Children of God
“In love,
He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the
purpose of his will…”- Ephesians 1:4b-5
“I will say to the
north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and
my daughters from the end of the earth…”- Isaiah
43:6
These words have
never rung more true in our hearts. The
doctrine of adoption is littered throughout the scriptures. There are close to
100 scriptures that speak directly to adoption and countless others that allude
to it. Adoption is at the heart of the gospel message as God the Father
graciously adopts us into the family of God through the vicarious death of His
Son Jesus. Jesus, as our elder brother, goes to great lengths to ensure we are
not orphaned.
J.I. Packer
highlights the significance of adoption well in an excerpt from Tony Merida’s
book, Orphanology.
”…adoption is…the highest privilege that the gospel offers:
higher even than justification…”
For Packer to assert that adoption is a higher blessing than even justification
is high praise for this biblical truth since justification has been deemed the
very heart of the gospel since the Protestant Reformation. But what makes
Packer so confident to say this?
Adoption is not only God’s lavish grace in forgiving us of our
trespasses and making us forensically righteous and blameless. It takes the
scandalous act of grace one step further. The criminal is not only pardoned,
but changed and brought into the fold of God; we are made sons and daughters of
God himself.
Adoption is such a great and glorious act because it reveals the
very heart of the gospel, which is namely that God desires to do more than
forgive us, but to make us his family.
You may be asking why we are outlining our biblical beliefs in
adoption. After many prayers, many tears, and many years, Kort and I have
decided to adopt a child!
The Redemptive Road
Adoption had always
been a conversation between us, even before marriage, and we would be lying if
we said we had not talked about it throughout our struggles about children. It had always been
on the table, but only as a future option. We never considered adopting our first
child. Some great friends of ours did this themselves, and they offered great
encouragement to us.
We wish we could
tell you about a magical moment where we had epiphanies simultaneously. We
didn’t. In fact, the decision was made in a manner that was rather
anticlimactic. Yet, the result and realization of God’s purpose through this
entire process has been a magical, simultaneous barrage since the moment we
decided to adopt.
Parenthood is not
about us. The Bible is a book about God our Father lovingly bringing his family
back together again. Marriage is an integral part of this process, and although
I (Kort) had officiated numerous weddings over the last couple of years, the
spiritual realities still had work to do on my heart.
We had constantly
encouraged couples in their pre-marital counseling classes, “Marriage is not
about you and your desires. Marriage is about God and His glory.” And so it is
with parenthood.
This entire time, we
had been struggling with the problem of not having a child. We had selfishly
considered only ourselves in the entire process. How unfair was God for
withholding this from us? What did we do wrong?
Again: this is not
about us.
Currently, according
to UNICEF, there are approximately 153 million orphans around the world. This
statistic is misleading because this only accounts for children who have lost
their parents, not including the millions of children around the world who have
been abandoned or trafficked and lost.
Let that sink in.
There are millions of children who are parentless all over the world. And we
have a God who has not only given us the ultimate model of adoption in the
gospel by making us part of his family, but he has also Scripturally mandated
that we reach into these orphans lives and live the gospel by becoming their
earthly parents.
“True religion is
this; care for the orphan and widow.” James 1:27
God miraculously
shined his light of grace into our cloudy muck of childlessness. He revealed
our sinful selfishness, only to give us the greatest gift we could ever ask for
- the call to adopt a child.
The Kyrgyzstan Road
Before this process, we had never even heard of Kyrgyzstan.
In fact, we had only ever considered adopting domestically. But as usual, the
Lord had different plans.
We began praying about where He was leading us, and because
we probably would have missed it, we asked him to make it very clear. And so he
did. Kort began reading a book on Adoption (that I would read later), and in
the book, it talked greatly of international adoption. Story after story pointed
to international adoption being a great need.
For starters, compared to the U.S., international countries
do not have foster care systems, meaning the children are all piled in
orphanages, waiting for someone to take them home. There is no in-between for
them. In addition, the conditions of these orphanages are alarming.
Out of curiosity, we began exploring international adoption
agencies. Some friends of ours, who adopted from Ethiopia, had a wonderful
experience with America World, so after some prayer and conversation, we submit
an inquiry request. Based on our conditions (desired time period, gender, age,
etc.), the email we received stated the country that best fit our profile:
Kyrgyzstan.
In addition, it “just so happens” that we began a prayer
campaign at our church. Some of our best friends, who lead the Prayer Team,
asked Kort what he thought about praying for unreached people groups through
our home groups. As he looked on the link they sent him, the first country to
pop up was Kyrgyzstan.
We don’t believe in coincidences, but only divine scenarios
pre-destined by God. We believe in God’s providence. In our spirits, we felt
that this was his clear answer.
There aren’t too many practicals we can offer that can
outshine the most important, inexplicable driving factor- the call to
Kyrgyzstan. A fellow believer understands this word “call”. It is a tug, a
pull, or a compelling push towards something that can only be explained by
God’s Spirit. It is a leap of faith.
Sharing the Road
Normatively, we are a pretty private family. We talk about
very little with very few. For the most part, we are social media recluses as
well. We are not really sure why this is, other than personal preference.
However, we felt that this process was not meant to be private.
We are convinced that our journey is meant to encourage
others in their circumstances and give them the courage to take a leap of faith
and adopt as well. Statistically speaking, 1-10 people struggle with
infertility. If you find yourself here, we ask you to consider our testimony
and ask the Lord where he is leading you. We want to be clear. We do not
consider adoption our plan B. We consider adoption God’s plan A for us all
along. It just took us a while to see it. God uses a myriad of circumstances to
reveal his purposes and plans. This season is how God taught us.
But we are not special. God desires to do this in many other
families as well. If we can play a small part in encouraging others to take a
leap of faith and begin this process, we feel that this blog is worth it. Also,
many others (friends and family) have adopted and played a special role in
encouraging us in this process. God uses community. Our prayer is for our story
to be the seed for many others.
The Starting Line
Although we are eager and excited to start this process, the
road is a marathon and not a sprint. We are in the middle of filling out piles
of paperwork and scheduling appointments from background checks to home
studies. This summer we will be building a document called a dossier, which
will be sent to Kyrgyzstan for us to receive a referral for a child.
If you are curious, these are the specifics of our future
child:
Gender: Either
Age: 0-4 years
Time period: 11
months- 4 years
Although we hope to use this blog to keep everyone updated,
encourage others and raise funds, we will be limited as to how much and what
kinds of information we can post. The adoption process seems to be more covert
and cryptic the more we learn.
The total cost of the adoption will range around
$40,000-$45,000. If you are gasping, don’t fret; we did too. However, this is
not an uncommon cost for international adoption. In fact, it is pretty average.
In light of the price that God was willing to pay in the death of His only son
to adopt us into his family, we are unwavering in our faith that he will richly
provide here too.
And so, we will end with a plea.
Please pray for us. We need God to not only provide for us in every way, but also to prepare us for the greatest endeavor we have ever undertaken and for the great call to adopt a child. We need God’s grace.
Please consider giving. As a teacher and a pastor, we don’t
intend to be able to fulfill this financial obligation of adoption on our own.
We are willing to do whatever it takes to finish the process, though, and we
have discussed the lengths to which that may take us. However, perhaps God has
moved on your heart through this blog to assist us financially.
Perhaps also, you feel the tug to care for the orphan as God
has commanded us to do as well. Maybe you have struggled with infertility and
are asking why it is so. This is an opportunity for you to share in the
precious calling of adoption. We encourage you to take the leap of faith.
If you feel led to help us financially, you can do so here at our GiveForward donation spot:
We appreciate your support and thanks for taking the time to read about what God is doing in our lives.
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