143,000,000

According to UNICEF that's the number of orphans in the world. Here's a video to put that number in perspective. It's overwhelming to think about. Every single one of those orphans represents a person created in God's image. Every single one, if adopted into a Christian family could be exposed to a father and mother who could teach them diligently the words of God as they sit, as they walk, as they lie down and as they rise up. Every single one of them has only two possible destinations in eternity: heaven or hell.

How can we think about helping 143,000,000 orphans? The answer is to help one at a time. People do overwhelming things all the time. How do we pay down overwhelming debt? We do it one month at a time. How do we get in shape? We take it one day and one pound at a time.

When I went to seminary I quickly came to understand that I was way behind everyone else when it came to the books that I needed to read. I was overwhelmed by the amount of material I needed to cover just to catch up. But I resovled to do it one book at a time and one page at a time.

I've been asked how adopting one child is going to help the orphan problem. Who am I to think that I can make a difference in such an overwhelming situation? I am convinced that for one child I can make a difference. For that one child I can help in a situation that must seem far more overwhelming than reading books or losing weight.