Almost minutes after our fifth trip to Bogota in June we began planning the launch of an organized ministry to take the lead in organizing and promoting what God was leading us to do in Colombia. Two weeks after we arrived back in the states we had a meeting and chose the name Orphan Hope International. We formed a board of directors which included David Richardson as president, Chris Dinkler as vice president, Bill Byrd as treasurer, Shoby John as secretary, and me as spiritual director. We elected two officers, Sandra Patricia Forero as vice president of Colombian affairs, and Alexandra Venegas as assistant secretary and translator. Many nights were spent at Bill and Sandy Byrd’s house hashing out all of the details of organizational structure of the ministry. Sandy always fed us like kings and we always had fun fellowshipping with one another so that made the chore very enjoyable. We also added and continue to add advisory council members including Luis Escobar, Curt and Tonya Currie, Dave and Gail Beach, Nep and Dona Reyes. God continues to send us wonderful people with varied talents and gifts to assist us in blessing the children of Colombia. We have established a website at www.orphanhopeintl.org and we have a presence on Facebook as well. Our vision statement reads, “Positively transforming the lives of orphans and those who minister to them through Christ-centered Mery Missions, Padrino Program, Adoption Awareness, and Haven Homes. You can read all about it on our website. We have also helped to establish an alliance partner organization in Colombia called Fundacion Tayakai. Tayakai means Me in a native dialect of Colombia. It brings attention to the fact that these children are people. Through these two entities we hope to greatly impact the nation of Colombia for Christ in the years to come and rescue many sweet little children and bring them to the savior. To God be the glory!
Here are some of the reasons we are so passionate about this…
Facts and Statistics
It is estimated there are between 143 million and 210 million orphans worldwide (recent UNICEF report.) The UNICEF orphan numbers DON’T include abandonment (millions of children) as well as sold and/or trafficked children. The current population of the United States is just a little over 300 million… to give you an idea of the enormity of the numbers…
According to data released in 2003 as many as eight million boys and girls around the world live in institutional care. Some studies have found that violence in residential institutions is six times higher than violence in foster care, and that children in group care are almost four times more likely to experience sexual abuse than children in family based care.
Every day 5,760 more children become orphans
Approximately 250,000 children are adopted annually, but…
Each year 14, 505, 000 children grow up as orphans and age out of the system by age sixteen
Each day 38,493 orphans age out
Every 2.2 seconds another orphan ages out with no family to belong to and no place to call home
Studies have shown that 10% – 15% of these children commit suicide before they reach age eighteen
These studies also show that 60% of the girls become prostitutes and 70% of the boys become hardened criminals
Another study reported that of the 15,000 orphans aging out of state-run institutions every year, 10% committed suicide, 5,000 were unemployed, 6,000 were homeless and 3,000 were in prison within three years…
An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked every year; (THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN 2005)
2 million children, the majority of them girls, are sexually exploited in the multibillion-dollar commercial sex industry. (THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN 2005)
WHY COLOMBIA?
There are many reasons and ways that God has clearly led us to minister in Colombia. Here are just a few:
In 2010 Colombia had 577,000 orphans. (Children on the Brink) Note: For a little perspective, Orphan Hope International makes approx. 4 organized trips to Colombia per year. We minister to approx. 500 orphans per trip. At that rate it would take us 289 years to just see every orphan once. Colombia, is just one country in Latin America. Latin America is just one of three regions of the world, along with Asia and Africa, where the orphan problem is rampant. Asia and Africa have a vastly larger orphan problem than Latin America.
Colombia has been under the scourge of a 40-year civil war. This, along with the drug trade, has caused violence and consequently a rise in orphans in this country.
Girls, especially orphans, are abducted into child soldiery and sexual slavery and are sometimes forced into armed service by their parents as a form of ‘tax payment’, as happens in Colombia. (THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN 2005)
In Colombia, for example, girls as young as 12 are reported to have submitted sexually to armed groups in order to ensure their families’ safety. (THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN 2005)
Interpol estimates there are 35,000 women and girls trafficked out of Colombia every year for the sex trade, with estimated profits of $500 million, making Colombia second only to the Dominican Republic in the West. It is beyond comprehension the horror that these women and girls face as they service on average 40 clients per day. (Interpol)
1.2 million children are trafficked every year world wide; this is in addition to the millions already held captive by trafficking.
The average age of a trafficked victim is 14 years old.
One can only imagine what will happen to the sweet, pretty girls that we meet in the orphanages when they are turned out into the street at 18 years of age. This is why we have made safe houses one of our four main priorities is so that these girls are not on the street and vulnerable.
Here is what God says about orphans…
God Loves Orphans…
Deuteronomy 10:18 “He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.”
Psalm 10:14 The unfortunate commits himself to You; You have been the helper of the orphan.
Psalm 68:5-6 A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation. God makes a home for the lonely;
Jeremiah 49:11 “Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive; And let your widows trust in Me.”
Hosea 14:3 “For in You the orphan finds mercy.”
God Defends Orphans…
Deuteronomy 24:17 “You shall not pervert the justice due an alien or an orphan, nor take a widow’s garment in pledge.
Psalm 10:17-18 O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear. To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.
Psalm 146:9 The LORD protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked.
Proverbs 23:10 Do not move the ancient boundary Or go into the fields of the fatherless, 11 For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their case against you.
God Commands Care For Orphans…
Deuteronomy 14:29 “The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
Deuteronomy 16:11, 14 and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite who is in your town, and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst, in the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name. 14 And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your towns.
Deuteronomy 24:19-21 “When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. “When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow. “When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not go over it again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow.
Deuteronomy 26:13 “You shall say before the LORD your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite and the alien, the orphan and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments.
Job 22:9 “You have sent widows away empty, And the strength of the orphans has been crushed.
Psalm 82:3 Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.
Jeremiah 7:5-7 “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
God Opposes Harm Of Orphans…
Exodus 22:22-24 “You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. “If you afflict him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
Deuteronomy 27:19 ‘Cursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien, orphan, and widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
Job 6:27 “You would even cast lots for the orphans and barter over your friend.
Job 24:3, 9 “They drive away the donkeys of the orphans; They take the widow’s ox for a pledge. 9 “Others snatch the orphan from the breast, And against the poor they take a pledge.
Psalm 94:6 They slay the widow and the stranger and murder the orphans.
Isaiah 1:23 Your rulers are rebels And companions of thieves; Everyone loves a bribe And chases after rewards. They do not defend the orphan, Nor does the widow’s plea come before them.
Isaiah 10:2 So as to deprive the needy of justice And rob the poor of My people of their rights, So that widows may be their spoil And that they may plunder the orphans.
Jeremiah 5:28 ‘They are fat, they are sleek, They also excel in deeds of wickedness; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the orphan, that they may prosper; And they do not defend the rights of the poor.
Jeremiah 22:3 ‘Thus says the LORD, “Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place.
Ezekiel 22:7 “They have treated father and mother lightly within you. The alien they have oppressed in your midst; the fatherless and the widow they have wronged in you.
Zechariah 7:10 and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’
Malachi 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien and do not fear Me,” says the LORD of hosts.
Will you help us?
