Stand for Orphans

Our adoption agency, Lifeline Children's Services, created Stand for Orphans as a way for children to understand that God has given them the opportunity and ability to affect change in the world.  To show kids that they don't have to wait "until they're older" to be part of God's work in the world.

When we ran across Stand for Orphans, it immediately caught our attention as a way to get local children, and even our community, involved in making a difference for vulnerable children and orphans locally and around the world.

A couple weeks ago we invited a small group of children from our community to come together to put on a Stand for Orphans.  We didn't want them to just see this as a fun summer activity but wanted them to understand what they were taking a stand for. They gathered in our home a few days before the lemonade stand where we were able to teach them how Lifeline cares for orphans, but most importantly, how the Gospel compels us to care for orphans.  They also made decorations for the stand. 

It was sweet to see the kids get so excited to take part in this. One boy, after finishing his decorations, went over to his mom and asked if he could help the WHOLE time at the lemonade stand. His mom said sure in which he fist pumped the air and proclaimed, “YESSSS!”

Another mom, whose 4-year-old boy was helping at the stand, told us that during the week leading up to the stand she and her husband had been talking to their son about what an orphan is. Later in the week, she asked her 4-year-old son what an orphan was?  She didn't expect her 2 year old to pipe up and answer, "no mom, no dad."  She didn't even realize her 2 year old was paying attention to the conversations that she and her husband where having with their 4 year old! It was amazing to see parents take the days leading up to the stand to teach their children about orphans and why God calls His people to care for them.

Here is the amazing group of kids who gathered together to prepare for the stand.

The kids blew us away the evening of the lemonade stand.  We thought for sure they would tucker out of helping during the 2-hour time frame.  We were prepared to take over when that happened.  But that never happened!  We were able to mingle with families as they came and left the real work to the kids.  :D

The evening turned into an incredible evening of fellowship for the parents as we all got to witness the next generation do their part in "bringing justice to the fatherless."  (Isaiah 1:17)

*If your child would like to take a #StandForOrphans visit http://stand.lifelinechild.org/