|
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” Matthew 25:31-40 After one is born again, there is nothing more central to the Christian religion than looking after the orphan, widow, and the suffering. The two passages of scripture above and many others illustrate the centrality of charity (love that expresses itself as kindness and service to the poor and the downtrodden) to Christian ministry. It’s so important that doing so is called practicing religion that God sees as “pure and faultless”. It’s so important that the scene from the judgment day, depicted above, shows Christ (the King) apparently making judgments on who enters heaven and who doesn’t on the basis of how they treated the poor. It’s as if to say that those who are truly born of God (through the Cross of Christ) shall be known by their fruits (Matt 7:15-23). The fruit is doing the will of God, which is to love God and love others. The clearest evidenced or manifestation of that love is in how we serve the poor and each other. Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) epitomize the least of these. And since Christ walked the earth, Christian servants like Mother Teresa and millions of other saints have obeyed the call of Christ to serve the least of these. Many international and local Christian missionaries today are obeying that command and running orphan care ministries and orphanages. Many churches are obeying that command and are significantly involved in caring for the orphan and the vulnerable child. While obeying the call of Christ is vital, “to look after orphans and widows in their distress”, we must learn how to do so in the best way possible so that we do not hurt the very ones we are trying to care for. To borrow a phrase from the fathers of modern medicine, “first, do no harm” (“primum non nocere”). |
Servants University (SU) made history by becoming the first Institution of higher learning in the world to ever offer degree and certificate programs in the care of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). And today, it continues to be the premier institution advancing education in the care of OVC based on biblical principles. In addition to its robust Christian OVC degree programs, SU also offers degrees in Christian Missions and Biblical and Theological studies.
Yet, we never set out to make history. So how did this happen?
The First OVC Degree Programs in History!
It’s interesting that for the thousands of universities that exist across the globe and the thousands of degree programs that exist, none of them was a program designed to train people going into the care of OVC. Yet, we know of the gravity of the orphan care crisis and the fact that hundreds of millions of poor children suffer around the world.
Until SU was founded, many people who went into orphan care didn’t get any training. Many never even thought they needed any. The mentality that prevailed was that any help is good for orphans. Most people thought these kids just needed someone to feed them, love them, give them hugs, and cuddle them. Little thought was given to what kind of food would be best for a malnourished child or what kind of care is best for children with psychological trauma, etc. Yet, the requirements for teachers in our daycares and kindergartens are very robust. Many states require kindergarten teachers to have a bachelor’s degree. There are no requirements for a person who goes overseas to serve orphans.
This changed when family medicine specialist Dr. Kenneth Acha, the founder, and president of SU, became frustrated with the difficulty in finding competent orphan care workers for his orphan care team at Shaping Destiny. He used to take volunteers from the U.S. to Cameroon with him. These young people were passionate and had the best intentions but had no idea how to work with orphans. Yet, many of them were ready to dedicate their entire lives to serving orphans. And this problem wasn’t limited to international missionaries. Local African orphan care workers were also not prepared to serve orphans in their communities. Dr. Acha’s team did a thorough search trying to find an institution anywhere in the world that provided training that he could refer people to and hire graduates from.
When absolutely none was found, that’s when Servants University was born. Dr. Acha, an avid learner, and an investigator into evidence-based medicine methods for caring for OVC, put together a team that has created an amazing curriculum that trains people at both undergraduate and graduate level.
Son of a complete orphan and an OVC
It’s amazing the kind of person God would choose to bring major innovation into the area of OVC care and found the first institution in the world to ever offer degree programs in the care of OVC. Dr. Kenneth Acha comes from a family that has experienced first hand the pain of fatherlessness.
Kenneth’s father, John Acha, was born a complete orphan. John’s mom bled to death giving birth to him. His father had died before he was born. This happened in a remote village in Cameroon, in Africa several decades ago, in an area where baby formula did not exist. The first few days to weeks of life were difficult for John. He was fed sweet palm wine. This was until his older sister who happened to have a baby shortly after his mother breastfed her own younger brother. Because of the circumstances surrounding his birth, John was given the local name “Muwai,” which in the Moghamo language translates literally to “one who is thrown away,” “abandoned”. It’s equivalent to naming a child “orphan”. So he was labeled like that from day one and he grew up with the scars of raising himself. Kenneth remembers that they grew up knowing a father who truly loved them but who also bore the scars of being abused and of raising himself.
John died when Kenneth was 9 years old. His family plunged into abject poverty because John was the only breadwinner. As a child, Kenneth had limited access to medical care and other basic needs. His dreams of becoming a medical doctor were lost for a while when he dropped out of grade school because his mother couldn’t afford tuition that was about $10-15 per year. Growing up as an orphan and vulnerable child, Kenneth remembers how it felt to be mocked by other kids for lacking basic needs. He remembers the hopelessness that occurred when an ambitious child could not see a path to his dreams even when he was a hard worker and academically gifted.
God Saves Orphans
A fun little story from a few years before SU was founded. When Kenneth’s first son was born, he and his wife Ellen wanted to name him Joshua. Because Kenneth’s father, John, is one of his heroes, he wanted to name his son in his honor as well. Being culturally minded, Kenneth realized that his father’s given name that should be used is “Muwai”. Which as stated above, means “abandoned” child or orphan. The thought of giving their child a name with that meaning was difficult for them. Yet, his father was such a great man and they wanted to honor him. After consulting elders that are Christians in the culture and praying they still didn’t know what to do. They thought they should name the child Joshua John. Even though they had no peace about that, they planned to do that instead of naming the boy Muwai. However, right before discharge from the hospital when the Achas were asked to fill out the birth certificate, they had a revelation! Muwai, not John, was definitely the name to go with. They felt that God was saying through those elders and through our prayers that it is good that they looking at the name Muwai and considering the meaning. They needed to also look at the meaning of the name Joshua and consider both together because the child is going to be called Joshua Muwai. Now Joshua means “God Saves.” The revelation was that “God Saves Orphans.” It was a message that they needed to be reminded of every time they see their son. Before Joshua was three years old, SU was founded.
Today, SU has students in many different countries. Many of them are actively working taking care of OVC and say that the courses they are taking at SU help them with the work they do daily for OVC. Kenneth’s organization, Shaping Destiny has served thousands of OVC in Cameroon, Africa. Another beautiful thing is that since SU was founded, a major university has learned from SU’s work and created a program for OVC with similar courses. And that’s amazing! We want to see orphan care workers equipped all over the world!
God has used Kenneth’s past to shape his calling. One might say, the enemy crushed the Acha family lineage but God has raised up a root from that family that He is using to catalyze innovation in the orphan care field. How beautiful!
As Dr. Acha often says, what motivates the work that we do at SU is our belief that orphans deserve the highest standards of care possible. And what also motivates us is the fact that there is a movement that God is raising all over the world. As a global community, we can actually raise the standards of orphan care. And not just for orphans but for every child. We have what it takes to be able to do that on a scientific level, on a logistical level, and on a financial level. That knowledge drives us. We also believe that as a global community we can change the way we perceive orphans. When we start perceiving orphans the way we perceive our own biological children, then the way we treat them will follow.
