Christian families in the US can adopt and care for children from other countries of the world, to be able to share their love and care with them for four to six weeks this summer, through an initiative by international hosting group Force for Christ.
This year, the international hosting program by the group aims to open American Christian homes for children from Malawi, who can spend the summer knowing the Word of Christ through loving families.
Chad LaForce of the Christian non-profit explains that "hosting is where an orphan child from another country comes and stays for a period of between four to six weeks with a Christian family in the United States. And so we facilitate that whole process."
The group said that in Malawi people there have to deal with problems such as poverty, starvation, malaria, and high HIV rates. The country has thousands of orphans, many of whose parents succumbed to such harsh conditions.
"A lot of their twenty-and-thirty-something-year-old parents, many many of them die. So you have thousands of orphans without an orphanage, without any infrastructure. Often times without food. Literally with just the shirt on their back," LaForce said.
American families will be given training and tips in Malawi culture and language, so that they can build thriving relationships with the children they will care for about two months. The hosting group said that most of the children know English, but they are also accompanied by a translator.
Force for Christ hopes that when Christian families host orphans, they will also be able to share the Gospel with them, and love the orphaned child the way God loved us.
Christians who are interested in caring for the young and have a room are invited to be part of the hosting program.
The non-profit reported on its website that orphaned children have 50 percent chances of survival by the time they reach the age of 16. Of those who live to see their 20th birthday, about 60 percent fall into prostitution or crime, and many others become addicts. The group also said that about 10 percent of orphans who have never experienced a healthy family grow up as depressed individuals and are likely to commit suicide by their 18th birthday.
