Orphan Care vs. Adoption
Not that the two ideas are adversarial, but I think there is a temptation to be for one or the other. I work for a ministry whose mission is focused on orphan care, so that seems to be what I think about most. But I also believe that if you want to hear the word of God and actually do what it says (James 1:22) in a radical way, I think adoption is the most radical way for us to obey God and take care of orphans. I have many friends who have either adopted already or are in the process (the grueling, heart-breaking, expensive process) of adopting. My wife and I have talked about adopting someday.
Now, consider this – for all of the orphaned children in the world to be taken care of through adoption, every man, woman , and child in Mexico, Canada, and some additional small country would have to adopt at least one child. UNICEF calculates the number to be around 143 million orphans (check it out-p.12). About every 14 seconds, another kid becomes an orphan. Let’s say 350,000 of them will be adopted this year. This is an optimistic guess – about 150,000 were adopted in 1992, the last time an accurate count was taken. Let me know if you have a better number. That’s .3% – not even half a percent! What happens to the other 99.7% of those kids? Whose looking after them?
Ok, I’m beginning to rant and this is where it can be easy to misconstrue the two ideas as being opposed to each other. But they are so not. We have to do both! [I love it by the way, when Jesus answers the "Which one should I do?" questions with "Both" (Mt 23: 23)] I think if we take care of the tree while ignoring the forest, we fail. And if we take care of the forest and forget about the tree, we fail.
Alright, that’s my show for today. You’re a great audience. Let me know what you think, where I’m wrong, and if I’ve completely missed the boat.
Check out Precious.org to find cool people working for adoption.
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October 28, 2007 at 4:01 pm
I liked this entry. It’s a good point that adoption and orphan care is not conflicting…I’ve never really thought about that before.
November 6, 2007 at 8:15 pm
My husband and I would LOVE to adopt. Both of us wanted a big family and after two of our own, we were done with pro-creation.
I’ve wanted to adopt my entire life but the HUGE financial outpouring is stopping us. While we could afford to care for another child, we can’t afford the $20,000 to $40,000.00 that would have to come first. We’re currently researching our state’s foster to adopt program because it is not something either of us are willing to give up on. I think, in addition to the huge legal costs, many people are cut out of the running, so to speak, because of the regulations of so many adoption agencies. When my husband and I first started looking, we were turned down by 90% of the agencies because we have biological children! We were’t even an option! Adoption is not solely for couples who cannot conceive! I felt terrible that we couldn’t even be considered by a birth mother because we had already had 2 children of our own! It felt mean, and like we were inferior parents to those who did not have children. Anyway, I won’t hi-jack your blog any more. I just wanted to say that I agree more peole should adopt and that lawyers and governments should make it a more affordable option for anyone who wants to pursue it!
- Heather