Dr. Russell D. Moore could remember the time he went to pick up two children from an orphanage to bring into his family.
He thought it would be a Hallmark moment with the children running in slow motion to him. But he found the kids to be terrified and reaching back for the only place they ever knew.
He recalled thinking, "This place is a pit, you have no idea. You're going to a place with grandparents and Legos, McDonald's happy meals. But it was all they knew."
At that moment, the Holy Spirit spoke to Moore, saying, "Well, that's you.
"I'm bringing you into a home that has many mansions and inheritance in Christ that you can't imagine. But you're continually turning back to the orphanage, toward where you came from."
Since then, Moore has felt more burdened not only for orphans to be rescued but also for families and churches to realize what they're missing by not seeing that picture in caring for orphans and what has happened to them in the Gospel (being adopted into God's family).
Dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., Moore was part of a panel of speakers and experts on Monday at the Saddleback Civil Forum on Orphans and Adoption in southern California.
The two-hour evening event drew thousands in person at Saddleback Church and online through a live webcast as they sought more information about the global orphan crisis and ways they can help.
"Orphans and vulnerable children are not a cause," Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren underscored. "They are a biblical mandate and they are a social mandate that we cannot ignore.
"Imagine a country half the size of the United States; that's how many orphans there are in the world. We're not talking about a small problem here."
Dr. Susan Hillis, senior HIV scientist at the Center for Disease Control, informed the audience that currently there are 163 million orphans in the world. Only six nations in the world have populations that exceed that number.
While the number alone may seem overwhelming, Hillis has been encouraged by the tremendous response of churches to the orphan crisis.
In Ukraine, churches have helped reduce the number of children who are in institutions or on the streets from 300,000 to 30,000, Hillis highlighted. The mother of eight adopted children has seen a fire ignited in the hearts of pastors in the east European country and churches really making a dent in the problem.
"What I'm seeing is a movement of God through the church," she said Monday, adding that she's sensing the movement around the world.
Moore has also been sensing the Holy Spirit working in the church and witnessing a renewed interest in orphan care and adoption.
Ministries
Rick Warren puts spotlight on orphan crisis, Biblical mandate
By: Lillian Kwon | Christian Post
Wednesday, 12 May 2010, 18:09 (IST)
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