大象传媒

Good morning.

On this day in 2001 the guardians of an eight-year-old girl who died after being kept in a bath, beaten and fed scraps of food like a dog, were finally convicted of her murder.

Judge Richard Hawkins described their treatment of Victoria Climbie as "truly unimaginable", such was her torture and neglect.

God describes himself as being particularly close to vulnerable children, 鈥淎 father to the fatherless and a protector of widows and orphans.鈥� Many people may rightly wonder where he was for 8-year-old Victoria. As a carer, I often ask where God was for the children we foster many of whom come to us having experienced neglect and abuse themselves.

The Bible has strong words to say about those who mislead or mistreat children, Jesus himself said: It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.鈥�

The passage does not deny the sad fact that children would suffer in this world, but nevertheless Jesus reinforces that there would be a final reckoning.

It's perhaps easier to question God than to question our own responsibility regarding the plight of neglected and abused children in our communities . With a child coming into care every 20 minutes in the UK our care system is under more pressure than it was 15 years ago when Victoria was alive and her case overlooked.

William Wilberforce, the abolitionist politician, challenges us: "you can choose to turn away, but you cannot say that you did not know".

Father to the fatherless, help us not to be the cause of little ones stumbling.
Rather help us to show your love and compassion to the vulnerable children of our nation.
Amen