Reality of Orphan Sunday

This past Sunday was National Orphan Sunday. It is the day set aside for churches to celebrate, pray for and advocate for the children around the world who have been orphaned. I was privileged to pray at my church for the children at Beautiful Gate and others around the world who find themselves labeled fatherless. I saw many many posts of Facebook and Instagram on Sunday regarding orphans and children in foster care. But here the thing that I cannot shake, today that those children are still considered fatherless, but are we still praying for them? As the body of Christ are we still fighting for them or have we checked that of the list of to-dos once orphan Sunday was done?

Today my heart feels the weight and the heaviness of childhood abandonment, orphans and the families who are stuck. You see it is very easy to push people into doing something. It is very easy to make a post about doing something, and I agree, if we all played our part, there would be less children in foster care and orphanages, but my heart is so heavy for the people who are doing something but are just plain stuck. For one Sunday a year they hear all about how they should be doing something to help these precious children, but when the hands on the clock move past midnight, the reality is they so desperately want to do something but they can't. They just have to wait. They are stuck and some where in a different country their child is stuck too.

Friends, orphan Sunday has past, but let's not forget the many children in orphanages that long to have a home. Let us also not forget the many families whose lives feel like they are in limbo because nothing is happening in their cases. Many we not forget to pray everyday for every side of the orphan crisis, for the children and the waiting families. If you know of a family that is currently waiting, send them a note, a card, a hug anything to let them know that you are still supporting them and they are not alone.