Be A Voice

​November has always been my favorite month of the year. I like to wear hoodies, watch the leaves change, eat turkey at Thanksgiving and celebrate my birthday. As a kid there was something magical about November and the way in which it seemed like God brought in a brand new color scheme as He decorated the world in a brilliance that only He could. 

It’s interesting that the very things that seem so vibrant are the cause of a sort of death in preparation for a hard winter, only to prepare for a vibrantly colored spring. 

As an adult November still holds the same excitement, though the reasons are a little different. I still love the incredible pallet of colors that God brings out in November, I still enjoy wearing a good hoodie, and I definitely enjoy a great Thanksgiving meal. November, however, has taken on a better meaning since it became a global month of raising the awareness for orphaned and vulnerable children. When so many of us gather with our families on Thanksgiving there are 153 million orphans worldwide longing for a forever family. There are numerous children in foster care who need a home that is safe, even if they aren’t the safest children to be around.

Children who are orphaned and vulnerable need someone to be a voice for them. Children who are orphaned and vulnerable need someone to show them that they matter. Children who are orphaned and vulnerable need a family to call their own. 

I am thankful that there are people who are raising their voice for the fatherless. I am thankful that there are people who are raising their voice for those in foster care. I am thankful that there are people who are inviting orphans into their families forever. I am thankful that November gives us a chance to raise our voices a little louder and to be a little more bold for those who need someone to be bold for them.

It is clear to me that God’s heart is for the orphan. 

     Deuteronomy 10:17-18 tell us that God “executes justice” for the orphan. 

     Isaiah 1:17 tells us to “defend that cause of the fatherless.” ​

     James 1:27 tells us that looking out for widows and orphans in their distress is “true religion.”


If God’s heart beats for the fatherless then we must align our lives to His heart. Scripture talks about the fatherless 57 different times! This is clearly God’s heart, so we must align our lives to His heart.
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November is coming soon and I can’t wait to see how the worldwide voice raises loudly for the fatherless. On November 8 churches in over 37 countries will join in raising a voice on Orphan Sunday. A day later some of us will raise our voices again on World Adoption Day. We must realize that we have to be a voice for those who have no voice. We must defend their cause as scripture calls us to. 

I am eagerly anticipating the collective voice of the people of God to raise awareness of the fatherless, in the month of November. I am anticipating, even more how that voice will be raised throughout the rest of the year. 

One final thought. I pray that a heart for adoption, foster care, family preservation, and orphan care. I pray that we would be a people so consumed with God’s heart for the vulnerable that it changes the very fabric of who we are as a church. I pray that we would support those in the midst of adoption and foster care in ways that we can’t even dream of now and that one day we would see children of all nations, tribes, and tongues in our doors because we followed God’s heart.

This November, let’s pray that God begins an unstoppable movement among us. 

​James

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