How should we take care of orphans?

Answer:

"Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world" (James 1:27).

The word translated as "visit" in this passage is the Greek word episkeptomai. According to Thayer, it means, “to look upon or after, to inspect, examine with the eyes; . . . in order to see how he is, i.e. to visit, go see one. . . . to look upon in order to help or benefit; e.g. to look after, have a care for, provide for . . .” It is related to the Greek word for overseer, as in an elder overseeing a congregation.

Taking a child into your home would definitely give you opportunities to watch over him, but if such is not possible, you can get actively involved. Be a big brother, sister, aunt, or uncle to the child. Check to see that he is adequately cared for, go to his games, help him with his schoolwork, be someone he can go to to ask for help or to cry on your shoulder when he gets lonely. Help find them a permanent home. When you are involved in someone's life you will see opportunities to make life a little bit more comfortable or less stressful.

The same goes for a widow. Stop in and visit. Bring cake and tea for a little social. Bring a meal. Take her to the store or make sure she can get to her doctor's appointment. Give her a ride to services.

We fool ourselves into thinking that throwing money at some large organization is fulfilling our duty, but the very wording of this passage is that we are to personally get actively involved in the lives of those who are less fortunate than we ourselves are.