In Defense of the Fatherless is the book I wish I read in 2010 when we began our international adoption. My husband Bill and I decided to adopt internationally after years of struggling with infertility. We read Russell Moore’s Adopted for Life and prayed about how God might use a physical adoption of children to teach us more about his great...
I am both humbled and thrilled to announce the launch of In Defense of the Fatherless. Over the last three years, I have been writing a book about redeeming international adoption and orphan care. Writing this book has been an incredible journey. It is hard to believe I am holding this book in my hands. I spent this weekend at the beach with a...
In my work consulting with families, I often meet adoptive parents who discover that they child they are adopting has a living birth parent (or parents) who might be more interested in parenting than the adoptive parents were originally led to believe. In response, many of us who have been in that position have to weigh the benefit of the...
The fight against international adoption corruption and the fight for the rights of vulnerable families rages on, but we've had a few great victories in the last week. Last week, the Department of Justice arrested four adoption agency representatives on charges of visa fraud. This is a huge signal to adoption agencies that they can't ignore what happens on the ground...
Not everyone has a merry Christmas. This is an all too familiar story. A mother is poor and struggling to care for her children. She is approached by a woman who tells her that there’s a place her children can go for help. A place where they can get food, medical care, shelter, and maybe even school. She makes the heroic...
In Rwanda, we are surrounded by adoptive families (yay!) and ministries that support orphans here in Rwanda. Truly, one of the big reasons we wanted to come to Africa was to get a better picture of this orphan crisis we hear so much about in America. I never referred to this article when it came out, but our story was highlighted...
What is the Biblical foundation for adoption and orphan care? Is it James 1:27, which calls orphan care “pure and faultless” religion? Is it the doctrine of adoption – that God has “predestined us for adoption” (Romans 8:15) and promised us a “glorious inheritance” (Ephesians 1:18) through Jesus Christ? Or does the Biblical foundation for orphan care and adoption run deeper? I am...
[caption id="attachment_881" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Our adopted daughter Gabrielle and her brother Zephaniah sharing a moment looking out at our garden.[/caption] What is the Biblical foundation for orphan care? Is it James 1:27, which calls orphan care "pure and faultless" religion? Is it the doctrine of adoption - that God has "predestined us for adoption" (Romans 8:15) and promised us a "glorious inheritance" (Ephesians 1:18)...
I just checked Facebook and Twitter after a day at work and wow - pretty much everyone who has a blog is writing about adoption ethics, the orphan crisis and what we as Christians can do to help without hurting. It is time for this conversation to happen! When I took a sabbatical from blogging for a few months this spring,...
"Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation." -Psalm 68:5 I just checked Facebook and Twitter after a day at work and wow – pretty much everyone who has a blog is writing about adoption ethics, the orphan crisis and what we as Christians can do to help without hurting. It is time for this conversation...
[caption id="attachment_872" align="alignleft" width="400"] This is my adopted daughter Ella, now 2.5 years old.[/caption] I want to start by saying I am thankful for Jen Hatmaker, a Christian adoptive mom and writer. She's the author of one of the most thought-provoking books I have read this year, 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess. She has a huge platform - and something...