Eddie is a small boy in a government orphanage in Uganda.  Eddie isn’t his real name.  I haven’t changed his name for protection reasons, I’ve given him a name because no one knew his name.  Eddie walked up to me the moment I walked through the gates that morning.  His petite, dark features were beautiful and yet he never once smiled.  He took my hand and from that moment he had my heart as well.  When I asked the caretakers his name, they said they didn’t know.  When I asked the other children, they didn’t know either.  I asked him and he wouldn’t speak a word.  I eventually called him Eddie because he stands back and watches others interact, the same way my Pappa used to.  No one knew Eddie’s story, no one knew why he was there except that he seemed to have no where else to go.  He was one of too many, He was lost in the crowd and it would probably not be noticed if he was there or not.

Dorcas has been abandoned by her mother.  She’s three years old and you can’t explain to her why her mother left, she just knows she’s gone.  She attached herself to one of our short term team members and when we left, it was a very tearful goodbye.  But Dorcas’ story differs from Eddie’s.  Dorcas has a name that people know.  She isn’t lost in the crowd because she has a church family that loves her, that cares for her.  They provide for her, not only physically but spiritually and emotionally.  They love her and call her by name.  They notice when she is having a particularly difficult time and they comfort her.  She is still an orphan, but she is an orphan who has been adopted into a family of faith.

See the difference when the body of Christ steps in and fulfills their calling?  An orphan has a name, she is loved, cared for and pointed towards a God who loves her infinitely more than anyone here on earth ever could.  What a difference from the life Eddie will have.  Yes, Eddie will have a roof over his head and yes, Eddie will eat some of the time.  But what will happen to Eddie as a result of being lost in the crowd?  My heart aches when I see his face.  He not only represents so many orphans in this world who are not told that they are valued by an ever-present God, but he is an individual child I long to wrap my arms around and tell this truth until I know he understands.  I can’t wrap my arms around every orphan in this world, but the church can.  Will you wrap your arms around a child today?

Today is a new day.

Yesterday marked the two-year anniversary of the tragic earthquake that rocked Port au Prince, Haiti, changing the lives of many forever, including countless children left orphaned and homeless. Yesterday included remembrance of the many lost, gatherings and ceremonies honoring the past.

World Orphans work in Haiti continues – partnering with 11 churches that care for 220 orphans – in families. Equipping the church to care for and nurture children and families in need.

Since the earthquake, we have also opened a guesthouse to provide a safe place for visiting mission teams during their time of service. As teams visit Haiti to serve alongside the church, caring for children and their communities, our Guesthouse managers, Ted and Rebecca Barlow, provide support and encouragement, guidance and prayer.

Today is a new day.

As Haitians in and around Port au Prince look to the future, World Orphans will be there, serving alongside, bringing loving care, helping hands, and Christ’s healing hope.

Ted posted this reflection of the two-year anniversary.

In the early afternoon of October 23, 2011, a severe earthquake struck Eastern Turkey turning buildings to piles of rubble within seconds and leaving, some estimate, up to 60,000 Kurds instantly homeless, not to mention over 600 dead. Aid agencies along with the Turkish government tried to alleviate the pain and suffering by offering tents and supplies, but as the winter snows began to pile up around them, many decided to leave their homelands and go south.

Some actually migrated all the way down into Iraq, to the warmer desert plains south of Erbil.

Learning about these new refugee families, a few of us decided to gather up some things to share with them. One of our American friends shared the plight of these Kurds from Van, with his Kurdish neighbors, and they ended up with an entire pick-up truck load of food, blankets, clothes, and other supplies.


Together we headed south to their ‘encampment’ – temporary housing supplied by the Kurdish government.

Because they were Turkish speaking Kurds, we were able to easily converse with them and find out their needs and hear their stories. Dawn was able to empathize with them, in particular, and pray for them having lived through the great Istanbul earthquake of ’99.

The families intend on returning to Van in the late spring, but this was our chance to reach out and share God’s love with those with whom we wouldn’t otherwise have crossed paths.

Pray for these refugees that have lost nearly everything they own and thousands others like them that are eeking out an existence in tents in the cold winter still in Eastern Turkey.

A few days ago I posted on Facebook that, “After three hours of mountain biking this morning my legs and back are toast”. One of my good friends commented that I should, “Act my age and grow soft and lazy like the rest of us”. The comment was a humorous compliment considering the fact that I am sixty one years old and I am still able to aggressively ride mountain bicycles with a group of men, some who are half my age or less, and I smugly accepted my friends comment as such. I have been a cycling nut for many years and I ride the way I do by choice. There have been a few crashes over the years such as this one a few years ago, but I still love the sport.

That is more than enough about me. Maybe I’ll share some more about my love for cycling some other time.

The Facebook comment got me to thinking about “acting your age”.  As a loving parent I used the admonition to “act your age” when my son misbehaved. My parents used the same admonition with my brother and myself when we were growing up. It was a reprimand intended to remind us to use the manners and behavior standards that we had been taught. If the admonition was ignored the result was punishment. Our punishments included the loss of television or play time, the withholding of ice cream or candy treats, the occasional grounding and on rare occasions a spanking if justified by defiant and repeated misbehavior. For me “acting my age” has always been a freedom of choice.
Now imagine with me the concept of “acting your age” from the perspective of a child whose freedom to do so has been completely and sometimes violently stripped away. This child finds themselves in circumstances they did not choose. They have no freedom of choice. How would you or your child respond to life such as these?

The child soldier who is forced to kill his own family loses the right to “act their age”. If they disobey the resulting punishment is repeated beatings, starvation, or death.

The prostituted child sold into sex slavery and forced to service twenty or more “clients” a day does not have the freedom to “act their age”. When they are used up, diseased, or no longer desirable they are discarded like unwanted trash.

The nine year old child caring for younger siblings because a parent died from HIV-AIDS loses the right to “act their own age”. Can you imagine the responsibility of parenting a child while still a child yourself?

The child living in extreme poverty, unable to attend school due to lack of tuition, and forced to beg on the streets in order to survive where they often end up huffing glue to ease the pains of hunger can no longer “act their age”.

These are just a few examples of orphans and vulnerable children that are denied the privilege of “acting their age”. There are many others. Unless we rescue them from the circumstances that deprive them of the choice to “act their age”, if they survive, they will likely become adults who have more children who will be exposed to the same deprivations and atrocities as their parents and the generational cycle of abuse and neglect will repeat itself.

As a staff member of World Orphans I believe that this cycle can be and must be broken. Join us as we work globally to give orphans and vulnerable children the opportunity and choice to “act their age”.

Being involved in an orphan care/prevention ministry, we like to know what other people involved in the same field are doing – how they approach and address the global orphan crisis. We visit their websites, study their programs, and try to apply their best practices.

We were excited to learn that Dan Cruver from Together for Adoption (T4A) mentioned World Orphans and the support we have provided to churches in Haiti as an example of gospel-centered, “Trinitarian” orphan care in a recent blog post.

World Orphans has worked with Mr. Cruver in training and teaching pastors from our church partners in Haiti about spiritual adoption. Obviously it is great to be recognized in this way by an organization like T4A, but what is much greater is the fact that this shows how we are co-workers in this field, and not competitors. Our strength lies in sharing this vision with all these other great organizations. Together we want to be the “chord of three strands” from Ecclesiastes 4:12, that is “not easily broken”. If anyone left the “iPhone 4 prototype” of global orphan care in a restaurant, that would be ok – the word would get out! Churches and people and leaders would realize that God set the ultimate example by adopting us into his community of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, into his Family, and that this is what motivates us to help restore these children into their families, or help them find new families.