Monday, August 19, 2013

Journey to Orphan Sunday

Orphan Sunday is November 3....the first Sunday in November every year. 11 years ago in a small church in Zambia  Pastor Billy Chondwe pleaded with his congregation to provide for the orphans in their community which was ravaged by AIDS and poverty. His plea was so passionate that one by one the people came up giving what they could....some giving the shoes off their feet because that was all they had. An American visitor, Gary Schneider, was so moved by Pastor Billy's passionate plea that he began helping other Zambian pastors do the same and eventually brought Orphan Sunday to America. What is so moving about that first Orphan Sunday in Zambia was the response of the people in the congregation that really had nothing to give....but they gave anyway. Isn't that a beautiful picture of sacrificial giving? Isn't that what we are all called to do? Are we not to turn away from this world and give to the needy and provide for orphans and widows?

"learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause." Isaiah 1:17

On Orphan Sunday we are all called to respond to God's call to care for the orphan. There are 42 countries now participating in OS and 145 U.S and 111 International Orphan Sunday Coordinators. All working toward the same purpose to present the opportunity for believers to care for the fatherless. Emails will be sent, Pastor Packets will be delivered and visits will be made by coordinators to churches worldwide as God's "workers" enter the fields for the fatherless.  There are 163 million orphans across the globe and there are an estimated 2.1 billion professing Christians across the globe. That doesn't seem right does it?  Could there really be that many Christians....if so why are there so many orphans when God clearly commands us in scripture to care for orphans?
 
"Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute." Psalm 82:3