What makes an orphan?

What is an orphan? Well the answer to that can vary, and sometimes the specifics have to be talked about. During my time in South Africa I have come to see things a little bit differently than before and would like to share.

Single Orphan: A child who has lost one parent
Double Orphan: a Child who has lost both parents

In some cultures, especially those we came across in South Africa, the orphans will be taken in by family members, often aunts or uncles, or move around between different aunt’s and uncle’s houses.

Or they may be a
Child headed household: a home where no parents are present, due to death or living in the city in order to have work and make money.

Or a child in a household where there parents don’t care for them at all.

What do orphans need? Well the Ministry of Ten Thousand Homes believes that God’s heart is to build homes and not just houses. Building relationships, creating a place of safety, demonstrating family and providing for needs is how they share the person of God with the people in the local communities.

So, by partnering with them, our team was also able to show these orphans what love can look like: someone to kick around a soccer-ball with, a person to cuddle with, a hug, an encourager, someone who will come back when they say that they will, a person who builds a house, or all of the above.

We even got a chance to share with the boys and girls about who they are. In these communities almost everyone has heard of Jesus and many are christians. So we shared about how when God is our Father that we are princes and princesses of the most High King. How much do young boys dream of being the knight prince in shining armor, and the girls of being the beautiful princess, and they long for that because it’s a small piece of their identity. A piece of identity that has gone missing, so we got a chance to instill it back into them.

We met them as orphans, and said fair well to royalty.