Zambia (MNN) ― Roughly 75-percent of Zambian households are caring for at least one orphan due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. According to the United Nations, one in every six adults in Zambia is living with HIV, and life expectancy at birth has fallen below 40 years.
About 70 percent of the population earns less than US$1 per day, so families, communities and schools have a hard time meeting the expenses of caring for children.
The situation is aggravated by drought which leads to famine. Starvation makes both the children and their mothers more vulnerable to disease especially HIV/AIDS related illness.
Many of the heads of the households, children themselves, face a grim future without help. That's why Orphan Sunday is recognized on the first Sunday of October.
An internationally-recognized day, Orphan Sunday's uniqueness is that it encourages believers not only to focus on the biblical call to "look after" the widows and orphans in their distress, but also to raise money to provide the support they need.
Every Orphan's Hope works with churches in Zambia to encourage, equip, and mobilize the church so that they can reach every orphan with the Gospel.
Their mission is to help committed Christians share the promise of Christ with children who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS, as well as sharing this same message with their communities, and then, to the nation.
