- The most recent estimate is that there are approximately 145 million orphans in the world (UNICEF 2008). For this number, an orphan is defined as a child who has lost one or both parents.
- More than 15 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS, over 11.6 million of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa.
- In 2007 67.5 million Children in South Asia and East Asia had lost one or both parents due to all causes.
- The UNICEF orphan numbers DON’T include abandonment (millions of children) as well as sold and/or trafficked children.
- In the US there are approximately 500,000 children in foster care (Based on data submitted by states as of January 16, 2008)
- 130,000 of those children in foster care are waiting and available for adoption. Children waiting to be adopted include children with a goal of adoption and/or whose parental rights have been terminated.
- Approximately 51,000 children are adopted from the foster system each year
- That leaves 79,000 children annually in the US needing an adoptive family.
(statistics courtesy of The Abba Fund Blog)
Do these statistics frustrate you? Do they overwhelm you? Or do they make you feel like there is nothing you can do?
Know that there is hope! GOD has called us all to care for the orphan. As Steven Curtis Chapman said, "If only 7 percent of the 2 billion Christians in the world would care for a
single orphan in distress, there would effectively be no more orphans. If
everybody would be willing to simply do something to care for one of these
precious treasures, I think we would be amazed by just how much we could change
the world. We can each do something, whether it is donating, adopting,
fostering, mentoring, visiting orphans or supporting families that have taken in
orphans."
So I guess the only question is...