5 Ways to Support Orphans

Oh, this is my sweet Jazzer girl!
How can you not smile at her cute little self!?

There are very few topics that I get excited about as much as orphan care and adoption. Maybe it’s because two of my kids are adopted, but I just love the idea of taking care of kids that need a home. With November being National Adoption Month, we thought it’d be the perfect time to talk about adoption -- so this month, every Monday, we will be sharing about different aspects of adoption.

Today, we'll start by talking about orphan care and what you can do to help children in need, even if you don’t feel called to adopt a child.

Five ways to support orphans other than through adoption:

1. Sponsor a child. There are so many wonderful organizations that help children around the world today. By sponsoring a child, you are helping to essentially raise that child by providing food, water, housing, school—all the basic necessities they need. You can also have contact with your child through letters and cards, and see updated pictures and stories. For a small amount every month, you can make a huge difference in the life of a child.

2. Host an orphan. While at a conference last weekend, I heard about an incredible organization, Project 143, that finds host families for orphans from Latvia, China, and the Ukraine. Children come and stay with a family for four to eight weeks during a summer or winter hosting. Children come to experience what being a part of a family is really like. There are requirements to host a child, you can find all the details here. 

3. Buy products that support orphan care. There are many different wonderful organizations whose product sales go directly to support orphans around the world such as The Sparrow Project, Ornaments 4 Orphans, Noonday and Work of Worth, just to name a few. These organizations not only support orphans, but create sustainable jobs for parents to take care of their children. (And their products are pretty great too!) 

4. Host a garage sale. Help One Now is an organization that is dear to me. Kyle and I have two children that we sponsor in Haiti through them and we absolutely love their heart for caring for orphans. A really great idea that they have is to ask people to host a garage sale for orphans. By hosting a garage sale and letting your friends and neighbors know the money raised will go to support orphans, you’ll be helping kids around the world. So simple. Yet so important. 

5. Donate or volunteer in your community. There are many ways to help out orphans right where you live. Every county has foster care programs where you could take children into your home, either for long-term care or even for short respite periods when kids are in need of placement. There are often women’s shelters or young mother programs that need donated items or volunteers. By getting involved with an organization right where you live, you can help support orphan care by supporting families at risk and in need of help. 

As you can see, there are so many ways to get involved with loving and taking care of orphans, at home or abroad. Although we may not all be called to adopt children, we are all called to care for them! These ideas are just a start on all the ways you can help orphans in your community and around the world.

If you'd like to continue reading about how you can support orphans other than through adoption, one of my absolute favorite books on the subject is Orphan Justice: How to Care for Orphans Beyond Adopting  by Johnny Carr. He speaks very candidly and honestly about problems orphans face all over the world and how we can all help. 

This week we are once again linking up for Make A Difference Monday and the SDG Gathering!

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