Suicide

Last night I began to share some of the real life statistics that impact many amazing teens. The teens I am talking about are orphaned teens. We often think of orphaned children as being babies and toddlers, which are certainly a part of the orphaned population. The reality is new children come into orphanages daily. These children get older and become teens and then "age out", and become emancipated.

There are almost 35,000 teens that age out every day, that means every 2.2 seconds a teen is "out". What happens to these amazing kids who have endured so much? Sadly for a number of them, suicide is too often the solution. For instance in Russia and Ukraine 10-15% of these teens commit suicide within the first year "out".

I am not sure how that affects you, but I find that very troubling. To think that this is the only alternative that many of these young adults feel they have is tragic. Suicide can be caused  by many factors, but often a common denominator is hopelessness. Imagine how hopeless it must be too feel that no one cares, understands, loves, or even notices you. These precious people often have no one to trust, ask questions of or encourage them. They have no place to lay their heads, no one to provide meals for them and they are all alone.

I know this is not the most uplifting reality, but it is reality. We as the body of Christ have a responsibility to make a difference. Too often I hear people say that they can't do anything to change this. That is simply not true! To do nothing is at best apathetic, but more truthfully is pathetic!

Hang in there with me as we discuss more challenges tomorrow night. Then after we look at three more  challenges emancipated teens face we will consider the solutions that we can all be a part of.