After taking a World Orphans trip to Kenya, WO supporter Abby said she was struck by “the harsh reality” of poverty and abandonment.
On her blog, she wrote:
“Boys will be boys. Amidst the garbage heap surrounding & engulfing this slum, these four boys are being boys.
They are little hams posing for the camera as a mzungu snaps their picture.
But the harsh reality is that these boys are not in school. It was a regular school day, but yet as we walked through the slums it was common to see school age children running around.
The harsh reality is seeing toddlers dig through these trash heaps. The harsh reality is that cattle also dig and eat from the garage and later are killed for dinner.
The harsh reality is behind the patched together metal walls people brew homemade liquors thinking that is how God is providing income (It isn’t, trust me). The harsh reality is parents (both moms and dads) are abandoning their children.
As a result of that abandonment, children are vulnerable. Girls as young as 11 find themselves taken advantage of and often become pregnant or a slave to prostitution.”
But in the midst of the devastation, Abby saw hope in a World Orphans home.
Abby wrote:
“The truth is we can make a difference. Western churches can make a difference. How? By partnering (or having a relationship with) an indigenous church across the globe.
Indigenous churches around the world are caring for orphans in slum & impoverished communities, often with little to no resources.
They are providing home based care to keep kids united with families, providing small family like homes for the most vulnerable children, providing feeding programs, providing care, support, and micro finance loans to widows and families whom are HIV+.
How it works is pretty simple. The organization, World Orphans, facilitates relationships between Western churches and indigenous churches.
Western churches provide financial support for orphan homes or home based care (via World Orphans) with the goal to become self-sustaining, thus eliminating an atmosphere of dependence on the Western Church. The Western Church also visits the church partner, serving alongside them in ministry. Both are mutually edified.
From my own personal experience I can say that I came away from these trips encouraged to be more involved in my own community (future blog post answering the question “Well what about the poor here in the US?). I learned so much about sacrificial living from the people that I served with in Kenya.
There is hope. We can’t do everything, but we can do something. Multiply people & churches doing *something* breaks the orphan cycle, the number of orphans decrease, communities, churches, and lives are changed. And you just might find yourself changed in the process.
You have one life.
Do something.”
Though this WO home in Kenya is fully funded, there are a number of children’s homes around the world that still need financial support.