A few years ago, the Lord opened our eyes to a great and overwhelming need.
There are over 147 MILLION orphans worldwide today.
He also opened our eyes to a great and overwhelming love.
"He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing." - Deuteronomy 10:18
"When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands." - Deuteronomy 24:19
"Because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the orphan who had no helper." - Job 29:12
He supports the fatherless and the widow, but He thwarts the way of the wicked." - Psalm 146:9
"Learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow."
- Isaiah 1:17
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." - James 1:27
The Lord has a great love for orphans. This is something the Church needs to understand fully and embrace. We were faced with this reality and with a calling and a choice. We decided to obey.
We know the Lord has called us to adopt and care for His orphans. He has had our children planned for us all along. We knew that our son was sitting in an orphanage in Ethiopia, and we know today that our next child is doing the same in an orphanage in Haiti. The Lord cares for these children deeply, and He has given us a burden for them and for so many like them.
We desire to see the world as God sees it, and care about what He cares about.
To quote from another adoptive family, "We're not in this to 'rescue' or 'save' a child. [those words actually make me shutter in relation to adoption] we're simply loving our Jesus and trying our best to follow Him...somehow along the way we just get the incredible privilege of welcoming a little Ethiopian kiddo into our lives."
We couldn't have said it better!
