"Visit The Sick (Matthew 25:35-46); Orphan Home Style
It is difficult for me to convince institutional-minded brethren that "our" orphan homes are a racket. Especially is this so due to the high emotional appeal that is made. It is further complicated by the fact that public relations men for these "homes" do not always leave the right conception of them in the minds of brethren. Consequently what brethren believe about them is not always true.
A recent occurrence in Trumann pointed this up to me. It also thoroughly convinced a family, who a few years ago worshipped with a liberal church, of the truth in the matter.
Two years ago the wife and mother of this family was quite ill and needed rest desperately. They have a teen-age daughter who is helpless, the victim of early childhood encephalitis. Care of the girl had been extremely taxing on both the emotional and physical health of the mother. On the advice of liberal brethren who had been assuring them of the compassion, superior facilities, and religious devotion of these who staffed the "home", this family wrote to a nearby church-related institution. They requested that the home take and care for their daughter for one month, until the mother had had time to recuperate. To this point they felt that conservative brethren had misrepresented the "homes," and that they would fulfill the claims made for them by their advocates. This has been a lively issue in Trumann for the last ten years or so. The church divided here in 1960.
The family soon received a letter from the administration informing them that the "home" did not care for sick children. It said that they had all they could do to care for well ones. It was a sweet letter of "be ye warned and filled," but the "home" offered no help whatsoever.
A few weeks ago a liberal publication of the area featured an article boosting the "home." The superintendent of the above mentioned orphanage had made a talk to the church publishing this bulletin. The editor, praising the home and thanking God for its superintendent, had these words to say:
"The ______ Children's Home, the home of many children who were bereft of their parents' guidance and care...Infants, crippled children, sick, both in body and in mind, have been taken in and given a real home." (Emphasis mine, JDL)
The family contacted me, showing me the bulletin and the letter which they received two years ago. They wrote to the superintendent, asking for clarification. The letter they received from him accused them of having a chip on their shoulder, and deliberately looking for error in their brethren. It further stated that the home would not take in sick children, unless they did not know they were sick at the time they admitted them. The letter emphasized that they did care for the children who became ill after being admitted. How gracious of them not to kick them out on the streets!
It is significant to note that not only is there a glaring discrepancy with their public-relations propaganda, but also that they reject the children who most need their services! Those "crippled...sick, both in body and mind" often need institutional care... "to be taken in," whereas normal children are usually adversely affected by institutional environments.
According to liberals, Christians fulfill the command of James 1:27 to "visit the fatherless" by church-sponsored orphanages. Since these "homes" cannot, or will not, care for sick children, must we wait for "Church-of-Christ hospitals" before we can carry out the command of Matthew 25 to "visit the sick?"
(Authoritative evidence and names can be supplied upon request.)
-Trumann, Arkansas