Orphan Sunday is November 6th

November 6th is Orphan Sunday in the United States. Consider doing something to bring awareness to those you rub shoulders with. Here are some statistics: there are more than 140 million orphans around the world, including in the United States. While some would say we should “stick to our own backyard” and “take care of our own”, the reality is that every child, regardless of nationality or country of origin, is meant to have a family. We live in a global context today. More than 140 million children in need of families seems overwhelming. What can one person, or one family, do? What can you do?

Consider a baby bottle drive at work, in your community, or in your church. Order a case of bottles, take a few of them out and place them in various places with a sign inviting people to donate their change. Set a time limit. At the end, gather the bottles. Sterilize the bottles and donate them to an orphanage or your local pregnancy care center or similar social impact organization. Then, take the money and donate it to an orphanage, an adoption related ministry, or simply give it to someone you know who is in the midst of an adoption to help with the costs.

Sound like too much work? Then think about sending one child in a foreign country to school. God’s Littlest Angels in Haiti is a baby ministry that does adoptions, provides jobs to Haitian people, and gives scholarships for children to attend school. It’s less than $300 per year, per child.

The economy is a challenge, though. Maybe that’s not feasible for your family right now? I suspect most of us could spare the small amount of time it takes to order free bulletin inserts for the November 6th services at church.

Are you someone that thrives in the context of community? Gather some people together to pray specifically for orphans throughout the month of November. Maybe you’ll pray for the 120,000 children in the US foster care system who are eligible for adoption. Or perhaps you’ll pray for birth mothers as they make the difficult decision to place their children for adoption. Or maybe you’ll pray specifically for the families you know who are in some way touched by adoption.

Want to really bring it home? Talk to your kids about what adoption is. Tell them that adopted children are just like they are. Tell them that birth families don’t place their children for adoption out of lack of love. Sometimes it happens because they literally cannot feed their children no matter how much they may want to. Answer their questions is a thoughtful, real, and age-appropriate way. And together, think of those who still need families around the nation and around the world; consider together their needs, their status as fellow human beings, their desire for family. Then, list the things you are grateful about as it relates to your own family. Use this time to develop compassion for others in the hearts of your children.

If you don’t like any of those ideas, check out Orphan Sunday. There are plenty of other ideas and resources. But don’t let the day to by without thinking of the fatherless.