My two children were once in orphanages in Colombia, before they came to our home. And over the years, I have worked to help support summer camps and send Christmas gifts to orphans in the former Soviet Union. But it is only in the past year that I have been on another orphan journey—sad to realize that there are at least 163 million orphans in the world. There are so many orphans that if they were all located in one place, they would be the seventh largest nation in the world, almost the size of the population of Pakistan.
This “Orphan Nation” is one of the saddest places in the world, where most of its children citizens have little hope for a family and the future. In Russia, for example, a majority of orphan graduates become criminals, terrorists, prostitutes, addicts, and are un-employed. Ten percent of Russian orphan graduates commit suicide.
Unlike other nations, the Orphan Nation doesn’t have embassies and ambassadors, although—thank
God—there are individuals and organizations dedicated to helping this ever-expanding orphan population.
I have been increasingly discovering that “passports” out of the Orphan Nation are possible, and am hoping to help that happen through working with 13 Christian organizations—three in the U.S. and ten in Russia and Ukraine—who are helping orphans find caring homes inside their own countries.
Home for Every Orphan Map
I decided to start this blog with the hope that I might learn about others who are already—or would be interested in becoming—a part of a “Home for Every Orphan Partnership” depicted in the map above. We’re joining hands believing that “true religion” is caring for the orphans. (James 1:27) Our informal Home for Every Orphan Partnership is currently working with Christians in Russia and Ukraine, who want to help thousands of orphans find homes in their own countries with families who care. For more information, please browse this website.
I dream that a Home for Every Orphan could become a reality. It seems an impossible dream, but as President Calvin Coolidge once said, “We can’t do everything at once, but we can do something at once.”
In Ukraine, Christians have started a movement called “Ukraine Without Orphans.” There are 30,000 adoptable orphans in Ukraine. There are also 30,000 churches of all confessions, where there are more than enough families to adopt or provide a foster care home for all the adoptable orphans.
Following is an interview with “East-West Church and Ministry Report,” January 2011. It describes a little about what I discovered during a recent trip in Ukraine. I look forward to being in touch with you.
EW Church & Ministry Report
*Excerpt reproduced with permission from “A Home for Every Orphan: An Interview with Anita Deyneka,” East-West Church and Ministry Report 19 (Winter2100), 1-6. The full interview is available by subscription. Order information is available at www.eastwestreport.org
