David McCormick

Few times have I felt more uncomfortable sitting in a court room surrounded by an angry judge, apathetic psychologist, bored lawyer, distracted court official and a defeated biological mom. This is the fourth court date where the mom has come to be reminded of her shortcomings and judged by her lifestyle and the neglect her two little girls have suffered. Throughout the hearing, the judge repeatedly referred to the mom'in a condescending way and as this broken lady sought to maintain some of her dignity, he would glance over at me with a face marked by one word: SHAME. Of course, prostitution is never a source of joy for the women that are slaves to it, but being in that room with a thick stench of oppression and bondage made me realize that there are deeper levels of despair and guilt that I have never experienced personally. As the woman walked out of the court room I remained seated as I chatted with the psychologist seated next to me. It was incredible how mechanical the transi...

Reading through the Amplified Version of the Bible, I stumbled upon a verse that I have "known" for years, but never really assimilated until now.  In Proverbs 22:6 it says "Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it." As parents, we have all heard and clung to the part that says that if we are faithful in training up our children in the right way we can have some kind of guarantee that one day, God will bring them back to that path. Working in orphan ministry, we obviously want to grab on to this promise but we often equate the training aspect to sitting our kids in church services and group devotions. I feel like the heart of this verse is much deeper and more complex. As Christians, we would say that our number one priority for the children we care for is for them to find healing from their past, restoration in every area of their lives and come into a personal relat...