I was discussing adoption on a forum, specifically the cross-cultural adoption conflict that has been a hot topic recently. Maybe some of you will be interested in some thoughts I had? Curious to hear peoples responses- As an orphan advocate who has worked extensively and intimately with an orphanage for many years, I am absolutely for adoption. Adoption is shown favorably throughout the Bible. It is Gods method of bringing us into His family, and is shown to be a priceless privilege (Eph. 1:5, Gal. 4:5, Rom. 8:23, John 14:18). He also shows concrete examples of adopting. In fact, God chose to have His only Son foster/adopted by an earthly father, Joseph. I think everyone on here agrees that adoption is on Gods heart, and is powerfully used and blessed by Him. Cross-cultural adoption is kind of a hot topic these days. Do we have the right to take children from their home countries and cultures, and force them to integrate into a foreign family? Well, God chose that route to preserve the life of and prepare one of the most dynamic leaders of His people for his role. Moses was adopted by Pharaohs daughter and raised for 40 years in her household. God still managed to help him keep a sense of his identity and culture (probably in large part because his mother was allowed to be a part of his life for a time; as always, an ideal solution, but often not possible). God extended the adoption into His family from His chosen people, the Jews, to Gentiles of every race and culture on the earth. He did this despite the fact that Christianity is decidedly contrary to most cultures in the world, and ends up alienating many Christians from their people and making them permanent foreigners, even in their own lands. He apparently feels that the end result of being a part of His family and all of the enormous benefits that brings was more important than fitting in with ones native culture. I should probably mention here (for the few who dont know) that my youngest sister, Hope, was adopted 12 years ago from China. She is an absolute delight, and I cant imagine our family without her. She has the unique benefit of being fully immersed in her native culture, since she lives here (albeit with her white family ). All of that being said, please dont think that Im advocating alienating children from their families or home countries. Facilitating a family remaining together, whether by paying for a needed surgery or providing training so that parents can support their familys needs, is wonderful. No arguments there. But at least in China (the country in which I live and work, and therefore the only one I feel I can speak on authoritatively), that ideal is very often impossible because the families want no part of it. At this point, most orphans in Chinese orphanages have severe special needs. Precious children with issues like Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and epilepsy are seen as bad luck and a burden on the family. Other Chinese families, even Christian ones, have no desire to adopt these children for the same reasons that their biological families abandoned them. Any healthy children are almost always adopted very quickly by local families (which is why the waiting list to adopt these children is 7-10 years). The special children who are left face a lifetime of institutionalization. No matter how well-run the institution is, it is NOT a family. Even if they can conceivably support themselves in a country that has no good place in the job market for handicapped individuals, their names usually contain the name of their orphanage and mark them as unlucky, so employers wont hire them. Do you see why a family, even one that doesnt speak their native language or understand their culture, even one with only one parent (again, not ideal, but SO much better than none), is better than never being loved at all? Oh, how these kids crave love and affection! Anyway, I could probably write forever on this topic (Im just a little passionate about it ), but that is the gist of it. Im so thankful that Christ exercised radical love in adopting me into His family and making me His daughter. It totally changed my life...and I never want to go back.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 08:09:35 +0000
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