Why is it OK with us?

In the past week, we were made aware of some very difficult circumstances in an orphanage in Ethiopia. Families traveling with our adoption agency visited this orphanage while they were in Addis Ababa, and got the word to those of us traveling soon that there were needs and what we could bring to help them. This was the Facebook status of one of the moms traveling with the group:

"A hard start to our day. Visited an orphanage with deplorable conditions, and left in tears. Our group was able to buy 10 crib mattresses (yes, babies are sleeping on the wooden bottoms of the cribs). But they also need massive quantities of diapers...ripped pieces of sheets wrapped around their bottoms and held in place w/ their onesie t-shirts isn't cutting it."

Babies sleeping on the wooden bottoms of cribs, their clothing soiled, and who knows what else. Their caretakers are doing the best with what they have, but they just don't have the supplies or resources to take care of these children properly. This is poverty. It breaks my heart. I don't think you or I can imagine our own children living in these conditions, or how we would feel if they did.

So, why is this OK with us? I'm sure most of us would say it's not, but what are we doing about it?? You see, if we do nothing, it is OK with us. It is far enough removed from our real world that I think we don't allow ourselves to believe it's real. We tell ourselves that 'these kids don't know any different' or convince ourselves that they are somehow different than our own kids. Well....they're not. They are just like your kids, and they deserve better. They deserve to be well cared for, loved, and to have a family.

I know that we would never say that we think these kids deserve less, but we ignore the pleas for help and tell ourselves that we give to other things and have financial responsibilities that won't allow us to give. You don't have to give a lot - but give something. You don't have to do everything - but do something. Don't wait for someone else to do what God is asking you to do.

"When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow."
Deuteronomy 24:19-21