Check out The Patch Our Planet Blog, its excellent. Steve shared some information he learned about at the Christian Alliance for Orphans conference in southern California. The post is entitled 'The Unthinkable is happening again', and the title drew me in. He started by reminding us about the horrendous Rwandan Genocide of 1994. When I began reading the post, I immediately thought that he was about to go into a discussion of another genocide or gross human rights violation of our time. There are many to choose from, unfortunately.
But Steve went on to detail what is going on Rwanda today. Rwanda has dramatically decreased the number of orphans and orphanages in their country. They are pioneering a groundbreaking plan to involve communities, churches and individuals to holistically care for their orphans. The western involvement has been collaborative and not controlling. Its an incredible testimony of what happens when people work together to solve a social problem and to care for a vulnerable population. Rwanda's history has been tainted by the genocide, but this is a beautiful reflection of progress, grace, and new beginnings.
Patch Our Planet and the Gillis family are very close to my heart. Steve felt called to start Patch Our Planet after he saw the picture below of a few of my 'babies' in Sudan. These precious children may never know how their image will change the lives of thousands of children around the world. Patch Our Planet is working to find a sustainable, Christ-honoring, and collaborative solution to caring for Orphans around the world. I'd encourage you to check out their website to read more about their mission, vision, and plan. I think it's revolutionary and will change the way the Church and the World cares for the orphan.
Steve's post was also very humbling to me. It is so easy for me to condemn injustice and to not spend as much time heralding success stories. I try to be positive and uplifting, but the injustices in our world are very urgent to me. But even though there are many bad things going on in our world, there are tons of good things going on as well. Many social entrepreneurs have great ideas on how to fix problems, but we don't always hear about how problems are being fixed. The example in Rwanda is one of many, and I'm so grateful that Steve has shared it with all of us. I hope you'll find time to read Steve's blog and check out the Patch our Planet Website- it's good stuff and they're looking for churches and individuals who want to address the needs of orphans around our world.
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