Stephanie MendozaRST 2122 April 2014Professor PolluckThe Church and OrphanagesThe home is a place where children should feel good and comfortable. When a place like home is unavailable, many children are left with only one choice: live on the streets or in an orphanage. Life can be very hard for children, especially if both parents die. When a child is left alone due to the death of his parents he becomes an obligation towards his closest relatives. However, they are not obligated to take the child. Many family members may not want such a large obligation and refuse to care for the child. During this decision, children begin to realize that they are not wanted and begin to feel neglected. This is when they are sent to orphanages; however, they are not always placed in orphanages because they have no family. There are times when a family cannot support another person and decides to leave one of their children in an orphanage. Many people have been told that God is the father of orphans and that his generosity was to be shared with them. Even though this sentence says what needed to be done, it wasn't done. The Romans did not care for orphans or widows. As Christianity began to influence Roman life, charity was something that grew. Orphans were placed in nurseries and rules were established. Girls had to be cared for until they reached marriageable age. The boys were given tools and enabled to earn a living.1 However, things did not always go well for the defenseless children. Orphanages have existed since the Middle Ages, but the first orphanage in North America was opened by Roman Catholic nuns in 1729.2 Subsequently the number of orphanages began to increase, but in 1916 a commission from the New York state government was...... half paper ......to help the unfortunate for the sake of it and because the Bible has guided them to help. God has done a great job and these types of actions are what make people believe again. Every picture of the children who are in the orphanage shows happiness. This orphanage may not be run by religious personnel, but a good orphanage is what matters. The past may hold many tragic events and perhaps the future will be worse, but the most tragic events are when people the community trusts harm the people we love. It may not be the people we love, but people in general who should not be harmed, especially children. If the church wants to integrate with an orphanage, that's wonderful, but no harmful actions should be taken. God is there to protect the unfortunate and so should the people who serve Him.