Orphan Care Made Easy: A Pictorial Guide

Now, we all know that the title to this post is misleading at best.  Orphan care can be very demanding.  Caring for foster children pulled from tragic situations can reveal more baggage than we feel we are equipped to handle.  Adopting children from other cultures takes much time, many tears, and exhausting patience.  But getting involved in caring for kids doesn’t have to be so complicated.

This past weekend a small team of men and boys from 4theVoiceless visited the Baptist Children’s Village home in Star, Mississippi.  Our team was comprised of three adults, two teenagers, and four boys ages 10 and under.The following is a pictorial guide to getting involved with connecting with kids in crisis.  (No photos were taken of the children at the home for privacy and legal reasons.  Just imagine other kids, mostly below the age of six, sprinkled throughout these photos.)

How to get involved:

Go to them.

 

Ride bikes with them.

Pull their wagon.

Set up a slip 'n slide.

Slide down said slip 'n slide with them.

Avoid crashes on aforementioned slip 'n slide.

Cook them lunch.

Our team did a great job engaging the kids at the children's home.  One of my two favorite highlights was seeing our teenage young men find the little boy least likely to engage with everyone else and staying with him all day and getting him involved.  My other favorite is seeing the four house parents -- who are constantly cooking, cleaning, parenting, etc. -- sitting on the front porch in their rocking chairs doing absolutely nothing but enjoying watching the kids play.

Five of our team were on their first mission trip of any kind. They did very well, and I would take them back in a heartbeat. For at least a day, our focus was entirely on others.  We should all move toward more of that.

Thanks for reading.  Now you find a way to move in kindness toward children whose homes are not God's original design for the family.  Chances are pretty good that you will be blessed more than they will be.

4theVoiceless,
Al