Christians and Adoption
One of my personal pet peeves is to hear from Christian families who wish to adopt in order to fulfill their Christian duty. They know that we are called to care for the orphan. The logical next step for them is not necessarily to consider HOW they personally should care for orphans, but to instead begin the adoption process. That's the most in-your-face drastic thing they can do. They are "on fire" for the orphan, so they start the process to adopt. Oh, please don't.
Please, don't adopt unless you want to parent another child. No, not just "another child," but a hurt child--a child that has experienced major traumatic events and WILL have issues surrounding their past. Don't adopt to "save" a child. A side effect of adopting may be that the child is "saved," but that can't be the primary objective when a child is added to the family.
I'm not saying anything very well here, but THIS GUY does! I think this is the best written expression of how I feel about the issue surrounding Christians and adoption. Head on over to read his full post.
"We need a battalion of Christians ready to adopt, foster, and minister to orphans. But that means we need Christians ready to care for real orphans, with all the brokenness and risk that comes with it." Russell D. Moore
Please, don't adopt unless you want to parent another child. No, not just "another child," but a hurt child--a child that has experienced major traumatic events and WILL have issues surrounding their past. Don't adopt to "save" a child. A side effect of adopting may be that the child is "saved," but that can't be the primary objective when a child is added to the family.
I'm not saying anything very well here, but THIS GUY does! I think this is the best written expression of how I feel about the issue surrounding Christians and adoption. Head on over to read his full post.
"We need a battalion of Christians ready to adopt, foster, and minister to orphans. But that means we need Christians ready to care for real orphans, with all the brokenness and risk that comes with it." Russell D. Moore
2 comments:
Yes, agreed. And as you've walked me through discussions (via email!) regarding all the angles, possibilities & necessary preparations that are a must if our our family were to formally pursue adopting a child from an orphanage in Ghana, I hope it comes across how much I agree with the message you communicate in this post.
I agree wholeheartedly, Anita. There are many ways to support and care for orphans--adoption is only one of them.
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