How and Why Should the Church Support Foster and Adoption Families?
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I recently met a girl who is in college, and she shared with me that she and her brother were adopted when she was a baby. Her mother did drugs while she was pregnant with her, however by the grace of God, she is perfectly healthy and even on a college sports team earning a degree today.
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Many married couples cannot have children. The dream to be a parent feels far off and impossible. However, being open to the joy of adoption can help someone take the courageous step to pursue children in need. When Hannah in the Bible prayed to the Lord to conceive, he answered her prayers and she said, “I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him” (1 Samuel 1:27).
Maybe you are someone to whom God has not provided fertility? Have you considered that maybe the Lord has a greater plan for you to grow a family through adoption? Maybe you already have kids and know that the Lord has blessed you with abilities to care for more kids and you want to take a step of faith. Seek the Lord and walk with Him. Whatever your journey looks like, He is there.
I have known some families who have had incredibly hard experiences with their adopted children. The reality of sin and challenges of emotions set in and families struggle. As the church, we need to come around and pray for them, offer to help baby-sit, give them counseling, provide expert materials, give them words of affirmation, hug them, listen to them, and share stories from grown adults who were adopted and had parents step into their lives.
Adoption is not necessarily easy, but the Lord does not call us to easy. He calls us to obedience. If God has called someone to adopt, then He will equip them and support them in the process. We get to play a role in offering resources and encouragement to them.
Why should we care about adoption as the church? We should care because God cared so much about us that He sent His only Son to die on our behalf and raise to life so that we could be adopted into His family. We ourselves are the adopted ones. We can model Christ’s love by adopting or ministering to those who do adopt.
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