Preview - Christian Reformed Church
Preview - Christian Reformed Church
Preview - Christian Reformed Church
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Day 2<br />
Though God reigns in holiness and majesty, he<br />
stoops down to care for orphans. His father heart<br />
can do no less. In fact, God initiated the first<br />
“adoption agency” and set it in motion through<br />
Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross. When Jesus<br />
was with his disciples, he promised that he<br />
would not leave them as orphans (John 14:18).<br />
Through his death on the cross, we were adopted<br />
into God’s family. And through the outpouring of<br />
the Holy Spirit at Pentecost we have been given<br />
a constant reminder of our familial relationship<br />
with God and each other through Christ.<br />
The First Adopter wants his children to follow his<br />
lead and care for the orphan among us. In fact,<br />
according to the apostle James, if we care nothing<br />
for orphans, we can’t claim to be Christ-followers<br />
—“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure<br />
and faultless is this: to look after orphans and<br />
widows in their distress” (James 1:27).<br />
That’s something that World Renew takes to heart.<br />
Elvinah Spoelstra, a social worker and early World<br />
Renew/CRWRC staff member from the United<br />
States, became a champion of orphans when she<br />
joined The <strong>Christian</strong> Adoption Program of Korea<br />
(CAPOK) in 1966. Years earlier, the Korean War<br />
(1950-1953) left two million civilians dead, leaving<br />
behind many orphans. Other orphans were<br />
“G.I. babies,” children of Korean women and<br />
international soldiers. These children’s vast needs<br />
were exacerbated by the traditional Korean view<br />
of family ties, which was inhospitable to children<br />
without parents or with bloodlines that weren’t<br />
“purely Korean.” These orphans could not be legal<br />
citizens of Korea, and adoption outside of one’s<br />
own family was stigmatized.<br />
Under Spoelstra’s leadership, CAPOK moved<br />
from being a custodial childcare program into<br />
God’s Father Heart<br />
Psalm 68:5<br />
a true adoption program. Her efforts inspired<br />
CAPOK to help Korean <strong>Christian</strong>s advocate successfully<br />
for adoption laws and child welfare<br />
laws. Because of her work, cultural attitudes to<br />
adoption changed, allowing children to be placed<br />
in loving families within their nation of birth.<br />
Between 1962 and 1975, CAPOK placed more<br />
than 2,000 homeless children in Korean homes.<br />
Today, millions of children are still in need.<br />
Though World Renew is no longer involved in<br />
Korea, it is actively helping children in poverty<br />
around the world. Some of these children have<br />
been orphaned by the crisis of AIDS in the developing<br />
world. Others have had to leave school or<br />
home to find work in order to support themselves<br />
because of extreme poverty. World Renew is<br />
working in numerous communities to help adults<br />
increase their food production and income. In this<br />
way, parents can support their children, children<br />
can stay in school, and orphans can find a home<br />
with extended relatives and community members<br />
instead of being taken away from the home they<br />
know. Pray that God will use these World Renew<br />
programs to reveal his father heart to the world.<br />
Prayer<br />
Father of the fatherless, we praise and thank you<br />
that we are no longer orphans, but that we are<br />
members of your family. Fill our hearts with love<br />
for your children all over the world. Help us to<br />
take action to support them. In Jesus’ name, amen.<br />
action<br />
Make a list of 10 blessings we experience by<br />
being children of parents in North America. Put<br />
10 cents in Peter Fish for each one.