Problem in almost every country

According to UNICEF recent numbers, the number of orphans worldwide is between 143 million and 200 million children. These numbers are sad. That doesn't include those who are 16,17 and 18.

But what happens when these children become teens? What happens when they "age out"? What happens when they turn 15 and they have no where to go. Let me share some more statistics.

In Russia and the Ukraine, studies have shown that 10% – 15% of these children commit sucide before they reach age eighteen

These studies also show that 60% of the girls become prostitutes and 70%of the boys become hardened criminals

Another Russian study reported that of the 15,000 orphans aging out of state-run institutions every year, 1,500 committed suicide, 5,000 were unemployed, 6,000 were homeless and 3,000 were in prison within three years…

Teens at age 15 are clearly not ready to be out on their own and trying to "survive". Look at those statistics above, 15,000 teens age out at 15 and within three years, up to 10,500 of them either committed suicide, were homeless or were in prison. That means that two of every three kids coming out of orphanages are in for a horrible existence.

As I continue to watch Haiti unfold the reports say the same thing. Even kids in this country age out at 15 and have no where to go. Who will take care of them, who will be a father to the fatherless? We need to do whatever we can as a ministry, focusing on these teens around the world and here at home. Make no mistake, this age group is neglected here in Canada.

My prayer for Boaz Ministry is that we would never lose the focus of what this ministry is to be about. We are to focus on teens between the age of 15 and 19. They need people to come alongside of them, teach them, love them and care for them. They are not prepared to enter the world at their age. If we can invest in them, hopefully the people we minister to will have a much higher success rate than they have had in other countries.