The current edition of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability’s (ECFA) quarterly publication, Focus on Nonprofit Accountability, carries an encouraging article on the growing Christian orphan care movement. It reports:
Today, it appears the church is decisively re-earning its reputation as a people who take special care for the orphan. Outside observers, from the Washington Post to the Wall Street Journal, have noted a surge in Christian adoption, foster care and global orphan initiatives. Christianity Today called it “the burgeoning orphan care movement.” And ECFA’s 2011 State of Giving Report revealed that three of the four giving categories receiving the largest giving increases last year related directly to orphans and vulnerable children.
Why the dramatic rise in concern for orphans? One strong factor is the rare model of unified ministry seen among orphan-serving organizations and churches, led by the Christian Alliance for Orphans. More than 100 Christian organizations and a national network of churches work in unison through the Alliance to inspire and equip Christians for effective orphan ministry. Alliance members are also held to high standards of fiscal integrity and good governance, with ECFA membership a pre-condition for an organization to join the Alliance. Members range from Bethany Christian Services and Show Hope to Focus on the Family and Buckner International.
The yearly Orphan Sunday campaign led by the Alliance (this year on Nov. 4) has become a major catalyst for both awareness and action in churches—both across America and around the globe. Meanwhile, the Alliance’s annual Summit held has grown every year since 38 individuals gathered for the first Summit in 2004 to more than 2,000 attendees for the 2012 gathering at Saddleback.
Christian Alliance for Orphan’s President Jedd Medefind…says, “Loving the orphan is an opportunity to know and reflect God’s true character more fully—His love for the fatherless and for each of us as well.”