Initial steps toward becoming involved in Adoption and Orphan Care Ministry
Initial steps toward becoming involved in Adoption and Orphan Care Ministry: There are essentially three steps we would recommend to anyone interested in this field of ministry. First, visit the orphans. Interestingly, in James 1:27, where James tells us to care for the orphans, the word translated 'care for' is the Greek word 'episkeptomai,' which actually means to examine someone with your own eyes to see how they are, or to visit someone in order to see their condition for yourself. James gives such advice for one simple reason: when you witness the plight of vulnerable children who actually have faces and names, rather than just hear about them as statistics, then, at least if you have any heart at all, your heart is touched, it even breaks. And when your heart is broken, when it is filled with compassion, you are then driven to action. We recommend two websites that will help you 'visit' the orphans. The first is the website for Shohannah's Hope, a movement to care for orphans fronted by Stephen Curtis Chapman. You can find all sorts of information about the plight of orphans and ways your church can engage in orphan care ministry at their website: www.showhope.org. You can also learn a great deal about adoption and orphan care from Bethany Christian Services at www.bethany.org. Visit those sites, learn what you can. That's the first thing we recommend to anyone interested in this field of ministry - visit the orphans.
Secondly, as you 'visit the orphans,' listen to your heart. Our guess is that many of you, when you see the reality facing so many children in our world, will start to feel a little pressure in your chests, the kind that wells up inside of you and spills forth in tears. That's a good thing. Listen in those moments. Frederick Buechner, in his book, Whistling in the Dark, writes, 'whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay the closest attention. They are not only telling you something about the secret of who you are, but more often than not God is speaking to you through them of the mystery of where you have come from and is summoning you to where, if your soul is to be saved, you should go next.' We are big believers of that. So, when you visit the orphans, listen to what your heart is telling you during such times of tears. For in those moments, God will open up all sorts of visions and dreams as to what he wants you to do next.
And finally, as you are challenged and amazed by what God shows you, prayerfully consider the opportunities he lays before you - and then act. There are so many things you can do. You can reach out to foster kids in your area. Start a ministry for adoptive parents, or for couples who are thinking about adoption. Start or become involved in a ministry to birthmothers facing unexpected pregnancies, the kind where you can come alongside of them and help them make the choice to give their children the gift of life, and support them as they make the decision whether to parent themselves or arrange for an adoption plan. You can find ways to partner with agencies or missionaries who work with children in orphanages overseas. You can go on a missions trip. You can become a foster parent. And, of course, you can take the big step of becoming an adoptive parent yourself, and provide a forever family to a child waiting for one. All of this, and more, can be done by you and your church. All you need to do is visit the orphans, listen to your heart, and then, after prayerful consideration of the opportunities God presents to you, just do what he leads you to do!
Please Contact Us! If you are interested in adoption, please know that we would be more than happy to talk with you anytime. Please give us a call. We can share more of our story, answer some of your questions, and maybe even help point you in the right direction to find answers to other questions. And if you are interested in developing an orphan care ministry at your church or in our region, please, again, contact us. We would love to connect and see what we might be able to do together. As we said, our church is just getting started, and we have a lot more to do ourselves. But together, we can surely come up with all sorts of wonderful ways to minister to these precious children whom God loves with all of his heart.
Here is our contact information:
Brent and Megen Miller, Pastors
GraceCrossing Community Church (ABC-USA)
PO Box 226
Phoenixville, PA 19460
(610) 933-4352
pastorbrent@gracecrossingcc.com or pastormegen@gracecrossingcc.com
Thanks so much for checking out our page and learning about our story and dreams for adoption and orphan care ministry in our area. May God bless you in all you do, and may he give you his heart to care for his children, wherever they may be in this world.
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