a call for help

My Stephen-boy (11) recently had to write his first persuasive paper for English class.   I thought he was going to write about the importance of choosing a mac over a pc, but he chose a much more important subject:  the need to help orphans.  I love my son so much and I am thankful to God for the sensitive and caring heart He has placed in Stephen.

Here is his paper!

A Call for Help, by Stephen Smith

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have no mom and/or dad, no clothes, no home, no food and living on the street?  Well kids that are orphaned usually live with this every day!

Most kids that are orphaned usually lose one or both parents and live on the street until someone finds them. There are over 45,000 kids in Ghana,Africa that are abandoned and/or homeless. In Uganda, Africa the churches face major challenges because of AIDS.  In Ethiopia, Africa, there are more than 1.2 million AID orphans. If you think that sounds bad, more than 10.6% of the adult population has this disease as well, which will only increase the future number of orphans.

UNICEF (which stands for United Nations Children Fund.) states that the worldwide number of orphans, from all causes and not just by AIDS is now 132.7 MILLION KIDS!  Out of that huge number, over 132,000 orphans reside right here in the United States of America.  We can`t wait one, four, or eight years to do something about this.  We need to act now!

Even God calls us to react. In John 14:18 Jesus says “I will not leave you as orphans I will come to you.”  Just as Jesus said ‘I will not leave you as orphans‘ we should listen to God. In James 1:27 we read that “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God,the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”  It is clear that God cares about these often forgotten ones and that is why we should care too.

There are lots of ways that you can help orphans.  You can sponsor an orphan on a monthly basis so that their basic needs will be met.  You can also donate money to help cover costs of building, toys, beds, food, etc. to organizations that are serving in orphan ministries around the world.  There are always opportunities to go and serve in building an orphanage or child’s home as well as helping to care for the children on a short or long term basis.  Another great way to help is by choosing to adopt a child in need.  Above all, the most important would be to pray for the safety of kids all around the world until someone finds them and cares for them. Helping orphans is away we can reflect Christ`s love.