Is it only providing a place of safety and shelter where they can get their basic needs met? Making sure their clothes are not dirty and torn and that they get 3 warm meals a day. If those are the only requirements, then I'd say that it is not a command that requires a whole lot from us, really only money is required for that kind of care.
As I look around at the kids who live here, I see so much more than those basic needs, but I fear that sometimes the real needs are not being seen. Throw a bit of food their way and that should take care of it right? Pay for a roof over their head and then at least they are not on the street or getting rained on, right?
What about their dignity and their little hearts that are so broken. Dignity that allows them to be treated the same as other kids who have parents. Treated in a way that shows them love and not pity. What about their emotional needs so their hearts can begin the long and slow process of healing? Don't they need people in their lives to just listen to them and hear their story and then they can feel that they have value.
Sometimes people refuse to give their money to Beautiful Gate because they do not see any "orphans." They say they do not see the kind of kids that are exploited on the television; dirty, sad, and lonely on a playground of broken equipment and dirt. They do not get the point that no child should be forced to live that way and because of some people's expectations for "that kind" of orphanage, some children are being denied their dignity so orphanages can get more money. It sickens me.
What if it was your biological child who was orphaned? Would you want more than the basics for them? Would you want someone to love them and listen to them share their hopes and dreams? Wouldn't you want them to have so much more than a roof over their head? If you do not have children, what would you have wanted if you were orphaned? What would it really mean to take care of you in your distress? That is what I think about each day that I watch the children here playing, laughing and crying. Taking care of orphans is a joyful sacrifice of time, energy and resources. It means dying to ourselves daily so we can pour God's love and mercy over His precious children.
This both shocks and saddens me. It takes so much more than a little food and a place to sleep to know you are loved and cared for. It isn't about a few basic necessities. Most of these children would not be alive if it was not for the care, devotion, and love, that is poured out on these beautiful children of God. They are so young, how could they have known anything about caring for themselves. Many could not even walk or talk when they showed up at Beautiful Gate. Because they are clean, fed, happy and well cared for and live in facilities that show that same concern shows me that what is happening at Beautiful Gate is what works. That is exactly the type of place I would want to support and encourage through whatever means The Lord has put at my disposal. Why would you not want to help those that are actually serving well?
ReplyDeleteJames 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.
To Look after - take care of, care for, attend to, minister to, tend, mind, keep an eye on, keep safe, be responsible for, protect.
To Care - feel concern or interest; attach importance to something or someone.
My heart hurts not just for these children who had no one to care for them but also for those who have so much yet their hearts are hardened to the things that break the heart of Our Father.
It seems to me that God asks us to do more than take care of basic human needs.
We all need to feel valued, cared for, loved and Our Heavenly Father desires us to be the gospel and if necessary use words to share His great love with a hurting and lost world.
So true. Praying how can we provide for more than just their physical needs..this is no small task. So many children, so many needs. Thankful God sees their needs and provides wisdom to those who care for them.
ReplyDeleteKaren B