9 Ways You Can Help an Orphan

DSC_5408

If you are new to Barefoot Walks, I need to explain something.  The purpose of this blog is to share, inspire, and encourage each other to make the most of every opportunity we are given.  To create moments, experiences, and traditions with the ones we love.  To make a moment out of everything, especially the little things.  To make the most of this life we are given.

So why am I using Barefoot Walks to blog about orphan hosting?

Because our family wanted to move outside of our own family, outside of our own comfort zone, into a world we don’t know that God wants us to know.  We wanted to create these same moments and experiences for someone who doesn’t have the same opportunities as our own children.  We wanted to invest in the life of a child that no one was investing in.

If you are new here, please understand that what you are reading is the journey we are currently on to share  our life with another child.  Soon, he will be returning to Latvia and we will again be posting articles related to moments with your family to help you on your own journey.  For now we hope you are inspired through joining us on this adventure.  I pray your heart is moved to feel the needs of orphans and to reach out and help where you can.

If you are saying, “I could never do that,” that is ok!  You can help the cause of orphans without hosting one in your own home (though I highly recommend it).

9 ways you can support orphans:

  1. Donate to New Horizons for Children www.newhorizonsforchildren.  This is a very tangible way you can fulfill the call of our Father to help defend the cause of the orphan.  Many families are waiting to host but do not have the financial ability to do so.  Your donation could make their wish a reality.  New Horizons has numerous ways you can donate to their ministry and it is tax-deductible.  You can donate to the general fund, or if you feel led to donate for a particular child, you can donate scholarship money towards a particular orphan waiting to be hosted.  When potential families are viewing the photo gallery, they will see how much scholarship money has been donated to a particular child, which will make it so much easier for them to host.
  2.  Help a friend in the process of adoption. Come alongside them in their journey.  The adoption road is not an easy one.  There are numerous ways you can support a friend going through the adoption process.
  3. Provide a meal to a friend hosting an orphan or adopting.  I highly recommend setting up a meal schedule using www.takethemameal.com.  The meals that were provided to us by friends and families were one of the biggest blessings we received while hosting Viktors.  It allowed us to take one thing off our plate so we could have more time to spend together.  And it allowed someone else to bless us who really wanted to.
  4. Offer childcare to give hosting parents a break.  Offer to watch your friends children for even an hour so they can take a walk or grab a coffee.  My husband was the biggest blessing to me during this hosting period because he would be the one to step in and insist I leave for a few hours to spend time with friends or be by myself.  I always came back renewed and refreshed.
  5. Send a care package.  A care package is such a sweet show of love.  And inside that package is a great picture of the person who put it together.  The package is a thoughtful way to make them feel remembered and special.  My friend, Steph, did this for us and it was so fun to have a movie night with her special treats.  Our children loved setting up for our little “party” using fun plates and napkins.  The little things go a long way!
  6. Pray for orphans.  Pray by name for the ones you know.  I can’t stress this one enough.  Pray.  Simply pray.  This alone is the most important thing you can do for orphans.  I’m asking that you keep Viktors in your prayers especially when he returns to Latvia.  Pray by name for him asking God to work miracles in this boy’s life and bringing him into the perfect forever family for him.
  7. Advocate for them.  Share info with others.  Use all resources to get the word out.  You never know how God will use it.  You may not be in a position to host an orphan, but you can share the info with others.  Get the word out!
  8. Become informed.  Read up on the orphan problem worldwide.  Understand the challenges so that when you are able you will know exactly how God can use you.
  9. And of course, you can host an orphan.  It will change your life and your perspective.  More importantly, it will change their life as well.  You don’t have to be perfect, just willing.  God does the rest.

Sometimes the little things make all the difference in the world.  Our family and friends that came alongside us on this journey made it a blessing.  They eased our load just as the Lord calls us to do for one another.

In making a world change, it only requires a willing heart to say “yes” to God.  It only requires us to take a step forward in faith.  And it only takes us deciding to do one small thing.  God can turn our baby steps into mountains of change that can impact our world.  Don’t look at the orphan crisis and become overwhelmed feeling that the problem is too large to make a difference.  Just let God use you even if just to impact one person.  The impact on one person could cause a chain reaction.  You just never know until you try.

1 reply

Comments are closed.