National Adoption Month Message to Christians: You Are God’s Plan for the Orphan

Cry of the Orphan Uses National Adoption Month to Educate Christians on the Many Ways They Can Respond to the Cry of the World’s 143 Million Orphans

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Nov. 1, 2007—November is National Adoption Month and Cry of the Orphan is using this time to share a simple but powerful message with Christians and churches across the country-you are God's plan for the orphan.

The United Nations has identified 143 million children around the world as orphans. With so many orphans waiting for someone to reach out and help, FamilyLife, Focus on the Family and Shaohannah's Hope (founded by award-winning musician Steven Curtis Chapman) joined together to create Cry of the Orphan, an unprecedented, unified campaign to challenge Christians and churches to get actively involved in caring for the world's orphans.

"God cares deeply about orphans," said FamilyLife's Paul Pennington, one of the leaders of the Cry of the Orphan effort. "There are more than 40 references in the Bible that demonstrate God's heart for orphans. So to be involved in ministry to orphans is to be involved in what matters to God."

Mark Andre of Focus on the Family has a personal connection to the adoption issue. "As an adoptive parent myself I know that adoption is both a rewarding and also a critically important part of responding to the orphan crisis," said Andre. "But we also want people to understand that it's not the only way people can make a difference in the lives of orphans."

The variety of opportunities for Christians and churches to help orphans include short-term mission trips to overseas orphanages, providing aid and resources to families and communities that are caring for orphans, serving as a mentor, and supporting and building orphanages, just to name a few.

Nov. 12-16, the Cry of the Orphan campaign will share its message with millions of people across the country.  That's when popular radio hosts Dennis Rainey of FamilyLife Today, Dr.  James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Howard Dayton of Money Matters will work together-devoting their daily broadcasts and utilizing their organizations' resources to show people how they can respond to the orphan crisis.

Shaohannah's Hope, FamilyLife, and Focus on the Family have also launched CryoftheOrphan.org. Through this Web site, the ministries will share practical tips and offer resources to help people navigate through the adoption process, get their churches involved in caring for orphans, and better understand God's heart on this issue.

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