Chosen

Recently, Kristi shared her heart and gave us a glimpse at the beginnings of a fire that our Father God lit in her that would eventually become Chosen. 

Walking the halls of the sterile orphanage, I gripped tightly to my daughter. Instincts to run overwhelmed me; the reality of her first year of life, devastating. The orphanage director led our sheltered Kansas family to the infant nursery where she introduced us to twenty of the newest members of the Social Welfare Institute. Babies, only weeks old, most with severe heart or other medical conditions, abandoned by their birth parents. Many would never know the love of an earthly mother and father, nor experience the loving care they so desperately needed. Some would not make it to their first birthday. Tears fell as our eyes took in their tiny faces and we prayed over each one. All we could think was,“Thank you, God! For sparing our daughter!” Our three sons wandered the rooms in stunned silence, quietly internalizing all they observed, speechless. What an inconceivable moment, an earth shattering reality; our family, changed by God in a moment, forever. 

Through orphan care and adoption, the church fulfills the gospel commandment to care for orphans, and mimics the characteristic of Father God by setting the lonely in families. (Psalm 68:6) For too long, adoption has been taboo in society and churches alike. Adoptive parents and children, afraid to speak of their experience for fear of judgment or pain, remain silent in their quest for normalcy. The thought that adopted children are somehow less than real children or our own children, skews the individual’s view of redemption. Timothy Paul Jones, contributor to A Guide to Adoption and Orphan Care, shares his thoughts on what he calls “the Pinocchio syndrome.”, “Do you know who your daughter’s ‘real parents’ were?", "We’re interested in adoption, but we want to have our ‘own children’ first.", "Those three are their ‘real kids’ then they adopted the others later.” He goes on to say, “These patterns tell us as much about our perception of the gospel as they do about our perception of adoption. If my daughters are not my ‘real’ daughters because they’re adopted, you and I are not quite God’s ‘real’ children; you are not quite God’s ‘own’ child; Jesus is not quite your ‘real’ brother. If you are not God’s real child and if Jesus is not my real brother, you and I are still lost in our sins.”

Christians have the perfect model of adoption painted in Scripture, through the redemption of the people who become Children of God and inherit all rights to God the Father. “Adoption is, on the one hand, gospel. In this, adoption tells us who we are as children of the Father. Adoption as gospel tells us about our identity, our inheritance, and our mission as sons of God. Adoption is also defined as mission. In this, adoption tells us our purpose in this age as the people of Christ. Missional adoption spurs us to join Christ in advocating for the helpless and the abandoned.” God commands His people to care for the orphan throughout His Word. the world has witnessed the decline of the family unit. This structure, when damaged, wreaks havoc in lives, homes, churches, communities, and etc. “The protection of children isn’t charity. It isn’t part of a political program fitting somewhere between tax cuts and gun rights or between carbon emission caps and a national service corps. It’s spiritual warfare.” (I would like to add, this is not a fad or a trend.) More children than ever experience abandonment, abuse, and neglect. This generation has come against the powers of darkness in unfathomable ways. God has never retracted His command for the church to oversee the care of the orphan. The need for this ministry grows daily. People accomplish orphan care through a variety of means, such as sponsorship of orphans, funding orphanages, mission opportunities, adoption, and adoption support.