Churches around the world are invited to mark Orphan Sunday on 8 November, or on another Sunday that fits their local calendar, by praying for vulnerable children and helping them grow up in safe, loving families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Welt ohne Waisen<\/a> (WWO) is encouraging congregations to strengthen families, support caregivers and work together to protect children. This year\u2019s theme is \u201cPray and Care. Together for Children and Families.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEveryone can do something,\u201d WWO says. Its Orphan Sunday toolkit<\/a> offers prayer guides, videos, devotionals, social media materials and practical ideas to help churches prepare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen we look at the number of children who lack adequate parental care, the challenge can feel overwhelming,\u201d said Rebecca Goropevsek, Co-Coordinator of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Children\u2019s Network<\/a>. \u201cBut churches have a significant role to play. They are present in almost every community, they know the families around them, and they are trusted. Few are better positioned to notice a family under strain, walk alongside caregivers and offer support that lasts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThrough Orphan Sunday, churches can start with small, practical steps \u2014 raising awareness, supporting families, encouraging caregivers and inspiring others to get involved,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen churches recognize their influence and act together, even small beginnings can bring lasting change for children and families.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Orphan Sunday began in 2002 in Kalingalinga, a community in Lusaka, Zambia. Pastor Billiance Chondwe drew on James 1:27, which describes looking after orphans and widows in their distress as religion that is \u201cpure and faultless\u201d (NIV). He called his congregation to care for the orphans and widows around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although many members were poor themselves, they brought food, clothing and shoes for children in need. Their generosity made a lasting impression on Gary Schneider, an American visitor who went on to help coordinate Orphan Sunday across Zambia and share the vision with churches in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The observance reached the United States in 2003 with support from Every Orphan\u2019s Hope and other organizations. In 2009, the Christian Alliance for Orphans<\/a> began coordinating it. Today it is observed in more than 100 countries, according to its organizers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Ukraine, Orphan Sunday helped mobilize thousands of churches on behalf of children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During a recent webinar<\/a> hosted by the WEA Children\u2019s Network, Andrii Fedun, WWO\u2019s events and communications lead in Ukraine, recalled how Ukraine Without Orphans invited churches to a day of prayer for children and families about 15 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than 6,000 churches across denominations took part in the first year, and more than 18,000 the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet for Fedun, the numbers were not the most important outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe real story wasn\u2019t the number. It was unity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Churches prayed together, supported foster and adoptive families, visited children and helped families in crisis. Along the way, congregations came to see caring for children at risk not as the task of a few specialized organizations but as a calling for the whole Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Orphan Sunday can help churches make that shift, Fedun said: \u201cIt can move us from awareness to prayer, from prayer to action, and from action to collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A similar story unfolded in Jordan. In February 2016, Nisreen Hawatmeh, now WWO\u2019s regional ambassador for the Middle East and North Africa, attended the first WWO Global Forum<\/a> and encountered the vision behind Orphan Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back home, she reached out to others who shared her concern, and together they began praying and planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn 2017, we observed the first Orphan Sunday in Jordan with just four churches,\u201d Hawatmeh recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Jordan, the movement spread to Syria and Egypt, then Iraq, Sudan, Uganda, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and the West Bank. Lebanon joined in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Churches in the region distribute Orphan Sunday posters and use the day to pray for children and encourage practical responses to their needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hawatmeh hopes the vision will reach every part of the Arab world, inspiring more churches to ask how they can ensure that every child experiences \u201clove, protection, belonging and hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n WWO\u2019s vision is for every child to grow up in a safe, loving family and community, know their heavenly Father and reach their God-given potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That goes beyond meeting immediate needs. Churches can help keep families together by supporting parents and caregivers, encouraging foster and adoptive families, and helping prevent unnecessary separation.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFrom one church in Zambia to a global movement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Unity in Ukraine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A growing response across the Middle East and North Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What churches can do<\/h2>\n\n\n\n