By Sean

When Paige and I first felt called to orphaned children in South Asia, I assumed I knew what that work looked like. You find a child who has lost everything, and you rescue them. You bring them somewhere new and give them a fresh start.

Then I learned something that changed everything for us:

• 96% of the world's "orphans" have at least one living relative
• 78% have one living parent

Read those again.

The overwhelming majority of children we call orphans actually have one living parent, but one who is—for reasons usually having to do with poverty—unable to adequately care for their child.

And almost all the rest have a grandmother, an aunt or uncle, an older brother or sister… Someone who already knows them, already shares their story, and in most cases, already loves them.

What these families lack isn't love. It's resources. Poverty, not death, is what most often separates a child from family.

For generations, the first response to an orphaned child was to build an orphanage. It was well-intentioned. And honestly, I understand it, because we spent our first decade caring for children in family-style “children’s homes” led by village pastors. We loved those children well.

But we came to want more for them than good care. We wanted them to belong.

So we transitioned everything we do at Restoring Hope to what's called family-based care.

Here's what that means: When a child loses one or both parents, we make it possible for that child to remain with their living biological family. In village South Asia, extended family isn't a backup plan; it's already the natural fabric of a child's life.

A grandmother's home is not a placement. It's home.

Then we surround that family through the local village church, pouring love on the child and their caregiver—so the child's needs are met no matter how difficult the tragedy they've walked through.

And we invest in their education, so these children rise out of poverty, often as the first in their family to earn a college degree. (Notably, Restoring Hope recently celebrated our 100th college graduate!)

And here's my favorite part. When our kids talk about their futures, listen to what they say:

"I want to take care of my grandpa."
"I want to make sure my grandma is taken care of."
"I want to help give back to my community."

That's the difference.

A child rescued out of their world dreams of leaving. A child restored within their family dreams of giving back to the very people who raised them, and to villages that will be transformed by them.

At Restoring Hope, we don't rescue children from their families. We restore children with their families. It's slower, quieter work. And we're convinced it's the work God has given us.

If you'd like to go deeper into how family-based care works at Restoring Hope, and read a story that demonstrates its impact, I invite you to read more here.