RiverTree Christian Church
Lexington, Kentucky
Five years ago, God began building a deep concern for at-risk children into the DNA of RiverTree Christian Church. We discovered that more than 33,000 children around the world die every day from poverty or preventable poverty-related diseases. That”s about 210,000 children per week, or 11 million per year. Did I mention the word preventable?
More than 100 million children live on the streets around the world. If we were to say the name of every street child in the world, using one second per name, it would take us more than three years to name them all.
The likelihood of a little Haitian child making it to his or her fifth birthday is so small many parents do not even give their children a name until they turn 5.
In Proverbs 31:8, 9, God instructs us to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice” (New Living Translation).
RiverTree is taking those words of God very seriously. We now sponsor more than 800 children through Compassion International. We have started four Child Survival Programs in Ecuador and Peru (CSPs give children in the womb prenatal care and further care through the age of 2). We have helped open orphanages in the Ukraine and Peru. We are currently helping to open a home for pregnant teenage girls in Peru (Hannah”s Home will give these girls a safe place to have their babies and teach them how much God loves them).
Participation in these ministries led RiverTree to start its “Born in Our Hearts” adoption ministry (www.borninourhearts.org). We currently have 130 families who have either already adopted or are in the process of adoption. My wife and I are currently adopting an at-risk child.
Locally, we also partner with the Christian Children”s Home of Ohio to care for children in the foster-care system. There are more than 15,000 children in foster care in Ohio alone!
It is well-known that more than 85 percent of the people who accept Jesus as their Savior do so before the age of 18. We believe that by caring for at-risk children, we are not only fulfilling a command of God, but also the Great Commission in the most effective way possible.
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