To the children in waiting,
The battle of the orphan crisis is a big one. There are 1.8 million of you in our country, but the work can be daunting for those in the field and those waiting to welcome you home. This battle calls for us to seek strength and hope in our Heavenly Father, a God of justice who fights on your behalf.
Hundreds filled the assembly hall of Victory BGC as they partnered with Generations—Home to bring over 600 people together for a Justice and Worship Night last August 22, 2024.
When I looked around the hall, I thought about how these people carried different burdens, shapes and states of hearts, and kinds of closeness to God. As different as these factors were, they were willing to set a few hours of their night aside to sing songs to God, hope for a moving encounter, and pray for you.
Some of you are eagerly waiting for a family, and many tirelessly work for you to have that. Co-founder and Executive Director Chrina Cuna-Henson shared news about Generations—Home, such as the new family center building at Sta. Rosa, Laguna brought about through the partnership with Giving Hope NOLA (New Orleans). The ribbon-cutting took place the day after. One day, you’ll see the impact for yourself when you are welcomed into a loving home.
“When you take that child and you move that child into your house, you’ve just changed a generation,” said Troy Duhon, Co-founder of Giving Hope.
Chrina introduced Awaken Generation, a Singapore-based worship collective, that led us into song that night. I wish you got to hear how fervently everyone sang. They lifted their hands. They knelt before God. They shed tears of compassion and determination. It’s a beautiful picture of how we bring our concerns to God because He’s our mindful Father.
In between songs, everyone was encouraged to pray together. Esther Suson, Generations—Home Child Therapist and Communications Manager, ushered us into a prayer for all of you across the nation who have been orphaned and abandoned. Jonathan Henson, Co-Founder and President of Generations—Home also encouraged everyone to speak life and hopeful words over children all over our nation.
Pastor James and Issa Tica, Philippines Without Orphans Board Members and adoptive and foster parents themselves, then led us in prayer for pregnant women in crisis. Pastor Jojit Fernandez, a Victory BGC pastor, came up to pray for adoptive and foster families. Pastor Paolo Punzalan, Victory BGC Senior Pastor, also prayed for all the adoptive and foster families who have already opened their hearts and homes to the vulnerable. For each prayer segment, everyone gathered in pairs to speak words of faith and hope.
These moments created lasting memories for me. I and my prayer partner, Kaye, cried together through each prayer point. I could feel both our hearts ache at the thought of your hearts aching even more than ours. We prayed for all the women and children who need to experience the unconditional love of our Heavenly Father through His people on earth.
Calvin Hong from Awaken Generation shared a passage from Mark 2, the story of a paralytic whose friends brought him to Jesus as He preached in a crowded home in Capernaum.
And they came, bringing to [Jesus] a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Mark 2:3–5 ESV
This was a familiar story to me, but I got to see it differently that night. It made me see the point of worshiping in a setting like this. Faith can look and feel different as you grow up, and it’s okay. The reassuring thing is that you can be surrounded by people whose faith can lead you to the family that every child has a right to have. Let me tell you about the faith of all of these people who went to worship that night. Their hopes and prayers for you are seen by Jesus. Just like the paralytic’s friends, may Jesus see our faith, call you His Child, and bring you the home and healing you have long been waiting for.
My view of this story further changed when we were encouraged to think of pregnant women in crisis. These mothers and mothers-to-be, as Pastor James said, are often thought of negatively, as “disgrasyada” or disgraced. However, they are the kind of people Jesus reached—the disgraced and overlooked.
Pastor James said, “It’s easy for us to pray in an air-conditioned building full of comfort, with friends and family here—knowing that if I have a need, someone would put their hands on me and pray. But when you live in a very disgraced culture, where people look upon you as a person who not only made a mistake, but also a disgrace and a bane to the family, that’s a different story. We could all use people who would tear down the roof just so I could be brought to the feet of Jesus.”
This night is a reminder of something that even if not all of us are called to adopt, we are all still called to respond. Some people seated in that assembly hall might not adopt or foster, but they can be the friends that your family needs as they welcome you home. They can be the people who will lend a listening ear to your mother when she feels helpless in the journey.
This night was a hopeful glimpse of what life in a loving home can be like for you, with a family of your own and a community that supports you. Worship time was closed with a gesture of great faith. Because God is not just a loving Father but also a mighty and all-powerful God, we believe that He can defeat human trafficking, sexual exploitation of children, and all the systems in society that have caused your vulnerability. The loudest shouts of praise echoed in the hall as we honored the God who will bring you justice.
And now I think about what you might have felt if you knew that at that night, someone thought of you. Someone prayed for you to belong to the warmth of a family. Oh, how I wish that you knew.
Maybe soon you will know.
Hold tight, God is doing great things through His people, and there is hope for you.
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