SESSION 1 - Faith to Action€¦ · SESSION 1 A Study Guide for Journeys of Faith: Session 1 | 3 WELCOME AND OPENING PRAYER 5 minutes Welcome to Session 1 of Caring for Orphans and

SESSION 1Who Are Orphans and Vulnerable Children?

Caring for Orphans and Vulnerable Children A Study Guide for Journeys of Faith

“The pain of losing a loving parent is not as immense as the pain of living without one.”

» Stephen Ucembe, founder, Kenya Society of Care Leavers

Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, ‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.’

Jesus (Mark 9:36b–37 NLT)

Caring for Orphans and Vulnerable ChildrenA Study Guide for Journeys of Faith (Sessions 1 – 6)The Faith to Action Initiative, 2015. Photo credits: Firelight Foundation and World Vision

This series is designed to support small group study accompanying Journeys of Faith: A Resource Guide for Orphan Care Ministries Helping Children in Africa & Beyond. The series includes six downloadable sessions and a facilitator guide, which together equip small groups with the tools, resources, and information needed to engage participants through discussion, readings, videos, group activities, and prayer.

The Faith to Action Initiative serves as a resource for Christian groups, churches, and individuals seeking to respond to the needs of orphans and vulnerable children. Through our publications, website, and workshops, we offer practical tools and resources and up-to-date information on key strategies and research to help guide action.

www.faithtoaction.org

http://faithtoaction.org

SESSION 1

A Study Guide for Journeys of Faith: Session 1 | 3

WELCOME AND OPENING PRAYER

5 minutes

Welcome to Session 1 of Caring for Orphans and Vulnerable Children. In this session, you will:

• Explore some of the foundational terms and information essential for understanding the needs of orphans and vulnerable children around the world.

• Begin your time together with prayer, inviting God to open your hearts and minds as you seek to learn more about caring for orphans and vulnerable children.

GROUP DISCUSSION

The Image of Orphans 15 minutes

1. The mental image we have of orphans might be shaped by many things, including news reports and personal relationships as well as books and movies. Listed below are several fictional orphans depicted in classic books as well as popular culture. On your own, briefly read through the list and check three to five of the names whose stories you’re most familiar with. When everyone is finished, use the questions that follow to discuss your choices.

qq Little Orphan Annieqq Bambiqq Mowgli, The Jungle Book qq Luke Skywalker, Star Warsqq Snow Whiteqq Supermanqq Tarzanqq Batmanqq Wolverineqq Violet, Klaus, and Sunny

Baudelaire, A Series of Unfortunate Events (Lemony Snicket)

qq Dorothy, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

qq Jane Eyreqq Tohru Honda, Fruits Basketqq Leela, Futuramaqq Oliver Twistqq Harry Potterqq Lord Voldemort, Harry Potterqq Frodo Baggins, The Lord of the Ringsqq Cinderellaqq James, James and the Giant Peachqq Cosette, Les Misérablesqq Matildaqq Pollyannaqq Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gablesqq Other:

Caring for Orphans and Vulnerable Children | 4

• Based on the names you checked, what three to five words or phrases would you use to summarize the experience of living as an orphan?

• How would you describe the way literature and popular culture have tended to portray orphans? For example, what would you say are the best or most positive characteristics of these fictional orphans? What are the worst or most negative characteristics?

• What similarities and differences do you recognize between these characters and what you know about the experience of real orphans in the world today? For example, how might the fictional characters accurately reflect the experience of real orphans? How might they be inaccurate or misleading?

The Reality of Orphans 20 minutes

2. An orphan is defined as a child who has lost one or both parents. The loss of one parent classifies a child as a “single orphan,” and the loss of both parents as a “double orphan.” In many cases, an orphan may still live with primary or extended family.

How does this definition of an orphan fit with your image or understanding of what it means to be an orphan?

3. Go around the group and have a different person read aloud each of the statements in “Quick Facts about Orphans and Vulnerable Children” (page 5). As the statements are read, underline any words or phrases that stand out to you.

• Which fact is most surprising to you? Why?

• How do these facts impact your understanding of what it means to effectively care for children and the needs of orphans and vulnerable children?

• “Orphans are not numbers [statistics],” says Steven Ucembe, once an orphan himself and now an advocate for the rights of young people leaving orphanage care in Kenya. “They are normal children deserving love and belonging like any other member in society.” In what ways are facts and statistics helpful in advocating and caring for orphans? In what ways might they make it more difficult to really understand and care for orphans—to love them?

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• Globally, it is estimated that approximately 153 million children have lost a mother or a father; 17.8 million of these have lost both parents.

• UNICEF estimates that at least 2.2 million children in the world live in orphanages (many estimates are higher). Orphanages include all types of residential care, from small (fewer than 15 children) to large-scale institutions.

• The vast majority of children in residential care globally are not double orphans. In fact, it is estimated that more than 8 out of 10 children in orphanages have at least one living parent. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 95–98 percent of children below age three in formal care were not orphans. They had parents who felt they could not care for them.

• Poverty, not lack of caregivers, is frequently cited as the reason for placing children in orphanages. Other causes of separation of children from parental care include disabilities, abuse and neglect, and emergencies such as natural disasters.

• Studies conducted around the globe consistently demonstrate that family-based

care is the best option for the healthy development of children. One study notes that for every three months a child resides in an orphanage, he or she loses one month of development.

• The detrimental effects of orphanages are increased when children are placed there at an early age or for long periods of time, and especially within orphanages with large numbers of children and few caregivers.

• Children raised in large-scale orphanages often have passive growth problems, including stunting (severe growth delay), and impairments in fine and gross motor skills and coordination.

• Children raised in biological, foster care, and adoptive families demonstrate better physical, intellectual, and developmental outcomes as compared to children living in institutional care.

• The quality of material components of care (such as food and housing) is not nearly as important as consistent and responsive interaction with a child’s caregiver, especially in the early years.

Quick Facts about Orphans and Vulnerable Children*

* For more information and documentation of sources behind the facts, see “Children, Orphanages, and Families: A Summary of Research to Help Guide Faith-Based Action,” published by Faith to Action and available for digital download at http://faithtoaction.org/resources.


What Does Scripture Say about Caring for Orphans? 30 minutes

4. God’s concern for the poor and vulnerable, and especially widows and orphans, is among the most prominent themes of Scripture. In the Old Testament, orphans are often listed along with widows and aliens (foreigners) as those who are the most vulnerable in society and so require the care and advocacy of God himself:

He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. DEUTERONOMY 10:18 NLT

When Old Testament prophets condemned the sin and corruption of the ancient Israelites, it was often their shameful treatment of the most vulnerable the prophets cited as evidence against them:

Your leaders are rebels…they refuse to defend the cause of orphans or fight for the rights of widows. ISAIAH 1:23 NLT

Foreigners are forced to pay for protection. Orphans and widows are wronged and oppressed among you. EZEKIEL 22:7 NLT

In the New Testament, the apostle James affirms this Old Testament teaching about the vital connection between authentic faith and caring for the most vulnerable:

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. JAMES 1:27 NIV

• In describing God’s heart for the vulnerable, the verse from Deuteronomy makes a connection between three things: justice, love, and the basic necessities of life (food and clothing). When it comes to caring for orphans and vulnerable children, how would you describe the connection between these three things? For example, what might be lost or gained if efforts to care for orphans were focused on love and basic necessities but not justice, or justice and love but not basic necessities?

• The Old Testament prophets describe two kinds of sin and corruption: passive and active. The ancient Israelites sinned passively when they refused to defend and fight for the

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vulnerable; they sinned actively when they wronged and oppressed them. Both kinds of failure reveal something about the hearts of God’s people.

In ancient times, what contributing factors do you imagine might have caused someone with resources or authority to ignore or refuse to advocate for the vulnerable?

In what ways, if any, do you recognize these or similar dynamics among God’s people today?

The larger context for the apostle James’s statement is about acting on spiritual truths in practical ways. It is what the apostle Paul described as “faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6 NIV). Or, as author Bob Goff might say, “Love does.”

The purpose of Journeys of Faith is to help people of faith as they seek to respond to the call of James 1:27—to express their faith in loving action on behalf of the orphans and vulnerable children of the world. You and your group are likely just beginning to pray and discern how God may be calling you to respond. But if you allowed yourself to dream a little, how would you describe your hopes and vision? What would you really like to accomplish—as an individual or as part of the group—on behalf of orphans and vulnerable children? How would you hope your efforts might change their circumstances and living conditions?

Making a Personal Connection 20 minutes

5. Most of us don’t donate to a charity or volunteer our time based on things like an organizational mission statement or a list of persuasive statistics. Before we commit our time, energy, or money, we have some kind of personal connection that motivates our involvement. For example, people who commit to learning more about orphan care might have:

• Grown up with a friend whose family life was abusive

• Belonged to a church that was active in reaching out to vulnerable neighborhood kids

• Coached kids in sports and discovered that many came from broken homes

• Encountered vulnerable children on a mission trip

• Felt moved when they heard someone share a heartbreaking personal story at an event or in the news

• Experienced childhood neglect or abuse personally

How would you describe the personal connection you have to learning more about responding to the needs of orphans and vulnerable children?


6. In addition to learning more about the needs of orphans and vulnerable children, it’s important to also be aware of how God is at work among you—especially in how you relate to each other and share your lives throughout the study. God can lead us not only through things like study and prayer, but also through our relationships. And it may be no accident that this particular group of people has gathered together at this time!

As you anticipate the next several weeks of learning together in community, what hopes or concerns would you like the group to be aware of? Use one or more of the sentence starters below, or your own statement, to help the group understand the best way to challenge, encourage, and support you throughout this study. As each person responds, use the chart that follows to briefly note what is important to that person and how you can support him or her.

The thing I’m most looking forward to in this study is…

One thing I expect to be challenged by in this study is…

One concern I have about myself in this study is…

Throughout this study, you can encourage and support me by…

I’d like you to consistently challenge me about…

In our discussions, the best thing you could do for me is…

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Name The best way I can challenge, encourage, and support this person…


CLOSING PRAYER

Close your time together with prayer.

As an option, you might use the following prayer to close your meeting. To quiet your hearts and center your focus on God, consider allowing a few minutes of silence before reading the prayer.

We thank you, Heavenly Father,for your great and unending lovefor each and every child.In your perfect wisdom,you have created us for family—that every child may grow surrounded in love and with a sense of belonging.May your heart be our heart,and your plan be our guide: For every child’s heart, joy. For every child’s soul, meaning. For every child’s body, protection. For every child’s mind, peace. For every child, family.Amen.

MAKE PRAYER YOUR FIRST ACTION

The goal of this study is to help you put your faith into action on behalf of orphans and vulnerable children. As you begin this journey, we invite you to anchor yourself and your efforts in reliance on God by making a commitment to daily prayer your first action step. As you pray . . .

• Acknowledge your weakness and lack of resources as the starting point for relying on Christ and receiving his power (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

• Ask for an open heart, a humble spirit, and a willingness to be changed by what you learn and experience throughout the study.

• Invite God to use you to love and serve others—your family and friends, members of your study group, as well as orphans and vulnerable children.

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On Your Own

Between now and the next group meeting, set aside 60–90 minutes to read, watch, and then reflect on the following:• Journeys of Faith, pages 1–3, 39 (accessible and downloadable at

http://faithtoaction.org/resources/journeys-of-faith/).

• “Striving for the Best Interests of Children” (pages 12–13).

• “Key Terms and Acronyms” (pages 14–15).

• “Guiding Principles” (accessible online at http://faithtoaction.org/about-us/guiding-principles/).

• “Importance of Family” (accessible online at http://faithtoaction.org/start-here/).

• “Webinar 1: The Importance of Family,” 36 minutes, (accessible and downloadable at http://faithtoaction.org/videos/webinars/).

• “Stephen Ucembe: Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit 9,” 16 minutes, (access video online at http://faithtoaction.org/videos/).

Note any insights or questions in the space provided on pages 16–18. You’ll discuss what you’ve read and watched in your next meeting.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Online

• Families, Not Orphanages, John Williamson, Aaron Greenberg (http://faithtoaction.org/resources/more-resources).

• Lumos Factsheet: How Institutions Are Harmful for Children (http://faithtoaction.org/resources/more-resources).

Books

• Understanding God’s Heart for Children: Toward a Biblical Framework, Douglas. McConnell, Jennifer Orona, Paul Stockley, eds., (Authentic/World Vision, 2007).

• Children in Crisis: A New Commitment, Phyllis Kilbourn, ed., (Wcl 3rd Party Books, 2013).

• Dancing Standing Still: Healing the World from a Place of Prayer, Richard Rohr (Paulist Press, 2014).


STRIVING FOR THE BEST INTERESTS OF CHILDREN

An effective response to the individual needs and circumstances of orphans and vulnerable children requires a range of alternative care options, primarily family-based. This continuum of care, including both prevention and response services, is at the core of any effective child welfare system. The process of decreasing reliance on orphanages, ensuring quality of care, and providing a range of care options with an emphasis on family care requires significant investment of human and financial resources as well as public support. It is a process that requires time and conviction. Churches, faith-based organizations, and people of faith play an important role in supporting the needs of the orphaned and the vulnerable across the continuum of care.

To engage the issues and concerns of these children effectively, it is essential to understand eight key facts:*

• The term “orphan” is often a misnomer. Most children who have lost a mother or father still have a living parent or other family members who are willing to care for them. However, many children have been separated or are at risk of being separated from family care for a range of reasons. Globally, it is estimated that well over 2 million children are living in orphanages.

• Poverty is a primary reason children are placed in orphanages. Too often, parents and relatives place children in orphanages to provide them with food, shelter, and an education. Other causes include lack of access to health care and social services; abandonment, abuse, and neglect; the loss of parents; and disability status. Each of these factors, when coupled with poverty, increases the risk of a child being placed in an orphanage.

• Strengthening families and addressing children’s basic needs while enabling them to remain within family care is critical. Studies show that when parents and relatives are presented with the option of support or social services to avoid placing their children in an orphanage, most would unequivocally choose to keep their children at home. Supporting family-based options is also shown to be more cost-effective than orphanages.

• Families provide the best environment for a child’s development. Children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development are supported when they are loved and protected, have a sense of belonging, and learn the life skills that are integral to growing up within a family.

* For a fuller presentation and documentation of the sources behind the facts, see “Children, Orphanages, and Families: A Summary of Research to Help Guide Faith-Based Action,” published by Faith to Action and available for digital download at faithtoaction.org/resources.

http://www.faithtoaction.org/resources

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• Children living in orphanages are at greater risk for long-term negative impacts on their social, emotional, and cognitive development. This is especially true for children under age three and for children living in large institutions for long periods of time. While higher quality residential care (small numbers of children living “family-style” with consistent, well-trained caregivers) can help minimize these impacts, research shows that children growing up within families fare better in the long term than children raised in orphanages.

• Good practice dictates having a full range of care options available for children in need, with emphasis on care within families. This facilitates the possibility of identifying the best care option to meet each child’s unique needs. The continuum of care includes family strengthening, family reunification, kinship care, adoption, and foster care, as well as smaller, “family-style” high quality residential care.

• Whether in family care or in orphanages, all vulnerable children need to be protected from abuse, neglect, and deprivation of basic needs. While the evidence demonstrates that children are more likely to be abused or neglected in orphanage care, it is important to support the wellbeing and protection of children in all settings.

• Ensuring that all children are well cared for, ideally within a family, takes the active involvement of and collaboration among government, non-governmental organizations, local communities, faith-based communities, families, and caregivers, as well as children and youth. There is a role for each of these groups and a need for collaboration and a shared understanding of what is best for children.


KEY TERMS

As you begin to read and study more about orphans and vulnerable children, you’ll likely encounter a host of terms—some familiar, some new—describing different aspects of both orphan life and orphan care. Here is a brief overview to help you better understand several foundational terms you may come across as you continue to read and learn.

Alternative care. Includes formal and informal care of children outside of parental care. Alternative care includes kinship care, foster care, supervised independent living, and residential care.

Caregiver. A person with whom the child lives who provides daily care, and who acts as the child’s “parent” whether or not he or she is a biological parent. A caregiver can be the mother or father, or another family member such as a grandparent or older sibling. Caregiver situations include informal arrangements in which the caregiver does not necessarily have legal responsibility.

Church-to-church partnership. An arrangement between two churches, generally one in the global South and one in the global North, who enter into a long-term relationship to further the goals and needs of the local church and its community members.

Community-based care. Refers to both the direct caring role assumed by the leadership or members of a community and the supportive role community-based organizations play in assisting direct caregivers.

Extreme poverty. The lack of basic human needs, such as clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing, and shelter, because of the inability to afford them. It depends not only on income, but also on access to services. Generally, extreme poverty refers to an individual living on less than $1.25 per day. According to the World Bank and UN Development Program, in 2014 close to 2 billion people were living on less than $2 per day, and of those at least half were children.

Family-based care. Keeping or placing children within families rather than in orphanages or in institutional residential care. This can include strengthening the child’s natural family so that he or she is not separated from loved ones, as well as the placement of a child in a nurturing family environment, with at least one consistent parental caregiver, where children are part of supportive kin and community. Examples of family-based care include kinship care, foster care (both formal and informal), and adoption.

Gatekeeping. The process of assessing what form of alternative care is best for an individual child’s particular situation.

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Home-based care. Regular home-based visits provided by a volunteer or community worker to support and monitor the wellbeing of those who are ill, elderly, or particularly vulnerable (including those living with HIV and AIDS). This community service can include medical, psychosocial, emotional, and spiritual support to those in need.

Institutional care. Care settings in which children are looked after in any public or private facility staffed by paid caregivers or volunteers working predetermined hours or shifts, and based on collective living arrangements with a large capacity. It typically refers to large, warehouse-like settings and is considered more harmful than other types of residential care.

Residential care. Care provided in any non-family-based group setting, such as places of safety for emergency care, transit centers in emergency situations, and all other short- and long-term residential care facilities including group homes. Residential care is the umbrella that encompasses institutional care such as orphanages, and its basic characteristic is that it is a living arrangement or facility where salaried staff or volunteers ensure care for children living there.

Short-term mission. Short-term mission trips are undertaken by church groups composed of members of the congregation who travel to a community outside their own to serve in that community, often alongside a local church. Groups frequently organize and raise funds to be able to embark on these missions, which are centered around the concept of Christian service and solidarity.

Social stigma. Severe social disapproval of personal characteristics or beliefs that are perceived to be against cultural norms. Stigma is a process by which the reaction of others leads to marginalization and social isolation or persecution due to such characteristics as mental illness, physical disabilities, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or HIV status.

Vulnerable children. Children whose basic needs and rights to care and protection are being violated or who are at risk of those needs and rights being violated. This includes children who are poor, abused, neglected, lacking access to basic services, ill, or living with disabilities. It also includes children whose parents are homeless, living in poverty, physically or mentally ill, or suffering from addiction and without access to supportive services, or who are affected by war or living in conflict zones. Social stigma, due to these or any other factor, is also a source of vulnerability.


NOTES AND QUESTIONS

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SESSION 2The Impact of Poverty and Separation from Family Care


“You’re all categorized together. No one will come ask you, ‘How are you today? What did you do at school? How are you feeling?’ Or if you achieved something, [there is no one] there to celebrate with you. Another thing that is not there is unconditional love.”

» Winnie, describing her experience of growing up in an orphanage in Kenya

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families.

Psalm 68:5–6a NIV






SESSION 2



5 minutes


• Learn more about the role that poverty plays in children being placed in orphanages, and how separation from family care impacts vulnerable children.

Before starting your discussion, begin your time together with prayer, inviting God to open your hearts and minds as you seek to learn more about caring for orphans and vulnerable children.

GROUP DISCUSSION

Checking In 15 minutes

1. Use one or more of the following questions to check in with each other about what you’ve learned and experienced since your last gathering.

• What stood out most to you about the Session 1 discussion, or what new insights did you discover in your additional reading, study, and reflection? (See “On Your Own,” page 11 in Session 1, as well as any notes you may have taken on pages 16–18.)

• As part of “Make Prayer Your First Action” (Session 1, page 10), you were invited to make a commitment to daily prayer your first action step. Briefly describe your experience of prayer since the last session. For example, in what ways has it been especially challenging, meaningful, or helpful to you?


Hard Choices 25 minutes

2. Imagine you live in a developing country and are the parent of two small children ages two and five. Over the past two years, you have experienced a series of catastrophic events, including the death of your spouse, the failure of your small business, and the subsequent loss of your home. You feel overwhelmed and hopeless and realize you no longer have the physical, financial, or emotional resources necessary to provide for your children.

On your own, briefly review the following list of whom you might choose to care for and raise

your children. Prioritize the options from 1 to 8, using 1 to identify your first choice, 2 your second choice, and so on, through all eight options. After everyone has finished prioritizing his or her list, use the questions that follow to discuss your choices.

• Go around the group and have each person state the options he or she rated first and last (1 and 8), without additional comments or clarifications.

• Overall, what similarities and differences do you notice in the options each of you chose?

• Where did the two orphanage options fall on your list? Near the top, the bottom, or somewhere between?

• Generally speaking, do you think the high and low priorities you identified would be very similar to or very different from the priorities parents in developing countries might choose if they found themselves in similar circumstances? Share the reasons for your choice.

3. UNICEF estimates that at least 2.2 million children in the world live in orphanages. This number is considered by many to be a significant underestimate since many orphanages are not registered and the children within them are not officially counted (other estimates, for example, range from 5 to 8 million). Depending on the region, between 50 and 90 percent of children in orphanages have at least one living parent. There are both “push” and “pull” factors that drive these parents to place their children in institutional orphan care. Push factors are difficult circumstances—they push families to consider orphanages as a potential way out of their hardships. Pull factors are real or perceived benefits—they pull families toward orphanages as a means of providing resources their children might not have access to any

______ Close friend______ Foster care______ Aunt/uncle______ Group home/family-style orphanage

______ Adoption agency______ Institutional orphanage______ Grandparent______ Extended family member

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other way. Listed below are several examples of push and pull factors that might cause a family to place children in institutional care.

To truly help orphans and vulnerable children, it is important to consider how push and pull factors such as these might contribute to the placement of children in orphanages.

• We typically think of children in orphanages as having no caregivers. But if it is poverty, not lack of caregivers, that pushes children to be placed in orphanages, how might it change your view of what it means to care for orphans?

• In considering the options you might choose for helping orphans and vulnerable children, what kinds of aid efforts might unintentionally increase the likelihood of a child being placed in an orphanage? What aid efforts might be more likely to prevent a child being placed in an orphanage? As part of your response, consider how various aid efforts might respond to push factors and minimize pull factors.

4. Strengthening and supporting families to care for vulnerable children is the most effective strategy for preventing the placement of children in orphanages. It not only prevents “poverty” orphans and separation from family care, but it also ensures that even when children are separated, family-based care (including kinship, foster care, and adoption) are supported, which keeps children in a family setting rather than an orphanage.

• What changes in your mind or heart when you consider focusing your efforts on helping families rather than orphans?

• What factors might make one option (family aid or orphan care) more compelling than the other?

Push Factors • Poverty • Death of one or both parents • Physical or emotional disability or

chronic illness (of parent or child) • Domestic violence and abuse • Natural disaster • War or civil unrest • Unemployment

Pull Factors • Basic needs (shelter, food, water, clothing) • Actual or perceived educational

opportunities • Information and technology (TV, internet,

libraries) • Vocational training • Active recruitment by orphanage

personnel or community members • Medical care


VIDEO ““We All Need Families at the End of the Day: Maureen”

10 minutes

Produced by UNICEF and The Better Care Network, this video tells the story of a young girl named Maureen and her two siblings, who were placed in a children’s home in Kenya when their mother died. Use an internet-connected device such as a laptop, tablet, or smartphone to access this video at the Faith to Action website: http://faithtoaction.org/videos. As you watch, use the outline below to follow along or to take additional notes on anything that stands out to you.

Video Notes

In Kenya, an estimated 50,000 children live in residential care. Too often, family-based alternatives are not being considered.

Many institutions have poor standards of care. They are unable to provide the children with the individual care they need to thrive.

Many children have parents or extended family that could take care of them. With some support, children can often be reunited with them.

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Catherine Kimotho, UNICEF Child Protection Officer Within a family setup, children are able to develop a sense of belonging and a culture. . . . They know the values, the things they respect—these they are taught by the adults they live with.

Maureen I start asking myself why my mother had to die, and why my dad is mad, and why do I live in a children’s home.

Grandmother Even if there may not be enough room here, this is still their home. The kids are ours.

Maureen I would love to come back home, go to school, and continue with my education. And I’ll study hard so later I will be able to help my family.

Catherine Kimotho, UNICEF Child Protection Officer With the government, UNICEF has partnered in setting up a program of cash transfer for orphans and vulnerable children, which prevents children from getting out of families. So the families that are vulnerable, that are poor, are given money every month to be able to take care of orphans and vulnerable children within their households.

In 2004, the cash transfer program was initiated. By June 2013, over 150,000 families and over half a million children were enrolled in the program.

Maureen I say a home is a place somewhere where my grandpa is, and to me he will be like my daddy.

My grandmother as my mother. And I have a sister and a brother. At home we say, I get love from my grandparents, and I love them back. Way before, I was feeling like my heart wanted something, but it’s like I needed something and got it finally.


GROUP DISCUSSION

The Impact of Institutional Care20 minutes

5. Use the questions that follow to discuss the video “We All Need Families at the End of the Day: Maureen.”

• What stands out most to you about what you just watched?

• What push and pull factors are evident in the story of Maureen and her siblings?

• How would you describe the impact living in an orphanage had on Maureen? Consider physical, spiritual, social, intellectual, and emotional factors.

6. Fortunately for Maureen and her siblings, their status as orphans was short-term. However, many children in orphanages remain orphans throughout their childhood and into young adulthood. To better understand the consequences living in an orphanage can have for a child, go around the group and have a different person read aloud each of the statements in “The Impact of Orphanages on Children” (page 9). As the statements are read, underline any words or phrases that stand out to you.

• Which statements, if any, surprised you? Why?

• Among all the potential options available for providing care to vulnerable children, what role, if any, might orphanages play? Share the reasons for your response.

• When you consider the impact of orphanages, what values or principles would you want to guide your own efforts to help orphans and vulnerable children? For example: An orphanage cannot replace family care. Children grow best in families and thrive in communities.

SESSION 2


The impact of orphanages on children is felt in many different ways, but research consistently demonstrates the harm experienced by children in three areas: child development, social relationships, and increased risks later in life.

The Impact of Orphanages on Children*

* For more information, see “Children, Orphanages, and Families: A Summary of Research to Help Guide Faith-Based Action,” published by Faith to Action and available for digital download at http://faithtoaction.org/resources/childrenorphanagesandfamilies.

Child Development• Chronic neglect in institutions can weaken

and disrupt the developing brain structure, resulting in problems related to mental health and physical disease.

• The negative effects of institutionalization are more severe the longer a child remains in residential care and are most critical in younger children.

• Thefirstthreeyearsoflifeareconsidereda “sensitive period,” when a child must receive intimate emotional and physical contact. If this is not present, there is a high risk the child’s development will be significantlyimpaired.

Social Relationships• Orphanages separate children from family

and community life, both of which are essential for developing healthy relationships as a child, and developing and maintaining healthy relationships as an adult.

• Orphanages lack the close relationships and day-to-day interactions within a family that provide the foundation for a child’s social and emotional development, self-image, and sense of belonging.

• Growing up in a family environment, children are able to learn the meaning of kinship and parenting. These are essential experiences children need to draw on in their own emotional and spiritual growth and when they become parents later in life.

Risks Later in Life• After growing up in orphanages in which

they have followed a structured daily routine and had few opportunities to make their own choices, children leaving orphanages as young adults are frequently unprepared for independent life.

• The vulnerabilities orphans experience as children are largely delayed rather than eliminated. Having reached adulthood, they may not know how to keep a home or cook, how to manage money, or how to take initiative in providing for themselves because they have not had role models or caring adults who taught them such skills.

• Young adults leaving orphanages are at greater risk for unemployment, homelessness,conflictswiththelaw,sexualexploitation, and perpetuating the cycle of vulnerable children through their own poor parenting skills.


Making a Personal Connection 15 minutes

7. Today, we might take it for granted that each human life has inherent dignity and value and that every child is precious. Sadly, in many places in the world, this is not the case, and it was not the case in Jesus’ day either. In ancient times, human dignity and worth were hierarchical—the closer you were to the gods and those in power, the more value you had. Kings were at the top of the value ladder, peasants and slaves at the bottom. And children, especially girls, were sometimes considered of so little value that Roman law permitted them to be left to die of exposure. Jesus repeatedly challenged the value systems of his day with statements like this:

Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me also welcomes my Father who sent me. Whoever is the least among you is the greatest. LUKE 9:48 NLT

Most of us aren’t regularly interacting with vulnerable children in developing countries, but that doesn’t negate Jesus’ command to welcome the “least of these” (Matthew 25:34–46). But how do we do it? How do we welcome vulnerable children—accept them as persons of great worth and dignity—when we may never meet them?

A simple place to begin is by “welcoming” everything you’re beginning to learn about orphans and vulnerable children and opening your heart to it. Whenever we’re exposed to information and stories about suffering, there’s a temptation to avoid them—we switch channels, turn the page, or click onto a new site because “it’s just too hard to know that.” We protect ourselves by limiting what we learn or by not letting it into our hearts. When we choose to be welcoming, we refuse to distance ourselves from the hard truths. Instead, like the prophet Job who “wept for those in trouble [and] . . . grieved for the poor,” we receive the information and allow it to impact us, just as we would receive and be moved by a vulnerable child in our presence.

• Which word best describes your initial reaction to the information and stories you’ve been exposed to in this study: fight or flee? For example, have you felt compelled to fight—to take some kind of immediate action? Or have you felt more inclined to flee—to avoid what you’re learning or keep it from impacting you emotionally?

SESSION 2


• In what ways, if any, might your response change if you chose to welcome the information and stories—to warmly receive them, accept what they teach you, and treat them with the same care and dignity you would naturally give to a vulnerable child?

In addition to welcoming what we learn about vulnerable children into our hearts, we can welcome “the least of these” by supporting those who are part of their daily lives—their families, communities, and churches. These are the people who are in the best position to meet the needs of vulnerable children. That’s why strengthening families is so important—it’s a significant part of how we live out the biblical mandate to “look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27 NIV).

• How has what you’ve learned in this session affirmed or changed your understanding of what it means to care for orphans and vulnerable children?

8. One of the values of studying and learning together in a group is that God can lead us in and through our relationships, empowering the group as a whole with a sense of shared leading and direction. As you continue to learn and discuss the issues surrounding orphans and vulnerable children, are there any ways in which you sense God may be beginning to lead you as a group?


CLOSING PRAYER



We thank you, God, that you have given us hearts to be moved by love and compassion, hands to be raised in praise and service, and minds to be guided in wisdom and discernment.Strengthen our hearts, hands, and minds to follow more fully the path that you set before us.Guide the steps of our journey so that we can follow in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus, who has taught us by his own example that we are called to humbly serve the orphaned, the widowed, the vulnerable— all of those in greatest need.Strengthen the work of your church— to bring justice to the oppressed, to help without hurting, to serve as the hands and feet of Jesus, in a broken and wounded world.Amen.

SESSION 2


On Your Own

Between now and the next group meeting, set aside 90 minutes to read, watch, and then reflect on the following:

• “The Call to Respond to the Needs of Orphans and Vulnerable Children,” Journeys of Faith, pages 4–5 (accessible and downloadable at http://faithtoaction.org/resources/journeys-of-faith/).

• “Twelve Strategies for Strengthening Families and Community-Based Care,” Journeys of Faith, (pages 17–19).

• Two stories of partnership: Rockland Community Church and Ngaramtoni Parish, Journeys of Faith, pages 18–22; Wheaton Bible Church and Nakuru AIDS Initiative, Journeys of Faith, pages 23–27 (accessible and downloadable at http://faithtoaction.org/resources/journeys-of-faith/).

• “The Long-Term Vulnerabilities Facing Teens and Young Adults Raised in Orphanages,” Sarah Chhin (pages 15–16).

• “VisionFund Presents: Genevieve’s Story” (access the video on the Faith to Action website at http://faithtoaction.org/videos).




Online

• Children, Orphanages, and Families: A Summary of Research to Help Guide Faith-Based Action (http://faithtoaction.org/resources/).

• The Importance of Family Care and the Limitations of Orphanages (http://faithtoaction.org/resources/more-resources/).

• Alternative Care for Children without Parental Care: Kinship, Foster, and Adoption (http://faithtoaction.org/resources/more-resources/).

• Best Practice Strategies in Family and Community Care (http://faithtoaction.org/resources/more-resources/).

Video and Audio

• “Webinar 2: The Continuum of Care,” 38 minutes, (accessible at http://faithtoaction.org/videos/webinars/).

• “Why Not a Family?” 22 minutes, produced by Uniting for Children, (accessible at http://unitingforchildren.org/video/). This video focuses on the efforts of several organizations within Cambodia who are working to keep vulnerable children in family-based care.

• “Children Grow Best in Families,” Wendy McMahan, 3 minutes (faithtoaction.org/videos).

• “Helping without Hurting, Part 2: Seeing God at Work,” 12 minutes, produced by The Chalmers Center and LifeChurch.tv (https://www.chalmers.org/media/entry/small-group-experience-unit-2).

• “The Tragedy of Orphanages,” 11 minutes, TED Talk by Georgette Mulheir (faithtoaction.org/videos).

• Theology of Poverty, multiple audio files of varying lengths, (http://povertyunlocked.com/theology-of-poverty/).

Books

• When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, chapters 1–3 (Moody Publishers, 2009).

• Walking with the Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development, Revised and Expanded Edition, Bryant L. Myers, chapters 3–4 (Orbis, 2011).

• Can Anyone Hear Us? Voices of the Poor, Deepa Nrayan (Oxford University Press for the World Bank, 2000).

http://faithtoaction.org/videos

http://faithtoaction.org/videos

SESSION 2


LONG-TERM VULNERABILITIES FACING TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS RAISED IN ORPHANAGES*

SARAH CHHIN

Sarah Chhin is Child Welfare Advisor of International Cooperation Cambodia (ICC) and Co-manager of Project Sky, a Christian research-based child welfare organization focused on identi-fying and responding to the needs of older children in Cambodian orphanages. In the following article, Sarah describes what Project Sky discovered about how teens and young adults raised in orphanages view their prospects for the future as independent adults.

We spent eight months researching thirty-eight orphanages and three shelters. In those forty-one places, there were 2,398 children, a third of them aged fifteen or above. The oldest we found were two twenty-eight-year-olds who were living in the orphanage as staff because they hadn’t been able to reintegrate; they did not consider themselves children of the orphanage, although the rest of the staff did.

We devised an interactive, creative research workshop for the young people to find out what their aspirations were, what their worries and fears were, what they wanted to do, where they wanted to live, what they thought they might need to prepare themselves, and any problems they thought they would encounter. We based everything on their future; we didn’t want to bring up their past.

Our work was conducted in fifteen different workshops with 514 young people aged fifteen to twenty-five. We got them to work together and play games, do group work, [and] create individual pictures, and [used] many other ways of getting information. Support workers and facilitators listened in on conversations and jotted down what the young people said as they were working, so we had two sets of information: one set based on their answers to our questions, and the other based on observations of the views and attitudes they expressed toward orphanage care and each other while they were working.

What we discovered was tragic: they were so afraid of the future. They knew they would be vulnerable. They were afraid of having no job when they left, of being homeless, of never being able to have friends. They were afraid of discrimination, that no one would give them their rights,

* Excerpted and adapted from “A Discussion with Sarah Chhin,” August 6, 2010, by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University. The complete interview is accessible online at http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/interviews/a-discussion-with-sarah-chhin-project-sky-co-manager-international-cooperation-cambodia.

http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/interviews/a-discussion-with-sarah-chhin-project-sky-co-manager-international-cooperation-cambodia

http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/interviews/a-discussion-with-sarah-chhin-project-sky-co-manager-international-cooperation-cambodia


that no one valued them, and that they would become victims of crime. They were so alienated from their families that they felt they would have no place in them even if they wanted to go back. They observed that because they lived with children and not adults, they could not identify and understand adult body language or the way adults used language.

None of them had been to the market to buy food and none of them knew the prices for food. Their life skills were very basic, so they knew that if they were on their own in the community, they would be very easy to cheat. Because they did not understand the way adults work, they had no one to learn from, which added to their fears that they would be easy to exploit and abuse.

One group said they were afraid of becoming criminals. They were afraid they would be duped into becoming drug runners or into becoming gang members, even if they didn’t want to. They feared being easily targeted by people who would make them do things that were wrong. Others said that because they would have no money and would be hungry, they could turn to violence to get what they needed. It was very tragic. One young lad said, “I feel like a duck being let out of a cage [who is] afraid that someone is going to cook it.”

The overriding trend among all 514 orphans was that they did not want to leave the orphanage. Some said, “I’ve been here for so long, how can I think of leaving?”

Orphanages take on young children because they are vulnerable, but they aren’t taking away their vulnerability; they just delay the effects. Many young people will be more vulnerable when they leave the orphanage than when they went in because however dysfunctional their support network may have been—whether they were in a gang or whatever—they actually had one. They knew how their community worked. They had people they knew would feed them if they needed it. When they leave the orphanage as adults, they’ve lost everything they knew about society, so now they are even more vulnerable than when they entered the orphanage. This is the exact opposite of what orphanage directors and supporters believe happens. The effects of institutionalization that result from orphanage care have a huge, long-term negative impact on the children.

SESSION 2


TWELVE STRATEGIES FOR STRENGTHENINGFAMILIES AND COMMUNITY-BASED CARE*

Our actions should be guided by principles and strategies based on good practice. The twelve strategies that follow are based on principles that have been agreed upon and endorsed by a broad constituency of community, church, and faith-based organizations, as well as foundations and international agencies serving children. These strategies speak directly to churches, groups and individuals seeking to launch or support orphan care ministries. These strategies promote a holistic approach in considering all aspects of a child’s wellbeing, including the importance of family-based care.

1. Focus on the most vulnerable children, not only orphans. Many causes, not just loss of a parent, can make a child vulnerable, including poverty, disability, and illness. Designating support for orphans only, may cause unintentional harm by contributing to the social isolation of the children served or by failing to provide help for those in greatest need.

2. Strengthen the capacity of families and communities to care for children. Most families and communities want to care for their own, but those living in poverty or other difficult circumstances often need additional support. Strategies that strengthen families’ ability to care for children help ensure that fewer children will be abandoned or placed in orphanages. For children who no longer have parents that can care for them, churches and community groups can help support family-based alternatives, such as kinship care, foster care, and domestic adoption.

3. Reduce stigma and discrimination. When children and families face discrimination due to poverty, health status, ethnicity, disability, or any other cause, they become isolated and at greater risk for harm. Pastors and other community leaders can use their voices and actions to raise awareness, change hearts and minds, put an end to harmful social attitudes, and increase a sense of community and service to those in need.

4. Support HIV and AIDS awareness and prevention strategies, particularly among youth. AIDS remains a leading cause of orphanhood in Sub-Saharan Africa and other regions of the world, and HIV-infection continues to be a major risk factor for youth. Churches can play a role in prevention and protection, including help youth and others access HIV testing and counseling centers, as well as offer family life and human sexuality education, peer support groups, and mentorship programs that foster faithful, healthy, and life-sustaining choices.

* Adapted and updated from Journeys of Faith, pages 6-7.


5. Strengthen the ability of caregivers and youth to earn livelihoods. Poverty is a leading cause of family separation and placement of children in orphanages. Families need basic financial resources in order to send their children to school and provide them with adequate food, clothing, medical care, and shelter. Churches can help caregivers access the skills and resources to earn livelihoods through such programs as microcredit loans, savings groups, small business training, vocational education, and subsistence farming programs.

6. Provide material assistance to those who are too old or ill to work. Income-generating projects can be an effective way to help caregivers provide for children and themselves. However, for those who are too old or too ill to work, additional assistance is required. Cash transfers, food donations, home repairs, and other forms of material assistance lessen the burden on the ill and the elderly, such as grandparent caregivers.

7. Ensure access to health care, life-saving medications, and home-based care. In addition to saving lives, access to health care and life-saving medications help prevent orphanhood and family breakdown. Churches can help community members access health care, and medicines, such as antiretrovirals to treat HIV infection. Churches can initiate and lead home-based care programs in which trained volunteers visit the homes of the ill. The volunteers offer emotional, spiritual, and medical support, and also monitor the wellbeing of children within families living with HIV or other serious illness.

8. Provide daycare and other support services that ease the burden on caregivers. Parents and caregivers, particularly women, are limited in their ability to earn livelihoods if they do not have access to daycare and other necessary support systems. Churches can offer daycare, giving children opportunities to grow and learn while freeing family members to work or attend school. Support groups give parents and caregivers space to gather in a community setting, experience a sense of solidarity around shared challenges, and offer one another spiritual and emotional care. Easing the burden on parents and caregivers strengthens the family care and protection of children.

9. Support schools and ensure access to education, for girls as well as boys. Too often, children are placed in orphanages so that they can access an education. Others remain in their families but are unable to attend school because their parents cannot pay for school fees, textbooks, and uniforms, or because children are needed to help care for ill parents or contribute to the family’s livelihood. Churches can help children remain in school—and in families—by providing support for education costs and by helping to lift families out of poverty. Pastors and church members can encourage their fellow community members to make education for all boys and girls a priority and a means to end the cycle of poverty.

SESSION 2


10. Support the psychosocial as well as material needs of children. Orphans and vulnerable children have emotional, spiritual, and social needs that can leave them at risk if left unmet. Children may need help coping with great challenges: the loss of a parent, separation from siblings, the emotional toll of illness in the family, or exposure to violence and conflict. The Church supports the healing process and helps build children’s resilience through faith, prayer, and fellowship, and by demonstrating God’s love and care. Bereavement counseling, peer support groups, and recreation and arts programs also provide children and youth with encouragement and support.

11. Engage children and youth in the decisions that affect their lives. Children often bring valuable ideas, information, and viewpoints to the decisions affecting their lives. When children are invited to participate in ways that are appropriate to their age and maturity, they are less fearful and feel a greater sense of ownership. Local churches are often involved in decisions such as helping identify alternative care for orphans or supporting families in crisis due to abuse and neglect at home. Providing opportunities for children and youth to share their viewpoints and engage in meaningful ways in these and other important decisions helps to ensure their wellbeing.

12. Protect children from abuse, gender discrimination, and labor exploitation. By supporting good parenting and family coping skills, the church can help parents and caregivers better understand and meet children’s needs. As leaders in the community, churches and particularly pastors can promote protection of children as a shared responsibility and concern among all those who interact with children: teachers, neighbors, church members, as well as those visiting the community. Children and youth can be taught how to recognize and to report abuse wherever it occurs. Through awareness-raising campaigns and community education on issues such as child abuse, early child marriage, gender-based violence, and child labor, churches can help ensure the care and protection of children.


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SESSION 2


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SESSION 3Key Strategies for Strengthening Families and Community-Based Care, Part 1


“When my father had an accident and couldn’t work anymore, things got worse for us. Then my mom told me I couldn’t go back to school because we couldn’t afford it. I cried. I had dreamt of so much more. We were trapped.”

» Genevieve, a vulnerable child in the Philippines

If you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

Isaiah 58:10 NIV






SESSION 3



2 minutes


• Discuss what you read and watched in your individual study about key strategies for strengthening families (see “On Your Own,” page 13 in Session 2, as well as any notes you may have taken on pages 20–21).

• Begin the first of a two-part study on 12 key strategies for strengthening family- and community-based care of vulnerable children.


GROUP DISCUSSION


Check in with each other about what you’ve read, watched, and experienced since your last gathering.

1. What did you discover in your additional reading, study, and reflection about causes of separation from family care and the importance of strengthening families? (See “On Your Own,” page 13 in Session 2, as well as any notes you may have taken on pages 20–21).


VIDEO

“Genevieve’s Story” 4 minutes

Produced by VisionFund, the financial empowerment arm of World Vision, this brief video tells the story of how a small loan changed the life of a young girl named Genevieve. It highlights the key role that families and communities play in ensuring the wellbeing of vulnerable children, and why it’s so important that we strengthen their capacity to do so. Use an Internet-connected device such as a laptop, tablet, or smartphone to access this video at the Faith to Action website: http://faithtoaction.org/videos. You’ve watched this video on your own, but as you watch the video again as a group, use the outline below to follow along or to take additional notes on anything that stands out to you.

Video Notes

When my father had an accident and couldn’t work anymore, things got worse for us. Then my mom told me I couldn’t go back to school because we couldn’t afford it.

My mom got a small loan and started a business.

As soon as she could, she sent me back to school.

Over the years, my mom gained the skills and confidence to grow her business. I’m so proud of her. Our lives changed for the better because someone believed in us.

My mother inspired me. Now it’s my turn to inspire others.

SESSION 3


GROUP DISCUSSION

Strengthening Families 8 minutes

2. Use the questions that follow to discuss the video “Genevieve’s Story.”

• When Genevieve’s father had an accident and could no longer work, Genevieve and her siblings weren’t orphaned but they became vulnerable. In what ways did the loan Genevieve’s mother received not only help her start a business but also strengthen the family?

• If the family had simply been given food or clothing—a “handout” instead of a “hand up”—how might it have impacted the family’s ability to provide for themselves and remain together, both in the short term and in the long term?

PARTNER ACTIVITY AND GROUP DISCUSSION

Twelve Strategies for Responding to the Needs of Orphans and Vulnerable Children

30 minutes

3. As we seek to help without unintentionally hurting, our actions must be guided by evidence-based principles and strategies that ensure that our responses will contribute to real and lasting change. Page 7 briefly summarizes the article from last week’s reading “Twelve Strategies for Churches Responding to the Needs of Orphans and Vulnerable Children” (for the complete article, see Session 2, pages 17–19). Go around the group and have a different person read aloud each of the 12 statements on page 7.

To better understand what the 12 strategies entail, we’ll examine each one individually by breaking the group into pairs or groups of three. Divide the 12 strategies evenly among the pairs, assigning two or three to each so that all 12 strategies are assigned. (For example, if you have four pairs, each pair would discuss three of the 12 strategies.)


Partner Activitya. Pair up in groups of two or three. b. Turn to the chart on pages 8–9. In the first column, circle the strategies assigned to you.c. For each assigned strategy, discuss the question listed below, noting your responses in the

column on the chart. (For additional clarification on what each of the strategies entails, you may find it helpful to refer to the complete article in Session 2, pages 17–19.)

• How does this strategy strengthen families and help to prevent unnecessary separation of children from family care?

• How does this strategy benefit children?d. Choose which one of you will briefly summarize your findings during the group discussion.

Group Discussion

Go around the group and have the spokesperson for each pair briefly summarize what they wrote on the chart for their assigned strategies. As each person presents, complete your chart by taking additional notes. After all the strategies have been presented, choose two to three of the following questions to continue your discussion.

• What’s your response to the 12 strategies overall? In what ways do they expand your understanding of what it means to care for orphans and vulnerable children?

• In what ways do the strategies support transformational change and empowerment rather than temporary relief that might lead to dependency or disempowerment?

• How do the 12 strategies help you to better understand what worked or did not work in any previous ministry experiences you may have had?

• What challenges might the 12 strategies pose for North Americans seeking to address the needs of vulnerable families overseas? How would these challenges impact your own ministry efforts?

• If your group were to take action to respond to the needs of orphans and vulnerable children, which of the strategies would you want to be most influential in guiding your efforts?

SESSION 3


The 12 strategies that follow are endorsed by a broad range of faith-based and international agencies serving children. They affirm that efforts to support families and children should consider all aspects of a child’s wellbeing, including the importance of family-based care.

1. Focus on the most vulnerable children, not only orphans.

2. Strengthen the capacity of families and communities to care for children.

3. Reduce stigma and discrimination.

4. Support HIV and AIDS awareness and prevention strategies, particularly among youth.

5. Strengthen the ability of caregivers and youth to earn livelihoods.

6. Provide material assistance to those who are too old or ill to work.

7. Ensure access to health care, life-saving medications, and home-based care.

8. Provide daycare and other support services that ease the burden on caregivers.

9. Support schools and ensure access to education, for girls as well as boys.

10. Support the psychosocial as well as material needs of children.

11. Engage children and youth in the decisions that affect their lives.

12. Protect children from abuse, gender discrimination, and labor exploitation.

Twelve Strategies for Responding to the Needs of Orphans and Vulnerable Children*

* For examples of these strategies in action, see ”Twelve Strategies for Supporting Orphans and Vulnerable Children,” in From Faith to Action (pages 18–23), accessible at http://faithtoaction.org/resources.


Twelve Strategies How strategy strengthens families, prevents separation and benefits children







SESSION 3


Twelve Strategies How strategy strengthens families, prevents separation and benefits children





11. Engage children and youth in decisions that affect their lives.



Two Stories of Partnership*

30 minutes

4. Go around the group and have a different person read aloud one or two paragraphs at a time on pages 11–12, which summarize the first partnership story from last week’s reading, “Rockland Community Church and Ngaramtoni Church-Parish” (for the complete story, see Journeys of Faith, pages 18–22).

• Which of the 12 strategies are most evident in the partnership between Rockland and Ngaramtoni Church-Parish?

• What strengths or resources did the Ngaramtoni community already possess? How did Rockland honor and support those strengths?

• Although Rockland donated considerable financial, material, and human resources, they were careful to minimize their “donor imprint”—the degree to which project ownership and recognition were attributed to Rockland rather than to the partnership. What kinds of things did Rockland do to minimize their donor imprint?

• What insights or lessons from this partnership story stand out most to you? How would you use these insights to inform the efforts you, your church, or your group might take?

5. Go around the group and have a different person read aloud one or two paragraphs at a time from pages 13–14, which summarize the second partnership story from last week’s reading, “Wheaton Bible Church and Nakuru AIDS Initiative” (for the complete story, see Journeys of Faith, pages 23–27).

• What inspires you about this partnership story?

• Which of the 12 strategies are most evident in the partnership between Wheaton Bible Church and the Nakuru AIDS initiative?

• How was local leadership and initiative essential in creating sustainable responses to the needs in Ngaramtoni? How did WBC honor these strengths while simultaneously identifying where they could best support and serve?

• What do you understand “empire building” to mean? Why and how did Wheaton Bible Church guard against it?


*These partnership stories are based on Journeys of Faith (2011) as partnership examples that exemplify key strategies for strengthening family care. Statistics from Journeys of Faith have been updated for this series, but program details may not reflect current program operations for each partnership story.

SESSION 3


PARTNERSHIP STORY 1

Rockland Community Church and Ngaramtoni Church-Parish

Rockland Community Church, a 1,000-member church in Colorado, and Ngaramtoni Parish in Tanzania partnered in building a church, a children’s center, a secondary school, and community-based programs serving the needs of children and families.

A New Church

When a team from Rockland visited Ngaramtoni and learned that local leaders had been working for over seven years to build a new church, Rockland offered to help.

• BackinColorado,theyraisedfundsandthensentateamof22peopletoworksidebysidewith Ngaramtoni to help complete the church.

• Theycommittedtocontinuingthepartnershiptoaddresstheneedsofchildrenandfamiliesliving in difficult circumstances.

• TheycreatedtheTanzaniaActionCommitteetobuildthepartnershipwithleadersinNgaramtoni and to raise awareness and support within Rockland.

The Children’s Center

When Ngaramtoni wanted to meet the needs of a growing number of children orphaned by AIDS, they raised funds locally, purchased a vacant building, and began renovations. Rockland raised additional funds and sent a team to help complete the project.

Ngaramtoni’s nonresidential Children’s Center is the foundation from which all the Ngaramtoni-sponsored programs benefiting children and families are run. It houses a daycare program and provides hot meals, clothing, educational support, Christian education, subsidized health care, counseling, and vocational training.

The Ebenezer Girl’s Secondary School

Many of the young people served by the Children’s Center, particularly girls, lacked access to quality education. In response, visionary local leaders in Ngaramontoni mobilized their own resources to start The Ebenezer Girl’s Lutheran Secondary School. Rockland raised funds to build classrooms and provide scholarships. Annual Rockland mission teams helped to complete additional classrooms, offices, and science/computer labs.


Co-laborers in Christ

The leadership at Ngaramtoni and the will of the community to address its own needs created a foundation for partnership. According to Ngaramtoni’s Pastor Abel, “The big decisions are always ours . . . [but] . . . Rockland Church . . . helped us to do things eight times faster.”

The local church is a formidable presence in the Ngaramtoni community—educating children, strengthening families, and caring for the sick. Central to these efforts is a commitment to addressing the needs of the whole child within a family environment. The partnership between Ngaramtoni and Rockland results in multiple overlapping programs that strive toward wholeness in service to Christ.

Three Lessons Learned

1. Prayerfully consider your “first response.” When Rockland learned about the orphans in Ngaramtoni, instead of immediately building an orphanage, they listened to Ngaramtoni leadership’s request for support in building a Children’s Center, which became a vital resource for helping children remain in family care.

2. Prioritize relationship building. Rockland’s Tanzania Action Committee strengthened the partnership with Ngaramtoni by sending annual missions teams to Tanzania, by working collaboratively with African leadership to plan and implement programs, and by keeping their own church members informed and engaged.

3. Trust in local leadership. Although Rockland donated considerable resources to the development of Ngaramtoni’s programs, the local church in Tanzania maintained its autonomy and its own governing structures. The efficacy of local leadership was enhanced, not undermined, by the partnership.

SESSION 3


PARTNERSHIP STORY 2

Wheaton Bible Church and Nakuru AIDS Initiative

In 2004, members of Wheaton Bible Church (WBC) in suburban Chicago began to learn and pray about responding to the global HIV and AIDS pandemic. Their search ultimately led them to Kenya, where they joined with church partners in the village of Nakuru to create a safety net for the most vulnerable children and families.

Joining Hands with Nakuru Leaders

WBC launched the Heart for AIDS Ministry to organize their activities and raised nearly $60,000 in one month. With funds in place, the ministry sent a team to Kenya in 2005 to assess the needs of the Nakuru community and to lay the groundwork for partnership.

They partnered with the Nakuru AIDS Initiative, which is composed of six local African churches and ministries. The Initiative provides a joint platform for ministry planning, coordination, and funding. The Initiative offers feeding and home-based care programs, community clinics, a shelter for girls, and outreach to families who have been displaced due to conflict. They also provide training programs for community members, equipping them to provide HIV and AIDS counseling and testing, set up agricultural programs, teach life skills, and run microfinance programs.

The Initiative provides the Heart for AIDS Ministry with regular updates on funding needs and on the activities supported by WBC. The Heart for AIDS Ministry responds to the priorities set by their African partners, making decisions about WBC’s level of support and investment and keeping the wider congregation informed and engaged.

The Way Forward

The challenge of effective partnership is to balance the urgency of immediate needs with the long-term goal of fostering local leadership and sustainable community development. Rather than focusing on adopting one project or ministry, Wheaton Bible Church invested in an integrated, community-wide approach through the Nakuru AIDS Initiative. A good partnership at the community level can tackle multiple interrelated problems. Both partners affirm that if the U.S. church could no longer provide resources, the work of Nakuru AIDS Initiative would nevertheless continue, just more slowly. Both partners recognize that real sustainability means honoring the dignity and strength that community members themselves bring as stewards of what God has given them.


Three Lessons Learned

1. Bring your congregation along. WBC not only educated church members but also hosted cultural events and fundraisers to engage people. They now provide regular updates for their congregation and offer a “catalog” of opportunities to support the ministry financially.

2. Increase the capacity of local ministries. While recognizing and affirming the autonomy of their local partners, WBC supported the community’s response by offering resources and training. In turn, Nakuru-based partners focused on building capacity within the community, using local labor for construction of their facilities, and fostering leadership within their programs. WBC worked to strike a balance between building capacity and grassroots ownership, aware that providing more funding could result in “empire building” of the American church rather than equipping their African partner.

3. Be strategic about mission trips. WBC used mission trips sparingly, sending only two mission teams (in addition to an annual relationship building/planning team) to Nakuru in their first five years of partnership. While essential for building relationships, mission trips can consume time and resources best spent supporting the ongoing work of partners on the ground. They can also undermine community ownership if the local ministry is perceived as being driven or overseen by outside forces. When WBC does travel to Nakuru, they are clear that the focus of their work is not so much to “do,” but to build relationships and support what local leaders are already doing.

SESSION 3


Making a Personal Connection: A Vision for Wholeness8 minutes

6. Uzima is a Swahili word meaning “wholeness.” It encompasses human vitality in all its expressions—physical, spiritual, emotional, and relational. The biblical concept that perhaps comes closest to capturing this kind of wholeness is shalom. Shalom is most often translated as “peace,” but, like uzima, it also has a much richer meaning. Theologian Cornelius Plantinga describes the expansive vision of biblical shalom this way:

The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. . . . In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight—a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.*

The prophet Isaiah offers a glimpse of shalom on earth—of things as they ought to be—when he writes:

The wilderness will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops. Justice will rule in the wilderness and righteousness in the fertile field. And this righteousness will bring peace [shalom]. Yes, it will bring quietness and confidence forever. My people will live in safety, quietly at home. They will be at rest. ISAIAH 32:16–17 NLT

In describing himself as the good shepherd and what he wants to give his sheep, Jesus echoes this vision of shalom when he says:

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. JOHN 10:10B NIV

• How might it shape your efforts to support the work of strengthening families and helping orphans and vulnerable children if you thought of your goal as partnering to achieve uzima or shalom?

• Which word or phrase from the quotes above best describes your heart and your hopes for families and communities with vulnerable children?

* Cornelius Plantinga, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 10.


CLOSING PRAYER



O God, our Creator and Counselor, help us to be your church— to listen and learn as we walk with you.We pray for the courage to care. Show us how to connect with our global neighbors, to understand their needs.In our desire to get things right, help us to recognize the need to be sensitive. Help us to see clearly your purpose.Through the leading of your Spirit, may we enter into relationships of love— relationships that offer joy and encouragement and refresh the hearts of your people.We ask that partnerships between churches deepen our understanding of every good thing you desire.Instill within us an appreciation for the diversity and divinity of community.We intercede for the local congregations all over the world who seek to transform and strengthen their communities. May they reflect your goodness as they love their neighbors, offer opportunity and possibility to individuals, provide hope and home to children, and support those seeking to thrive as family.We pray the followers of Christ will work together in harmony to reveal your kingdom here on earth.For the sake of the children, may your will be done.Amen.

SESSION 3


On Your Own


• “Connecting the Dots: A Child Protection Model from Malawi,” 7 minutes, produced by Catholic Relief Services (access the video online at http://faithtoaction.org/videos).

• Three stories of partnership: Mission Community Church, VisionLedd, and Somebody Cares, Journeys of Faith, pages 28–33; Watermark Community Church and African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries, Journeys of Faith, pages 34–38; Willow Creek Community Church, Bright Hope, and the Samfya Community of Care Providers, Journeys of Faith, pages 40–45 (accessible and downloadable at http://faithtoaction.org/resources/journeys-of-faith/).

• You may also find it helpful to reread “Twelve Strategies for Churches Responding to the Needs of Orphans and Vulnerable Children” (Session 2, pages 17–19).



Online

• The Faith to Action website features a variety of ongoing stories from around the world that illustrate the 12 strategies discussed in this session. See especially “World Relief: Savings for Life,” “Children in Families: A Community Approach to Reintegration,” and “Bopoma Villages: Strengthening Rural Zimbabwean Communities” (accessible online at http://faithtoaction.org/stories/).

Video

• “Binta and the Great Idea,” 30 minutes (http://faithtoaction.org/resources/more-resources/engaging-the-church-raising-awareness/).

• “Webinar 3: Strategies to Strengthening Family Care,” 23 minutes (accessible and downloadable at http://faithtoaction.org/videos/webinars/).

Books

• Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help, and How to Reverse It, Robert D. Lupton (HarperOne, 2012).


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SESSION 4Key Strategies for Strengthening Families and Community-Based Care, Part 2


“I was forced to drop out of school so I could go work in the sugar plantations . . . [but] I’m now back in school!”

» Chitsanzo, age 17, describing the benefit of a community-based child protection program

Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.

Isaiah 1:17 NLT






SESSION 4



2 minutes


• Discuss what you read and watched in your individual study (see “On Your Own,” page 17, in Session 3, as well as any notes you may have taken on pages 18–19).

• Continue the study you began in Session 3 on the 12 key strategies for strengthening family- and community-based care of vulnerable children.


GROUP DISCUSSION


Check in with each other about what you’ve learned and experienced since your last gathering.

1. In Session 3, you discussed “Twelve Strategies for Churches Responding to the Needs of Orphans and Vulnerable Children.” As you reflect on your discussion, what key ideas or themes stand out most to you from what you learned about the 12 strategies? (For a brief summary of the strategies, see page 8).


VIDEO

“Connecting the Dots: A Child Protection Model from Malawi” 7 minutes

Produced by Catholic Relief Services (CRS), this video shows how CRS in Malawi led a consortium of 12 partners to implement CRS-IMPACT, a program that trains volunteers to actively protect children in their communities. In four years, the program strengthened families by training over 7,700 volunteers and reached over 40,000 children and adults with child protection services.

Use an Internet-connected device such as a laptop, tablet, or smartphone to access this video at the Faith to Action website: http://faithtoaction.org/videos. As you watch, use the outline below to follow along or to take additional notes on anything that stands out to you.

Video Notes

Antonio Kosote, OVC Technical Quality Coordinator, CRS-IMPACT Program In Malawi, two out of three children have been abused before they reach age 18.

Antonio Kosote, OVC Technical Quality Coordinator, CRS-IMPACT Program It is very important to have community involvement at grassroots level in child protection because the child lives in the community. . . . So IMPACT employed the family care volunteer model.

Dyna Khonde, Senior Program Manager, CRS-IMPACT Program A family care volunteer is a trained member of the community who looks after 10 to 15 households, who visits these households regularly, and builds relationships with the children.

Antonio Kosote, OVC Technical Quality Coordinator, CRS-IMPACT Program The family care volunteers are very important because they are the first point of contact for the child and the family to be linked to external service providers. . . . The representatives of the family care volunteers at the village level form what we call the OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) committee.

SESSION 4


Rosemary Mahata, District Social Welfare Officer, Chikwawa, Malawi The villages have changed their [legal] bylaws to be more protective of children. If traditional leaders are involved, we know that these issues will be resolved.

Fredson Peterson, Group Village Headman, Meja It is a child’s right to go to school. Pregnant women should attend antenatal care and deliver at the hospital. These are some of the bylaws I gave my chiefs.

Antonio Kosote, OVC Technical Quality Coordinator, CRS-IMPACT Program For bigger violations, like defilements, early marriages, the OVC committee will make a referral. With the support of the traditional leader, they will take it up with the help of the community child protection worker, who is a government point person. They will refer that case to other service providers like the police, the health centers.

Rhoda Betchani, Family Care Volunteer At first, people in our area were very defensive. . . . But we never gave up. We were persistent and we showed the community how the committee works.

Muzandifuna Sande, Project Participant I know that if my neighbor had not come to counsel me and intervene to stop me from abusing my children, I know that I could have even gone as far as taking their lives. That was me, but I’ve left it behind. Our relationship is so much better now, and we love each other very much.

Antonio Kosote, OVC Technical Quality Coordinator, CRS-IMPACT Program The final outcome with this system created, with this referral mechanism, is that the child is adequately protected. The child has got a circle of players, a circle of stakeholders, who are providing the much-needed protection for this child.


GROUP DISCUSSION

Strengthening Families 15 minutes

2. As time permits, use two or more of the questions that follow to discuss the video “Connecting the Dots.”

• The video begins and ends with three children—Anna, Chitsanzo, and Blessings—whose lives were changed by a community-based child protection program. How might their stories have turned out differently if CRS had chosen another approach—such as building an orphanage—rather than strengthening local communities to care for vulnerable children?

• Children grow best in families, but they may also experience abuse in families. In what ways do contributing factors—such as the stresses of poverty, lack of parenting skills, generational patterns of abuse, and lack of community awareness—make supporting family-based care both more complex and more necessary? How did CRS-IMPACT address some of these contributing factors?

• The CRS-IMPACT Program is designed to put a circle of stakeholders around vulnerable children. How was the benefit of this approach evidenced in the story of Muszandfuna Sande, the mother who used to abuse her children?

• How does the story of Muszandfuna and Rhoda (the family care volunteer) demonstrate strategy 3, “reduce stigma and discrimination”?

• What unique contributions did community members such as family care volunteers and traditional leaders make to the successful implementation of the CRS-IMPACT Program?

SESSION 4


SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION

Three Stories of Partnership*

26 minutes

3. In Session 3, you began your study of “Twelve Strategies for Responding to the Needs of Orphans and Vulnerable Children.” Page 8 briefly summarizes these strategies (for the complete article, see Session 2, pages 17–19). Here, you’ll continue to explore the 12 strategies by breaking up into smaller groups to discuss how the strategies are demonstrated in one of three stories of partnership.

Divide the group into three smaller groups and assign one of the following partnership stories to each group:

• Partnership Story 1: Mission Community Church, Visionledd, and Somebody Cares (pages 9–12)

• Partnership Story 2: Watermark Community Church and African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (pages 12–15)

• Partnership Story 3: Willow Creek Community Church, Bright Hope, and the Samfya Community of Care Providers (pages 15–18)

Together in your smaller groups, read through the summary of your partnership story and use the questions provided for discussion. After 26 minutes, you’ll gather back together as a large group to debrief your partnership stories together.

* These partnership stories are based on Journeys of Faith (2011) as partnership examples that exemplify key strategies for strengthening family care. Statistics from Journeys of Faith have been updated for this series, but program details may not reflect current program operations for each partnership story.


The 12 strategies that follow are endorsed by a broad range of faith-based and international agencies serving children. They affirm that efforts to support families and children should consider all aspects of a child’s wellbeing, including the importance of family-based care.











11. Engage children and youth in the decisions that affect their lives.


Twelve Strategies for Responding to the Needs of Orphans and Vulnerable Children*

* For examples of these strategies in action, see ”Twelve Strategies for Supporting Orphans and Vulnerable Children,” in From Faith to Action (pages 18–23), accessible at http://faithtoaction.org/resources.

SESSION 4


PARTNERSHIP STORY 1: Mission Community Church, Visionledd, and Somebody CaresGo around the group and have a different person read aloud one or two paragraphs at a time from pages 10–12, which summarizes the first partnership story from last session’s reading, “Mission Community Church, Visionledd, and Somebody Cares” (for the complete story, see Journeys of Faith, pages 28–33).

• Which of the 12 strategies are most evident in the partnership among Mission Community Church, Visionledd, Somebody Cares, and the Chikudulire community?

• Somebody Cares operates on the principle that low-cost, sustainable change emerges from the community itself. How is this principle evident in both their partnerships and the programs they developed together?

• How has the partnership strengthened Chikudzulire’s capacity to address the needs of orphans and vulnerable children within its own community? Consider the impact on children of programming for pastors, for youth, and for widows.



PARTNERSHIP STORY 1

Mission Community Church, Visionledd, and Somebody Cares

In 2007, Mission Community Church, a 4,000-member church in Gilbert, Arizona, began a journey to respond to the AIDS pandemic in Africa. The church sought the guidance of an experienced intermediary, Visionledd, an international organization that builds partnerships between North American and African churches. Visionledd introduced the church to the work of Somebody Cares, a ministry in Malawi that works with churches and communities to reach out to the poor and those affected by HIV and AIDS. The partnership has helped to restore the community of Chikudzulire, a collection of 48 villages ravaged by drought, hunger, and disease. Operating from the principle that low-cost, sustainable change emerges from the community itself, Somebody Cares partners with local communities to help pastors, churches, and community members unite for the cause of the orphaned and widowed.

Multiple Programs to Meet Multiple Needs

When Mission Community Church joined a pastors’ learning trip to Malawi to see the work of Somebody Cares in Chikudzulire and other communities, they looked to Theresa Malila, founder of Somebody Cares, and the Visionledd staff for guidance about the direction their partnership should take.

“We were committed not to force our own agenda,” said Mark Connelly, Mission’s lead pastor. Together, the three groups determined that Chikudzulire, where Visionledd and Somebody Cares had been working to mobilize pastors and the community for the past year, was the best match for partnership.

As churches and community members in Chikudzulire stepped up their outreach to the poor and those affected by HIV and AIDS, they were in a good position to utilize additional support from Mission Community Church in a way that built on, rather than discouraged, community initiative. The pastoral training and development of home-based care programs for the ill had strengthened the community’s capacity to address its own needs, while also providing a solid foundation for partnership.

Community childcare center. With support from Somebody Cares, Chikudzulire mobilized local resources to begin building a community childcare center to serve a wide range of needs. When Mission Community Church became an active partner, they funded the drilling of a borehole

SESSION 4


next to the center site to provide clean water to 5,000 people. The next year they raised funds and returned with church volunteers to help finish the center’s construction.

A variety of programs operate from the center, providing services that meet the needs of children, youth, widows, and HIV-affected families. Programs include early childhood development (daycare) and orphan feeding programs, widows’ support and skill training groups, and home-based care.

Women for Orphans and Widows (WOW). Each morning, while their children attend the daycare center, orphan caregivers and widows meet at the center for mutual support, training, and encouragement. WOW functions as both a peer support group and a training group, equipping women with income-generating skills such as soap making and bead making.

HIV and AIDS care training and support. The community center provides a central location for home-based care training and HIV and AIDS support groups that form a network of community volunteers trained to visit the homes of families living with AIDS. Home-based care acts as an additional layer of support to orphans and vulnerable children who benefit from regular visits from caring volunteers.

Mission Community Church provides ongoing support to the center’s programs. For example, they have provided funds to expand the children’s feeding program and have launched a home-based care sponsorship program in which church members individually pledge $35 a month to help cover the cost of home-based caregiver packets that include medicines, food parcels, and other supplies.

Sustaining a Long-Term Commitment

Mission Community Church has committed to serve and learn over the long term. They remain active in Chikudzulire, supporting the community center, sponsoring income-generating activities, funding pastoral training, and organizing medical clinics and distribution of Bible resources. Theresa Malila, head of Visionledd, visits the Arizona church once a year to share updates and inspire the congregation. Visionledd supports and guides Mission in their partnership and works closely with Somebody Cares to ensure that all efforts are in alignment with priorities on the ground in Chikudzulire.

Three Lessons Learned1. Consider working with a trusted intermediary. A trusted local intermediary is key to many

successful partnerships. While mission trips will help your congregation understand the realities in the communities you may be called to serve, an intermediary organization with strong roots in the community will provide essential support.

2. Be flexible and responsive. Mission Community Church originally wanted to partner only with one community in Malawi—Chikudzulire—through Somebody Cares. Concerned that


sending a team four times in a year to the same community would foster jealousy among community leaders and dependency in the community, Somebody Cares encouraged the church to visit other communities in need as well. The church wholeheartedly agreed.

3. Target your investments and commitment to make a sustainable difference. Your partner will appreciate understanding your long-term intent. Having open conversations about a realistic time frame for ongoing support of programs helps local ministry partners plan more effectively for sustainability.

PARTNERSHIP STORY 2: Watermark Community Church and African Leadership and Reconciliation MinistriesGo around the group and have a different person read aloud one or two paragraphs at a time from pages 13–15, which summarizes the second partnership story from last week’s reading, “Watermark Community Church and African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries” (for the complete story, see Journeys of Faith, pages 34–38).

• Which of the 12 strategies are most evident in the partnership between Watermark Community Church and African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM)?

• Discuss ALARM Uganda’s expansion of their work from church leadership training to care and protection of orphans and vulnerable children. How was this a natural extension of their ministry?

• In Journeys of Faith (page 36), you read the story of Robert, age 15, who cares for his three younger siblings. How were you affected by this story? How does providing support for a youth-headed household stretch your definition of family? How does it enhance your understanding of programming that supports family-based care and strengthens families?


SESSION 4


PARTNERSHIP STORY 2

Watermark Community Church and African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries

Watermark Community Church, a 2,000-member church in Dallas, Texas, began partnering with African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM) in 2006 to support pastoral leadership training in conflict-affected areas in Africa. It was through this work that Watermark came face-to-face with the needs of orphans and vulnerable children in Uganda. Together with ALARM, the church expanded its engagement to serve children in need. With Watermark’s support, ALARM Uganda has grown its orphan care ministry and increased support to children laboring in rock quarries and living in youth-headed households.

ALARM’s leadership in Uganda had come to understand that the stability and viability of the communities they were trying to reach with the gospel of reconciliation were directly linked to the wellbeing of families and children. Accordingly, they had initiated ministries to meet the needs of children living in desperate situations and found a supportive partner in Watermark.

At the time Watermark was introduced to a small orphan outreach program initiated by local ALARM leadership, the program was serving fewer than 20 children. Seeing the extent of the need and the potential to reach many more children, Watermark provided needed resources, enabling ALARM Uganda to establish a paid staff position and to train a cadre of volunteers. ALARM’s orphan outreach now touches the lives of over 600 children with a range of community-based programs, including educational support, mentoring, support for youth-headed households, and skills training.

Ministering to Children and Families in Greatest Need

Watermark and ALARM were drawn together by a deep sense of compassion for children and families struggling against enormous odds. Prior to the partnership, ALARM Uganda was already ministering on the margins of Ugandan society. The resources and encouragement offered by Watermark built on this foundation.

ALARM volunteers began reaching out to families living near a rock quarry in Kampala when they found out that children were working alongside their mothers to produce a yield of rocks worth roughly $1 a day. An initial response led by the wife of the ALARM Uganda country director was to reach out to the mothers and offer training in bead making—one of few livelihood options for women living near a stone quarry. In addition to skills training, the program instituted a compulsory savings program and assisted the women, many of whom were widows, in selling in the local markets. The program, though small, helped to improve the families’ livelihoods.


Partnering with Watermark, ALARM Uganda expanded its outreach to the children of these women with a feeding program, school sponsorship, and mentoring. Because of the support provided, mothers no longer felt compelled to have their children work in the quarries to avoid starvation. Hundreds of local children have been brought out of child labor and many are now attending school.

In Gulu (five hours north of Kampala) ALARM began helping several youth-headed households living in and around internally displaced persons (IDP) camps by providing food, spiritual support, and help accessing education. The camps were established to house and protect nearly 2 million displaced children and families. Thousands of children were born in these camps, and an estimated 25,000 youth were kidnapped or recruited to serve in rebel armies between 1989 and 2007. Despite the fact that the Ugandan government had been reallocating land and helping families leave the camps to resettle in nearby communities, life in the IDP camps left families dependent on food aid and produced a generation of youth ill-equipped to provide for themselves.

Meeting the Needs of Youth-Headed Households

At the heart of ALARM Uganda’s work with children is family strengthening. In the face of orphanhood due to HIV and AIDS, conflict, and other causes, keeping loved ones together often means embracing different types of families, each with its own needs. Youth-headed households are some of the most vulnerable families, requiring extra protection and support. With support from Watermark, ALARM Uganda has been able to sponsor over 50 children living in youth-headed households. Youth are given educational opportunities and vocational training to earn livelihoods as well as emotional and spiritual support. Without this support, the children would most likely be split apart, live in extreme poverty, or be vulnerable to recruitment into gangs and rebel activities.

Growing Together in Service

Future plans for the partnership include even more support for youth-headed households, expanding income-generating activities to promote livelihoods for widows and a vocational school for youth. ALARM Uganda ministers directly to children and families in need and also continues to equip pastors to lead their communities to do the same.

Just as ALARM Uganda’s advocacy and outreach has broadened the ministries of local churches to address the needs of children, Watermark’s vision and ministry has also grown. For the Watermark Church, the journey of caring for orphans and vulnerable children in Africa has been a path of discipleship.

Three Lessons Learned1. Empower and equip the local church. Pastors equipped with the right tools and training

can better lead their congregations in responding to the needs of orphans and vulnerable children. ALARM Uganda and Watermark were able to use an existing framework (pastoral training, leadership, and peace building) and adapt it to respond to the growing numbers of orphans and vulnerable children in Uganda.

SESSION 4


2. Be willing to expand your understanding of ministry. Watermark began their journey with an interest in church leadership development. When confronted with the realities on the ground in Uganda, they allowed themselves to see beyond this original vision. This meant adjusting their involvement in a well-established training program to support ALARM Uganda’s efforts on behalf of vulnerable children.

3. Preserve and support families. Even in a conflict zone, preserving the family can still be a priority. Rather than removing children from their families and communities, ALARM Uganda and Watermark are working together to rebuild communities ravaged by HIV and AIDS and civil war. The focus on support to youth-headed households demonstrates a willingness to draw from the resources of local churches to keep families intact.

PARTNERSHIP STORY 3: Willow Creek Community Church, Bright Hope, and the Samfya Community of Care ProvidersGo around the group and have a different person read aloud one or two paragraphs at a time from pages 16–18, which summarizes the third partnership story from last week’s reading, “Willow Creek Community Church, Bright Hope, and the Samfya Community of Care Providers” (for the complete story, see Journeys of Faith, pages 40–45).

• Which of the 12 strategies are most evident in the partnership among Willow Creek, Bright Hope, and the Samfya Community of Care Providers?

• What lessons can we learn from the 24 churches from different denominations who came together around a common goal? Discuss the potential challenges and keys to making this work. How do you think they are able to avoid dissension?

• Consider the following statement from Prisca Mwela, SCCP’s microloan coordinator: “We teach that the church should be the solution to community problems. Church leaders are mandated to address poverty.” Do you agree that the church should be involved in the solution of community problems related to extreme poverty? If so, what role should the church play? In what ways might the role of the church both support and be distinct from the role of local government, traditional leadership, and other services?

• Discuss your understanding of microlending. How do microloans support families? What cautions and priorities would a church need to exercise to grant microloans as a ministry?

• What other strategies might be needed to ensure the success of a microloan program? For example, what if caregivers are too elderly or ill to work, lack business skills, or have no access to day care, etc.?



PARTNERSHIP STORY 3

Willow Creek Community Church, Bright Hope, and the Samfya Community of Care Providers

Willow Creek Community Church is a 22,000-member church based in South Barrington, Illinois. With the help of Bright Hope, an international mission organization, Willow Creek partnered with the Samfya Community of Care Providers (SCCP)—a network of 24 churches that helps children stay in school, delivers home-based care to the ill, and offers microloans enabling families to provide for children.

Laying the Groundwork for Partnership

Guided by Bright Hope, Willow Creek was introduced to the Samfya Community Care Providers (SCCP) in Zambia in 2004. Bright Hope was already working with SCCP and saw in Willow Creek a well-matched partner for the good work already underway. On an assessment trip to Zambia, Willow Creek met with SCCP and learned about hundreds of orphans who had been taken in by foster families through the local churches. Many of these families needed help to pay for school fees and uniforms so children could access education. Willow Creek responded quickly to these and other immediate needs, raising $600,000 following a World AIDS Day service that called attention to the situation in Africa. The funds were used to support Samfya as well as other African partners.

From the beginning, SCCP’s approach was to ensure that children remained in family care. “Samfya already had a great model,” said Warren Beach, director of Willow Creek’s Global Connections. “If a child was orphaned but family could be located, the child was placed in their extended family. If a child has no surviving family, the church identified a family from the congregation and asked them to take in the child. We didn’t change their model, we asked, ‘What can we do?’”

In response to SCCP’s priorities, Willow Creek provided resources for school scholarships and food supplements for those living with HIV and AIDS. At the request of the Samfya school district, Willow Creek annually assembles “Hope Packs” for children, which include toiletries, school supplies, T-shirts, Bibles, and mosquito nets. In addition, the partnership moved toward more sustainable efforts, such as kitchen garden and microloan programs enabling families to provide for children in the longer term.

SESSION 4


Local Churches Working Together

The Samfya Community Care Providers brought together a group of churches in the community, across denominations, to fight the scourge of AIDS, promote education, and foster orphans. Church leaders share their burdens and pool their limited resources. The work is held together by strong commitment to a common purpose—a recognition that it is collective action that can transform their community. A local church leader states, “There is no dissension among the churches or different denominations, because we have come together for a common passion—to help the widows and orphans.”

Self-Sufficiency Through Microloans

One of the most valuable and successful aspects of the partnership is the growth of the SCCP microloan program, supported jointly by Willow Creek and Bright Hope. Since its inception, the microloan program has provided loans to more than 850 members of the Samfya community and trained over 50 loan officers. A dedicated SCCP staff person oversees the microloan program, ensuring that churches running these programs have adequate support. While only modest resources are needed to start and maintain microloan programs, the programs require experienced oversight to yield results. Prisca Mwela, the microloans program coordinator for SCCP, states, “We teach that the church should be the solution to community problems. Church leaders are mandated to address poverty.” The impact on participating families has been transformative, with many families increasing the number of meals they provide daily, investing in small businesses, and contributing to their children’s education. Microloans have also enabled more families to welcome foster children whom they would have otherwise turned away because of lack of resources.

From Relief to Sustainable Solutions

The programs in Samfya supported by Willow Creek and Bright Hope continue to thrive. The number of families participating in the microloan program is growing. Through the efforts and initiatives of local churches, this program has expanded to two other communities in Zambia. The partners continue to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of the ministries to children and families. The partnership in Samfya has progressed from providing relief to supporting development and more sustainable solutions. It serves as a compelling example of churches breaking through denominational barriers to care for the needs of their community. With help from Willow Creek and Bright Hope, SCCP and its network of churches continue to grow, with nearby communities seeking to replicate the model.

Three Lessons Learned1. Invest in and empower families. An investment in empowering families (through advocacy,

training, and microlending) resulted in more community members being sensitive to the needs of children and willing to foster orphans. The lives of thousands of children have been


Three Stories of Partnership Debrief15 minutes

4. Gather the whole group back together. As time permits, use one or more of the following questions to debrief your small group discussions.

• How has studying the stories of partnership shifted your thinking about what it means to care for orphans and vulnerable children?

• To provide holistic care is to care for the whole person—physical, emotional, social, economic, and spiritual. What did you learn from the partnership stories about the provision of holistic care to strengthen families? How did partners combine their strengths and resources to accomplish multiple objectives on behalf of vulnerable children and families?

• Based on what you’ve learned from the partnership stories, what are the key insights you want to apply to your own efforts to help orphans and vulnerable children?

transformed by the dynamic collaboration of Willow Creek, Bright Hope, and SCCP. There are also many “testimonies” from caregivers and heads of households who have received support, training, loans, and counseling and are now better able to care for children in the long term. The SCCP approach has helped to build resiliency in the community, rather than dependency.

2. Build trust and take responsible, well-informed risks. Because collaboration between Willow Creek, Bright Hope, and Samfya is rooted in trust, Willow Creek was willing to take responsible risks, such as investing in a new microloan program administered by SCCP. Willow Creek could easily have established their own programs. Instead, they invested resources in an existing viable community structure. Bright Hope provided sound technical expertise and training to SCCP, enabling them to implement and manage the microlending program. Working together, the three partners each brought particular strengths, resulting in a program that strengthened the ability of families to provide for their children.

3. Seek to fill gaps and complement resources. Willow Creek filled in critical gaps identified by their local partners, and often provided needed resources to complement the support that was already in place. Leveraging and complementing resources helps to enhance work on the ground that may already be funded by other programs—it invites more partners to the table and ensures a more holistic approach to care.

SESSION 4


Making a Personal Connection: Biblical Partnership 15 minutes

5. Among the Greek words New Testament writers use for “partnership” is the word koinonia (koy-nohn-ee-ah). Here is how the apostle Paul uses it in two of his letters:

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership [koinonia] in the gospel from the first day until now. PHILIPPIANS 1:4–5

I pray that your partnership [koinonia] with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. PHILEMON 1:6

You might also be familiar with the meaning of koinonia as the kind of close relationship shared among those in the Body of Christ:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship [koinonia], to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ACTS 2:42

Still other translations of this rich biblical word include the following:

For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution [koinonia] for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. ROMANS 15:26

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation [koinonia] in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. PHILIPPIANS 3:10–11

And do not forget to do good and to share [koinonia] with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. HEBREWS 13:16

• How do all of these uses of the word koinonia enrich your understanding of what it means to engage in partnership on behalf of vulnerable children and families?

• In what ways do the three stories you discussed demonstrate this kind of rich expression of koinonia in partnership?


CLOSING PRAYER



God, we thank you for the privilege of partnering with you to care for vulnerable children and families. We ask that you not only fill our hearts with love and compassion, but that you also give us unity around a shared vision and lead us into wise and practical action. Help us to live out a true faith of koinonia—in our families and friendships, in our group, and in our efforts to love and support vulnerable children, families, and communities. In all we do, may we honor you and honor those we seek to serve.Amen.

On Your Own


• “Helping Without Hurting in Short-Term Missions: Haiti,” 4:20 minutes, produced by The Chalmers Center (access the video online at http://faithtoaction.org/videos).

• “Principles of Partnership,” Journeys of Faith, pages 46–49 (accessible and downloadable at http://faithtoaction.org/resources/journeys-of-faith/).

• “Guiding Principles for Short-Term Mission Trips,” Journeys of Faith, pages 50–51 (accessible and downloadable at http://faithtoaction.org/resources/journeys-of-faith/).

• Reread the sidebars on missions in Journeys of Faith, pages 18–38 (accessible and downloadable at http://faithtoaction.org/resources/journeys-of-faith/).


SESSION 4



Online

• The Faith to Action website features a variety of ongoing stories from around the world that illustrate the 12 strategies discussed in this session. See especially “HelpKids Centre: Supporting the Love of Families in Sri Lanka” (accessible online at http://faithtoaction.org/stories/).

• “Because We Care: Programming Guidance for Children Deprived of Parental Care,” Elizabeth Oswald, World Vision (accessible online at http://faithtoaction.org/resources/more-resources/best-practice-strategies-in-family-community-based-care/).

• “Supporting Family and Community Strengthening to Prevent Child Abandonment,” SOS Children’s Villages, Bolivia (accessible online at http://faithtoaction.org/resources/more-resources/best-practice-strategies-in-family-community-based-care/).

• “A Matter of Belonging: How Faith-Based Organizations Can Strengthen Families and Communities to Support Orphans and Vulnerable Children,” Christian Aid and UNICEF (accessible online at http://faithtoaction.org/resources/more-resources/best-practice-strategies-in-family-community-based-care/).

• “Symposium Report: Keeping Children and Families together with Economic Strengthening,” FHI 360 (accessible online at http://faithtoaction.org/resources/more-resources/best-practice-strategies-in-family-community-based-care/).

Video

• “Webinar 3: Strategies to Strengthening Family Care,” 23 minutes (accessible and downloadable at http://faithtoaction.org/videos/webinars/).

http://faithtoaction.org/resources/more-resources/best-practice-strategies-in-family-community-based-care/

http://faithtoaction.org/resources/more-resources/best-practice-strategies-in-family-community-based-care/


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SESSION 4


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SESSION 5Short-Term Missions


“The short-term mission team needs to understand how it fits within the overall strategy of [a] local ministry and take care not to undermine this ministry’s effectiveness.”

» Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, When Helping Hurts

The Lord God has told us what is right and what he demands: ‘See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God.’

Micah 6:8 CEV






SESSION 5



2 minutes


• Discuss what you read and watched in your individual study (see “On Your Own,” page 20, in Session 4, as well as any notes you may have taken on pages 22–23).

• Consider the impact short-term volunteers can have on vulnerable children.

• Explore the principles of effective partnership and the role of short-term mission trips.


GROUP DISCUSSION


1. As time permits, use one or more of the following questions to check in with each other about what you’ve learned and experienced since your last gathering.

• In the last two sessions, you learned about 12 strategies for responding to the needs of orphans and vulnerable children. Overall, how would you summarize the influence these strategies have had on how your view of residential care vs. family-based care of vulnerable children?

• In both Sessions 3 and 4, you explored several stories of partnership. Each story included a North American church as well as a local church or community organization in Africa. As you reflect on what you’ve learned, how would you describe the unique roles that each partner plays? For example, overall, what is it that only local churches and organizations can do well? How does the role of North American churches support and enhance those efforts?

• “On Your Own” from Session 4 included the video “Helping without Hurting in Short-Term Missions: Haiti” (Session 4, page 20). On the video, Kurt Kandler, executive director of The 410 Bridge, acknowledges the complexities of short-term mission trips:


One of the greatest risks that we have in the community development work that we do is bringing in American teams. There is no greater opportunity to undermine the participatory development work in a community. But at the end of the day, it’s also the most rewarding opportunity for the Body of Christ to come together to encourage one another, to serve each other.

How do you respond to the idea that short-term teams have equal potential to undermine and to encourage development work in a community? (If you’ve participated in a previous short-term trip, share any experiences or insights you might have related to this issue.)

VIDEO

“Volunteering with Children: Dangers of Doing Good” 3 minutes

Many short-term mission trips may include volunteering with children or visiting orphanages. This video produced by Volunteer Correct explores the impact short-term volunteers can have on children and promotes further reflection on how to support the protection of children and the role of caregivers. The video notes and discussion questions that follow are based on a three-minute clip beginning in the middle of the video at 5:20 and concluding at 8:25.


Video Notes

Lauren Wild, senior lecturer, psychology, University of Cape Town Some children form what we call insecure attachments to their caregivers, and these can take different forms. Some children respond by withdrawing or avoiding the caregiver when she comes back after having left them. Others are very anxious, they become clingy, overly dependent. If their caregiver leaves the room and then comes back they seem angry at her for having left them. Others show what we call a disorganized attachment, which is some combination of the two.

SESSION 5


Paul Hooper, director, The Homestead Project for Street Children The behavior that comes with attachment is quite serious. . . . They’ll break a window when they’re angry. . . . When you know an attachment disorder, you start to understand that for them, because they haven’t got that emotional connection with anyone, material stuff is very important to them. And they think material things are very important to you as well.

Lauren Wild, senior lecturer, psychology, University of Cape Town If the child has repeated experiences of volunteers coming, forming a close relationship, and then that person going and they never see them again, they may ultimately learn that it’s not worth trying to love people because any time I love somebody, they abandon me, they go away.

Naome Udavanhu, social worker, Masigcine Children’s Home The babies . . . have certain volunteers that they really love. When they see them they actually cry. So it’s a bit difficult. The good thing is . . . that specific someone is always cuddling them and doing whatever they want. But the bad thing is when they leave. What will happen to that child who will forever be sad?

GROUP DISCUSSION

Understanding the Impact of Short-Term Volunteers on Children

15 minutes

2. As time permits, use one or more of the following questions to discuss the video “Volunteering with Children: Dangers of Doing Good.”

• How does learning more about the developmental needs of children—especially their needs for healthy connection and attachment—shift your understanding of what it means to truly care for orphans and vulnerable children?

• How do you imagine you might respond if the situation were reversed—that instead of being a volunteer, you are in the position of caring for vulnerable children and that well-intentioned teams from other countries are routinely traveling to play and interact with the


children for a short period of time? How does it shift your perspective on the visit? What concerns might you have?

• One way to avoid the “revolving door” of caregivers in the lives of vulnerable children is to focus on supporting local caregivers—church and community members—so they can better provide the love and affection their children need. How would you feel about participating in a short-term trip if your efforts were focused more on supporting and equipping caregivers and less on interacting directly with children?

3. A pediatrician named Geoff Foster had these observations after visiting an orphanage in Zimbabwe that received frequent visits from American and British churches:

Throughout my stay, children of all ages were seeking emotional and physical attention from outsiders such as myself—holding our hands and sometimes clinging to us. I was concerned because children who have formed healthy attachments are usually more cautious of strangers. I also worried about how easily children that have grown up with a succession of temporary caregivers might be exploited.1

• If you weren’t aware of the difference between healthy and unhealthy attachment in children, how might you interpret the children’s behaviors? How would you most likely respond?

• In what ways might children with a succession of temporary caregivers be more vulnerable to exploitation?

Twelve Guiding Principles for Short-Term Missions Trips39 minutes

4. As we seek to help without unintentionally harming, our actions must be guided by principles and strategies that ensure our responses will contribute to real and lasting change. On page 7 is a brief summary of the article from last week’s reading “Guiding Principles for Short-Term Missions Trips” (for the complete article, see Journeys of Faith, pages 50–52). Go around the group and have a different person read aloud each of the 12 statements on page 7.

• Overall, how well do these principles fit with the mission or values of your church or group?

• Which of them, if any, might require a shift in thinking for you or your church/group?

1Faith to Action: Strengthening Family and Community Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Sub-Saharan Africa, Second Edition, Faith to Action, page 23.

SESSION 5


Drawing on principles of partnership and key resources, here are 12 guidelines and considerations for churches and other groups engaging in short-term missions:

1. Consider where your resources can make the greatest difference.

2. Examine your motivation.

3. Do not go unless invited.

4. Keep numbers small.

5. Don’t overstay your welcome.

6. Avoid project hopping.

7. Prepare properly for mission trips and debrief afterward.

8. Invest throughout the year.

9. Help your partner create visitor guidelines.

10. The local partner should be the “hero.”

11. Emphasize the assets of the community.

12. Consider your impact on children.

Twelve Guiding Principles for Short-Term Missions Trips

5. When Mission Community Church—featured in one of the partnership stories from Session 4 —takes a mission team to Malawi, team members interact with children and community members, but only in the context of work that has already been started by the community, preapproved by village councils, and organized by their intermediary partner, Somebody Cares. Teams are not allowed to take photographs or pose with villagers unless doing so is preapproved. All of this is to uphold the value that the mission trip must honor the will of its host and that a mission trip is not a project, but a tool to empower and encourage their partners while also being witnesses to God’s transformative work in the world (Journeys of Faith, pages 28–29).


• Which of the 12 guiding principles are most evident in Mission Community Church’s approach?

• How would you describe the differences between a mission trip as a project and a mission trip as a tool to empower and encourage a ministry partner? Consider how these differences might be evident in such things as team member preparation and training, trip activities and objectives, interactions with local community, and what constitutes “success.”

• How is Mission Community Church’s approach similar to or different from mission trips you know about or have experienced?

6. Principle 2, “Examine your motivation,” helps us explore the positive and negative motivations we may have in participating in short-term missions. It acknowledges that although our efforts may be well-intentioned, our motives might be self-serving rather than supportive of the partner ministry or in the best interests of children. For example, we might want to make a difference with a building project and end up depriving local construction workers or youth of employment. We might want to help vulnerable children to feel loved, but end up leaving them with a sense of loss and abandonment when we return home, despite our best intentions. Or we might be motivated by desires to have an “experience,” to visit an exotic or remote location, or even to feel good about ourselves by providing a quick fix to a community problem.

• Consider the range of motives people might have for participating in a mission trip. What are some of the positive motivations? What are some of the negative or mixed motivations?

• If you were planning a mission trip or preparing to participate in one, how might you avoid the pitfall of well-intentioned but self-serving motives?

• One way to reflect on personal motives is to identify some of the reasons you might want to go on a mission trip, and then ask yourself, “Would I still want to go on this trip if I couldn’t do these things?” For example, Would I still want to go on this trip . . . if I couldn’t take photographs? If I couldn’t interact with children directly? If I couldn’t be sure I was making a difference? What comes to mind when you consider this question for yourself? How would you complete the question, Would I still want to go on this trip if I couldn’t . . . ? How would you answer your question? How do both the question and your answer help you to understand something about your motives?

• Because our motives may always be mixed, it might be easy to feel discouraged from engaging in anything global, especially a short-term trip. But perhaps the most important thing about motives is awareness—if you know what’s driving you, you’re in a much better position to avoid making well-intentioned but self-serving choices.

SESSION 5


Drawing on both the question and answer you identified in the previous question, describe how awareness of your motives might help you to make choices that support a partner ministry and serve the best interests of children. For example, Before the trip, our team would ask our hosts how we can best support the efforts of the local caregivers and families who are providing care for children on a day-to-day basis.

7. Principle 11, “Emphasize the assets of the community,” is a reminder that every community has resources it can draw on to meet its own needs. Focusing on assets is important because it keeps partners from unintentionally disempowering communities by doing things for them that they can do for themselves. Coming alongside communities so they can better utilize their assets helps to strengthen and equip local families to better care for their children.

• Imagine that you are preparing for a short-term mission trip. The community you’ll be visiting has many challenges, including lack of material resources for everything from growing food and providing clean water to paying school fees for children. Now consider the purpose of your trip from two perspectives: one focused on the community’s needs and what it lacks, the other focused on the community’s assets and strengths. How might each perspective shape the activities your team chooses to engage in? How might it influence the way team members relate to community members? (If you’ve participated in previous short-term mission trips, share any experiences you had that illustrate either perspective.)

• How might you and your team be intentional about building on the community’s assets so that communities and families—rather than your team—are the “heroes”?

The Complexities of Partnership16 minutes

8. Addressing the need to do missions and partnership wisely, missions expert Miriam Adeney relates a vivid parable told to her by an African Christian friend:

Elephant and Mouse were best friends. One day Elephant said, “Mouse, let’s have a party!” Animals gathered from far and near. They ate. They drank. They sang. And they danced. And nobody celebrated more and danced harder than Elephant. After the party was over, Elephant exclaimed, “Mouse, did you ever go to a better party? What a blast!” But Mouse did not answer. “Mouse, where are you?” Elephant called. He looked around for his friend, and then shrank back in horror. There at Elephant’s feet lay Mouse. His little body was ground into the dirt. He had been smashed by the big feet of his exuberant friend, Elephant. “Sometimes, that is what it is like to do mission with you Americans,” the African storyteller commented. “It is like dancing with an Elephant.”2

2 Miriam Adeney, quoted in Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2009, 2012), 151.


• Sticking with the characters in the parable for a moment, how would you describe Elephant’s fundamental failure?

• How does this same fundamental failure take place in short-term missions or partnership?

• How would you guard against being “Elephant” in the context of short-term missions or partnership?

9. Establishing and building a meaningful partnership often requires navigating complex relationships and challenges. The following scenario from Journeys of Faith (page 52) demonstrates one example of how this might happen:

A U.S. church with a long-standing and well-established orphan care partnership with an African church recently learned that an overseas donor plans to build a large orphanage in their African partner’s community. The African church has been asked to participate with the donor and to recommend children for orphanage care. They have come to the U.S. church asking for its support of this endeavor. This partnership has always been based on shared values and a mutual agreement that its resources support family-based services. Given that a key principle of partnership is respecting local leadership and allowing the partner to lead family-based programming, how might you handle this complex situation?

Making a Personal Connection: A Humble Heart9 minutes

10. The complexities of short-term mission trips and long-term ministry partnerships require wisdom and discernment. They also require a humble, servant heart. In his letter to the church at Philippi, the apostle Paul describes such a heart when he urges his readers to imitate Christ in an attitude of true humility.

• Go around the group and have a different person read each paragraph from the passage below. As the passage is read, underline any words or phrases that stand out to you.

Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

SESSION 5


You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.

Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.

When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:1–11 NLT)

• What words or phrases stand out to you as having particular relevance for ministry partnerships? For your own group or team?

• What words or phrases stand out to you in connection with your own desires and efforts to help vulnerable children?

CLOSING PRAYER



Lord Jesus Christ, in all we say and do, we desire to follow you in being “humble of heart” (Matthew 11:29). We acknowledge that in our own power, we can do nothing—we cannot fix the brokenness in the world, and we cannot fix the brokenness in ourselves. We surrender ourselves fully to you, asking that you heal us and use us to heal the world you love. We ask that you unite us in love with one mind and purpose. Help us to be both humble and wise in the ways we love and serve vulnerable children, families, and communities. Amen.


Get a Head Start on the Discussion For Session 6

As part of the group discussion for Session 6, you’ll have an opportunity to talk about what you’ve learned and experienced together throughout the study. Between now and your next meeting, take a few moments to review each previous session and identify the teaching, discussions, or insights that stand out most to you. Use the worksheet on the following pages to briefly summarize the highlights of what you’ve learned and experienced in each session.

On Your Own

Between now and the next group meeting, set aside 30 minutes to read and then reflect on the resources listed below. You’ll discuss what you learn at the beginning of your group meeting for Session 6.

• “Engaging the Church,” Journeys of Faith, pages 10–13 (accessible and downloadable at http://faithtoaction.org/resources/journeys-of-faith/).

• “Principles of Partnership,” Journeys of Faith, pages 46–49 (accessible and downloadable at http://faithtoaction.org/resources/journeys-of-faith/).

Note any insights or questions in the space provided on pages 14–15 . You’ll discuss what you’ve read and watched at the beginning of your next meeting.

SESSION 5


SESSION 6 HEAD START WORKSHEET

Take a few moments to reflect on what you’ve learned and experienced throughout this study series. Here are some questions you might consider as part of your review of each session:

• What was the most important thing I learned in this session?

• How did what I learned impact me? (Consider emotions, attitudes, behaviors, relationships, etc.)

• How did our group discussion challenge or encourage me in this session?

• How did I experience God’s presence or leading related to this session?

Use the spaces provided below and on the next page to briefly summarize what you’ve learned and experienced.

Session 1: Who Are Orphans and Vulnerable Children?

Session 2: The Impact of Poverty and Separation from Family Care


Session 3: Key Strategies for Strengthening Families and Community-Based Care, Part 1

Session 4: Key Strategies for Strengthening Families and Community-Based Care, Part 2

Session 5: Short-Term Missions

SESSION 5



Online

• “How Can Faith-Based Groups Best Help Vulnerable Children in Africa?” The Journal of Family and Community Ministries, Baylor University School of Social Work (accessible online at http://faithtoaction.org/resources/more-resources/engaging-the-church-raising-awareness/).

• “The Seven Standards,” Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission (accessible online at http://www.soe.org/explore/the-7-standards/).

• “An Introduction to Better Volunteering on Behalf of Orphans and Vulnerable Children” (accessible online at http://faithtoaction.org/category/news-updates/).

• “Better Volunteering, Better Care: Executive Summary,” Better Care Network and Save the Children (2014) (accessible online at http://faithtoaction.org/resources/more-resources/engaging-the-church-raising-awareness/).

Video

• “A World without Orphans,” 30 minutes, produced by Missions Dilemma, (accessible online at http://www.missionsdilemma.com/a-world-without-orphans/).

Books

• Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence, David Livermore (Baker Books, 2012).

• Charity Detox: What Charity Would Look Like If We Cared about Results, Robert D. Lupton (HarperOne, 2015).

• Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It), Robert D. Lupton (HarperOne, 2012).

• Effective Engagement in Short-Term Missions: Doing It Right!, Robert J. Priest, ed. (William Carey Library, 2012).

• When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, chapter 7 (Moody Publishers, 2009).

http://faithtoaction.org/resources/more-resources/engaging-the-church-raising-awareness/





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SESSION 6Identifying Your Next Steps


“Let us reach out to the children’s home communities, enabling these little ones to grow up among friends and relatives who . . . speak their language, know their history, and already love them. Isn’t this what we would wish for our own children?”

» Melissa Fay Greene, author of There Is No Me without You

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

James 1:27 NLT





SESSION 6



2 minutes


• Discuss what you learned in your individual study (see “On Your Own,” page 12, in Session 5, as well as any notes you may have taken on pages 16–17).

• Explore four approaches to engagement and eight principles of partnership on behalf of orphans, vulnerable children, and families.

• Reflect on what you’ve learned throughout this study and identify the next steps you want to take in response.


GROUP DISCUSSION


1. As time permits, use one or more of the following questions to check in with each other about your thoughts and reflections since your last gathering.

• In any partnership undertaken on behalf of vulnerable children, at least three parties might be positively or negatively impacted: the two partners and the children themselves. What have you learned that has helped you to be more aware of the potential impact your advocacy and efforts might have? In what ways, if any, are you more aware now than you were at the beginning of the study?

• How did what you learned in Session 5 about healthy and unhealthy attachment in children help you to understand the potential impact a “revolving door” of caregivers might have on children?

• Session 5 explored guiding principles for short-term mission trips as well as the complexities and challenges of partnership. Overall, how did learning more about these topics impact either your understanding of previous mission trips you’ve participated in or your expectations of a mission trip you hope to take in the future?


VIDEO

“From Stuck to Thriving: Graduation with Food for the Hungry”

5 minutes

This video celebrates the achievements and conclusion of a nine-year collaboration among Food for the Hungry, Capilano Christian Community Church (CapChurch), and the community of Bufukhula (boo-foo-koolah) in Uganda. Told through interviews with CapChurch members and members of the Bufukhula community, this is a story about how a healthy partnership enabled the churches and families of this community to achieve great things in agriculture, education, savings groups, and more. Now the community is paying it forward by using what they’ve learned to help a neighboring village break the cycle of poverty and strengthen families. As you watch the video, the key thing to consider is how all these achievements improve the lives of children—without resorting to institutional care.


Video Notes

Member of CapChurch I have always known that Food for the Hungry was going to be leaving Bufukhula, and I have always celebrated that because if you’re leaving, it means you’ve done your job.

Bufukhula community leader Food for the Hungry taught us about holistic development. They said that a human being needs to grow in four areas of life. They need to grow physically. They need to grow spiritually. They need to grow mentally, and they need to grow relationally.

SESSION 6


Bufukhula community leader Before Food for the Hungry, many of our children were very malnourished. Food for the Hungry taught us how to care for our children. They introduced the Dairy Cow Project to help improve the nutritional levels of the children.

Bufukhula community member As a farmer, my wish is to see the calves from this cow go to others so they can benefit from what I have started. This is good news because we are fighting poverty. I no longer cry because of poverty.

Bufukhula community member Savings has helped me as an individual. I can get money from my savings group and then I can hire people to work my land. From the proceeds of the produce, I receive more than what I initially invested. Because of the savings group, domestic violence has been reduced in our community. The women no longer have to wait on the man for money. They can make money themselves.

Member of CapChurch Teams come year after year after year. They bring letters, they bring messages, they want to know how the kids are doing. It’s changed lives in Uganda but it has [also] changed lives for our community in North Vancouver.


Member of CapChurch People’s ideas about poverty have been changed. It’s not about money. That’s not what poverty is. Poverty is not knowing that you can do anything. Poverty is not knowing that God has given you all these abilities and you have all these resources. Poverty is thinking that you can’t do it, and what FH does is say, ‘No, you can. Look at what you have.’

Bufukhula community leader FH also introduced the idea of sharing. They told us they would help us so that in the future we would also help another community. We are now working together with the community of Nashisa to help them in the same way that FH has helped Bufukhula become what it is today.

GROUP DISCUSSION

A Vision for Engagement 17 minutes

Use the questions that follow to discuss the video “From Stuck to Thriving: Graduation with Food for the Hungry.”

2. At the beginning of the video, a member of CapChurch says she knew Food for the Hungry would eventually leave Bufukhula and that she celebrated that because “If you’re leaving, it means you’ve done your job.”

• What does her perspective reveal about how Food for the Hungry and the members of CapChurch view their role and their goals in the partnership?

• How might it impact your vision of a potential partnership your group might undertake if your goals included both long-term relationship and an expectation of “graduation”? What kind of initiatives might it lead you to pursue—and to avoid? Share the reasons for your response.

SESSION 6


3. Consider the various strategies Food for the Hungry used to help the Bufukhula community. For example, constructing school buildings, initiating the dairy cow project, and starting savings and loan associations. How do each of these strategies support the welfare and best interests of children?

4. At the end of the video, a leader of the Bufukhula community describes how they are now helping a neighboring community in the same way that they were helped. How does this outcome differ from the outcomes you might expect from historical practices, such as building an orphanage or donating material goods?

Four Approaches to Engagement 20 minutes

Throughout this study, you’ve explored several key principles and how those principles have been lived out in five church-to-church partnerships. Now, as you begin to discern the actions you want to take, it’s important to understand that church-to-church partnerships are just one of many ways to engage and support orphans, vulnerable children, and families. The 12 strategies (discussed in sessions 3–5) provide a foundation for responding to the needs of vulnerable children and families in a variety of ways. This means that while there are key principles that should guide your approach, there is no one-size-fits-all or one best way to take action. Your next steps—individually and as a group—can be as unique as you are and as simple or complex as your goals, strengths, and resources allow.

5. Page 9 provides a starting point for considering what your next steps might be. It briefly summarizes an article from the last session’s reading about four approaches for engagement (for the complete article, see “Engaging the Church” in Journeys of Faith, pages 8–13). For each approach, there is also an example of how a church or group used that approach to take action. Go around the group and have a different person read aloud each of the four approaches and examples.

• Which of the four approaches would you say is the best match for you and your group right now?

• Take a moment to dream a little about what you might accomplish within the approach you just identified. For example, within the raising awareness and funds approach, you might make a statement like one of these:

– I want everyone in our church to understand that strengthening families—not building orphanages—is the best way to care for vulnerable children.


– I’d like us to find ways to raise $5,000 in the next year to support ministries that work directly with vulnerable children and help them to remain in family care.

– I’d like to learn more about vulnerable children in my city or state and explore how I can support vulnerable families or foster families.

Use the space below to write down your dreams and ideas. For each item you list, briefly identify the way(s) in which this action serves the needs and best interests of vulnerable children.

What We’d Like to Accomplish

SESSION 6


1. Raise awareness and raise funds. Raising awareness about the needs of orphans and vulnerable children and the importance of strengthening family-based care is a powerful form of engagement. This may take the form of anything from informational posts on social media to awareness and fundraising events, special weekend services (on World AIDS Day, Orphan Sunday, etc.), and community-wide campaigns.

Example: The Journey Church hosts an annual event called Celebrate Hope to raise awareness and funds for children in Limpopo, Zimbabwe. They also build supply kits for caregivers ministering to people living with AIDS and other illnesses (Journeys of Faith, page 12).

2. Build on existing global relationships. Before pursuing a new partnership, explore the possibility for expanding or reshaping any existing partnerships to address the needs of orphans and vulnerable children. For example, a global partner your church has worked with in food relief or pastoral training may also be a potential partner for strengthening families.

Example: Burke Presbyterian Church built on a 20-year relationship with churches in Kibwezi, Kenya, to address the increased vulnerability of children through such initiatives as building and staffing a primary school, a vocational school, and a health clinic (Journeys of Faith, page 11).

3. Partner with a trusted intermediary. An international intermediary can build a bridge and ease the burdens on both sides of a partnership, providing financial oversight, cultural translation, and logistical support to help ensure that resources go where they are most needed.

Example: Walnut Hill Community Church partnered with World Relief to respond to the needs of orphans and vulnerable children in Rwanda as well as at-risk children within their own community. They raised awareness and funds throughout the year with their “Little White Box” campaign (Journeys of Faith, page 9).

4. Develop a direct partnership. Many churches and organizations work through their own networks or denominational structures to engage and support overseas partners.

Example: Bright Hope links North American churches with local indigenous churches in such places as Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, South America, the Caribbean, and Central America (Journeys of Faith, page 44). Working in partnership, they collaborate on projects designed to encourage individuals, empower the local church, build sustainability into the community, and provide hope for children and families.

Four Approaches to Engagement


Principles of Partnership 10 minutes

6. Below is a brief summary from the article from last week’s reading, “Principles of Partnership” (for the complete article, see Journeys of Faith, pages 46–49). The eight principles summarize much of what you’ve studied and discussed in the last three sessions about strategies and values that strengthen families and support healthy partnerships. Go around the group and have a different person read aloud each of the eight statements below.

Although these principles were initially developed to guide direct partnerships (the fourth level in the four approaches to engagement), they can also be applied to the first three levels of engagement. For example, if you chose to raise awareness and funds, your events and communications could stress the value of partnering in the best interests of children (principle 2), and you could donate the funds you raise to an organization committed to long-term and sustainable solutions (principle 8).

• Using the engagement approach you identified as the best match for you and your group in question 5, briefly talk through each of the eight principles. How might you use each principle to inform and guide your efforts?

• Which of the principles would be most important to you?

Principles of Partnership 1. Seek the right match for your church or group.

2. Partner in the best interests of children.

3. Prioritize relationship building and listening.

4. Respect and honor local leadership.

5. Protect local ownership and build on the assets of the community.

6. Start small, build over time.

7. Practice good communication and build trust.

8. Partner for the long term and invest in sustainable solutions.

SESSION 6


Identifying Your Next Steps 20 minutes

7. A key principle of partnership is that everyone has something to contribute. As you consider the actions you want to take, it’s important to identify the unique strengths and resources you and your group can use on behalf of orphans and vulnerable children.

• Using the examples listed below as a reference, what strengths and resources can you identify? Consider your personal strengths and resources as well as those of your group, and your church or organization. Brainstorm ideas and use the space below to take notes on what you come up with.

Examples of strengths: spiritual gifts, talents, character qualities, experience, knowledge, influence, leadership roles, etc.

Examples of resources: social media platforms, existing relationships/partnerships, financial/material resources, technical expertise, availability, etc.

• Are there any weaknesses or obstacles you might need to address? If so, note them below.


8. Now it’s time to bring together everything you’ve learned and discussed so you can identify the action(s) you want to take, and then what your next steps might be. Given what you’ve learned about the needs of orphans and vulnerable children, the approach that’s best for you, and the strengths and resources you’ve identified, what do you feel led, inspired, and equipped to do on behalf of orphans and vulnerable children? Note your ideas in the space provided below.

• As individuals and as a group, what next steps might you take to pursue the action(s) you identified?

• What remaining questions do you have that need to be addressed as part of moving forward?

Making a Personal Connection: Loving Action 10 minutes

9. The purpose of this study is to help people of faith as they seek to respond to the call of James 1:27—to express their faith in loving action on behalf of the orphans and vulnerable children of the world.

• As you reflect on what you’ve learned and experienced throughout this study, how would you describe your own journey of faith? For example, what shifts or changes have you experienced since the first session?

• Over the course of the study, when have you been most aware of God’s presence or leading? What did you sense God’s invitation to you might be in those moments?

• What do you feel you need from God to say yes to the invitation? How can the group continue to pray with you in discerning next steps?

SESSION 6


CLOSING PRAYER


As an option, you might use the following prayer—the same prayer you prayed in Session 1—to close your meeting and this study. To quiet your hearts and center your focus on God, consider allowing a few minutes of silence before reading the prayer.

We thank you, Heavenly Father,for your great and unending lovefor each and every child.In your perfect wisdom,you have created us for family—that every child may grow surrounded in love and with a sense of belonging.May your heart be our heart,and your plan be our guide: For every child’s heart, joy. For every child’s soul, meaning. For every child’s body, protection. For every child’s mind, peace. For every child, family.Amen.

On Your Own

The study is concluding but we hope your journey of learning and advocacy on behalf of orphans and vulnerable children is just beginning. Visit http://faithtoaction.org/opportunities/ for more next-step and engagement ideas. We’d love to stay in touch! Sign up for our newsletter updates at http://faithtoaction.org/category/news-updates/. You’ll also find a steady stream of inspiring stories, blogs, and a wealth of resources at www.faithtoaction.org.



Online

• “Global Movement Initiative,” resources that empower local churches to care for local orphans in every country (accessible online at https://cafo.org/global/).

Videos

• “Replicable Models of Transition to Family-Based Care,” 73 minutes, Christian Alliance for Orphans (accessible online at http://www.christianalliancefororphans.org/resources/webinars/).

• “Church Partnership with Food for the Hungry,” 3 minutes, produced by Food for the Hungry (accessible online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVYBj-0sowQ).

Books

• Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just, Timothy Keller (Riverhead Books, 2012).

SESSION 6


NOTES AND QUESTIONS

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Documents

SESSION 1 - Faith to Action€¦ · SESSION 1 A Study Guide for Journeys of Faith: Session 1 | 3 WELCOME AND OPENING PRAYER 5 minutes Welcome to Session 1 of Caring for Orphans and