Today is orphan Sunday, and right now I'm thinking about two little girls.
I've been thinking about Darina.
And I've been thinking about Marla.
Out of the many orphans in the world, why do I put these two girls up? That's a question I can answer easily.
Darina and Marla are close to my heart. I think about them every day. I pray for them every day. Sometimes I cry when I think or pray for them. I love them so much, even though I've never met them in person.
I find it interesting that I can love these two girls, (and many other children,) just by seeing their pictures. I'm sure many people on the RR facebook page would say the same thing. When I found Marla, my heart broke. It broke like it never had before. When I found Darina, I wanted to help her in any way I could. God broke my heart for a purpose. The purpose was to help these children on RR find families.
It makes me think about this passage in the Bible.
Matthew 25:31-46 NIV
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me,I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
What does verse 40 say? It says, "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." He said the opposite in verse 45. "He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." When God says something important in the Bible, He means every word of it. And, if God didn't care about the orphans and widows, James 1:27 wouldn't exist.
James 1:27
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
I am going to advocate for orphans the rest of my life. I know my life has changed since I learned about Reeces Rainbow earlier this year. After learning about institutions, I wanted to help the children who are about to go into them.
I can't live my life and pretend these orphanages and institutions aren't there. They are there, and I know God wants me to help the children in them. I'm going to do what He says, and nothing is going to stop me from doing just that.
