by Kari Stewart on April 04, 2024
One spring day many years ago, I was at the park with our kids enjoying the sunshine and quite honestly trying to wear them out before nap time. There were other families there and one family was ready to leave, but their daughter was not. She remained firmly where her feet were planted as her mom told her it was time to go. She didn’t verbally disobey, but physically she wasn’t going anywhere. This mom became exasperated (I have been there too) as she was trying to wrangle her other children together so they could go home. In her exasperation she said “Okay, I will just leave you here. Bye!” and physically turned around and began to walk away. My 4- year- old daughter turned to me with panic and an urgency on her face and said “Mom, do something, don’t let her mom leave her here”.
While I understood that this mom was frustrated and wasn’t going to leave her daughter, my daughter who joined our family through adoption even though young when the event happened in her life had experienced her mom walking away from her and never coming back. She understood emotionally and physically what it meant to be left and she didn’t want it to happen to this little girl too.
I explained to my daughter what I understood was happening and I held her in my lap until this mom was able to successfully get her daughter in the car and go home. It was hard for my daughter to understand that this mom wasn’t serious with the words “Okay, I will just leave you here. Bye!”
Abandonment is an act or instance of leaving a person or thing permanently and completely.
Abandonment trauma along with physical, emotional, sexual abuse and neglect is real for many children and teens who are placed in care in the United States and around the world. Our hearts ache when we read or hear their stories and they should – we really need to pay attention if our hearts become hardened to these stories.
Proverbs 31:8 mandates that we “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed.”
Our 2024 Mission Theme “Whispers of Faith” continues to be woven through our plans for Orphan Care Weekend. Whispers of Faith have been spoken in many forms: through prayer, through saying “yes” to provide temporary or permanent care for child who needs a family to call their own, through volunteering at Royal Family KIDS Camp and giving financially to efforts that support Family Preservation – keeping families together whenever possible.
This year we will have guest speakers at all our campuses for Orphan Care Weekend, April 13/14, sharing their own “Whispers of Faith” and “Shouts of Hope” as we individually and collectively respond to the need. We are honored to have Philip Darke, Jason Johnson and our own Liz Brodzinski join us.
You are invited to be part of something we have NEVER done before on Sunday, April 14, our Missions Office will host a Live Podcast Interview, at 6pm, in the South Auditorium. Pastor Mackenzie Matthews will be interviewing two of our guest speakers, diving deeper into their personal stories of steps of obedience in foster care, adoption, and global orphan care. Catered dinner will be provided with your RSVP. No childcare will be provided, but your children are welcome to attend.
Families in our community and around the world are a vital part of God’s plan. Each of us can play a role in ensuring that families have access to the physical, emotional, and spiritual resources that they need to not just survive but thrive.
I am so grateful for your “Whispers of Faith” as we journey together to stand in the gap for vulnerable children.
As my daughter asked of me, I am extending the same request of you: Friend, “do something” in response to what you hear.
