Evidence of a Mighty God Who Defends Orphans

That, my friends, is the outcome of our church’s 1st ever adoptive family picnic which was held last weekend. You are looking at 18 families, within which 29 of the children have been adopted (domestic and international adoptions). A few other families couldn’t make it to the picnic, but in total there have been 43 children adopted by families in our church over the past 5 years. In addition there are 9 soon-to-be-adopted children who are projected to come home over the next few months (our two girls are included in that 9 count).  There are also a few families pictured who have just started the adoption process, and are projected to bring 4 more orphaned children home within the next year!  In addition, our church has quite a growing number of families who are actively caring for children in Iowa’s foster care system.

When I look back over the past 5 years, I see that God started this adoption movement in our church with our pastor and his wife (pictured right above Jake - right side center - in the blue). I can still remember the sermon and the day they announced that they would be adopting two boys from Ethiopia. From there, God MOVED, STIRRED, and ROCKED in many hearts, and He obviously had BIG plans! The cool thing is that, there is this little whisper I hear that is saying this is just the beginning. Just the beginning of God opening up front doors, flinging wide the arms of His followers, and breaking hearts on behalf of orphans suffering and deprived and oppressed. We can DO SOMETHING! We, Christ’s followers, SHOULD DO SOMETHING! We should be the ones leading the way in orphan care. Why? Because Jesus showed us LIFE. When we were broken, destitute, fatherless, sinners without hope - He came for us. God adopted us into His family by the blood of Jesus. How can we not extend this same sort of love to those who are suffering without a family and without a future?  This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.  And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.  If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. ~1 John 3:16-17~