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 called my husband and me into a ministry to orphans. The above verse in James 1:27 confirms this calling on our lives. In fact, I believe God calls all of us to care for orphans and widows in our world. Orphans and widows are some of the most vulnerable people today and many suffer abuse at the hands of others. The world discriminates against them and takes advantages of them regularly. We see it even with the children that live in our orphanages. They make an easy target.
I want to share with you, the story of Elizabeth. Elizabeth lives in our orphanage in Nepal and is now Thirteen years old. Elizabeth’s mother died when she was very young. Her father worked as a slave in a house in Nepal. He could not afford to keep his children so he sold them off one by one to a circus in India. We were able to reach Elizabeth before her father sold her. She came to live with us in 2010 when she was just seven years old. She had never attended school because the family could not afford it.
Jeremiah 49:11 “But I will protect the orphans who remain among you. Your widows, too, can depend on me for help.”
In our orphanages, we provide for all the children care, education and medical treatments. Unfortunately, the world still looks down on these precious little ones. In the photo, you will notice Elizabeth’s arm is in a cast. One day, while she was at school, one of her teachers decided Elizabeth was talking without permission in line. That teacher got a stick and violently hit her in the arm. Once we got word of the incident, we rushed Elizabeth to the doctor and they put a cast on her arm. The x-ray did not show a break but they put it in a cast as a precautionary measure. The teacher believed no one would notice if she hurt an orphan. We noticed and we did something about it. We met with the headmaster and we requested the teacher receive some kind of discipline for her behavior. Nevertheless, the truth is that this kind of treatment is normal for orphans. Elizabeth was able to get proper medical care and she healed from her injuries because God put her in our care.
God calls each of us to help widows and orphans. Moreover, just like the great commission verse below, this applies to all of us and not just a select few. I pray for the Lord to show you how to do your part to help.
May the Lord Bless you and keep you.
Yvonne
Matthew 28:19 “Therefore, GO and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
