Orphan Care

Orphan care has been really important to me for several years now. I have had the wonderful opportunity to serve orphans and other children with absent parents in Peru, Mexico, and right here in the United States. One thing I was not looking forward to about working at Camp Rivercrest is that there really isn't much of an opportunity to serve orphans here. (During the summer, part of my job was to go through camp registration papers and make note of any health or emotional issues. Some were adopted, a few had lost a parent, and a couple were in the process of being adopted by their foster parents. But the overwhelming majority were kids in well-off situations.) However, after a year and a half of working here, the Lord has finally proved me wrong in this. There are plenty of of opportunities!

I don't think I have too much influence at camp, but from time to time people will actually listen to my suggestions! I know of a few musicians from the region who donate their proceeds to orphan care. Because of my research and suggestions, we are considering hiring Gracie Schram for the Rooted Girls Only Retreat and Orphan's Cry for the Memorial Weekend Family Camp. Hope these work out!

I give to two sponsorship programs, Amazima and Every Orphan's Hope. I appreciate both of these programs for different reasons, but they have a few similarities (such as both of these programs are specifically in Africa). Most childcare organizations have donors pay $25-$35 per month to take care of a child. But when you think about the costs of food, housing, clothing, medical care, and education, this is really only means to keep them alive, not to get them out of poverty. Both of these organizations charge a low monthly fee ($25 for Amazima, $27 for Every Orphan's Hope), but there are more sponsors than there are children. Neither establish orphanage institutions, but rather provide a way for crisis children to be cared for while still being part of their community. And besides providing education and the essentials, both of these programs have a Biblical foundation and seek to provide discipleship to all the children in their program.

Amazima was started by Katie Davis, who moved from Nashville to Uganda as a single young adult. She adopted Ugandan children on her own, and also started a program to care for the rest of the abandoned and extremely impoverished children in her community. The goal is to actually try and keep children out of orphanages, because local parents try to give their kids away in hopes that they'll have a better life. After reading the book Kisses from Katie this summer, I knew I wanted to be a part of this ministry.

I actually only found out about Every Orphan's Hope a few days ago. This program is in Zambia, and instead of orphanages, they build typical homes. They hire a widow with a passion to for children to take care of eight orphans in each home, essentially making them family. Instead of sponsors contributing to a general fund, they actually are matched with an individual child, and each child has twelve sponsors. One of the things I really like about this program is the commitment to James 1:27, which they publicize as ONE:27, because ONE hundred percent of your $27 per month goes straight to the children. I also appreciate the communication between the sponsor, the child, and the organization. The organization takes several mission trips to Zambia each year, but even though I don't think I'll be able to go on a mission trip there, they will still take any gifts I want to give to the children. (Yay, domestic shipping fees!) Every Orphan's Hope even sent me a story that I can use in Girlz 4 Christ Magazine! They matched me with a 14-year-old named Nelly:

Although I have given one-time gifts to ministries such as the Global Orphan Project, I never personally got involved with a child sponsorship program until this year for a few reasons (such as many of them take too much out for administrative costs or advertising, many lack Christian discipleship, and many don't actually do what they say they do). However, the main reason I have not given like this in the past is because I would rather become involved on a personal level, not a financial one. I'm happy to say that I finally found a way to get involved with the fatherless right here in Fremont! Months ago, I applied to volunteer at The Jefferson House, a group home for local children. After an incredibly long background check wait and a miscommunication among staff, I will finally start helping there soon! It sounds like they would like a craft or cooking workshop for the kids.

Finally, I wanted to share some very important news. I recently entered a contest called Reel Hope, which is sponsored by the American Bible Society. They will take one person who has entered their video contest to Africa, where they will help orphans and distribute Bibles. My video is up there, but I will need to get the most votes in order to win. Click Here to Watch and Vote for My Video!