Purchase In Pursuit of Orphan Excellence
Our friends suggested we read the book “In Pursuit of Orphan Excellence” By MacFarland and Darke. Darke lives in Uganda and serves with a ministry he started called New Hope. He has been there for 15+ years and like myself, he has experienced his share of good attempts at orphan care. Of course anyone working with the millions of orphans in the world knows that we are trying to bridge the gap between broken relationships and loving care. There is no perfect solution besides that child being in a loving family. And that is exactly this book’s premise. This book confirmed that how ROWAN is integrating orphans back into loving family units within the community is exactly the best solution. If you are working with an orphanage, this book will challenge you to consider other options.
In the past, I have been guilty for thinking “Well something is better than nothing for these kids. One loving aunt is better than living on the streets.” Instead we must ask ourselves,
What is the absolute best solution these children need to experience the love of God to the fullest?
The book goes into detail about how orphanages create a continued dependency and limited understanding of what it feels like to belong. It will challenge us to not only think about mothers, but fathers. It will challenge every believer that it is not an option to serve orphans and widows. It’s not a matter of if, but how.
This resource has challenged us to pour even more of our hearts into the lives of the caregivers. They are the ones raising up these children. We must train and empower them even more. We must look for more men in the community to support these children as fathers. It is amazing that all of our current local staff are godly men- they are helping fill that gap. But it’s just not enough.
I strongly urge you to read this book. It will encourage you. It will challenge your thinking. It will bring us one step closer to understanding how we can effectively make a difference. It will help us join hands in our faith and truly lower the statistics of “the orphan.”
Our vision is: Every widow a leader. Every orphan a beloved child.
Together we can erase the word orphan from the dictionary.
Purchase In Pursuit of Orphan Excellence
Kelsey Hargadine
Co-Founder
