They are alone.
Adrift.
Out in the world with their battered suitcases.
Yesterday they were given their walking papers. The gates that had contained them for so many years were flung open and they were escorted out.
These were not criminals. They were not freed from behind bars.
They are orphans.
Just 15 or 16 or 17 years old.
Kids.
Immature. Untrained. Most of them completely lacking in knowing how to make good choices. Experts in manipulation, lying, cheating and stealing. Experts in surviving on the inside.
They have few options.
Some will wander back to the families that abandoned them to the system. Some will enter trade schools that are woefully ill-equipped to do more than just teach them a job that they are too often ill-prepared to master. Many will be swallowed up into the dark world of trafficking and slavery. Others will turn to drugs for solace. Many will steal to survive. Most of those will find themselves back behind gates that are locked forever. Some will seek escape through suicide.
Only a few survive. Only a few.
That is the realty.
Of the hundreds of orphans who were let out on the streets yesterday with their battered suitcases, the vast majority will shipwreck. They will be battered by the waves of life and crash and burn on the shore.
There are some who work around the clock to rescue these battered kids.
There are ministries who do whatever they can to support them, train them, equip them to survive in the outside world.
These are a few ministries. There are more.
But the flood of battered suitcases coming out of those orphanages is overwhelming.
There are so many.
And not enough.
It's not enough, church.
It's not enough.
Please find a way to get involved.
Educate yourself. Educate your church.
Give to a ministry that is actively involved in orphan care.
Get involved. Go. Minister.
Adopt.
Find a place at your table.
Yesterday in the van, while we were waiting for their favorite Papa in the whole world to come out of the mechanics shop, my two little boys and I talked about those battered suitcases. We remembered the orphans. We discussed the world they left behind.
Yesterday I rejoiced that two little boys in my world are safe and secure in our family.
Today I grieve the hundreds. I grieve the thousands.
I grieve the battered suitcases. I grieve the battered lives.
Defend the weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 82:3-4
We too weep! And we too are blessed by the two lives that God gave us to be part of our family. Praying He will lead many others to open their hearts and lives to the children who are still so in need.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting and for not forgetting and for not turning away.
ReplyDeleteYou are making such a difference. To all of us.
Thank You Julia! We were unaware of these Ministries. We are very interested in helping. We have helped in the Philippines with street children. Its always good to know who we can help! ((((HUGS))))
ReplyDelete