Where Is The Love?

"We love because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19)

As we approach Valentine's Day tomorrow I reflect on those without the love of a family.

Those who will have no such thing as a Valentines Day. My heart is heavy for them and we are continually praying about how and what God wants us to do about this. What is our role right now? What is our role in the near future? What is Gods mission and vision for us as a family to care and advocate for the "least of these."

I will celebrate tomorrow and cherish the love I have for my hubby and 3 kiddos.

I will use the day to talk of love, the love God has for us and the love we have for each other.

I will be ever thankful tomorrow and every day, but I also will remember, pray and act on behalf of those who do not have what we do.

Will you join us in asking "Where is the Love" and what I am supposed to do about it?

Tomorrow will be chalked full of warm fuzzies but today I challenge us to look at the cold hard facts.

It is estimated there are between 143 million and 210 million orphans worldwide (recent UNICEF report.)

Every day 5,760 more children become orphans

Approximately 250,000 children are adopted annually, but…

Each year 14, 505, 000 children grow up as orphans and age out of the system by age sixteen

Each day 38,493 orphans age out

Every 2.2 seconds another orphan ages out with no family to belong to and no place to call home

Studies have shown that 10% – 15% of these children commit suicide before they reach age eighteen

These studies also show that 60% of the girls become prostitutes and 70% of the boys become hardened criminals

Another study reported that of the 15,000 orphans aging out of state-run institutions every year, 10% committed suicide, 5,000 were unemployed, 6,000 were homeless and 3,000 were in prison within three years…

The UNICEF orphan numbers DON’T include abandonment (millions of children) as well as sold and/or trafficked children. The current population of the United States is just a little over 300 million… to give you an idea of the enormity of the numbers…

According to data released in 2003 as many as eight million boys and girls around the world live in institutional care. Some studies have found that violence in residential institutions is six times higher than violence in foster care, and that children in group care are almost four times more likely to experience sexual abuse than children in family based care.

An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked every year; (THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN 2005)

2 million children, the majority of them girls, are sexually exploited in the multibillion-dollar commercial sex industry. (THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN 2005)

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

(Matthew 25:40)