We need you.
We desperately need you.
You see, the small minority of passionate orphan advocates have been making some steady gains in the past decade. The foster care system is less 100,000 children because of the work of these few. But there is still around 400,000 in the system who need someone to show them unconditional love. There are 100,000 children awaiting adoption in the US alone. Globally, if you’ve heard any statistics regarding orphans, you’ve probably heard a number around 153 million for quite a few years now. The numbers are not decreasing like they should. Although there have been some major victories in certain corners of our world, there is still a critical missing piece that would help these victories resound in all communities.
You. The Silent Majority.
What is a Silent Majority? ” An unspecified large majority of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly.”
It is well known in churches that 10-20% of the people in attendance do the majority of serving and giving. You’re probably familiar with the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80-20 law, which could imply that 20% of the people do 80% of the work.
If that is even remotely true, 80% of this Silent Majority are missing advocates for the most vulnerable. That doesn’t mean that every person who attends church doesn’t care about serving or giving. And, it doesn’t mean that every person not formally involved in orphan care doesn’t care either. It does mean that there is a gap between knowing and doing.
So why should you care?
Because silence encourages indifference. Elie Wiesel, a holocaust survivor, calls indifference the “epitome of evil“. He says, “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
My goal is not to leave you with a burdened sense of guilt. My goal is to build a burdened army that will be motivated to action by the thought of children without a protector, without a family. Antoine de Saint, a French aviator and writer in the early 1900’s said, “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
Can I ask you today to help us flip the majority by joining the minority of orphan advocates? Imagine the immediate impact on children in foster care and orphans globally if that 20% minority turned into 40% or even 60% engaged.
Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in California shared a fitting illustration. He says, “Each of us is a fragile snowflake. On our own we can’t make a big difference. However, when one fragile snowflake sticks with a lot of other snowflakes, they can stop traffic.”
In order to make a big dent in the orphan crisis, we’ll need you involved. Would you make the commitment today to no longer remain silent, to take a side on the issue, to use your voice, your influence and your resources to make an impact? You can help us flip the majority, not for our sake, but for the sake of orphaned and vulnerable children who languish in the same situation day after day, year after year. They need a family. They need a defender. Maybe you’ll be the voice of change for them.
I’ll leave you with a quote from one of the great orphan advocates of our time. What she did with her simple life did more for the cause of the orphan than just about anyone who has lived in the past few centuries.
“You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together, we can do great things.”– Mother Teresa
Is there really something that YOU can do? You bet. You are already moving in the right direction by understanding the problem. Now think about how God has gifted you and how He can use that gift to help others. That’s a very important beginning…don’t stop now.
Let’s go do great things together,
Steve Gillis Founder | Exec. Director www.patchourplanet.org
“Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.” – Psalm 82:3
