What Do the Scriptures Say About Our Responsibility to Care for Orphans?
Scripture teaches that our Creator cares for the outcast, the poor, the
sick, the sojourner. He
cares for the paralytic, the hemorrhaging woman, the blind man, the def
man, the man with leprosy, the demon-possessed girl; the dead man.
Christian, you are a Christian because you first realized YOU are
like all of those people. You are desperately needy and helpless if left
to yourself. You were lost
before you were found!
Jesus, your elder brother, sought you when you were a stranger wondering
from the fold of God.
It is from, through, and to this Gospel that we are to care for the
147,000,000 helpless orphans who are in dark places all over the globe.
It is not a liberal agenda; it is the Gospel agenda.
In trying to see the world through an orphan’s eyes my own eyes
flood with tears. It is not
only because I see a child suffering. It
is also because I see myself suffering in a pig pen of self-worship
(just like the Prodigal Son).
My eyes flood with tears not only because the orphans are slaves,
but because I was also a slave.
They are in a dungeon; I was in a dungeon.
Brothers and sisters, we care for orphans because God cared for us.
That is our motive.
It is not to earn God’s love; it is
because of God’s love.
See the child. See
yourself. See the Gospel.
See your Father. And please join me in considering becoming a
father to the fatherless, or in supporting those who engage in such a
glorious Gospel-centered endeavor.
Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in
Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even
as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and blameless before him.
In love he
predestined us for adoption as sons through
Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to
the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the
Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3-6
Well,
it has been a while since we updated our church family and brothers and
sisters in Christ on our adoption process, but we had a major
breakthrough today.
The director of Angel's Cove came to our house today to do her follow up
visit on the home study. Unfortunately, the original case worker we had
did not show up today, as she was recently separated from her employment
with Angel's Cove. That is basically what the huge delay has been since
we first met with our case worker in March of this year. Since Angel's
Cove had experienced these issues with the exit of our social worker,
they sent the director to our home today. She updated our home study
today, and told us that it is very likely that we will have our
approval/completion within the next two weeks. She works very closely
with the one lady in the entire State of Illinois that approves adoption
applications. Yes, I said one woman approving all adoption applications
in the entire state (no wonder things move so slow, but why am I
surprised with the State of Illinois).
Once our home study process is finalized, we can submit our federal
dossier to the Country of Colombia, which will begin the process of
allowing us to be matched with two boys. We may not be matched with two
boys as quickly as we like, but the submission of the dossier is the
beginning of that process. When we are approved by Colombia to adopt in
their country, they will match us with two boys and send us their
pictures, so we can finally put names with faces. Last night in church,
we prayed for Gabriel Wyatt Bundren and Aiden Josiah Bundren by name.
Even though we do not know them yet, God does, and has, and will always
know them. What amazes me the most is the thought that neither boy may
even be born yet, but may be alive in their mother's womb, waiting to be
taken to an orphanage or foster care home, so that we can come and
rescue them! Amazing!
The story only gets better. I have to share these examples of how the
sovereign and supreme God we serve is ordaining our adoption process.
#1. In the early fall of 2009, before we ever though about adoption, my
office established a contract with a treatment agency in Carbondale,
Illinois. Not long after the contract was established, I met a counselor
with that agency, Steve Heath, who had adopted two children from
the Country of Peru, which is in.....of all places.....South America.
Steve and I instantly became good friends, based on our common bond.
Steve offered to help us in our process if we needed it, including by
meeting with us and our boys when we return home with them, to deal with
any adjustment/bonding issues that may be present (We are selfishly
praying that there are zero adjustment/bonding issues). Today, when the
director of Angel's Cove came to our house, she spoke to us about a
counselor in the area who would be great at working with us and our boys
if they were experiencing any issues. She began describing the counselor
to us, including the fact that he speaks fluent Spanish, and has adopted
two boys from Peru. When I asked her if she was referring to Steve
Heath, she just looked at me funny, bewildered, and smiled, and asked me
how I knew Steve, because Steve is the counselor she was going to refer
us to. When you look at the bigger picture, God ordained this
entire process, which began before we even thought about adopting. A
treatment contract between the federal government and a counseling
agency was used by God to initiate this very relationship between myself
and Steve.
(Isaiah 9:6 - For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the
government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace).
It only gets better.
#2. The director of Angel's Cove also recommended an area physician who
would be great in treating any medical issues the boys might come with.
She stated that this particular doctor and all her employees were superb
in dealing with pediatric issues. Again, as if we should be surprised,
she started describing the physician to us, and we knew immediately that
she was talking about Dr. Swafford, in Anna, Illinois, who just so
happens to employ a wonderful physician's assistant named.....Marcia
Wells (we think she is the best around, but we are partial). Just so
happens that her husband John is a very dear friend of mine, and it just
so happens Marcia is a pianist in our church and Marcia just so happens
to be the Sunday School teacher of our youngest daughter. Again, all the
director could do was smile and look bewildered. (And we know that in
all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose - Romans 8:28).
There's more. ;)
#3. In April 2010, myself and several other men from our church attended
the Together for the Gospel Conference hundreds of miles away, in
Louisville, Kentucky. There were over 7,000 men at this conference.
Pastor Russ just so happened to schedule a luncheon for us at Southern
Seminary, which was miles away from the conference site. I almost
decided not to go to the luncheon, and was going to stay at the
conference site and just hang out. But something kept telling me to go
to the luncheon. We arrived late, due to traffic, and there were only a
few seats available, so I sat down at a table full of complete
strangers. But God had more in mind for me. Just so happened that the
guy I sat down next to (Mark Oberhauser) is also in the process of
adoption. Mark and his wife, Joni, are adopting a special needs boy from
Russia. We even owned the same 147 Million Orphans t-shirt that I was
wearing that day. Mark and I have stayed in touch by email and Facebook,
and he recently sent Edna and I a check for $100, unprompted, and out of
the blue. We didn't ask for his money, but God told him to send it
anyway. When you are saving loose change, having yard sales, and selling
veggies at the farmer's market, for .50 cents each, $100 is a lot of
money, especially from what was recently a complete stranger, who is now
a close Christian brother. (As iron sharpens iron, so does one man
sharpen another - Proverbs 27:17).
#4. Lastly, we decided as a family to try and start learning the Spanish
language, so that we could communicate better with our boys, and with
the people we interact with when we go to Colombia. You might guess that
it just so happens that Taylor's sixth grade teacher, Ms. Lisa Taylor,
had just recently purchased the Spanish speaking version of Rosetta
Stone. She let us borrow it, and Edna and the girls have been diligent
in using the computer program several days per week, to learn the
language. Hopefully, they will be able to teach it to me. If we would
have had to purchase the program on our own, it would have been over
$200.
None of these things that have mysteriously been occurring are luck,
coincidence, or fate. They have nothing to do with the alignment of the
stars, our living rightly, or some stupid advice you might find in your
horoscope or a fortune cookie. These things are the sovereign and
supreme will of a Holy God, and serve only as confirmation that God has
got us right where He wants us. Thank you Father God for confirmation.
Before the Angel's Cove director left our home, she asked if she could
pray for us, and of course, we said "Yes." She prayed passionately to
God the Father, in the name of Jesus His Son, that God would speed the
process up and bless and keep our boys until they are rescued. Will you
join us in the same prayer? The fervent prayer of a righteous man/woman
has great power (James 5:16).
With us, adoption is not second best or Plan B. But, we cannot do it
alone. We need your help in getting our boys home, and in raising them
up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. If you don't help us, who
will? We will never succeed without the support and cooperation of the
body of Christ at Fellowship Baptist Church. Prayer needs at the present
time include being able to finance our adoption without breaking the
bank. Also, please pray that our children will have little to no
adjustment/bonding or serious medical issues once we meet them in
Colombia and when we bring them home. For every three months that a
child spends in an orphanage, they are developmentally behind one month,
meaning a one-year old from an orphanage is likely to have the same or
lesser development than an eight month old child. A three-year old child
may be only as mature as a two-year old.
We covet your prayers and support! Please promise to hold the rope for
us as we begin to go down into the deep well.
One Family’s Story: Stepping Out in Faith from James 1:27
By Mark Bundren
James 1:27 defines orphan care as pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father.
In October 2009, the Bundren family (Mark, Edna, Taylor, and Haley) began a very long, challenging, and spiritual journey. During this time, God started burdening our hearts to consider adoption. We have always wanted more children, but Edna decided after our second child that she was not interested in expelling another human being from her body again (smile). I can't say as I blame her for that.
Since our journey began, we have attended two adoption conferences. During the first conference in the fall of 2009, God pretty much made it clear to both Edna and myself that we needed to begin the adoption process. We quickly decided that we wanted to adopt more than one child. It didn't take us long to determine that if we were going to adopt two children, we needed to do it on the same trip out of the country because it is much more affordable if you adopt multiple children at the same time. While adopting one child may cost us between $20,000 and $30,000, adopting a second child will only add approximately $900 to $1,100 to the price, in addition to the expense of an additional airline ticket back to the United States.
Our second adoption conference occurred in early 2010, and was just further confirmation from God that adoption was the way to go for us. At this conference, we soaked in much more about the doctrine of adoption and how it relates to the Gospel story in the Bible. Having already found out how the adoption process works, we were able to use our time at the second conference to further explore the biblical impact that adoption can have on a child. One of the speakers, Dr. David Platt, inspired us to look at the story of Ruth in the bible, and how God ordained tragedy (the death of Ruth's husband) to set the stage for triumph (the redemption of Ruth by Boaz). Dr. Platt stated that the Lord of the harvest will shower us with grace. God, in his infinite kindness to us, will not forsake us. Instead, He will redeem us. God always provides for His purpose to be accomplished.
Dr. Russell Moore spoke and taught us that any identity an orphan has must be derived from Jesus Christ Himself. Adoption is not about the power and greatness of the child, but the child's identity in Christ. All orphan care must be Gospel-centered, as referenced in James 1:27 (pure and undefiled religion). Dr. Moore stated that the only reason he adopted two boys from Russia was to introduce the children to Christ. He stated that he and his wife were not the rescuers. Jesus is. We, instead, are the rescued.
Since God has burdened our family with the possibility of adoption, we have maintained that adoption is not Plan B, or second best. Adoption is just as much God's idea as biological birth.
To quote a brilliant theologian, J.I. Packer, "Adoption is a family idea, conceived in terms of love, and viewing God as Father. In adoption, God takes us into His family and fellowship. He establishes us as His children and heirs. Closeness, affection, and generosity are at the heart of the relationship. To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is greater."
To even the odds a little bit at our house (at least for me), we decided to adopt two boys from Colombia, South America. It will be 3 on 3 then, and not 3 on 1, like it is now. I'm still not sure the boys in our house have a prayer (smile). We already have names picked out, so we just need two young boys to go with the names God has given us. Some day in the not too distant future, Aiden Josiah Bundren and Gabriel Wyatt Bundren will be part of a "forever family."
We are not only adopting our two boys into our family, we are adopting them right smack dab in the middle of the body of Christ at Fellowship Baptist Church. As many of us will testify to, it takes a village to raise a child properly, and we are counting on our brothers and sisters in Christ at our church to undergird us in our journey, and to assist in training our adopted children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, as you have with our two biological daughters.
One of my favorite memories of picking up my daughters from the church nursery when they were little was to smell all of the perfume on them. We didn't put that perfume on our girls before church. That perfume was put on our girls by kind, gentle Christian ladies, rocking them to sleep, changing their soiled diapers, feeding them, and most importantly, loving and having contact with them. Our girls came out of the nursery smelling of another person who had hugged and kissed on them for a solid hour, helping our children understand that they can be loved and valued in a church setting, and as part of God's kingdom.
You can keep up with our adoption process by visiting our blog page on the Internet. It can be found at http://www.steppingoutinfaithfromjames127.blogspot.com We will be having fundraisers in the future to help raise money for our trip to Colombia, which will be expensive, no doubt. We will be facing the costs of a hotel and meals for a month, not to mention four airline tickets to Colombia, and six airline tickets on the way back (God willing). If you visit our blog page, please feel free to leave comments, to remind us of your prayer support.
We hope to have the prices of our t-shirts on our blog page very soon, so if you are interested in ordering a t-shirt, please let me or Edna know. We are also planning on selling plants/flower arrangements through Edna's "Seeds of Hope" program. Additionally, we will be having a yard sale this spring, and plan to have a spaghetti supper and a pancake breakfast at the church.
We covet your prayers during our journey of faith.
