Is Adoption Really a Christian Duty?

By Charlene Israel
CBN News
May 30, 2008

CBNNews.com - The Bible tells us to care for the orphans and that task grows tougher each year. Right now, there are an estimated 140 million orphans worldwide. How can we stem this tide? A group of Christian organizations and churches are working together to find the answer.

Images of children singing and dancing with joyful hearts are not usually associated with orphans. But that is just one focus of the Christian Alliance for Orphans, a group working to heighten awareness and motivate Christians to care for orphans.

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I have no doubt that as a believer in Christ we must somehow serve these children -the Orphans. The word is pretty specific in that it refers to the care of the kids as 'pure religion'.

Beyond specific instructions given to us, how could a believer not feel that they should somehow be involved in the care of Orphans?

I don't believe that adoption of all these children is the solution, though I believe both the child and the family benefits through this process.

My family is currently in the process of adopting and sometimes it seems like it will never actually happen.....! What puzzles me most about the adoption community, those that have adopted or are called to adopt, is their lack of passion in serving Orphans. This is a generalization, and not all adopting families demonstrate this lack of compassion, but for many adoption is the solution, and is in their personal interest.

According to UNICEF, in 2005, there were 132 million Orphans. Let me illustrate the challenge for you. There are approximately 120 million households in the U.S. With that being the case, if every family (or household) in this country adopted just one child, there would be 12 million children remaining. Now you might say that this is significant progress, and it would be, however, it is not a solution to the problem, nor is it practical or realistic.

The Christian community must treat the symptoms that cause these children to be without homes, without parental care, while continuing to encourage the opportunities of adoption. There are homes to built, communities to be encouraged, and peoples lives to be changed. Yes, I firmly believe that a 'whole-man' approach must be taken to best serve these children; His children.

Blessings, Scott Nordstrom of WOR