New op-ed in National Review…

“One of history’s most cherished orphan stories is that of Esther, the brave adopted girl who became queen of Persia and rescued the Jewish people from annihilation. This summer, moviegoers may have that image displaced by another orphan of the same name — this one appearing as a psychotic child who wreaks havoc on the family that adopts her.

The Warner Bros. movie Orphan, which opens this weekend, has elicited outrage from many orphan advocates, and understandably so. The last thing orphans need is major motion picture that adds them to the lineup of creepy horror villains. A story like Orphan isn’t helpful to how they view themselves . . . or how other kids on the playground talk about them. But instead of merely criticizing Warner Bros., we should use the film as an invitation to talk seriously about responsibility — both Hollywood’s and ours…”

Read the entire article here.

The State of Florida last week reported the highest number of adoptions through its public adoption system in state history:  a total of 3,776 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009.   This achievement played a key role in a second remarkable outcome: a 32 percent decrease since 2007 in the number of children in foster care in Florida.  (See here for a news article.)

Christian churches and organizations have played a linchpin role in this success.  For example, Christian Alliance for Orphans’ member 4KIDS of South Florida not only cares for children within the Foster System—they also have become a driving force in encouraging families to adopt.  The President of 4KIDS, Doug Sauder, shared with me today that they’ve seen the number of children adopted from foster care through 4KIDS double in the past year.  More than 200 Florida churches have welcomed 4KIDS to address their members about the needs of foster youth, inviting Christians to consider fostering, adopting, or supporting others who do.  It’s clear impact of the growing response is being felt.

By Jedd Medefind

Having good data on the number of orphans worldwide is valuable.  It gives us at least a small glimpse of the sheer vastness of the need.  And for decision-makers in government or nonprofits, having quality information on how many orphans there are and where they live can play an important role in shaping policy and priorities.

A bill recently introduced in the U.S. Congress (The Families for Orphans Act) would (among other things) require the U.S. government to do a better job in collecting global orphan data.  It’s my understanding the U.N. also desires to improve its approach to orphan-related data.  Both of these are worthwhile initiatives.

But, we need be clear-eyed about three big limitations of global orphan statistics.

1. Imprecise. Even in the U.S.—where transportation is easy and communication is lightning-quick—the Census Bureau must harness hundreds of millions of dollars and a vast army of workers to collect its data.  Contrast that exercise with trying to pinpoint the number of parentless children in the the Gobi Desert or Andes’ Mountains.  It is, to say the least, an imprecise science.   This doesn’t mean the numbers are useless, just that we need to recognize they are only an estimate.
2. Potentially Deceptive. While there may be good reasons to sometimes classify children who’ve lost one parent as “orphans,” most people still think of an orphan as a child who has lost both parents.   It’s important that advocates make clear what we mean when we’re talking about “145 million orphans in the world.”  A failure on this count may cause some people to think we’re not being totally forthright.
3. Paralyzing. Think about how you feel when someone drops on you a “big” statistic regarding need.  Do you typically feel inspired to act…or does it make you feel drained and overwhelmed?  Whopping numbers that we can’t get our minds around rarely rouse people to action.  In fact, some research (shared with me by Jodi Jackson Tucker of North Carolina) suggests that human response to need actually decreases as our sense of the size of a problem expands.  That doesn’t mean orphan advocates should eschew statistics.  But it does mean we should recognize that spewing out big numbers won’t often generate response.  We should know the numbers, but most of the time we’ll want to help others recognize the need in the eyes of a single child or the struggles of a single family.

Ultimately, there’s a single statistic that matters more than any other:  It only takes a single caring individual to make a lifelong difference in the life of any orphan. That’s one statistic that is precise, unambiguous, and empowering.  Most importantly, it’s a fact people will act on.

There’s a broad range of seemingly contradictory numbers floating around the Internet regarding the estimated number of orphans in the world.  So we figured it’d be best to go source.  The following clarification comes thanks to help from a gracious friend of a friend at the U.N.

• The official 2008 estimate from UNICEF (based on 2007 data) is 145 million orphans in the world. For this number, an orphan is defined as a child who has lost one or both parents.

• For the “developing world” the total estimated number of orphans is 130 million. This includes statistics for Sub Saharan Africa, the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Since most people think of an orphan as a child who has lost both parents, these numbers can seem a bit misleading.

• Included in the 2008 estimate of 145 million orphans are more than 92 million that have a surviving mother—-with whom they most likely live.

• Another 38 million have a surviving father.

Doing the math, of the 145 million estimated orphans worldwide, approximately 15 million are “double” orphans—growing up without either mother or father.  That’s about ten percent of the whole.

By Jedd Medefind

The movie Orphan opens today.  On one hand, it is just a movie, perhaps no worse than many of the thousands ginned up each year to sell theater seats and DVDS.   At the same time, it is important to recognize how powerful film can be in stirring emotions and shaping the way we interpret the world.  Just think of how the movie Jaws continues to inform (in many regards falsely) the way we see sharks.

That’s why it’s important that the impressions created by the movie Orphan not be allowed to seep into the American bloodstream unquestioned.  Its emotional experience seems to convey that orphans are damaged goods and that adoption could destroy your life.  With a gracious and respectful tone, we can communicate a deeper truth.

We can speak frankly about the fact that most orphans have been through a lot.  Their journey as an orphan began with tragedy, and often got worse from there.  We should acknowledge that opening our lives to orphans can involve sacrifice, and sometimes great difficulty.  But, we can also speak frankly about the blessings found when we choose to enter this place—the intersection of God’s love and the world’s pain.  Such choices carry more purpose, joy and beauty than all of the golf courses and day spas in the world.

Conveying that corrective message has been the driving purpose of the Orphans Deserve Better campaign.  Not to “bash” Hollywood, but to speak up on behalf of children who have no voice.  To harness to the opportunity presented by a movie like Orphan to draw attention to the real-world horror of millions of children growing up without a family—and the joy found when we choose to respond.

It’s been thrilling to watch how the combined voices of the members of the Christian Alliance for Orphans has caused this message to echo across the country and beyond in huge numbers of online articles and newspaper pieces, from the New York Time Magazine Online to Town Hall, blog posts, radio interviews and television coverage.    A big “well done” to each of the groups and individuals that have seized this opportunity to “defend the cause of the fatherless.”

By Jedd Medefind

Welcome to Orphans’ Matchbox, the blog of the Christian Alliance for Orphans.  We offer it as not much more than a few loaves and a couple dried fish.  But God has a way of multiplying such things.

The truth is, from San Francisco to Chattanooga to Boston and countless little towns and cities in the middle, we’re seeing something happening…something that makes for a bit of a tingle at the roots of your hair.

People in home churches and mega-churches and everything in-between are asking what it means to truly “defend the cause of the fatherless.”  They want to know how they can really “visit orphans in their distress.”  They desire to join the faithful veterans who’ve long served in the fields of the fatherless, to attend to Christ in the body of an orphan, to make the Gospel visible to a watching world.

This blog seeks to help build the community that is already forming amidst this movement.  Alongside some reflections of our own, it will carry voices from some of the great thinkers and doers at its center.   We desire to stir thought and discussion, prayer and even some healthy differences.  We desire to spur exchange of good ideas, great questions and new friendships.

Most of all, we desire to ignite hearts to burn with the fire of God’s heart for the orphan.  But, of course, He beat us here.  It’s clear He’s been piling tinder for a bonfire long before the thought crossed our mind.  We just get to be a match.

By Jedd Medefind