficking hub for persons in all of Europe and the world’s top exporter of forced child prostitution. Our partner is rescuing orphaned and abandoned children from the streets, as well as from institutions that would sell children into sexual slavery or for the harvesting of their vital organs. Our children’s homes are being established with churches that are situated in key regions of such terrible abuse and exploitation.

(Image: Children that have escaped the war in Northern Uganda)

SECTOR: Children of Conflict (Genocide)
REGION: NAMEstan (Sudan) and Sub-Sahara (Rwanda, Burundi)
PARTNERS: Operation Mobilization, ALARM, and a major multi-national organization not disclosed due to security reasons
CURRENT FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: $500,000
MATCHING GRANT: All funds received by Nov. 30th, up to $50,000, will be matched 100%

DESCRIPTION: Widespread ethic massacre has left thousands of first and second-generation orphans. Children that were orphaned years ago are now having children that they can’t support. Abandonment is rampant. More recently, churches have been destroyed. Pastors and their congregations have been butchered. These churches are being re-established and homes for orphans are being built to care for the children that were left behind.

World Orphans
1840 Woodmoor Dr. Suite 100
Monument, CO 80132
1-888-ORPHANS

All contributions are tax deductible and eternally significant

Daughters

A few days after Deepa (name changed for privacy) was born in a small village in Tamil Nadu, India, the midwife went to check on her. The baby already looked quite sickly. More disconcerting, however, was the sight of a small grave that was freshly dug right next to the home. The pit was anticipating its young occupant.

Nita (name changed for privacy) was also just a few days old when a midwife visited her home. Nita was naked, except for two strands of cloth, one around her neck and another around her waist. Both had been dipped in coconut milk. She had been placed on a raging ant nest. Large ants, attracted to the sweet swatches of fabric, were swarming all over her little body. Her 63 year-old father laughed and waved, "sure," when the midwife offered to take the child away, to save the child from such an excruciating death by exposure and toxins.

Deepa and Nita were both brought to the home of one of our partners. There, they are being raised with 20 other children as cherished daughters, daughters saved from untimely deaths, daughters of the King who loves them and has a purpose for them.

To be continued...

Marked for Death

The village grinding stones are stacked upon each other outside a straw-thatched mud hut. They are a testimony to both wheat and waste as life-giving tools and life-taking weapons. Mothers use them to grind flour for naan bread to feed their children. Mothers would also pass them around to crush the skulls of their babies...female babies.

Crude methods then became more ‘refined’ as government authorities started investigating or, more often, started looking for bribes. A variety of death schemes has now emerged. Rice with the husks still attached is often force-fed to newborn girls so that the sharp husks will slit their gullets. Toxic sap is mixed with breast milk to cause internal bleeding and death. Babies are vigorously shaken until their brains hemorrhage or spinal cords snap. Others are sealed into earthen jars to suffocate.

Further means are even more slow and deliberate. Wet blankets are used over days to cause the onset of pneumonia. Feces are mixed with milk or directly forced down the throat to promote E-coli poisoning. Many infants are simply not fed...are left to starve to death as soon as they exit the womb.

Because of ever-increasing police scrutiny, some families now even wait until a child is one or two years old until they kill her. The same child that they raise as part of the family, who plays and giggles with them, is marked for death.

Female infanticide in India is still very much a modern-day phenomenon. The preference for a male heir coupled with a debilitating female dowry system cause the slaughter of thousands of baby girls each year.

To be continued...

Infanticide Fund

Murli and Usha Menon just spent a couple of days staying with us in our home. They are dear friends that I’ve known for almost a decade. Over the years, I’ve made multiple trips to India to visit them and their very extensive work there.

(ON OUR HEARTH AND IN OUR HEARTS: Murli & Usha Menon)

Murli is the President of Impact International, Vice President of New Directions International, Founder and President of the Nilgiris Institute for Christian Studies, Board member for the Asia Theological Association (ATA), and Chairman of ATA in India.

...In short, he’s a veritable powerhouse, an extremely influential man of God for Asia in general and India in particular. His contacts in global Christian ministry read like a Who’s Who of state and organizational leadership.

Murli’s vast ministry involvements include leadership training, evangelism and church planting. Many pastors have been trained and mobilized. Many churches have been planted and equipped.

But it’s a certain segment of the Menon’s ministry that especially captures my heart...

Quite a few years ago, Murli and Usha started rescuing little girls from infanticide in their immediate area of Tamil Nadu, a region well documented for its killing of baby girls. Murli and Usha simply took children into their own home to be raised as part of their family.

They now have almost a dozen children’s homes and presently care for 362 children rescued from the streets and the grave. Their goal is to save 100,000 children, primarily in India, but also stretching into Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The Menons know that local indigenous churches are the only way to accomplish such an incredible feat.

(LAY OF THE LAND: Murli shows me a site plan for a project with a church and mutltiple children's homes)

During Murli and Usha’s time with us, World Orphans agreed to tap into Impact International’s extensive network to initially fund 15 church-based homes, predominantly consisting of little girls saved from infanticide. We have also provided funding for a fulltime in-field representative and her husband who will serve under Impact International for this purpose. This representative used to oversee 90 children’s centers for Gospel for Asia, another mega-ministry that is very close to my heart.

World Orphans is currently setting up a "Children of Infanticide" fund to help resource this initiative. If you’re interested in participating, please contact us at 1-888-ORPHANS.

30,000

The United Nations and World Health Organization report that 10.5 million children – all under the age of five - die each year from "easily-preventable" conditions in the developing world. Malnutrition and unclean water are common or complicating factors in most of these deaths, but pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, measles, HIV/AIDS, pregnancy issues, and a whole host of related items, get the official credit on the death certificate.

Poverty and lack of access to decent healthcare are mitigating factors. Unavailable or unaffordable $1 vaccinations take their toll in a world where half the population - over 3 billion people - tries to survive on less than two dollars a day.

The UN/WHO annual child mortality number equates to 28,800 children dying each and every day - almost ten times the tragedy of 9/11...each and every day!

And these are just the children under the age of five!

Image if you increased that range to six years old? Seven years old? Eight years old?

Regardless, at least another 1,200 children under five (conservatively bringing the total to over 30,000 children) perish daily because of infanticide or sex-selective abortion. We can go on and on, but 30,000 is already significant enough a number.

30,000 little lives. 30,000 souls. 30,000 hopes and dreams.

30,000. Think about that number today. Pray about that number today.

Unsuccessful Murder

I was reading the latest edition of WORLD Magazine yesterday and stumbled upon a short article written by Susan Olasky, entitled "Unsuccessful Murder." The piece described the very disturbing predicament of Luo Cuiffen, a young twenty-something woman in Kunming, China.

For many years, Luo has suffered from depression, anxiety and insomnia and has been unable to exert herself to perform strenuous tasks. When she recently spotted blood in her urine, she went to her local hospital for assistance and care. That visit required a diagnostic X-ray of her pelvic area. In turn, the radiology results necessitated multiple scans of her whole body.

What the X-rays revealed was simply horrific and tragic.

According to the hospital report, "23 needles were deeply embedded in her body."

(DEADLY INTENT. One of the X-rays shows multiple needles in Luo's pelvic area. AP Photo)

Doctors believe that Luo’s grandparents, now deceased, had inserted the needles through her abdomen while she was an infant, most likely when she was just days old. They also forced one through the fontanel, the soft spot, in her scull. Their hope was that she would die and be replaced by a baby boy instead. In China, the preference for a male heir, coupled with the country’s one-child policy, means that many baby girls, "maggots in the rice," are frequently abandoned or killed by the family.

During the time of Luo's repeated trauma, X-ray machines were not accessible in many rural areas of China. Murder by slow internal bleeding could often be committed without any fear of repercussions. Doctors could even be bribed to submit false causes of death if they suspected that murder had occurred.

Luo beat the odds and survived, but the needles worked their way into her vital organs, including her kidneys, bladder, liver and lungs. The one in her brain eventually broke into three pieces.

According to Steven Mosher, President of the Population Research Institute, inserting a sewing needle through the fontanel and into the baby’s brain is one of the more "typical" methods of infanticide in China. Luo’s grandparents apparently chose a more systemic application and treated her like a human pincushion.

Luo's mother thought that she just had a really colicky baby. Now she knows the truth. She knows that her little baby girl was in utter agony from having almost two dozen needles pushed into her tiny body.

Boys carry on the family name and take care of their parents during their retirement years in China. Wives are expected by tradition to look after their husband’s parents, not their own. To have a girl means that you do not have nurture in your old age. That, together with a dowry that has to be paid when you marry off a daughter, results in strong cultural pressures to have a boy.

Olasky’s unsettling closing paragraph reads:

"Infanticide and abortions of unborn girls have created a skewed ratio between the genders, with 119 boys born for every 100 girls, according to official figures. Steven Mosher says the ratio in some areas is as high as 120-130 boys for every 100 girls, and that on some rural playgrounds it’s not unusual to see 25 little boys for every five girls. Most of the missing girls aren’t in orphanages or adopted into families: They’re dead."

There is hope though. One of our partners rescues these baby girls, often when graves have already been prepared.

...But we’ll save that story for another time.

Namesake

He was the product of an unholy union, a "taboo child" born to a brother and sister. The boy’s grandmother had arranged for a midwife to help with his delivery and to subsequently snuff out his life upon birth. Most likely, he was to be smothered until his little heart beat no more.

The midwife, however, couldn’t bring herself to kill him. After he was born she whisked him away, named him Moses, and started to raise him as her own son.

When Moses reached the tender age of three, his mother became aware of his continued existence and set about to have him killed. In order to see Moses evade certain death, the midwife brought him to one of our church-based orphan homes in Nairobi. I can imagine that she now watches from afar to see how he is doing.

Moses, now five years old, is a spirited young boy with a pleasing countenance and a great beauty both inside and out. As we watched him perform a welcome song and dance for us a few days ago, we could see the hope and promise for his life. With a wide smile and hands lifted high, he brings praise and glory to God.

(Image: Moses leads former street orphans in a song of worship)

True to his namesake, he was given up to escape slaughter. True to his namesake, he points people to the Living God.

We pray that, like his namesake, he will also become a great leader of integrity and influence.

 

(Image: Moses - a playful, fun-loving child of purpose)