Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.  James 1:27 (NLT)

Some numbers are really big.  The number of orphans is one of those figures.  Most sources say that there are at least 143 million orphans in the world.  Some would say that the number could be as high as 210 million.  Let's use the first number, conservative number, just to show you how big that number is.

Compare the number of orphans to the size of these countries and cities:

Canada: 35 million

France: 66 million

United Kingdom: 62 million

Germany: 80 million

Italy: 59 million

Russia: 143 million

The ten largest cities in the USA: New York (8.6 million), Los Angeles (3.9 million), Chicago (2.7 million), Houston (2.2 million), Dallas/Fort Worth (2.1 million), Philadelphia (1.6 million), Phoenix (1.6 million), San Antonio (1.4 million), San Diego (1.3 million) and San Jose (1 million). Grand Total: 26.4 million

The book of James says that religion at it's most basic form takes care of orphans.  The fact that there are so many orphans shows that probably we aren't doing the best job of practicing the basics of faith.

I don't want to guilt people into doing something.  My hope is that maybe we could ask God to open our eyes and see if there is something that we can be doing about this.  I think the most appropriate first step is to pray.  Take some time and really seek God on this issue.  Then respond.  If you click on the link below there is a 40 day guide to pray for orphans.  I would encourage to take the time to let God speak to you.

heartoftheorphan

 “Orphan care is not this generations evangelical fad. Caring for the marginalized, abused, neglected, and orphaned is the historical heart of God from the very beginning to the very end.” -Unknown