Every Child Deserves a Family: Praying for OrphansShembull

While orphanages have historically been a first response for those seeking to help orphans, few realize that most children in orphanages still have at least one living parent and other family members who are willing to care for them, but poverty makes it difficult. Often, parents and family members place children in orphanages so they’ll have food, shelter, education, and health care—things they can’t provide themselves. Other children end up in orphanages because they’re disabled or they’ve been abandoned, abused, or neglected. So how can we help? Strengthening families is the best way to support vulnerable children. We need to help parents and other family members be able to meet their children’s basic needs so they can remain together. Without access to clean water, Jane struggled to support her children in Central Kenya. Instead of attending class, her children had to walk a full day on a dangerous path to reach the nearest water source and walk another full day to get home. Then, everything changed when World Vision brought child sponsorship to Jane’s community. Today, Jane’s family has a clean water source just minutes from home. Jane is able to send her kids to school while she serves as the school’s superintendent and generates much-needed income for her family. Investing in families like Jane’s gives us a practical way to help give vulnerable children the chance to grow up healthy and loved. It’s a personal, effective way to follow God’s call to stand up for those in need (Proverbs 31:9). PRAY Dear God, It’s overwhelming to imagine the kind of extreme poverty that more than 700 million people experience every day. Help me to have compassion for them. Let me not forget their plight. I lift up families that feel they have no other option than to put their children in orphanages. Help them see the value of keeping their children home, where they belong, and give them the support they need to do so. Bless impoverished families with resources, opportunities, and real hope for the future. Please teach me more about how I can help strengthen families. Clothe me with your kindness and your compassion and give me the will to do Your work. Thank you, Lord. Amen.