After learning about this great little book from Sheila De Jong (President of Katelyn’s Fund) I ordered it and read it in just one sitting. The little book called, Becoming Home: Adoption, Foster care, and mentoring- Living out God’s heart for Orphans By Jedd Medefind is a necessary read.
I believe the messages of this book is necessary for Christians everywhere because it brings to light the need for orphan care. “Every Christian community is called to embody pure religion that includes caring for orphans and widows in their distress” (pg.36) There is nearly 150 million children worldwide that are orphan (meaning have at least one dead parent) and nearly 18 Million who are termed “double orphan” because both parents are dead. For those of us already involved in orphan care we have thought about this need often. However,while reading this book and now in the weeks following the question I keep praying about and asking is, what is my role in helping my church and fellow believers understand this need?
“Opening ourselves to the orphan exposes our hearts to the world at its most deeply broken parts… and both joy and heartache are sure to follow” (pg. 31) This is one of the reasons I believe many followers of Jesus have not gone down the road of engaging in this issue. I feel a burden in a way to encourage my sojourners to open themselves up to this joy and heartache. Because isn’t that joy and heartache the tension we should live in as believers daily anyways? Shouldn’t we feel the reality that this world is not as it ought to be (heartache) and that God has made a way to bring is Kingdom to earth even though incomplete at this time (joy)? “To be sure, love for the orphan comes the loss of things the world most values: comfort, convenience and control.” (pg. 77) I need wisdom in how to be an advocate and a facilitator for this kind of engagement in my church and faith communities. I have a new dream of the potential positive change my impact could have on children’s lives beyond the ones God allows me to adopt into my family. As David Platt says in the book, “God’s church is uniquely equipped for orphan care. Built into a community of faith is such an abundance of resources, people, and a wealth of love that stands ready to give to children who need families.” (pg. 85) I long to be apart of seeing the Church continue to rise up and show the World Jesus love in being obedient to his command to care for the orphan.
The book is part of the FRAME book Series. They have a vision of helping equip Christians with facts on major social issues and the Biblical perspective while reading less and knowing more. I think I will order the rest of them to read too. Here is the Amazon link to the book: http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Home-Adoption-Mentoring–Living-Orphans/dp/0310433371/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390876797&sr=1-1
