by Craig Mayes on February 14th, 2010

James writes that "...religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this...to look after orphans and widows in their distress...".

After nearly a decade of involvement with the children of Grace Children's Home in India, the 230+ children, most of whom are orphans, I have perhaps begun to understand why, of all things that could have been on the short list of what God accepts, of what he looks for in those who have given their lives to him, he includes caring for orphans. As I listened to them worship in the church service (pictured below), witnessed their love for and devotion to God, I imagined where each might be were it not for the many, many people who have invested in them these 10 years. Statistics in India suggest that many would be dead, some would be in child prostitution, others part of the millions of homeless children on the streets. As a father, I know that I would do absolutely anything to help or protect my children. There is nothing like the love of a father. And God is a father to the fatherless. And he asks those of us who have decided to follow Jesus to be the means by which he cares for the fatherless, those Jesus referred to as "the least of these". Here are some of the "least":

The last four years I have seen an even deeper expression of caring for orphans in their distress. At the CEM medical clinic, we have had children abandoned by their mothers at birth. Our orphanage is not equipped to care for new born babies. The first baby girl actually weighed less than a pound, and there was no expectation that she would live. But she did live, and she was legally adopted by Jaya and Lakshmi at a time in their lives where raising a new daughter was probably not in the plans. Then they adopted another girl, and most recently, twins- a boy and girl. In three years they have gonet from being the parents of 2 children, nearly grown, to a family with 6 children.

One of the Christian customs in India is to name a child officially at a  baby dedication church service, when their name will be spoken publicly for the first time. I have had the honor of being able to dedicate each of these children as they went from status of "orphan" to that of daughter/son. Today I dedicated Charan Teja, and Megahanna Grace (pictured below). As I held little Meghana, squirming in my arms, I recalled when I dedicated each of my own three children. I think I understood today even more why caring for orphans made the list. This little girl, created by God in his image, is of infinite value to her Father. What in life could trump caring for her?  To speak of loving God without loving those he has made and who are in the most desperate  and dangerous of all situations would be a sham. What could I value more than a human life- to be clothed, fed, protected, loved? 

Tomorrow my day will begin at 6 AM with the voices of 230 children praising God during their chapel. 230 is a big number. It's a lot of children. I could not learn every name this week even if they were not hard to pronounce Telegu names. But God knows so much more than their names, And he has invited me (us) to know them, and in the place of parents they do not have, to become their fathers and their mothers. Little else is of more importance to God. This is what he accepts.