James 1:27 - ACTION's rallying cry

Christians have been commanded to care for orphans and widows

JAMES 1: 27

The United Nations tells us there are 140 million orphans * in the world.

This booklet reports the thrilling accounts of lives transformed through the work of missionaries of Action International Ministries as they serve orphans and widows. * And 160 million street children, many of whom f it the def inition of an orphan. No factual information is available on how many widows there are in the world.

Action International Ministries serves in over 24 countries and is dedicated to carrying out God’s command in James 1:27

THE RALLYING CRY

of A c t i o n I n t e r n at i o n a l M i n i s t r i e s

K E I T H

K A Y N O R

Exposition and examples of how missionaries of

Action International Ministries seek to obey this directive

Keith Kaynor

Copyright Š 2012 by Keith Kaynor.

All Scripture is from the New International Version except when noted otherwise.

Contents Introduction...........................................................5 1 The Context of James 1:27..........................9 2 Key Words in Greek....................................13 3 Orphans and Widows..................................17 4 The Humility Test........................................21 Where Did I Come From..................................25 Show Us Jesus......................................................29 Gospel Transformation......................................33 Hidden Sainthood...............................................37 God’s Eye on Stephen........................................41 Life Can Be Up and Down and Up Again......43 Missionaries Are Still Needed...........................47

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Introduction

ccasionally the Living God summarizes truth. Scattered through the Bible are mountain-top passages that give us clear guidance in a few succinct, pointed lines.

These broad, summarizing statements seem to come at junctions in Scripture and squeeze many chapters down into a single verse or two. Pithy, pointed verses climax an argument and give us an application to which the author has been building for some pages. Below are examples of such summary verses: “ . . . love your neighbor as yourself.”

Leviticus 19:18 “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man” Ecclesiastes 12:13 (KJV). This is said to be the “con-clusion of the matter,” so it is clearly the summarizing conclusion of the preceding 12 chapters.

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or 5

the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah 9:23-24 “Shall I offer my firstborn for my trans-gression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” Instead of such spiritual heroics or some supposedly great sacrifice that we imagine God would be impressed with, “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:7b-8 When the Lord Jesus Christ spoke the following three verses, He summarized about 700 pages of Scripture which is much of the Old Testament. “Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Matthew 22:37-39 6

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

James 1:27 James 1:27 is translated in the following ways in different Bible versions: “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.” (ESV) “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” (KJV) “This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

(NASB) James 1:27 is the rallying directive from God’s Book, the Bible, for Action International Ministries (ACTION). ACTION is an evangelical and interdenominational missionary-sending organization founded in 1972. It grew out of Christ for Greater Manila (Philippines), gaining incorporation in America in 1975.

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You can learn more about ACTION at the back of this booklet. For now, let’s examine this key text of James 1:27 to understand what God is communicating to us.

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The context of James 1:27

ames is a practical book, emphasizing the results of being redeemed by God, not the theology of how to be redeemed. It describes what the redeemed person will look like.

Be. Act like. Instead of offering a definition of orthodoxy and assuming a solid, Biblical theology, James gives a very clear description of the result of correct belief.

“The context is an explicit command to care for widows and orphans within the body of Christ. James’ audience would have primarily been believers of Jewish descent (James 1:1).

Such believers would have readily identified with this exhortation that our actions toward the most vulnerable in their midst was a sign of ‘true religion.’ Does this mean we should not reach out to orphans and widows outside the body of Christ? No. Think of concentric circles that show a priority list: first, those within one’s own family (Matthew 15:4; I Timothy 5:8), then 9

fellow Christians and then orphans and widows in the world at large (Luke 10).”1 Let’s look at James 1:13-27 and state his conclusions positively: • God does not tempt people to sin, vs. 13-15 • All good comes from God, vs. 16-18 • We need to speak less and listen more because God will not use our sinful anger to bring a righteous result in others, vs. 19-21 • By listening and doing what God says, we can please Him, vs. 22-25 • By controlling our speech, we demon-strate that God is guiding our lives, v. 26 • Genuine faith results in Christians helping orphans and widows while remaining unspotted by the world, vs. 27 While these conclusions of James can be presented positively (as above), rather the emphasis of James 1:13-27 is answering the following self-deceptions: • God is soft on sin because He tempts us to sin, vs. 13–15; No! • Good is available outside of God, vs.

16–18; It’s not!

We can make others righteous by getting hot and bothered at them. Our anger really gets 1

Daren Beck, ACTION missionary to Cambodia 10

things done, bringing spiritual progress in the lives of others. vs. 19–21; Most of our anger is our sin nature on the loose.

• We can be right with God by listening to what He says . . . doing what He says is not necessary, vs. 22-25; This is foolish!

• We can still be in good standing with God even if we indulge in uncontrolled, vitriolic, caustic speech, v.26; Never.

• We can be right with God while ignoring widows and orphans; they don’t matter to God anyway. v. 27; False!

In about 1877, Alexander MacLaren suggested James 1:27 sweeps all Christian service into two categories: care and purity. And he added, “The first is care, as the sum and substance of all our duties to our fellow man. And purity as the sum and substance of all our duties toward God and ourselves.”2 “Duty to others is listed first.” Mr. MacLaren continued, “Duty to ourselves second.” It is difficult to balance what we owe to others and what we owe to ourselves. James does not coach us on this difficult question, but his listing suggests that others first is the best policy.

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Exposition of the Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren, Wm. B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1938. Hebrews – James, page 398.

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James 1:27 states two results of being right with God: (1) helping people and (2) remaining apart from the pollution of the world. Helpfulness toward those mired in misery, yet pure from the world’s defilement. Deeds and difference; serving yet safe. Active service in the messy realities of life, while keeping hands and heart clean.

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Key words in Greek

rphans / fatherless is the Greek word orphavous, meaning a child missing either one or both parents. Fatherless appears 41 times in the Bible in such passages as: • • • • •

Exodus 22:22 Psalms 10:14 Proverbs 23:10 Isaiah 1:17 Jeremiah 7:6

• Job 29:12 • James 1:27 • Zechariah 7:10

Widows are referenced 84 times: • widow (50 times) widows (22) • widows’ (3) widow’s (5) • widowhood (4) A widow is a woman who was married at one time and enjoying (ideally) the provision, protection and guidance of a husband. But now – due to the death, departure or desertion of her husband – she is alone in life.

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Look after, visit, or reach out – this is the critical word in our text. The Greek word is έπίσκέπρομαιι (episkeptesthai). Vine lists twelve uses of this word.3 It means “to inspect, to look upon, care for, or exercise oversight.” It is translated and used in the New Testament as follows: • “to visit with help, as God’s actions in Luke 1:68, 78; 7:16; Acts 15:14 and Hebrews 2:6 • to visit the sick and afflicted, Matthew 25:36, 43 and James 1:27; not merely a social call, but visiting to care for needs.4 • to go and see, pay a visit to, Acts 7:23; 15:36 • to look out certain men for a purpose, Acts 6:3.

By extension to ‘go to see, relieve.’ ‘Look out, visit.’” 5 So visiting, reaching out to, and looking after orphans and widows will legitimatize and demonstrate the genuineness of any who claim a pure, God-accepted religion. Actions will show the truthfulness of what a given person espouses.

Galatians puts it this way: “Faith expressing itself in love.” 6 3

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Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Greek Words, page 1202 Ibid, page 1202 The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelein, The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1981, page 176.

Galatians 5:6 14

Gaebelein said: “One’s religion . . . must spring from an inner spiritual reality that expresses itself in love to others and holiness before God.”7 Pastor Bob Johnson said, “When we [Christ-ians] live the Gospel, people like us . . . . ”8 The last phrase of James 1:27 says that one whose religion is genuine will also avoid being polluted by the world. World describes the total system of evil that pervades every sphere of human existence and is in opposition to God and to righteousness.9 The world system – life as we know it – is motivated by the cravings of our sinful human nature, the desire to have, be and control, and the prideful drive to possess, be comfortable and have more than others.10

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Ibid, page 176 Pastor Bob (Cornerstone Baptist, Roseville, Michigan) finished this statement saying “…but when we preach the Gospel, people do not love us.”

He was saying in effect, “People like what God does in our lives – makes us generous, focus outward on others, and prompts us to serve – but people do not like the message that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation and all people are needy sinners.

Gaebelein, page 176 I John 2:15 and 16 describe what motivates the world system, which opposes God-approved living.

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Orphans and Widows

he two groups of people addressed as the recipients of the attention of genuinely religious people are said to be orphans and widows.

In both cases, the common element is a missing father / husband. Men are missing.

Both categories of people are what they are because no father or husband is present in their lives.

Why does being man-less have such a huge impact? Why does it create two groups of people that become special objects of God’s favor?

Part of the answer is that God has arranged life to function around a normal, traditional family: father, mother and children. This is God’s plan for the procreation of the next generation . . . this is how society and civilizations continue.

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As providers, men make an enormous contribution to the next generation. Without men to lead spiritually and provide materially, society is harmed because women are forced out into the working world, taking them away from their critical roles as mothers and home-makers.

This is so obvious as to be an insult to the reader’s intelligence, yet it is basic for understanding the responsibility of James 1:27.

Without a provider / husband / father, most widows are plunged into poverty. While this is not necessarily true in the West, in much of the world the loss of a husband is disastrous.

When men are absent, God directs a local church to serve qualifying widows who are members of that local church and also to serve, assist and care for widows and orphans outside the church.11 The level of care will not be as great for those outside the church.

Consider the following Bible verses that inform us about God’s attitude and actions toward orphans and widows and commun-icate our responsibility toward them: • “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling.”

Psalm 68:5 11

I Timothy 5:3-16 addresses widows inside the church; James 1:27 widows outside the church.

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• “ . . . Thou hast been the helper of the orphan.”

Psalm 10:14 NASB • “For in Thee the fatherless find mercy.”

Hosea 14:3 NASB • “In everything I [Paul] showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Acts 20:35 NASB • “Share with God’s people who are in need . . . .”

Romans 12:13 • “Command them [the rich; based upon world standards this term would include most in the West] to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”

I Timothy 6:18 • “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

Hebrews 13:16 • “… let us not love with words or tongue, but with action and in truth.”

I John 3:18 • “If one of you says to him [a needy person], ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?”

James 2:16 19

• “But when the Son of Man comes . . . the King will say . . . ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you . . . for I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me . . . ’” (Matthew 25:31- 40 NASB ).12 Some are widows or orphans through no fault of their own. In the lives of others, sin has created the circumstances for women to be widows and children to be orphans. Without minimizing or excusing the sin of men, fathers, husbands, women and children that has plunged them into dire circumstances, the missionaries of Action International Ministries have sought to emphasize the Biblical response to people for whom Christ died. Not with new government programs, but person-to-person, face-to-face compassion “… speaking the truth in love.”13

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Also see Exodus 22:22; Deuteronomy 14:28, 29; Psalm 10:12,17, 18; Psalm 12:5; Psalm 35:9, 10; Psalm 82:3, 4; Psalm 103:6; Psalm 146:9; Proverbs 22:9; Jeremiah 49:11; Matthew 6:3,4 and Galatians 6:10 Ephesians 4:15

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The Humility Test

t would be easy for the healthy and wealthy in the West to dismiss orphans and widows as a burden.14

How does Scripture view orphans and widows?

The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul is clear: “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you.’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you.’ On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts we think are less honorable, we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable, we treat with special modesty . . . .” (I Corinthians 12:21-24) Why are these people described as “indispensable?”

Because they test our humility and patience. Will the healthy and wealthy in the West be humble enough to treat them as God treats us? Christians 14

We read about them in National Geographic, but have almost no personal contact with such people.

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in the West are able, healthy, and blessed. Yet before God, we are sinful, needy objects of His mercy. Will the rich believers in the West treat the people in the majority world as God treats them?

Most of the people in the world live on $2 per day or less. Can we Western believers respond to that reality as God has responded to us? Yes, the poor of the world are “indispensable” because as they are to us, we are to God (only much more so). People of the majority world constantly show Western Christians what we are to God, so our patience, humility and love are being tested.

How many orphans are there in the world? The United Nations says there are about 140 million fatherless children in the world. Some are not technically fatherless because Dad is living in the area, but the man is non-functioning. A no-show.

Such a man sires children and then does not show up for parenting, providing, guiding or protecting. He is wasted on drugs or alcohol, sick, or consumed with himself to the point that he does not or cannot provide for his family.

Some areas of the world have such constant poverty that a man literally can’t provide for his family. Boys and girls whose father is alive, maybe even living near, while not fulfilling their parental responsibility, are called “street children.”

Street children constitute a second category of children who are recipients of ACTION’s attention. The United Nations says there are over 160 million street children in the world.

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Addressing the vulnerability of children, Matthew 18 warns that it would be better for a man to have a millstone hung around his neck (sure to drown him is the point) and be thrown in the sea than offend a child.15 Why? Because a child is extremely vulnerable. Wounds experienced in childhood will likely last a person’s whole life.

A child’s potential is at risk, and can be severely crippled, malformed, and distorted for life.

For example, I tried to serve a woman in a congregation I was pastoring. Nothing worked.

She continued to be unstable, easily annoyed, disinterested in spiritual progress and unhappy in her marriage. Only later did I find out she had been sexually abused in childhood. The reason the penalty is so severe (millstone around the neck) is because the child is so vulnerable and fragile.

The responsibility of the second part of James 1:27 – “keep yourself unspotted from the world” – is like walking through a hospital without catching any germs . . . standing amidst garbage and still not carrying a foul odor. It requires eliminating toxic attitudes of bitterness, fear, self-pity and anger while keeping one’s mental and spiritual clothing spotless.

The following accounts relate how mission-aries of Action International Ministries have sought to obey James 1:27 and what God has been pleased to accomplish through their efforts.

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Matthew 18:6 23

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Angie Lauer Gulu, Uganda

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as your child ever asked you where he came from? At Home of Love Orphanage for Vulnerable Children that question usually comes around holiday time. The Ugandan government requires that all children living in alternative care situations be re-united with their relatives whenever possible. ACTION missionaries, who staff this home, are told, “The first day a child arrives is the first day we start trying to re-unite them with relatives.” A full-time social worker on staff researches each child’s background. Arranging for a child to be with relatives, at Christmas for example, assures the relatives that ACTION is a team player and working for the child’s long-term interest. Such 25

an effort goes a long way toward establishing and maintaining a positive relationship with the relatives.

Some parents can’t be found. Some children come from dangerous situations and cannot be returned.

Some are abandoned. And some relatives refuse contact with their child. Both Allen and Brian – who came to Home of Love as infants – fit into the non-returnable category. The only family Allen and Brian have ever known is Angie and her staff.

One Christmas holiday when all the children were packing their bags to visit a relative, 3 ½-year-old Allen asked if he could go to his relatives too.

However, he is an orphan without an extended family. The staff talked together and decided to let him ride along in the van as the other children were taken to their relatives. The route would pass Attiak Internally Displaced Persons Camp where Allen had been found as a baby, abandoned and starving. So Allen rode along.

The Home of Love staff waited to see what his reaction would be. Upon returning, he jumped out of the van and proudly announced “I have seen my place [meaning the Attiack IDP camp].” That was it. The issue has never come up again. He is satisfied that he knows where he came from.

Another year, four-year-old Brian (pictured at the start of this article) said he wanted to know where he came from. Originally Brian came to Angie and her associates after his father found out his mother was HIV positive. In a rage he murdered his wife 26

and strangled his newborn son (Brian). Neighbors found the mother’s body the next day with Brian next to her, barely alive. Brian’s father was currently serving a life sentence in prison. Relatives completely abandoned Brian and refused to have any contact with him. To them he was dead.

Angie wrote: “At Christmas when the staff was loading the children into the van, Brian came running out with a little bag he had packed.

Esther, his dorm mother, nodded to us so we let him get into the van. Esther whispered to the driver that it was like the situation with Allen. So off they went with Brian clutching his little bag, sitting in the front seat.

“Brian rode around with Uncle Richard, the driver, all day. After the other children had been dropped off, Richard drove Brian past the place where he came from. When they got back to Home of Love, Brian also jumped out of the van and ran to Esther. He excitedly told her, ‘Mum! I saw where I came from!’ and leaped into her arms.” Brian is satisfied he knows where he came from.

Someday when he is older there will be other questions and Brian will have to be told the hard truth. On that difficult day it is Angie’s prayer that Brian will be able to handle the truth, knowing that his Heavenly Father has cared for him by placing him in a loving home and never leaving him. He has been loved, cared for and prayed for by more people than Brian will ever personally meet or know.

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Rafael Sison Manila, Philippines

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affy works the streets of Manila, trolling for street children and orphans.

One night as he was sharing a story of Jesus healing a man born blind, one of the street kids named Avatar interrupted and said, “Pastor, we’ve met a lot of missionaries over the years and we’ve heard stories about Jesus so many times already. All you missionaries do the same things – feed us, sing with us, pray for us, share stories of Jesus, take us to camps, and take pictures of us. Then you show up less frequently, then stop showing up at all. We’re tired of hearing stories about Jesus. We want to see Jesus.”

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Feeling their disappointment, Raffy answered, “I’m sorry to hear that. The Jesus these missionaries have shared with you is the same Jesus I am sharing with you.”

Dissatisfied, they repeated, “Show us Jesus!”

Raffy felt pushed and pinned against an emotional, spiritual wall, knowing his reply had not satisfied them. The kids laughed at him, perhaps proud that they had stumped him. They continued to speak of the many missionaries who had come to the streets of Manila, and then departed out of their lives.

For months Raffy interacted with them, admitting that he also spoke of Jesus and had little more for them than others had. At each meeting, they said, “Show us this Jesus.”

One year went by, and a second followed with little penetration of the Gospel into this group of hardened street youths.

They had not seen Jesus to their satisfaction.

Into his third year of contact with this group, Raffy was not making progress.

One evening he was in the streets. It was raining hard that night, making it difficult to locate those he had planned to serve. As rain and thunder increased, Raffy called it a night. He packed up.

Walking away, he heard a kid’s voice calling from 30

a dark alley. “Pastor, over here!” Raffy walked in the direction of the sound and saw quite a number of kids keeping dry under a tarp tied above their heads between two buildings.

He paused, thought and then proceeded cautiously into the dark alley. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he recognized Reynolds, Avatar and others who ran together.

Reynolds, the oldest in the group, said, “Pastor, tonight we are providing dinner for you.” While speaking, he pulled out a large black garbage bag from KFC nearby, set it down in the middle of the circle and tore it open.

Raffy, a Filipino-American, had enjoyed normal food – clean, healthy food. But now he was being “served” the leftovers, the food thrown away by others, all mixed together – some of it “fresh,” some of it semi-rotted, some of it slimy, all mixed together in a nauseating brew.

Reynolds led the group in prayer, giving thanks for the food. As soon as the Amen was said, the boys were like wild dogs, grabbing at the garbage. Reynolds scolded them saying, “Leave the meaty parts for pastor!” He was protective of Raffy’s honored portion.

Raffy swallowed hard, realizing what he was being challenged to be and do. Could he come down nutritionally to their level? Could he sit 31

where they sat? Eat what they ate? Become one with them as Christ came where we sinners were, sat where people sat, and ate what we ate?

Raffy began eating, trying to make conversation with his young friends as he pretended that the majority of his focus was on them.

Raffy explains what happened. “Gradually my comfort level increased. I started blindly picking meat and eating. I was enjoying myself and the fellowship. While we were eating, they were sharing personal secrets, hurts, pains and struggles they were going through. The experience was priceless!

“Fifty minutes later, as I got up and washed my hands at the rainwater pouring down the side of the tarp, Avatar stood next to me, looked into my eyes, smiled and said, ‘Pastor, now we have seen Jesus.’”

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Erin Johnson, Manila, Philippines

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rin (left, above) first met 14-year-old Carlo in 2009 when she started reaching out to the street children in Silang, a Manila suburb.

Because Carlo and his brother had no other place to go or thing to do, the street was literally their home. Erin saw them frequently. Carlo’s father had died when he was very young, and soon after that, his mother began a relationship with another man who mistreated Carlo and his brother. After a year or two, Carlo’s mother left this man and abandoned her children by moving to another province. So from a very young age, Carlo and his brother were forced to eke out a living on the streets. Carlo said, “Sometimes 33

we had food, sometimes we didn’t.” Their days consisted of begging or scavenging through garbage to survive. At times they fell prey to abusive people who took advantage of them.

From the first day Erin met Carlo, she sensed his heart. But he had to be tough to survive in the streets. As Erin and her Filipino colleagues taught a weekly Bible study, Carlo usually stood to the side, pretending disinterest. Although Carlo was offered an opportunity to study in a local tutorial program, he didn’t have much motivation. Having never been to school, he had no confidence he could accomplish such a feat.

In August 2010, Erin and her Filipino teammates brought Carlo, along with six other street youth, to an ACTION evangelistic camp, where they were inundated with passionate teaching about hope through Christ, plentiful food, and a loving environment. During those four days, Carlo gave his life to the Lord and a transformation began.

He started to participant. He even became an assistant, helping out wherever he could. When he wasn’t working the streets for Christ, Carlo was involved in a local church.

After a few months, Carlo was ready to start school for the first time, so Erin helped him enroll in a tutorial program. He gave up a couple of his odd jobs so he could attend school and be faithfully to classes. According to the teachers, Carlo thrived in his studies and was a joy to 34

have in the class, since he was always smiling and encouraging other students.

Meanwhile, another ACTION program, Honest Hands, had begun recruitment for their next batch of students. Honest Hands is a discipleship home for older teenage boys who come from the streets or disadvantaged backgrounds and who want to grow in their faith. The program runs Monday to Friday. Then the boys return home on the weekends to be involved in their local churches. Erin recommended Carlo for Honest Hands and talked to Carlo’s pastor about the possibility of him staying at the church on the weekends. Erin knew that if Carlo returned to the streets on weekends, he would not make much progress in the program.

In July 2011, Carlo was accepted into the Honest Hands program, and eventually God was pleased to use Honest Hands significantly in his life. His pastor had agreed to host him on the weekends. After just the first week, Carlo came home to this pastor and his wife and talked nonstop about how God was moving in his life and how he wanted to be a pastor someday so that he could help others like himself. Carlo thrived in the program. He was constantly memorizing new Scripture verses and was excited to recite them to others and tell them what the verses meant to him.

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Describing his past and his vision, Carlo said, “In the community where I grew up, the people were always gambling, cursing, drinking, and fighting. I want to tell them the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ so that their lives can be changed. I’m so thankful for all the ways God is moving in my life, changing me and making me new!”

Recently, Carlo graduated from the Honest Hands program. Erin was proud of him as he received the Most Hard-Working award and the Most Improved award. He has read the whole Bible.

Carlo will continue his studies at a local church while also being the assistant leader for Erin’s weekly Bible studies. As of March 2012, Carlo was 17 years of age!

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Mark & Paige Anderson Davis Lar Children’s Home Fortaleza, Brazil

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ill you take them?” the government worker inquired. Mark (not pictured) and Paige and the Davis Lar Children’s Home received this telephone call in January 2008 regarding seven brothers and sisters, the youngest being one year old and the oldest 14.

The Davis Lar Children’s Home exists to restore abandoned and abused children, preparing them to be confident, competent, contributing citizens in Christ’s name. The Lar only takes children who have come out of child 37

prostitution, extreme abuse or abandonment, and who have little chance of returning to relatives. The Andersons and The Lar expect to care for all the children placed with them until they are ready to stand on their own with Christ.

These seven new ones had had very difficult lives – the terror of living with an abusive, alcoholic father after mom abandoned them in a slum known for child prostitution and drug running. Without any more detailing than that, let’s marvel at the resiliency of the human spirit.

Most of the government caller’s siblings fit Davis Lar criteria so the Andersons gave a preliminary, over-the-phone “Yes” without ever having met the children. However, the government caller left out an important detail: one of the seven children, Robson, was wheelchair bound, clearly suffering the debilitating effects of cerebral palsy.

Mark and Paige went to visit. Unable to walk, Robson was sitting on a veranda playing with Legos! Paige (Pictured at the start of this article) gives us the inside scoop: “I sat next to him and played for a while, watching his smile grow as he reveled in the attention. He had trouble communicating, but could crawl around and get in and out of his chair alone.”

But Paige called the government worker. “We do not have the facilities to care for a wheelchair bound child with cerebral palsy!” Yet, the 38

government begged Mark and Paige to try, even threatening that it was against the law for Davis Lar to say no at that point in the negotiation.

Of the discussion that swirled around the Andersons and other Davis Lar staff, Paige wrote: “Mark, always more level-headed than I am, said, ‘Let’s evaluate him and give it a try for one week.”

Paige asks, “What do you picture when you hear cerebral palsy wheelchair child? A child confined to a rusty wheelchair, having seizures, unable to communicate, in diapers. That’s what I was imagining.”

One week became three. After three weeks at the Lar, it was a go. Robson was invited to stay permanently. The Andersons and the staff began restoring him and preparing him for his future! The first thing was to have him properly evaluated. In Brazil, where public medicine looks great on paper but is almost impossible to navigate, this was not going to be easy. A local public hospital specialized in neurological disorders, but the waiting list was years long.

A wonderful Christian woman, Benvinda, had her place on that waiting list. She had been waiting years for her appointment. She heard about Robson’s situation and met him when the Andersons took a group of children to present 39

the Davis Lar at her church. Benvinda gave him her place in line.

Paige continues: “And to think I was considering how to transfer him out immediately! To where?

We see the disabled placed on corners to beg around the city. Would that have been Robson?

Would his father have used him to beg? Worse, would he have left him in the shack to fend for himself ? Where would Robson be today?

Instead of those negative scenarios, Robson had leg-straightening surgery, is going to school, sings so loud in church they can hear him in the other room, and is getting ready to transfer to Lar’s boys’ teen facility.”

Through the sacrifice of those who support the Andersons and Davis Lar Children’s Home, three years after Robson moved in, he is now a healthy, vibrant 14-year old boy who is going to school, walking on his own, and not even considering a wheelchair. Indeed, his sainthood was hidden behind cerebral palsy and a wheelchair. “ . . . ‘I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord” (Jeremiah 29:11).

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Karen Singleton Lusaka, Zambia

I

magine losing your mother and father within a few weeks’ time. Stephen came to the orphanage in our community in August 2009.

After his mother died in childbirth, his father, a subsistence farmer, was too poor to provide for him. He brought Stephen to St. Nicholas Children’s Home hoping that he would be cared for. Because Stephen remained at the orphanage, he lost his father in the process. For a few weeks his father came for visits when he could afford to do so. After that, he never returned.

In addition to losing his mother and father, Stephen had a disease that carries stigma and 41

shame in Zambia. He was HIV AIDS positive.

When ACTION missionary Karen Singleton (pictured above) first saw him, he was scrawny— his little legs looked like toothpicks. He was not thriving and there was concern about whether he would survive. Listless and unresponsive, his cries were only dry, raspy attempts. The “aunties” at the orphanage tried their best to take care of him, but he continued to get worse.

Karen and a friend learned of a program offered through the local expat clinic called “Tiny Tim’s Friends.” A doctor was offering free medical care, formula, and transportation money for children who were infected with HIV AIDS. Karen and the chief “auntie” at that time, Mrs. Passmore, took Stephen to the clinic to admit him. Because he hadn’t been released from the local hospital’s supervision, Stephen had to wait until clearance was given, which took a number of weeks.

After being admitted into the program, Stephen slowly gained weight and became aware of his surroundings. As of March, 2012 (as pictured below) he is a bright, cheerful boy who walks, responds, and engages in life around him. God has answered prayers for Stephen. God’s eye has been on this little one.

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Barbara Burchert Mustard Seed Discipleship Vocational Program Greater Manila, Philippines

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n 2004, the ministry of Mustard Seed began and Gigi was one of Barbara’s first four students.

She was 19 years-of-age and a new Christian.

Interested in Bible study and demonstrating a knack for sewing, Gigi began well in the program.

As she settled into life in the dorm and the social activities of the program, the honeymoon began to fade. She didn’t like doing her assigned chores at the dorm, having to study her lessons, or arriving anywhere on time (even to meals).

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The dorm parent invested hours talking with Gigi, trying to figure out what was going on in her life. Barbara contacted her pastor to gain more information. Gigi came from a dysfunctional home and what had been lacking was now catching up with her.

“Broken home” fit her situation. Although her parents were still married, her father did not live with the family. When he was home, he was demanding, to whom others were to cater. He did not provide any support for his family. Gigi was full of anger at him and with the family situation in general.

Barbara, the director of Mustard Seed, Barbara met with Gigi and explained that her relationship with Mustard Seed was strained. Barbara was close to asking her to leave. She was given one week to decide what she wanted to do.

While she was at home – and after a long chat with her pastor – Gigi realized that she had been given an opportunity that she did not want to give up.

Returning to Mustard Seed, she expressed a willingness to work with the discipleship teacher.

Barbara and the rest of staff began to see changes in her life in the remaining months of the program.

Gigi graduated from the program, a skilled seamstress, and a young woman much closer to 44

Jesus. She was able to get a job upon graduation.

But this wasn’t the end of Barbara’s investment in Gigi.

When Mustard Seed needed a dorm parent with the next group of students, Gigi applied and was hired. She did a good job with the students and they loved and respected her. Barbara was pleased with her work.

After Gigi’s group graduated, Barbara went back to Canada on furlough. When Barbara returned to the Philippines, she contacted the staff to get the program up and running with a new group of students. Gigi was her choice again to be one of the dorm parents.

But things did not work out as Barbara had hoped. Barbara finishes the story: “When I met with Gigi to discuss her role in the program, I found her to be closed. Talking with her mother, I realized something was wrong again. Her family became very angry with her when they learned that Gigi was four months pregnant. To help diffuse the situation a bit, I invited Gigi to come for a vacation on campus for a week. I took her to an ob-gyn for her pre-natal check-up. I asked her pastor to come and talk with her each day.

I had her meet with a missionary mom – one who had four children. She answered a lot of questions about being pregnant. And I gave Gigi time to spend with Jesus.

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“When Gigi returned home at the end of the week, she was again reconciled with the Lord and realized we were there to support her.

“It was not long after the birth of her daughter, that I again had the opportunity to be directly involved with this young woman. She had been coming to our campus and doing some sewing projects for the ministry. We found out that the father of the baby was endangering the child and spying on Gigi to know where she was and what she was doing.

“Concerned for the safety of both, I consulted a local attorney and made plans to move them to a safe house away from the influence of the father.

That didn’t sit well with the father or his family.

He threatened me with a knife the night of the move. With the help of the area police, the father was detained and we were given a two hour head start to move Gigi and baby to a safe house.

“Gigi and her daughter spent almost three years at the safe house, without the father ever coming for them.”

They were loved by the Mustard Seed staff and three groups of Mustard Seed students. Most importantly, Gigi was once again reconciled with the Lord and growing in her relationship with Him. Gigi now has a good job, is attending church regularly, raising her daughter to love Jesus and is involved with a nice Christian man who loves them both. Barbara hopes to attend a wedding soon!

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P

erhaps God has spoken to your mind and heart about serving Him in world missions through ACTION. The needs are great: • Hundreds of additional missionaries are needed to take the gospel to Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America as people can only go to heaven through faith in Christ Jesus.

• Missionaries are needed to take the gospel and compassionate care to the estimated over 160 million street children of the world and about 140 million orphans.

• Workers are also needed in Lusaka, Zambia; the bush regions of Malawi; the urban areas of São Paulo, Brazil; Manila, Philippines; and in the city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

• There are thousands of towns in Europe with no Gospel witness.

• For every Christian in Thailand, there are 999 Buddhist. Missionaries are needed to take the gospel to them.

• Older pastoral couples are needed to help train the estimated 3.2 million untrained 47

and needy pastors worldwide especially in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

For more information, please visit our web site or contact any of the following offices: www.actioninternational.org ACTION Canada 3015A 21st Street NE Calgary, Alberta, T2E 7T1 Tel: 403-204-1421 • info@actioncanada.org ACTION Philippines PO Box 110, Greenhills Post Office 1502 Metro Manila Tel: 632-477-3559 • take.action@actionintl.org ACTION United Kingdom PO Box 144 Wallasey, Wirral CH44 5WE Tel: 0151-630-2451 • info@actionuk.org U K Registered Charity 1058661 ACTION USA PO Box 398 Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043-0398 Tel: 425-775-4800 • info@actionusa.org Cover photo: Craig Pulsifer Cover Graphics: Adam Clague, www.AdamClague.com 48

Christians have been commanded to care for orphans and widows

JAMES 1: 27

The United Nations tells us there are 140 million orphans * in the world.

This booklet reports the thrilling accounts of lives transformed through the work of missionaries of Action International Ministries as they serve orphans and widows. * And 160 million street children, many of whom f it the def inition of an orphan. No factual information is available on how many widows there are in the world.

Action International Ministries serves in over 24 countries and is dedicated to carrying out God’s command in James 1:27

THE RALLYING CRY

of A c t i o n I n t e r n at i o n a l M i n i s t r i e s

K E I T H

K A Y N O R