MH page 205

“Ye have the poor with you always,” Christ said, “and whensoever ye will ye may do them good.” “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” Mark 14:7 ; James 1:27 .

Scripture emphasizes continuous care for the poor, orphans, and widows as a mark of true religion. This paragraph consists of biblical quotations regarding care for the poor and vulnerable.

In placing among them the helpless and the poor, to be dependent upon their care, Christ tests His professed followers. By our love and service for His needy children we prove the genuineness of our love for Him. To neglect them is to declare ourselves false disciples, strangers to Christ and His love.

Service to the needy serves as a spiritual test of genuine discipleship and love for Christ. This is a theological and spiritual statement concerning Christian discipleship and motivation.

If all were done that could be done in providing homes in families for orphan children, there would still remain very many requiring care. Many of them have received an inheritance of evil. They are unpromising, unattractive, perverse, but they are the purchase of the blood of Christ, and in His sight are just as precious as are our own little ones. Unless a helping hand is held out to them, they will grow up in ignorance and drift into vice and crime. Many of these children could be rescued through the work of orphan asylums.

Vulnerable children with difficult backgrounds require intervention and help to prevent negative social outcomes. Combines theological valuation of children with empirical observations on socioeconomic risk factors.

Such institutions, to be most effective, should be modeled as closely as possible after the plan of a Christian home. Instead of large establishments, bringing great numbers together, let there be small institutions in different places. Instead of being in or near some town or large city, they should be in the country where land can be secured for cultivation and the children can be brought into contact with nature and can have the benefits of industrial training.

Orphanages are most effective when structured as small, home-like rural settings rather than large urban institutions. Provides structural and environmental recommendations for child care institutions.