Last Sunday Philip and I both spoke at The Moody Church Fall Missions Conference. The church got its very start as a ministry to homeless children and orphans, and thankfully, they haven’t forgotten their roots. Dwight L. Moody was a traveling shoe salesman in the mid-19th century, but his passion was for the children living on the streets of Chicago. Just a few years after his conversion in 1855, he and two ministry partners turned an abandoned saloon into a Sunday school mission for children. The church quickly grew and, although it left the saloon behind many, many years ago, it carried its passion for children with it.
 
Over the last several years, we have gotten to know many of The Moody Church’s other ministry partners, and have seen the hand of God as He works through them to care for “ the least of these”. This year, I met Ralph Borde, founder of As Our Own. Just recently, I heard about As Our Own for the first time during a conversation with Jerry Edmonson, pastor of the Fellowship at Cinco Ranch. It is an extraordinary ministry, rescuing the children of prostitutes in India, children who inevitably would end up in the sex trades themselves. Ralph and his team take these children and truly care for them “as our own,” providing for them just as they would provide for their biological children. I love the way Ralph puts it: ‘This isn’t a program; it’s family.”
 
At the Sunday luncheon, we heard story after story of how God is using His faithful to care for His children. But I ended the weekend with a question: “Why isn’t every church this serious about doing what God has told us to do?” Or, perhaps more honestly: “Why isn’t every believer serious about obedience to Christ in this matter?”
 
Are you serious?