GOD'S MODEL FOR ORPHANS
For centuries orphan ministry has focused on institutional care, but the resulting negative outcomes are indicative of children whose emotional and spiritual needs have never been fulfilled. Matt 6: 31-33 clearly states that the kingdom of heaven is far more important than food and clothing, and James 2: 15-17 is an allegory that also refers to matters beyond food and clothing. Indeed, these verses instruct us to look beyond the superficial to the more important emotional and spiritual needs of orphans that will ultimately lead them to the kingdom of God and His righteousness. As the Spirit revealed this hidden truth, I wept as I began to understand why the children at the orphanage didn't believe I loved them, and I asked God to show me how to love them His way. As He began to reveal His heart for orphans and show me that adoption is His model of love and acceptance, I couldn't help but question my own approach to orphan ministry.
How can I tell orphan children that "My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory in Christ Jesus" (Phil 4:19) when I don't give them the home and loving family they need? How can I tell them God will never forsake them when I leave them to languish in an institution? How can I tell a child Jesus loves them when they don't believe I love them? How can I answer the child who asks, "If Jesus loves me, why do I have no family?" How can I tell a child that God answers prayer when their prayers for a family have never been answered? How can I speak to an orphan child about a loving Father God when the memory of their own father evokes only pain and anger? Children instinctively know that actions speak louder than words. (1Jn 3: 17-18) The only gospel orphans want to hear is the gospel of adoption.
THE GOSPEL OF ADOPTION
The Gospel of Adoption is found in (Gal 4:4-5) and (Jn 1:12): "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that He might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." "And as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become Children of God." Our adoption is the ultimate expression of God's love, and was the ultimate purpose of Jesus' life on earth and death on the cross. With His blood, Jesus paid the ransom to make our adoption possible. God brings us into His family by adoption, and He knows where orphans belong. Psalm 68:6 says, "God places the lonely in families." Adoption is God's heart for orphans, and He created us with an unquenchable need to belong to a family - ultimately to His family.
There are no orphans in heaven, only adopted children, and there is no biblical model for institutional care of orphans. Jesus himself said, "I will not leave you as orphans." (Jn 14:18) If God's will is to be done on earth as it is in heaven, adoption must become the new paradigm of orphan ministry.
WILL YOU BE AN ANSWER TO PRAYER
Every day thousands of children reach the age where they are no longer adoptable. Their greatest fear is being forced to leave an institution with no-one to belong to and no place to call home. Ask yourself, will this be the day you become the answer to an orphan's prayer? Will you help give an orphan child a home for good by helping someone you know to adopt? Your sponsorship will help answer the prayers of many families, and you'll share in the joy of bringing God's love to many orphans who don't even know there is a God, let alone a God who answers prayer.
