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Christianity Today, January, 2009 |

SPEAKING OUT

How to Help Orphans

Orphanages are not always the best answer.

Roger Olson | posted 1/05/2009 09:01AM

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BCN's Amanda Cox says that homeless children, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, much prefer to live with loved ones—such as grandparents—who desperately want to care for them. But a widowed grandmother is not always financially able to care for all her grandchildren, and may need financial or material help from a local church. These churches need support from American churches to provide for the families caring for orphans in their communities. Christians in affluent countries such as the U.S. should give generously to organizations that help place orphans with families.

There is no substitute for the family. With our emphasis on family values, evangelicals know it. Now it's time to translate that knowledge into action in developing countries.

Roger Olson is professor of theology at George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University.

Related Elsewhere:

Olson is author of The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition & Reform and 20th-Century Theology.

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January 2009, Vol. 53, No. 1

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Matthew Storer www.VisionTrust.org

Posted: January 15, 2009 3:37 PM

The key to this article is how to care for children without causing more damage to an already broken situation. I am the President of www.VisionTrust.org and we work among extremely poor orphaned or abandoned children throughout the world. While there is no "one size fits all" model to caring for orphans, the idea of helping the local community to care for their own children seems to be the most optimal economically. It also scales and maintains culture and relationships. We seem to have better results with emotional stability and social integration. So why do so many people gravitate to the orphanage model instead of community based care programs? In many cases, people default to the known orphanage because it is easy to understand and set up while a community based care model is more complex. Christian workers have less control in a foster situation than a 24x7 orphanage situation. This is why we encourage people to partner with groups like VisionTrust to get the proper assistance.

Renee

Posted: January 08, 2009 12:14 PM


Well written article. People often think of quick fixes and short term solutions to major world problems. Thank you for explaining how we can work on long term solutions.

Patrick Gann

Posted: January 08, 2009 7:35 AM


Dean: Not exactly the most flattering comment there. Attacking the author's father is hardly of any help at this point. Even had it been a better story to tell, perhaps there were more extenuating circumstances than you presently know about. That said, I'm in with Jim. The American military empire is the cause of much widow- and orphan-making. Unhappy with these policies, I am.

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