You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child 23 If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. - Exodus 22:22-23 ESV

Families 4 Families
Helen Roseveare served as a missionary doctor in Zaire. One night, Helen worked to help a mother in labor. She did all she could, but the woman died, leaving her premature baby and a devastated two-year-old daughter behind. Keeping the baby alive would be difficult. All they had were blankets and an old, hot water bottle. But when they went to fill the hot water bottle, it broke!

The next day, Helen went to the orphanage to pray with the children. Before praying, she told them about the problem with the baby and the little girl who lost their mother. During the prayer time, a ten-year-old girl named Ruth said an audacious prayer: “Please, God,” she prayed, “send us a water bottle. It’ll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby’ll be dead, so please send it this afternoon… And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she’ll know You really love her?”

That afternoon, Helen received a large box. She sent for the orphanage children to come see what was in the package. She reached into the box and felt it. A brand-new hot water bottle! Ruth, who was with the children watching, cried out, “If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!” She rummaged through the bottom of the box and her eyes lit up as she pulled out a beautiful little doll. She never doubted. (John Van Diest)

Reflection
The cries of orphans go straight to the heart of God. On Sunday, Wayne Naugle shared the tremendous need for foster care in our own community. Do you think God hears a cry from our community?

Praise/Prayer
Thank God for showing you the need. Pray for Families 4 Families ministry to be used by God in great ways to help the fatherless.

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. - Isaiah 1:17 ESV

Families 4 Families: The Fatherless
Hoagy Carmichael once decided to take up golf. Lessons were arranged with an instructor. At the first session Carmichael was patiently shown the basics of the game: how to hold the club, How to stand, how to swing, etc.

Finally, after a half hour of this, the instructor felt Carmichael was ready to drive a few toward the first hole. The ball was teed up. Hoagy stepped up to it, swung, then watched the ball sail down the fairway, bound onto the green and roll into the cup—a hole in one! The instructor was dumbfounded. Hoagy flipped the club to a caddy with a jaunty motion, then turned to the still speechless instructor. “OK,” he said casually, “I think I’ve got the idea now.” (Bits & Pieces)

We learn some things quicker than others. The prophet Isaiah was telling God’s people they need to learn to do what’s right. Part of doing the right thing was taking care of the fatherless. When the man is not there, the wife and child can suffer in many ways. The Bible tells us that God steps in to fill the role of protecting and caring for orphans and widows but He also uses us to help.

Reflection
What did you learn from Families 4 Families that you didn’t know before Sunday?

Praise/Prayer
Praise God for being the Father to the fatherless. Ask God to teach you how He wants you to be a part of loving on the fatherless.

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. - James 1:27 ESV

Families 4 Families: Pure Religion
After a violent storm one night, a large tree, which over the years had become a stately giant, was found lying across the pathway in a park. Nothing but a splintered stump was left. Closer examination showed that is was rotten at the core because thousands of tiny insects had eaten away at its heart. The weakness of that tree was not brought on by the sudden storm; it began the very moment the first insect nested within its bark.

“Undefiled,” in James 1:27, can also be defined as corrupt or decayed, much like the tree. Pure and undefiled religion is the outward expression of a healthy inward relationship with Jesu. The relationship is demonstrated by actions. So when a person is rightly related to Jesus Christ--when he has pure and undefiled religion--he will express the love of Christ to those who are in dire circumstances and unable to return similar expressions of love.

Reflection
On Sunday, Wayne Naugle said, “It’s very difficult to foster a child that’s not yours however, it’s almost impossible to find a biblical reason not to.” How is that an example of “pure religion”?

Praise/Prayer
Praise God for His heart for you and for those who are hurting. Ask God to show you any uncleanliness in your heart that is interfering with you serving Him.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. - James 1:22 ESV

Families 4 Families: Doers
In Glad Tidings by James Kallam, he tells of a young book salesman who was assigned to a rural area. Seeing a former seated in a rocking chair on his front porch, the young man approached him with all the zeal of a newly trained salesman. “Sir,” he said, “I have here a book that will tell you how to farm 10 times better than you are doing it now.” The farmer continued to rock. After a few seconds he stopped, looked at the young fellow and said, “Son, I don’t need your book. I already know how to farm 10 times better than I’m doing it now.”

James warns the church of hearing God’s Word and evening knowing God’s Word but not doing God’s word. He taught that we are fooling ourselves if we think we are healthy Christ followers if we aren’t actually living it out.

Reflection
What did you feel God leading you to do after you heard the message about foster care on Sunday? What have you done about it?

Praise/Prayer
Praise God for giving His Word as a guide for our lives. Ask God to give you the power to do whatever He is leading you to do to help children who need foster care.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. - Ephesians 1:3-6 ESV

Families 4 Families: The Blessing
My wife and I waited 15 years for a child that never came by the natural way. However, we were approached one day with a lead of a newborn not yet born. I remember standing in front of the judge on our day of adoption. He pointed his finger and asked of me, “Is anyone coercing you to adopt this little boy?” After we had assured him that we were doing so out of love for our sin, he made this statement. “From today on, he is your son. He may disappoint you, even grieve you but he is your son. Everything you own one day will be his and he will bear your name.” Then he looked to the clerk and gave this command. “So order a change in this child’s birth certificate and may it reflect that these are the parents of this child.”(Gerald Penix)

We should not view caring for orphans as simply a command from God we must fulfill “or else.” There is tremendous blessing in serving and standing up for orphans. In considering what our own attitude should be toward the orphans and widows around us, it’s helpful to remember that all of us were adopted into God’s family through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3–7). It is our joy and privilege to partner with God in loving, serving, and protecting the orphans among us.

Reflection
How have you already been blessed through the ministry of Families 4 Families? Reminder there is an informational meeting on Sunday, March 3, 2024 at 12:00 PM in the YAC Auditorium

Praise/Prayer
Thank God for adopting you into His family. Ask God to allow you to experience the blessings that come with loving on orphans.