A Journey Toward Ethical Orphan Care Part III: Compassion and Calling
On any given day I can scroll through my Facebook feed and come across 10 different prayer requests, 4 adoption journeys, 3 Church plants and 7 different non-profit organizations - all who need prayer and support. On a daily basis we experience so many opportunities to call our compassion into action. Inspiring stories, people and places in need, sermons podcasted - all of these things can elicit our compassion on their behalf. Compassion is a powerful emotion. Unchecked or in certain situations, it can quickly move us to thoughtless action and cause us to draw oversimplified conclusions. Compassion without wisdom and knowledge can be taken advantage of and easily misled.
One of the most important roles of the Church within ethical orphan care is to steward the compassion of its people well. Encouraging Church members to be WISE in their compassion is absolutely necessary. To proceed into the world of orphan care without the safeguard of this wisdom and discernment would be hasty at best but dangerous at its core. To act merely on compassion without arming ourselves with the wisdom that the Lord promises can and will bring harm to those we so desire to help. Compassion that works towards Kingdom purposes, “deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom” (James 3:13), will seek to address root causes of the issue. Therein, we will not be satisfied to offer temporary “first aid” to long-standing problems.
We in the West often have limited understanding of the layered dynamics of a developing country. For me, I do not speak the language; I do not understand the cultural norms; I do not understand the desperation of an impoverished mother to see her children healthy, educated and sleeping in safety. I do not understand the politics that govern these lands so foreign to us. I do not understand generational poverty. Yet I cannot hope to enact change in these places without first asking the Lord for Wisdom.
If the Church calls its people to adoption and orphan care, then the Church's role is to push our compassion towards godly wisdom and discernment. This will take energy, patience and commitment on behalf of the Church but is necessary to navigate the global issues of orphan care. We need wisdom from the Lord to make careful and thoughtful decisions. We need wisdom that considers roots issues and primary causes in situations that are complicated and beyond our sphere of knowledge. We need to commit ourselves to gaining this knowledge.
Our compassion must lead us to a place where we grow in our knowledge of the people, the problem and the situation as a whole. Proverbs 2 speaks of turning your ear to wisdom, applying your heart to understanding, calling out for insight, looking for wisdom as silver and searching for it as hidden treasure. These are all active roles for us to take in our journey towards wisdom. Wisdom takes work and investment. But the promise here is sure: “Then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Then you will understand what is RIGHT and JUST and FAIR - every good path.” Only after we have taken the time and effort to ask for wisdom can we proceed in the world of orphan care. And let’s not miss the risk: misled compassion will be taken advantage of, and impoverished families will consequently suffer for our negligence.
—Anna Harvey