After Roe, Choose Love, Compassion, and the Church

Just over a week ago, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the removal of federal protection of abortion.  Thus, returning this decision back to the states and their elected officials.  A life-saving decision, one of world recognition that has shaken a fallen world, but undoubtedly a decision that gives justice to the unborn.

  “Now, what?  What’s next for me?  What’s next for the church?”   This decision, in all its enormity, is also deeply personal for me as a Christian and one who serves vulnerable children and families every day at Orphan Care Alliance. This is THE moment for us to step up in love and unity as the CHURCH and no longer just hold signs and posters, but become the hands and feet of Jesus!

When monumental change occurs of this magnitude, great responsibility follows, and now like never before the church must RISE and stand in the gaps.  The church must wrap around and support the mother/father who keeps their child; the church must step in and adopt children that aren’t raised by their mother/father but strive to keep family relationships open, and the church must be ready to respond to foster care needs that arise in our communities.

  Here at Orphan Care Alliance, we serve as a parachurch ministry uniting churches and community partners to serve vulnerable children and families in communities.  We know that it takes a community/village to raise a child and who better than the church to wrap around and serve these children and families?

How do we embark on the opportunities that now lie before us?  What if we don’t have resources? What if we aren’t equipped?  These are just a few questions churches across Kentucky and southern Indiana may be asking, as we begin to embark on this opportunity to help preserve life and sustain families.  We are here to equip, connect, and mobilize the church and individuals to step into the gaps to serve, and here are just a few supports to get you started.

Church Engagement:

James 1:27 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.

  This is a calling for the church to act, by walking beside parents who may be struggling to care for their child(ren), or to step in and adopt or foster children in our communities. 

 Family Preservation:

We can all start by praying for and encouraging those around us, that are in vulnerable situations.  Be present and alert at church and willing to pray, love, and support a struggling mother and father.  Maybe there is even a place to form a ministry in your church to be able to better serve these children and families in your community.  Your assistance can be the reason a family stays together.

Adoption:

Psalm 68:5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

  Reach out to adoption agencies, pray about adopting, and find ways to offer practical support to families in your church who have stepped into the adoption journey.  Listen to the Lord’s leading in your own life when it comes to adoption.  God calls us to be a part of this as believers, as it is a beautiful image of the Gospel. 

 Foster Care:

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

  Seek ways to offer support to those walking the journey of foster care in your church and community.  Support the families, the children, and social workers who struggle to find placements for children in all the communities across Kentucky and Southern Indiana.  We know not everyone is called to foster, but everyone is called to do something.  Seek your “something” and seek how God desires to use you. 

OCA is here to be a resource as you seek to defend the weak and the fatherless.  Our vision is for the body of Christ to lead the efforts of caring for the foster and adoptive community.  We have prayed for decades and now the time has come for the church to RISE to the call of caring for the vulnerable children and families in our communities. 

My prayer is that OCA can play a small part in equipping, connecting, and mobilizing the church to be the church God has called us to be.  We give glory to God for what He is allowing the church to be part of and for the lives and families that will be saved and restored through the body of Christ coming together to be His hands and feet.  We are here for you!