Photo Courtesy of Wayne Lavender
Orphan Trek
The Rev. Wayne Lavender poses with Gaston Warner, CEO of ZOE, another faith-based orphan organization on March 16 during his trek to Portland, Ore., for General Conference
As the start of the 2016 General Conference looms May 10 in Portland, Ore., one man likely will arrive footsore, but satisfied at having completed a quest to put the plight of the world's orphans into focus for The United Methodist Church.
Five months ago, the Rev. Wayne Lavender dipped a foot into the Atlantic Ocean near his home in Virginia Beach, Va., in a symbolic start for his 2,700-mile trek by running, walking and car travel to reach Portland and General Conference. Along his way to Portland, Rev. Lavender has been stopping at churches and other venues along the way to promote his petition, titled "Orphans and Vulnerable Children, by gaining additional signers. His supporters have been following his trip via Twitter at #trek4orphans.
Executive director of the Foundation 4 Orphans and a clergy member of the New York Annual Conference, Rev. Lavender has submitted a petition to have the UMC make "caring for orphans" the center of its four current mission goals: ministry with the poor, improving global health and eradicating disease, establishing and renewing congregations, and developing Christian leaders. In the rationale for his petition, Rev. Lavender created a diagram to show how caring for vulnerable children can unify all four mission objectives.
His petition comes with some sobering statistics as listed on the Foundation 4 Orphans website:
- · Some 26,000 children die daily from the effects of extreme poverty, an annual total of 10 million children.
- · There are an estimated 210 million orphans alive today.
- · The crisis of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) is one of the most pressing ethical issues of our day, and yet it remains predominately the silent concern with little attention, publicity, funding or policies.
According to his website, Rev. Lavender also seeks through his trip to:
- · Raise awareness of orphans and vulnerable children in the global south.
- · Raise funds for new orphan projects in Mozambique, Iraq, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
On his website and in other interviews, the trekker has expressed deep faith and hope in the ethical and charitable appeal of his goal. A United Methodist Reporter interview quotes Rev. Lavender: “'Thirty separate times the Bible tells us to care for orphans,' Lavender said. 'Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in distress…' he quotes from James 1:27."
Click here to read Lavender's petition. Click here to read Lavender’s rationale for the petition. Learn more about the Foundation 4 Orphans.