Our Orphans
For a long time I was clueless about the orphans in our midst. When I would read passages like Deuteronomy 10:18 which says that the Lord “…defends the cause of the fatherless …”, or Deuteronomy 27:19 which states, “Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow”, I would ignorantly think how fortunate we are to not have any orphans in our society. In my naivety, I reasoned that if there was any child that didn’t have parents, the local children’s services organization was there to have them properly placed into foster care, or rarely into a group home. I was oblivious to the fact that each year, hundreds of thousands of young people run away from abusive homes. I had no knowledge that each year, thousands of children living in poorly run foster homes are abused, sexually assaulted, and left with little choice but to go to the streets to survive. I was completely unaware of the fact that there are between 100,000 and 300,000 children under the age of 18 here in the United States that are being used in commercial sex and therefore are victims of domestic minor sex trafficking. Yes, we do have orphans in our midst…thousands of them. And God is calling us to be His hands and His feet to help these fatherless that are all around us.
That’s why the Home Foundation, in part through the Christian Trafficking Shelter Association is beginning to draw together groups from across the country that are being raised up by the Lord to defend the cause of these abused orphans. Shelters in various stages of development are networking together to help each other learn how to minister to these orphans and most importantly, to bring them into relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. God truly does defend the cause of the fatherless, and is doing it through the Christian Trafficking Shelter Association!
Jeffrey J. Barrows, D.O., M.A. (Bioethics)
Health Consultant, Human Trafficking
Christian Medical Association
Founder & Executive Director, Gracehaven
Director, Christian Trafficking Shelter Assoc
jbarrows@gracehavenhouse.org
http://www.gracehavenhouse.org