Christine Rhyner

Christine's blogs

What is Orphan Sunday?
Sunday, November 8, 2015 by Christine

 

Today is “Orphan Sunday.” 


What does that even mean? For one, it is intended to bring awareness to the 175 million orphans worldwide. That includes those who, every fourteen seconds are orphaned from AIDS alone. It means that the less than 200,000 annual adoptions, according to UN statistics, cannot meet the needs of children whose status as orphans goes hand in hand with issues like poverty, disease and hunger. But more importantly, it drives home Mother Teresa’s point that, “The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”


The Christian Alliance for Orphans, which has over 150 respected ministries and thousands of member churches, began their own version of Orphan Sunday some years ago. After an American named Gary Schneider attended a church service in Zambia, so moved was he by the pastor’s call to care for its starving, sick orphans, so touched was he by the poor who attended that service and removed their own clothing and shoes in response to that need, he promised to spread the word. And the word spread like wildfire. CAFO honors the Zambian church for the gift of Orphan Sunday and their inspiration to care for orphans. In fact, O.S. is often called “Zambia’s gift to the world.”


Not everyone thinks about the orphan. Or maybe they do, but feel overwhelmed by the idea of tens of millions of children in faraway places that they cannot bring home.      


Or maybe there are just so many charities coming to call: from wildlife preservation to environmental protection to the local police precinct, everybody has a need, wants a piece of us. And I understand. I believe God can call each one of our hearts to different kinds of ministries and causes. But the question that I always ask is, If we cannot put people first, especially the most vulnerable and hurting among us, who are we as a society? 

The wish that remains with me beyond O.S. and National Adoption Month is this: Before we spend tens of millions of dollars to find a microbe on Mars, we would look into the faces of all the parentless, abandoned and at-risk organisms here on earth. In doing so we would become even more enthused by their existence. Granted, space exploration is cool, but face exploration is cooler. Especially if a frown turns to a smile, a cry, laughter, a tiny face filled with fear and loneliness into one of contentment and trust.

 

Share This Blog:


Previous Posts

"The Adopted Son Who Almost Wasn't" Excerpt Chapter 2, "Indignity"
Christine

12/9/2024

Brave New Frozen World (Part 4 of 4)
Christine

11/18/2024

Brave New Frozen World (Part 3 of 4)
Christine

11/14/2024

Brave New Frozen World (Part 2 of 4)
Christine

11/7/2024

"Hostility at the Crisis Hotline."
Christine

11/5/2024

Brave New Frozen World (Part 1 of 4)
Christine

11/1/2024

Christian Writers Conference Next Month!
Christine

7/13/2024

How Climate Change Extremism Sells Abortion (Part 2 of 2)
Christine

7/9/2024

How Climate Change Extremism Sells Abortion (Part 1 of 2)
Christine

6/25/2024

Whatever Their World View, No, The Kids Are Not Alright, Part 4 of 4
Christine

5/21/2024

Whatever Their World View, No, The Kids Are Not Alright, Part 3 of 4
Christine

5/8/2024

Whatever Their World View, No, The Kids Are Not Alright, Part 2 of 4
Christine

4/28/2024

Whatever Their World View, No, The Kids Are Not Alright, Part 1 of 4
Christine

4/18/2024

Day of Mourning, Day of Shame
Christine

1/22/2022

God's Presence With Wings
Christine

6/18/2021

The Church Needs to Unify in the Battle For Right to Life
Christine

6/10/2021

Our Sixty-Year Decline
Christine

6/1/2021

H.R. 1 Would Be A Bigger Test For The Church Than Covid Shutdowns {Part 2 of 2}
Christine

5/20/2021

H.R. 1 Would Be A Bigger Test For The Church Than Covid Shutdowns {Part 1 of 2}
Christine

5/12/2021

Dangers of Love Growing Cold
Christine

5/3/2021

Democrats' Despicable, Advantageous Use of the Elderly
Christine

4/23/2021

America, Land of Condemnation (Part Three)
Christine

4/15/2021

America, Land of Condemnation (Part Two)
Christine

4/6/2021

America, Land of Condemnation (Part One)
Christine

3/24/2021

Government's Desperate Need for Humility
Christine

3/11/2021

Is the Church Changing?
Christine

1/19/2020

What Are Our Values Anymore?
Christine

11/22/2019

The Final Frontier (Part Two)
Christine

9/4/2019

The Final Frontier (Part One)
Christine

7/29/2019

Soulmate
Christine

4/30/2019

The Colors of a Writer
Christine

12/29/2018

What's Not to Get About the Writing Life?
Christine

4/18/2018

Learning to Sing the Song of Winter
Christine

12/10/2017

Perspectives & the Second Half of the 10 Commandments of Conflict
Christine

8/25/2017

Perspectives & 5 of the 10 Commandments of Conflict
Christine

5/2/2017

Run Writer Run! Make Music with Your Words
Christine

2/15/2017

Mom, the Fishstetrician
Christine

10/14/2016

The CONSTITUTION For President
Christine

6/5/2016

The Radicalization of Hillary and the Democrat Party (PART 2 OF 2)
Christine

4/16/2016

The Radicalization of Hillary and the Democrat Party (PART 1 OF 2)
Christine

4/15/2016

Why Ted Cruz NOW?
Christine

3/19/2016

Why is the GOP Committing Suicide?
Christine

3/14/2016

Dear Chicago
Christine

3/12/2016

Does God Give Us More Than We Can Handle?
Christine

2/29/2016

That Unanswered GOP Debate Question
Christine

1/9/2016

America's Lifeline
Christine

12/31/2015

Fractured Nation (2 of 2)
Christine

11/14/2015

Fractured Nation (1 of 2)
Christine

11/11/2015

What is Orphan Sunday?
Christine

11/8/2015

November's Gratitude and Longing
Christine

11/4/2015

Losing a Child is Like...
Christine

9/12/2015

Finding God in a Tenement
Christine

9/3/2015

Doing School in the 21st Century
Christine

8/22/2015

Superstition vs. Planned Parenthood
Christine

8/19/2015

Addicted to Giving Birth?
Christine

4/21/2015

Why We Should Have "The Talk" Before Marriage
Christine

3/20/2015

Adoptive Parents "Hypersensitive" & "Selfish?"
Christine

3/12/2015

What's So Wrong With Calling It "Gotcha Day!"
Christine

2/26/2015

How God Connected the Dots
Christine

2/7/2015

Exposure of Transracially Adopted Kids to Their Races a Bad Thing?
Christine

2/2/2015

Out With The Old
Christine

1/12/2015

Those Who Scoff at International Adoption
Christine

8/16/2014

Setting Aside Birth Story Facts for Truth
Christine

7/31/2014

Sneak Peak, "How much did you pay for her?"
Christine

6/11/2014

Blessing Through Adoption Pain
Christine

5/16/2014

Eight Ways Publishing Your Book is Like an Adoption Journey
Christine

2/23/2014

Neglected Ministries?
Christine

2/17/2014

It's a Boy
Christine

2/8/2014

Thoughts of Her
Christine

2/1/2014

To My Son
Christine

1/30/2014

Rational Thinking?
Christine

1/25/2014

Minority Against Minority
Christine

1/12/2014

Happy New Year!
Christine

12/30/2013

Happy Thanksgiving
Christine

11/25/2013

You ARE my mother?
Christine

11/10/2013

The Transracially Adopted Children's Bill of Rights and Some Thoughts
Christine

11/3/2013

Infertility Is...
Christine

10/19/2013

Will He Speak English?
Christine

10/11/2013

Kitty-Sam
Christine

10/5/2013

What's in a Name?
Vhristine

9/30/2013

An Adoptive Mom's Message to Those in the Healthcare and Education Professions
Christine

9/25/2013

Being Tested
Christine

9/11/2013

When We Are Weary
Christine

9/1/2013

Trailblazers
Chrisrine

8/24/2013

A Fresh Start
Christine

8/22/2013

God Works Behind the Scenes
Christine

8/13/2013

Why Adoption Requires Forgiveness
Christine

7/28/2013

Dust Bunnies and Poo
Christine

7/19/2013

Reality Check
Christine

7/13/2013

Forgiveness is Work
Christine

7/9/2013

An Answer to Prayer, Part Three
Christine

7/3/2013

An Answer to Prayer, Part Two
Christine

6/27/2013

An Answer to Prayer, Part One
Christine

6/22/2013

Are They Really Brother and Sister?
Christine

6/16/2013

Infertility's Not Fair
Christine

6/13/2013

Has He Ever Eaten a Dog?
Christine

6/11/2013

Sometimes We Fail
Christine

6/9/2013