Destitute Children
Within the past several weeks three little girls were placed in the home of a childless Christian couple. These three little girls were sisters. The children were destitute in that they had been deserted by their parents. Legal adoption is now in process. A two-fold blessing has been achieved by this practice of "pure and undefiled religion."
A childless Christian couple has been blessed because they now have children to "love, to feed, to clothe, to nurture, to train." Destitute children are blessed because they can now receive the love, the affection, the sense of belonging. the feeling of security that they have been denied thus far in life. The children will be raised in a Christian home by Christian parents. This is "pure and undefiled religion" in action.
This story would be "half told" if it ended here. When it was known that children were available I was deluged with telephone calls, letters and visits from interested parties. People who were not members of the church even called asking if it were possible for them to have the children. One businessman of our city was even willing (as he stated it) to "join your church" if he and his wife could have the children. He told me that he and his wife had tried for several years to adopt children and had had no success through welfare or child placing agencies. All together I received, either by phone, letter or personal contact, twenty requests for the children. Several years ago I read an article in the Ladies Home Journal by Pearl S. Buck wherein it was stated that there are ten homes available for every child that was orphaned or destitute and that it was estimated that there were one hundred homes available for every orphaned or destitute child that had not made "formal" application with the welfare or a child placing agency. This I now know to be true.
Those who called to make inquiry about these particular children wanted all three of the children. One man (a brother in the church) said he didn't care if they were boys or girls and that age didn't make any difference. The statement that older children cannot be adopted into Christian homes is altogether false. In addition to the three girls recently placed in a Christian home there are many other homes in Orlando that have been blessed by children received through adoption.
Several days ago I received a bulletin written by a very good friend of mine, a man I have always had the utmost confidence in. In the bulletin the following statement is found, "If we ask for the right way the answer will probably be, "Take orphan children into Christian homes." Fine, but we ask in turn, "Are YOU doing that ? How many children have you and those who agree with you given homes. We can probably count these children on one hand and have three fingers left!" This statement is eminently unfair and very unchristian. It was written to incite prejudice. A statement of this kind is beneath the dignity of a gospel preacher and is a reflection on a host of good brethren who are as honest and sincere as the writer of the above article ever dare to be. The answer to the above charge . . . there are ten homes ready and anxious for every orphaned or destitute child available. There are twenty homes in Orlando that want children but can't secure them. If other cities in our nation are like Orlando every orphaned child could be placed in a Christian home to be "loved, fed, clothed, nurtured and trained" before the sunset tomorrow.