statistics make us numb (see video to the right)

I think, for the most part, this is true. Statistics make us numb. We feel powerless, helpless against such massive numbers. In the context of orphan care, REALLY massive numbers are thrown around. Since I'm a numbers geek, I want to know them and understand them and share them. I know, you can't wait.

The really exciting thing about statistics, is that they are not outside the control of God. He laughs in the face of statistics. Just ask the person who was cured of cancer or the couple who was told they could never conceive (and now have five bio kids). Statistics are nothing to the God of the universe. Mark Twain also had something to say about statistics: "'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

There are some confusing numbers out there with regards to "orphans". According to UNICEF there are 163 million "orphans" worldwide. Most of us, when we think of the term "orphan", think of children without parents. But that is not the case. UNICEF and other agencies "adopted the broader definition of orphan in the mid-1990s as the AIDS pandemic began leading to the death of millions of parents worldwide, leaving an ever increasing number of children growing up without one or more parents. So the terminology of a ‘single orphan’ – the loss of one parent – and a ‘double orphan’ – the loss of both parents – was born to convey this growing crisis."

So the number of vulnerable children worldwide is estimated to be 163 million. Some of these children have two living parents but are highly vulnerable because the parents are not able to afford their care, abuse them, neglect them, are very ill... There are as many reasons why children are vulnerable as there are vulnerable children. It's complex. I can hardly begin to grasp it.

Of those 163 million vulnerable children, 55.3 million are without a mother and 126 million are without a father. Only 18.3 million are "double orphans". I say only because, if we just looked at the 163, it would be our assumption that homes are needed for all of those children, but that is not the case. 90% of those children have homes and living family members. Their entire family needs support and love and prayer. (and sponsorships - more on that next time)

While we're on the subject of statistics, I want to bring it home to Kentucky. According to Focus on the Family, in 2009, there were 2,048 children in foster care waiting for forever families. There were also, according to Focus on the Family in 2009, 6,859 churches in the state of Kentucky. WOW. 2,048 kids ready for homes and 6,859 churches. Really WOW.

To quote Dan Cruver from Together for Adoption "Can you think of a better visible testimony to a watching world of what God has done for us in Christ than caring for orphans in their need and helplessness?"

I can't. How about you?
Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. - Isaiah 1:17