As I finished up the first chapter
of James we learned that if our religion is pure and undefiled in the sight of
our God and Father, then we will be concerned about orphans and widows in their
distress, and we will keep ourselves unstained by the world. There are three
very important things to consider here.
The first is the care of orphans. In
America we are shielded from this problem unless we have connected with various
missions and receive information about the need. It is the idea of out of
sight, out of mind, but we need to get it back into our minds. The orphanages
need support and the orphans need someone to love and care for them. We have an
orphanage here in Wuhan from which many babies, especially girls, have been
adopted by Americans. In Hongmei’s home town is a big orphanage that collects
children from all over China that have serious medical problems. Hongmei will
be working there this summer, especially with some of the older children. In
China, with the one child policy and the higher value on a boy baby, many
little girls are a disposable item. How can one do that? I just want to gather
them up in my arms and love them. If I were younger and raising a family I
would have some in my home.
The link shown below gives just one
example of how we can help. It is about three minutes.
The second thing that James
mentioned is widows. Most Americans don’t understand the significance of this
because they don’t understand the cultures. In James time a widow loses the
protection and bargaining power of a husband. If she is left with children she
is at a very great disadvantage in providing for them. If she was left without
children she is in many locations seen as a worthless woman, placed at the
bottom of society where she can hardly survive. James tells us they need our
help.
The third thing concerns how we
live. It is easy to become friends with the world and end up with dirty hands.
When our hands are dirty we can’t serve others very easily. How would you like
to sit down for a meal and be served by a waiter with dirty hands? That is how
unbelievers feel when involved with believers with dirty hands. We have nothing
they want from us. America is a prime example of that.
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