Adoption
Webster’s Definition: to take by choice into a relationship; as one’s own.

According to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, attitude on adoption survey, of the 81.5 million people who have considered adoption at some point in their lifetime, 48% of those families turned to their house of worship for support. People are associating adoption with faith.

God is the God of Adoption
A child can become orphaned as a result of abandonment or death of a parent or parents. Right now, millions of children are dreaming of having a forever family. The Bible shows us that adoption is clearly God’s heart. Ephesians 1:5 “...he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will”. There are approximately 34,000,000 orphans around the world, 129,000 of which are in the United States. We in the faith community are pro-life and speak out against abortion, offering adoption as an alternative. If not us, then who will adopt these precious children.

These children are products of neglect, abuse and/or abandonment. Some have bounced from foster home to foster home. Who will hold them when they’re scared? Who will feed them when they’re hungry? Who will love them unconditionally? And most importantly, who will teach them of Jesus?

Steven Curtis Chapman’s adoption website has a byline “Experience the Miracle of Adoption”. When we sacrifice our desires for God’s desires, we can find real joy, not just happiness.

Scripture mentions caring for orphans, widows and strangers over sixty times. Through caring for this group, we can experience God’s blessings.

Matthew 25:34. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 40 And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'

God promises to provide:
Psalm 68:5 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation. 6 God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity;.

Deuteronomy 10:18 He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. He will bless those who bless them:

Deuteronomy 14:28 ...bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. 29 And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

Following is an excerpt from the book “Fields of the Fatherless” written by C. Thomas Davis.

Notes from the Field
I hated my life since the third grade when I was unmercifully beaten. I felt then that life is lost and death is looking for me. And my tears were telling me that life was nothing in comparison with death. I felt like a little cockroach, which (responds in) fear when seen.

A bunch of American people came to our school. I thought these people wanted to laugh at us. But I was mistaken. They are people willing to give up the most precious gift a person can possess, love. (Their) intentions to share seemed strange as they had their own kids. But these people have such big hearts to give that there is still enough room even for us little cockroaches.

Then I began to feel myself not a cockroach anymore which deserved to be killed, but a little human being. It is a wonderful feeling. Believe me.

— FROM A RUSSIAN ORPHAN