Churches, where are you?

There are so many parts in the Bible that talk about "taking care of the fatherless and the widows." For those of us who claim that the Bible is our "Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth" manual, why aren't more of us actually "taking care of the fatherless and the widows?"

Churches often send missionaries to cross great oceans and dangerous borders to serve hurting people, forgetting that there are two hurting generations right here that are begging us to serve them; teen mothers and their children.

After working with churches and teen mothers for over 20 years, I think I've come up with three reasons why more churches don't reach out to families headed up by teen mothers: 1. There will only be one immaculate conception in all of history, all other pregnancies come from having sex. Often churches do not know how to deal with teenagers having sex. So when people in congregations see a teen mother their minds tend to go back to how that child came to be and that's where their minds get stuck. Serving teen mothers means that we have to deal with the "teen sex" issues. Most churches aren't ready to do that.

2. Nearly every church in America has at least one couple in attendance who struggle with infertility. Seeing teen mothers with their babies can be painful for couples who are having difficulty conceiving their own.

3. This is probably the biggest reason why more churches don't serve teen mothers and their children; it takes too much time! If a teenage gives birth in eight grade, there is a very good chance she will need assistance for at least 4 years, just to get her through high school. Because our society is all about quick fixes, even our churches want to see things and people changed quickly. Serving a young mother can take years.

No matter what the excuses or reasons, the Bible STILL requires us to serve "the fatherless and the widows." even the ones in the US. Teen mothers are America's new fatherless and widows. Taking care of the them is not just a "good ministry opportunity" it is what God our Father calls "pure and faultless religion"

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this; to look after the orphans (fatherless) and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27