Orphans/Fatherless

[peaceafire]

In a world where more are fatherless, or without teacher and guide, I am concerned that we as Christians overlook the basic needs of belonging and value of human life in those who are lost to the streets or living in the care of government till they are of an age to be tossed out into a world they do not understand. I ask how can we bring more light to this issue and become guides to those who have grown into adults, perhaps even parents in their own right without the basic understanding of attachment and leadership in a family unit. Are we in the church doing enough to identify, acknowledge and encourage these lost children ( who may now be entering old age or may be still in youth) or are we too often presuming that they have free will and have been able to make their own choices since they became of age and they are not our responsibility in ministry?

Psalm 10:17,18

17 Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear,

18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may oppress no more.

[rtwo]

Thanks for this topic!

There's, frankly, a lot that we don't do enough of as Christians, and this is certainly among those things. I do see many Christians working on this, though, in the form of foster care, mentoring programs, adoptions, etc. I just wish the churches were more supportive of the people that -do- these things, and a little more proactive in this area as well.

[Guest]

A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. Psalms 68:5

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James 1:27

Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

Thank You Jesus.

Love, Joe

[terter]

I see some efforts but like you wish a lot more was being done.

[Eliyahuw]

You know, not all churches have abdicated their charge of taking care of the fatherless and widows. I know many that still do but that is quickly changing not because of the churches abidicating but because the Government is usurping the authority.

Theres a home up in a little town in chattanooga tn right now Called Bethel childrens home. its supported by the churches around this country. The state tried to usurp control over the home a couple years ago. At one point the state was putting troubled kids in the home, children whose parents were in prisons, and this home was raising the children to be successful and break the pattern of prisons and drug abuse and all the othr things.

They have a 90% success rate. The state stopped putting the kids in the home because they taught the bible and pulled ALL of the money they were funding these children with trying to close the home. They survived, by good people like pat boone who is a main sponsor of the home, as well as hundreds of other churches.

Now the state is trying to shut them down.

It's a matter of the state taking over where they don't belong and look at the fine mess they have made over the years. Foster kids are destroyed by the foster care system, and in many cases killed by that same system.

[peaceafire]

Thank You dear saints for responding in truth and compassion. I pray that the Father above all others be Glorified in the assembly for the works to be done in His name.

Just had an open discussion in chat on this subject and was very enlightened by the truth of men both fathers and fatherless, I think we will all grow from further discussion in this thread and prayerfully further the ministry to the orphan and the fatherless.

[Guest]

[Guest psalm91_spud]

as a widow and a son who is fatherless it has been a hard road...as a believer who goes to church regularly i can honestly tell you as a whole churches are sorely lacking in charity....there are hardly any ministries that directly address the widows and fatherless...widows are considered much older ladies who need assistance...otherwise i am not acknowledged...the fatherless...well, who in the church is directly appointed to assist...when my son belonged to a christian boyscouts group i would call the leader asking questions...he was a kind man tho his wife never acknowledged me....it always bothered me...if you are a female in a church w/o a husband you are a threat...elders just werent equipped to handle the young widow...it was pretty much find a compassionate older christian woman who was willing to converse on any level...i had repeatedly asked for assistance with my son but what man could help w/o there being problems b/c i was a young widow w/o a husband...i soon stopped seeking assistance and waited on the lord for all my needs and have never looked back

[methinkshe]

In a world where more are fatherless, or without teacher and guide, I am concerned that we as Christians overlook the basic needs of belonging and value of human life in those who are lost to the streets or living in the care of government till they are of an age to be tossed out into a world they do not understand. I ask how can we bring more light to this issue and become guides to those who have grown into adults, perhaps even parents in their own right without the basic understanding of attachment and leadership in a family unit. Are we in the church doing enough to identify, acknowledge and encourage these lost children ( who may now be entering old age or may be still in youth) or are we too often presuming that they have free will and have been able to make their own choices since they became of age and they are not our responsibility in ministry?

Psalm 10:17,18

17 Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear,

18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may oppress no more.

I think this is an interesting and challenging question but I also believe that we must remember that what every human being most needs is the Lord Jesus. Last week we had a lady stand up in our fellowship and talk about the evils of human trafficking and how we should all stand against all forms of bonded/child labour by doing such things as not buying chocolate that originates from the Ivory Coast where child labour is employed. Although this may be a worthy ideal from a western perspective, it seems to me a somewhat naive response inasmuch as these children, if prevented from working, would die of starvation. In England, child labour was the order of the day a few centuries ago - because of the stage of our economic development. Okay, with hindsight we are horrified by how children were exploited. Perhaps we need to allow these countries where child labour is employed to reach their own stage of econimic development so that child labour becomes as unnecessary and undesirable in the developing world as it has become in the western world. Anyway, more to the point, listening to this lady speak of the ills of human trafficking etc, I was challenged more by the absence of any refernce to these people's need of the Lord Jesus. The slave trade does not stop because a bunch of politicians and pop-stars and well-meaning Christians protest or cease to buy a bar of cholcoalet, but when those who trade in human misery are presented with and respond to the gospel of Jesus and realise how evil are their actions. More than bread and water, people need Jesus - the bread and water of life, and it seems to me that no amount of protest or donations will acahieve anything unless it is accompanied by people willing to preach the gospel.

I realise I have gone off at a tangent, somewhat, and I do agree that the church is remiss in not caring for widows and orphans. I also know how difficult to impossible it is to act where the state has intervened to such an extent that it is nearly impossible to perform these dutues that were once the province of the church. My disabled daughter has had access to respite carers since she was 2 years old and she is now 12. Recently they were asked by the Local Government department that arranges this respite care

to complete an incredibly long and intrusive and personal form. They are not prepared to do it. Now, to my mind, a married couple who volunteer to give respite care to a disabled child, for no wage, just a topken payment in lieu of expenses, are amazing people. Why, after 10 years of caring for my daughter for a weekend here (like when I had to go to my father's funeral) and a day or two here and there to allow us family activities that didn't have to be levelled down to the diabled child's abilities, why all of a sudden are they asked to compete this intrusive form so as to be allowed to continue to offer this most valuable service? Personally, I would be more suspicious of the person who DID agree to compete such a form, than the person who refused. You'd have to be totally desperate to get your hands on a child to complete a 50 page form that asked for such personal information as that. And it's all supposed to protect children from abuse. Oh dear, we have gone so wrong as a society. Even my 80 yr old mother was asked to complete a criminal record check form when she volunteered to work in a church run school holiday club. Needless to say she wasn't prepared to do so and thus wasn't allowed to volunteer her services.

Are things as bad in the US as they are in the UK?

In Jesus

Ruth

[peaceafire]

A few Questions to Fathers:

Are there particular scripture lessons you would teach your sons to benefit them feeling a sense of inclusion as a man, husband, father?

What spiritual principles/lessons do you feel are most important to the preschool child who is in their formative years of development, to prepare them for the school years and socialization with others?

And lastly do you feel their are any mandates in the Bible to teach your sons to become men of God?