Wendy McMahan discusses the Faith to Action Initiative which provides information and resources to faith-based organizations seeking to address the needs of orphans and vulnerable children.

1. TRANSFORMING
U.S. CHURCH VALUES
IN ORPHAN CARE
ENGAGEMENT
Wendy McMahan
Faith To Action Initiative
faithbasedcareforor phans.org

2. THE ORPHAN CARE MOVEMENT
• Short-term Missions
$1.6 billion/year
• Orphan Care is a top
growth area for
Christian giving

3. FAITH TO ACTION INITIATIVE
The Faith to Action Initiative is a joint initiative that provides
information and resources to U.S. Christian churches and faith-
based organizations seeking to address the needs of orphans
and vulnerable children in Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.
Led by a group of organizations focused on care for
children, the Initiative advocates for the support of family and
community-based approaches, rather than the building and
funding of long-term institutions as a first response to the needs of
children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS and other
causes.

4. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. Where do orphans live?

5. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
2. How many living parents does
an orphan have?

6. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
3. Who does God use to help
orphans?

7. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. Where do orphans live?
2. How many living parents
does an orphan have?
3. Who does God use to help
orphans?

8. VALUES TRANSFORMATION
1. Where do orphans live?
Orphanages…
• Are expensive
• Can only reach
small numbers
• Fail to meet
children’s long-
term needs

9. VALUES TRANSFORMATION
Children raised in institutional settings
experience more…
• Physical delays
• Mental delays
• Social delays

10. VALUES TRANSFORMATION
Value: Children grow best in families.
“God sets the
lonely in families.”
- Psalm 68:6

11. VALUES TRANSFORMATION
2. How many living parents does an
orphan have?
18
million
Lost a mother
35 million
Lost a father
Lost both mother and
father
101million
Estimated 153 million orphans globally

12. VALUES TRANSFORMATION
Value: Family Preservation
“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

13. VALUES TRANSFORMATION
1. Who does God use to help orphans?
• Extended family
• Local community
• Local church
• …and you!

14. VALUES TRANSFORMATION
Value: God wants to use every person in
a child’s life.
“So God created
mankind in his own
image,
in the image of God he
created them;
male and female he
created them.”
- Genesis 1:27

15. OUTCOME
Supporting family-based care
wherever possible ensures that
children grow in the healthiest
ways.

16. CHURCH EXAMPLE

17. TRANSFORMING
U.S. CHURCH VALUES
IN ORPHAN CARE
ENGAGEMENT
Please pick up your complimentary copies of
Faith to Action and Journeys of Faith.
Wendy McMahan
Faith To Action Initiative
faithbasedcareforor phans.org