God’s Instructions to His People When it Comes to the Orphans and the Fatherless (Part 2)

4 thoughts on “God’s Instructions to His People When it Comes to the Orphans and the Fatherless (Part 2)”

1. While I’m all for helping children of divorced parents, this is starting to feel more like a sermon and less like a discussion.

   Who else is involved in this ministry?

   How is this ministry organized? Does it have a board of directors? A charter? By-laws?

   If I wanted to write a check to support this ministry, could I deduct it on my federal income tax?

   1. Don,

      I think I am going to choose to take that sermon comment as a compliment. 🙂 This series (which actually started as one article but grew too large and became a series) is meant to be a comprehensive (though not exhaustive) look at what the Bible has to say about caring for orphans and the fatherless. I started to write the series because I believe that we can learn a lot about ministering to children of divorce and children from single parent homes from reviewing these verses.

      The third part of our four pronged mission at Divorce Ministry 4 Kids is:

      “Calling the church to serve, support and minister to these children and their families”

      I think these verses do that which may be why this part seems a little like a sermon. I hope that means that it comes with some conviction because we (as the church) should be convicted about this issue and prompted to minister to these kids.

      As with everything I write, I am very open to discussion on the topic. I believe that iron sharpens iron, and despite what I tell my wife from time to time, I do not always think I am right. I do try to be faithful to God and faithful to scripture, and I hope I have accomplished that in this post. You might also want to check out our facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/DivorceMinistry4Kids as we are trying to promote that as a site for discussing these issues, and I believe more people read that site than these comments. That said, I also enjoy interacting in the comments.

      Now, for answers to some of your questions.

      Who else is involved in this ministry?

      I (Wayne Stocks) started this ministry this past summer after feeling called by God to do something about children of divorce. The more I prayed about it, studied it and thought about it, the more I felt led to create a ministry that would not only minister directly to these children but also teach and equip others to do the same while at the same time calling the church as a whole to open its eyes to this issue. As God often does, he has surrounded me with people who know a whole lot more about this stuff and have a whole lot more experience that myself. Linda Ranson Jacobs, who wrote the Divorce Care 4 Kids curriculum, is a regular contributor to this site and great resource to me. There are also others involved in helping children of divorce, and adult children of divorce involved in children’s ministry who also serve as advisers and encouragers on an informal basis.

      How is this ministry organized? Does it have a board of directors? A charter? By-laws?

      We are not a large ministry. As I said, the ministry was started by myself at the prompting of God. As such, at this point, there is little need for vast organization. We have no board of directors, charter or by-laws. We’re not at that point. Should God choose to grow this ministry, and I pray that he does, we will need to consider a more formal organization. For now, we have a passion and a calling and that will have to suffice.

      If I wanted to write a check to support this ministry, could I deduct it on my federal income tax?

      First, “if you want to write a check to support this ministry,” you would be the first. 🙂 The ministry is, at this point, funded entirely by me (see my answer to the question above). I would love to have people contribute to the ministry to allow me (and others) to spend more time and effort getting the word out and providing resources to people to care for children of divorce. However, we are still a very young ministry. Accordingly, we are not set up as a 401(c)3, and any contributions are not tax deductible.

      I hope that helps to answers some of your questions. I would also encourage you to go back and check out some of the articles on this site from July of this year prior to our official launch. Some of those articles give a little more background on how Divorce Ministry 4 Kids came to be.

      I look forward to continuing to hear more from you.

      “

2. Good morning.

   Here’s a shortened link to another title for the adult section in your bookstore. It comes from an outfit in North Carolina.

   http://goo.gl/0Pk23

3. Good morning.

   Here’s another link to a book for your book store. It’s written by a child of divorced parents who studied religion.

   http://betweentwoworlds.org/comments/?cat=10

   This will have to be it for today, I’ve got some other writing to do.

Comments are closed.