Orphan Care Part 3

Part 3

There are implications in the way we choose to aid in the orphan epidemic.  And unfortunately in some ways through our good intentions what we have done is create more orphans.  Steve Roa explains in an article which focuses on “community based orphan care” that in an effort to provide safe homes with unending resources for children, what happens as a result is some parents giving up their children so that they can have a better chance at life.  Roa goes on in his article to explain that “The problem with the institutional approach is that it gradually begins to isolate young people from their communities, creating a sub-culture with an inevitable identity crisis.”[i]

Ironically, Americans have done away with orphanages in their own country because of the many problems they create. Yet we unquestioningly continue to use this problematic model around the world!”[ii]  Roa explains that the AIDS epidemic has increased rising the numbers of orphans to a point where Westerners cannot keep up with building enough institutions for them. They have been forced to return to the community and ask what they could or should do differently.  Traditionally, orphans have been cared for by their extended family.  So, why not empower the communities and the extended family to care for them? This type of “community-based care” keeps with cultural values and traditions and it is healthier down the road for the child. They remain in their community, and stay close to their families.  Roa goes on to explain that there are many more options to be engaged in orphan care ministry than simply housing children.  One model that he highlights is taking place in Africa known as the “child head of household.”  Typically in this model an older sibling (such as a teenager) is given responsibility for their younger siblings.  The teenager is empowered and mentored.  In the North American foster care system we hear all the time about the importance of keeping siblings together.  It is no different for those in impoverished countries.  Perhaps a “child head of household” isn’t ideal, but the results can be far better than institutionalizing children and isolating them from their families and communities.  In his research Roas has found that “keeping siblings together dramatically reduces emotional distress, as opposed to dividing up the children among relatives or institutionalizing them. Such a model can also serve to carry on the family name, as well as maintain family rights and land inheritance.”[iii]

In an article by Jo Daugherty Bailey it is explained that “The circumstances of orphanhood vary by country and region of the world. War, famine, disease, and economic circumstances are the leading primary causes of orphanhood.”[iv]  Therefore, our response cannot be of a cookie-cutter nature.  Bailey highlights that four main areas of need for each child weigh differently.  The four main areas are in education, meeting basic needs psycho-social needs and protection.  Where, for example, education is provided for orphan children in North America, it isn’t a given in other places.  It isn’t a priority for orphan care ministry in North America, where it is crucial in places like Africa.  Bailey points out that “Children without parental care are likely to experience threats to food, housing, and health care.  These basic needs are critical for survival and therefore represent a special vulnerability for orphans.”[v] Children who have been separated from their parents and often families experience great devastation which can present in profound grief and distress, which may not even show itself fully until years later.  Children who grow up with such tragedies in their lives are in need of protection.  They are vulnerable for physical, emotional, sexually, and emotionally abuse. The risk of being exploited is extremely high.  Bailey highlights that “researchers have found that approximately 1/3 of prostitutes in Zambia are orphans (UNICEF 2005) and in several African countries, orphans are more vulnerable to homelessness and exploitive labor practices (UNAIDS/UNICEF/USAID 2004).”[vi]

Back2back Ministries has taken much of this same approach and used it as the foundation for their ministry with orphans.  They have a 5 point Back2back Child Development Plan that was created as a means of holistically meeting the needs of orphans in the community without simply focusing on the immediate external needs.  Their 5 point plan includes Education, Emotional, Spiritual, Physical and Social development.[vii]  When we look at simply satisfying the basic needs of shelter, food and clothing but negate those elements which will have long lasting effects, we do a dishonor to the child and set them up for failure.  When we take a holistic approach and meet not only the physical needs of the child but also focus on their emotional and social development, provide solid, practical education and demonstrate the foundations of a relationship with Christ, we set the child up for success, as much as we can.

Here and now change needs to be made.  According to UNICEF, there are at least 100 million children world-wide that are believed to live at least part time on the streets.[viii]  And according to the New York Times, the U.S. government believes that its country contributes about half a million under-age runaways and “throwaways” to this total.[ix]  These are people for whom Jesus died.  These millions of children do not need to remain invisible people.  They are God’s children, and we are required to provide for them, in every way possible.  Clearly, the members of the Body of Christ have a responsibility to answer to the outcry of the children, and clearly the church in the Western world needs to answer it.

Of course it isn’t all cut and dry.  No one method remedies the epidemic.  What works one place may not work in another.  And what is the answer of hope to one person, may not be for the next.  Through prayer and petition; through research and wisdom from those who have gone before us; and from open ears to the voice of God, healing can be found and hope can be restored.

Orphans stop being orphans when they start becoming sons and daughters.  Family is what is required to remedy the plague that is orphanhood.  If the church does for orphans what God did for us by adopting us, regardless of circumstance, means or difficulty, countless lives will be saved and generations of abandonment and poverty can be avoided.