supporting the orphan, but standing for the family

Well, I wasn’t going to post again this week, but then something happened. If you are just clicking over for information on The Love Project, scroll down. (I am going to add this to that post too!)

I have a difficult time explaining ‘orphan prevention’ and ‘family preservation’. It is such a new concept for many people…a concept most have never considered. As I wrote the post on Monday for The Love Project I wrestled with not feeling like I could fully explain the heart and the ‘why’ behind the project. The same day the project launched, my friend Meredith Toering met a father…a baby…the photo and words below are from Meredith’s Instagram account:

“In the bed next to Ruby in that Chinese ICU, a little 6 day old baby lay. I didn’t take much notice of him at first, another baby on a ventilator among the rows. Not until we heard the quiet doctor’s words. “The surgery…it’s too expensive. His parents can’t pay. They have sacrificed everything they have, but it’s not enough. We can’t do the surgery without the funds…so they are going to have to choose.” They are Going. To. Have. To. Choose.

My heart broke. Those parents. Without health insurance. Without the cash in hand for the cost of a unfathomably expensive surgery. Knowing full well that, if they were to choose to abandon…to walk away, there are systems in place to support the orphan. But friends, WHERE are the systems for the family? Who will stand for them?

I walked out to meet with the father of that baby…a baby not yet even named. The tears streaming down that new daddy’s face, the way his hands shook when he held mine, told me everything I needed to know. He would do whatever it took to save his baby’s life. Even if that meant saying goodbye.

Friends, I grasped his hands and was able to tell him that THAT narrative? That WILL NOT be their story. We are partnering with this family. The Morning Star Love Project is covering the cost of surgery. And tomorrow morning? That baby boy will have his heart fully repaired. As a son. Not an orphan. Treasured. Loved. Forever. PLEASE keep him in your prayers. His father hugged me and sobbed, and I cried right along with him.

This. This is the future of orphan care. Supporting the Orphan…but Standing for the Family. Join us?”

For more information on how support families and be a part of The Love Project, scroll down to the next post or click here.