The following post is from Orphan Care advocate and youth minister, Josh Cousineau.
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Orphan care is not just something that the adults are called to do it. Throughout the Bible we see the call to plead the case of the fatherless on all Christians. This call on Christians does not preclude a certain age group, meaning that teens are called to be just as much a part of the orphan care movement as anyone else.
The problem comes that for many of us when we think about ‘orphan care’ we think strictly about, adoption. This is not a correct understanding of the calling to plead the case of the fatherless. If this is our thinking then it is no wonder we do nothing with the teens to encourage them to help bring love, care and support the the 163 million orphans world wide. Here is the start of a list you can do to help orphans in your youth group.
- Sponsor a child - There are many great child sponsorship programs out there. Maybe your youth group could sponsor a child, pray for them, send them cards. Compassion International, World Vision to name a couple.
- Support a family who’s adopting – Find a family you know who is adopting and give them a helping hand. Clean the yard, fix up the house, cook dinner, give the parents a night out, wash their cars. I bet the family would be blessed by just about anything you can do. Here is a list my wife worked up .doc.
- Pray – Make praying for the fatherless a normal part of your life and the life of your students.
- Missions trips - Take students on missions trips to other countries, and to local areas so they can see the need and look beyond their own life.
- Rise Money for a family - Youth groups are great at raising funds for just about anything. Why not do a bottle drive , car wash, or bake sale to raise money for the fatherless.
- Teach - Teaching on the theological implications of our adoption in Christ is huge. I know the task may sound daunting, but it is so worth it.
- Share testimonies - Either have people who have been adopted either by Christ or another family and have them share their story.
- Resource students - Point students to books, blogs, web-sites, articles. Check out Abba Funds list of resources.
- Give opportunity – This list is in no way an exhaustive list, so open it up to your students. Ask them what they think they can do, let them think outside the box, then help them and let them go after it!
- Do it often - One of the worst things you could do is simply have a focus week, and leave it there. What is needed is constant, continued and persistent.