How to Help Orphans When You Can’t Adopt

When Anderson, a young man from Brazil, was a small child, his mother left. At the age of 10, Anderson’s father died, leaving him and his two brothers without care. To deal with the loss, his older brothers turned to drugs. Just four short weeks later, they were also dead. Anderson was left an orphan.

Millions of children around the world just like Anderson are without parents to love and care for them. But every child needs support to grow happy and healthy.

The Bible instructs us to help orphans and advocate for the fatherless. In fact, Isaiah 1:17 (NIV) says,

“Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”

This powerful call to action might raise a question for you. How can you help, especially if you can’t adopt? Here, I share four practical ways you can help an orphan in need. Plus, I’ll share my personal story of how I learned to support children through Compassion.

How to Help Orphans: 4 Practical Ways

Sponsor an Orphan

Many orphans around the world also live in extreme poverty. This means they lack necessities such as medical care, food and clean water. You can change that by sponsoring a child through Compassion.

Through child sponsorship, you donate to a child monthly. Your donation is then used to provide everything that child needs to thrive physically, emotionally and spiritually. While we provide pressing needs such as medical checkups, we also introduce them to the love and hope found in Jesus, which changes their life completely.

By becoming a sponsor, you’ll join a community of support for a child in need and walk alongside them as they journey out of poverty. We partner with local churches who step in and care for each sponsored child, providing the support and protection they need to thrive.

Give Aid to the Highly Vulnerable

Orphans often live in child-headed households or with caregivers that are unable to care for them in the way they need. For example, some children must live with elderly family members or parents who are sick and unable to provide for them. Some children are also at-risk of abuse or exploitation without family to keep them safe.

At Compassion, we work with our network of local church partners to identify, support and protect children living in highly vulnerable circumstances. You can help these at risk children by donating to our Highly Vulnerable Children fund.

Your donation helps us intervene in situations of abuse, exploitation, trafficking and other serious circumstances.

Be Their Voice

Another way you can help orphans is by simply advocating for them. You can use your voice to speak up for children who may not have a voice.

For example, you can share ways to serve those in need by talking to your friends and family or by posting on social media. You can also host a Compassion Sunday at your church to invite your church family to stand up for children in need.

Pray

Prayer is powerful. It changes things! Take some time out of your day to pray for God to protect orphans and other children in vulnerable situations. Ask God to bring trusted adults into their lives to advocate for them and intervene when necessary. And pray for orphans around the world to know the hope and healing found in Jesus.

How to Help Orphans: A Personal Story

As a 16-year-old, my life was pretty easy. Sure, I fretted about my next algebra test and increasing my basketball shooting percentage. But I didn’t worry about where dinner would come from. My loving parents worked hard to supply me with clothes and food. Like most teenagers, I took those things for granted.

Several years later, I took a trip to Brazil with Compassion and met Anderson, a 16-year-old boy who didn’t take any of those things for granted. He invited me into his home with hospitality I’d never experienced from a teenage boy before.

His one-room home, where he lived alone, contained a bed, a couch and a few kitchen items. I chuckled when I saw his basketball shoes nicely cleaned, placed next to a bottle of hair gel. While he lived alone, he was still a teenager!

I could tell Anderson was nervous, but he really wanted to tell me his story. He had a gleam in his eye that came from God’s work and he was bursting to share it. I listened as he shared about his difficult life.

Orphaned and Alone

When Anderson was a small child, his mother left the family. Then, when he turned 10, his father died, leaving Anderson and his two brothers alone. To deal with the loss, his older brothers turned to drugs, and within four weeks, they were also dead — one from a drug overdose and one from gang violence.

At 10 years old, Anderson became an orphan he had no one to support him, care for him or love him.

Anderson had a life-changing decision to make. He could turn to the streets or he could turn to his local church and Compassion center that was only a couple of blocks from his house.

Compassion Stepped In

Anderson turned to the streets but quickly learned that he had made the wrong choice. The dangers, such as violence and drug activity, were unavoidable, and the gangs didn’t provide the support he craved.

One day, he opened the door to the Compassion center and was greeted by the people who have been his family ever since.

Now, each day, they provide him with a hot shower and a meal. They encourage him to attend school and teach him about a God who cares for orphans and widows. He even calls the center director “Mom.”

When he was 18, Anderson worked at a local pizza shop for one year, saving his paychecks because he dreamed of owning his own business. With help and training from the Compassion center staff, he now runs a car wash service in front of his house.

When he became very ill with a parasite in his brain, the Compassion center provided for his recovery through antibiotic treatment. He is healthy once again, and his small business is thriving. He dreams of improving his business and renovating his little house.

Most importantly, Anderson is continuing to heal from abandonment and loss through the love of Jesus. Despite his difficult circumstances, Anderson chooses to walk with God as his Father.

“We thank God for all the opportunities Anderson has received and that we can help meet his needs. We pray to the Lord that his life will get better and better and that we can have the strength to help several other boys like Anderson who need love, care and protection,” says Vânia, the Compassion center director.

Helping Orphans — A Father to the Fatherless

Orphaned children around the world face the same heart-wrenching challenges as Anderson. Many find themselves alone, with no one to care for them. Millions of children in low-income countries are orphans due to AIDS, armed conflicts, natural disasters, famine, abuse and other issues related to poverty.

Compassion’s programs are instrumental in keeping these orphaned children off the streets and giving them the love and support they need to flourish. With the support of Compassion, they can access nutritious food, clean water, medical care, education and life skills training, among other necessities.

When I left Anderson’s home that day, I felt completely different than I anticipated. I knew we would be visiting an orphan’s home, so I assumed I would leave feeling sad.

Instead, I saw firsthand how God used Compassion to be a father to the fatherless!

On the wall of his home, Anderson has painted Eu te amo e Jesus também — “I love you and Jesus does too!”

Jesus loves all the children in world, including those living in extreme poverty and those facing life without the support and love of parents. Let’s embrace the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of orphans by being the hands and feet of Jesus to the most vulnerable.

When I left Anderson’s home that day, I left feeling completely different than I anticipated. I knew we would be visiting the home of an orphan, so I assumed I would leave feeling sad. On the contrary, I saw firsthand how God used Compassion to be a father to the fatherless! On the wall of his home, Anderson has painted, “Eu te amo e Jesus também” — I love you and Jesus does too!

Sponsor an Orphan Today! ›Or give a one-time gift to a highly vulnerable child.

This article was originally published Aug. 13, 2019.