The last post highlighted the need for men, specifically, to catch up with our stalwart sisters in taking up the cause of the fatherless.  My own father—who embodies for me the blend of gentleness and strength that marks  a man fully committed to Christ—shared with me a song last week that resounds with this theme as well.  It’s clearly from an artist with a vision for men stepping forward as fathers to the fatherless, country singer Randy Travis.

Raise Him Up

When I first met his momma
She was just 19
Couldn’t say for certain who the father was
I have known him since he was a pup
And I’m gonna raise him up

If you never knew your daddy
Like I never knew mine
It feels like everybody knows you’re fatherless
This boy may not be blood of my blood
But I’m gonna raise him up

I’ll provide for him
Walk beside of him
I am strong enough
Cause it’s time he knew
What a son can do
With a father’s love
He can change the world

Ya’ll may have to look at Joseph
A couple thousand years ago
When he held a newborn baby he named Jesus
He said he may not be blood of my blood
Still I’m gonna raise him up

I’ll provide for him
Walk beside of him
I am strong enough
I will show him too
What a son can do
With a fathers love
And he will change the world

33 years later
When the Son was in his grave
Broken and abandoned by a world he came to save
His real Dad said he’s mine
Blood of my blood
And I’m gonna raise him up

I’ll provide for you
Walk beside of you
I am strong enough
I have seen from you
What a son can do
With a fathers love
One man changed the world
And he can change your world
But you gotta raise him up
Raise him up

It’s a beautiful thing.  For Christians who yearn to see the Church grow impassioned for the Gospel and the orphan, the newly-arrived July edition of Christianity Today is little short of thrilling.  The cover declares, Abba Changes Everything:  Why every Christian is called to rescue orphans. Inside, an excellent introduction framing the magazine is headlined, “Adoption is Everywhere.  Even God is into it.”

That the leading print voice of evangelicalism in America would choose to make orphan care and adoption the center of its July magazine underscores what many of us already knew:  God is stirring His people to again be known as those who “defend the cause of the fatherless” (Is 1:17).

Page 18 begins a tremendous article by Russell Moore, which gave the magazine its cover language, “Abba Changes Everything.”  I’ve heard Dr. Moore articulate this message from the podium, via radio and over the dinner table, but I must admit I felt my heart expand against my ribcage as I read this fresh expression.  Beautiful and heartbreaking; daunting and inspiring; and profoundly rooted in the ultimate reason for it all:  the Father-love of our God revealed through the Gospel.

Page 23 starts the cover story, “Coming Alongside Parents:  Churches are getting real about adoption’s challenges—and helping families after the child arrives.”  It shares the experience of Summit VI and highlights the robust growth of orphan ministry within churches.  Writes author Carla Barnhill, “…[T]he Summit drew more than 1,200 attendees, most of them ministering to orphans through their home churches.  Watching those gathered, I knew this was not my parent’s generation.”

Finally, page 52 carries the section “My Top 5 Books on Orphan Care” that I had the opportunity to provide:   Russell Moore’s Adopted for Life, Dr. Karyn Purvis’ The Connected Child; Melissa Fay Greene’s There is No Me Without You; Tom Davis’ Fields of the Fatherless, and Doug Sauder’s The One Factor.  (Several others came to mind after I’d submitted that I wish I’d included as well, but five was the limit).

If you can, pick up a copy of CT from the newsstand today.  If not, all these articles will come available online over the month ahead, and we’ll post them on the Alliance blog as they do.  In the meantime, advocates of the orphan care take heart:  God continues to build both passion and action in His Church for these children He so deeply loves.

When Rachel and I traveled to pick up our adopted daughter, Eden, in Ethiopia, we had the chance to spend time at several orphanages.  One that particularly stuck with me is the Kolfe Orphanage in Addis Ababa, a home for older boys:  its battered building sit in dry, hardpan clay; thin rays of hope came from caring Ethiopians and Americans that worked with the boys, but could not easily erase the aching existence many of the young men knew.

This story shared with me today is of one young man from Kolfe, named Solomon, and a very special couple I met at Summit, Eileen and Jerry Mestas.  It brought a broad smile to my face, and I imagine it will for you as well.    (As a side note, Rachel confessed feeling she was in the presence of a celebrity when she learned that Eileen Mestas was not only a champion of adoption and orphan care, but also had developed the patent for the original “hooter hider” nursing cover, for which many a mother is undyingly grateful.  But that’s another matter…) :

______________________________________________________________

Solomon Bekele is 19 years old and has been living in an orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the last 10 years. He was living without hope or plans for a future and he thought he was forgotten, even by God. He was all alone with not one living relative in this world. The Kolfe Orphanage with boys ranging in ages 7-21 years had not been maintained in over 30 years. The living conditions were tragic, with raw sewage seeping up from the ground, broken windows in all the dorms, and the beds they slept in were trash pile worthy. They only had injera (their national bread) and soup to eat every day, three times a day

Then in November 2007, the Mestas family from Wake Forest, NC traveled to Ethiopia to adopt a sibling group of three. They were taken to visit the Kolfe orphanage and met Solomon. They became pen-pals and miracles began to happen through the letters to Solomon.

Upon returning home from Ethiopia, the Mestas family started speaking all over the country on behalf of orphans and were instrumental, in just 2 months, of raising over $50,000 to renovate the orphanage. Eileen Mestas started posting Solomon’s letters on their family blog www.jobsdaughters.blogspot.com which began spreading around the country like wildfire. How many people get to know a real orphan boy in Africa and hear his cries for help and his heart’s desire to be loved? People from all over the U.S. started to visit Solomon at the Orphanage in Ethiopia, and continue the humanitarian aid efforts. When he was asked how many people had visited him he said; “Too many to count.” In two short years, the Kolfe orphanage has become famous and is being transformed. Solomon has been instrumental in getting several of the younger boys adopted, and many more of them sponsored by American families.

Solomon failed the Ethiopian Government National School Exam in 10th grade and was considered not worthy of further education. He was not permitted to attend any more government schools or University and was destitute with no hope for a future.

The Mestas family started to financially support him going to a private school in Ethiopia where he graduated in August 2009, as Valedictorian! Out of 400 students he was the only orphan. Through a series of miraculous events, Solomon was awarded a full tuition scholarship to attend The College at Southeastern in Wake Forest, NC.

The president of Southeastern, Dr. Danny Akin, agreed to give Solomon a tuition scholarship if he could get to the United States. This was the greatest challenge of all, since the US Embassy normally does not grant student visas to orphans. It is mandatory for all international students to return to their country after they graduate. All students must prove ties to their native country, such as family, property, bank accounts, and other resources. Typically orphans have no ties to ensure their return. The odds were against Solomon again.  The Mestas family elicited the support of several organizations, such as the Gladney Center for Adoption of Fort Worth, Texas, Open Door Baptist Church in Raleigh and others who wrote letters of recommendation in support of Solomon’s application. They also engaged the Office of Senator Kay Hagan, who assisted in the expedition of his VISA approval just yesterday, Monday June 21, 2010!! He received his Visa this morning and is booked on a flight to the USA tonight which arrives at RDU tomorrow, Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 1:30 p.m.

God performed another miracle for Solomon and he will be living with the Mestas family and joining their speaking ministry for at least the next 4-5 years. Solomon has become the VOICE OF THE ORPHAN!

A crowd of at least 100 people is expected to welcome him at the RDU airport tomorrow.

This past weekend, my parents gave Rachel and me our first overnight away from 8-month old Lincoln.  As much as were missing the lad and his three older sisters, we can’t say it kept us from relishing the time together amidst California’s breathtaking redwood forests.  The quietude also provided a rare chance for extended reading.  I picked up Tom Davis’ Priceless and couldn’t stop ‘til it was done.

The book is a page-turner, no question, in the vein of Clancy or Ludlum.  And despite its relentless pace, the book’s descriptions of Russia and its people are rich.  I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the former Soviet Union, and again and again found myself in the grip of nostalgia, nodding or grinning at the way Davis captured the beauty and quirks of the mystery-shrouded land and its people.

Beyond the sheer pleasure of a good read, however, the significance of the book is far deeper.  It leaves the reader awash not just in knowledge, but in the experience and emotion, of what it means for an orphan to live without provider or protector.  It helps us not only to understand, but to feel, why God calls us to “defend the cause of the fatherless.”

That’s why every movement in response to God’s call for justice requires not only good theology and strategy, but also good art.   As CS Lewis describes it in The Abolition of Man,  our head can only rule our decisions “through the chest [heart].”  That means that as vital as right thinking is, it is ultimately a rightly-formed heart (will, desire, emotion, aspiration, longing) that most impels right action.   (This is why Scripture urges, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life”—Proverbs 4:23.)  Good art, from truth-telling stories to music to movies, can powerfully stir and shape our hearts.  It can draw truth from idea to action.  Good art leads a migration from mind to heart, and then from there to hands and feet.

That’s just what Davis sought to do via a can’t-put-it-down thriller in Priceless.   He accomplished his goal marvelously.

Unwanted infants in ancient Rome were often disposed of via the practice of “exposing.” Whether undesirable because it was malformed, female or simply inconvenient, the child would be left alone, outside the city walls, without defense before glaring sun, icy winds or roving animals.

In 374 AD, the Christian emperor Valentinian banned the practice. But for centuries prior, a marginalized group gained a reputation for rescuing these children: Christians. The early church was known, even among many who despised it, as a people who defended the orphan. Believers went outside the city to find infants abandoned there, taking them in, and often raising them as their own. This witness was one powerful factor in the vibrant life and growth of Christianity in its first 300 years, and at other high points in history as well. It can be that way again…

Read the full article here.

A good friend and member of the Alliance’s Church Orphan Ministry Advisory Council, Johnny Carr, has an op-ed on Ethiopian orphans in the Washington Post today.

The piece highlights the vast need, warning “the future of Ethiopia’s children is heading toward a crisis of epic proportion if measurable and immediate action is not taken.”  But alongside this vast need, the article emphasizes where hope lies as well:  not in big institutions, but in individual families and the local church.

The article describes a new project Bethany Christian Services is spearheading to care for orphans in-country.   Like many of the very best orphan care initiatives of Alliance member organizations, this one is centered in local churches.  As the article describes, “These are one-on-one relationships; essentially, the U.S. church provides the necessary financing for foster care and the Ethiopian partner inspires its members to help find families and develop loving, local communities. The two churches coordinate their efforts in a symbiotic fashion, working not only on adoption issues, but also any other missions projects that they wish.”

If this project proves successful, it will add one more vital model to the growing array of church-to-church partnerships that can be harnessed to address the global orphan crisis in a way that is both family-centered and saleable.   In my view, response centered in the local church provides not only the best, but also the only, real promise of solution to the needs of orphans worldwide.

Following the controversy over the American woman who sent her adopted son back to Russia last month, the Washington Post ran a compelling op-ed on the plight of orphans in Russia–Adopted boy’s return highlights problems in Russian orphanages. The author, chief of pediatric cardiology at the University of Massachusetts,  Darshak Sanghavi, does an excellent job explaining why debates that focus narrowly on potential problems with international adoption miss an issue of far greater importance to most Russian orphans:  the reality faced by children in Russian orphanages every day.

As I’ve often seen firsthand, many orphanages in Russian and Eastern Europe do an entirely adequate job providing food, shelter, clothing, and other physical necessities.  What most fail to provide, however, is the very thing children need more than anything else:  consistent  love and nurture.

Sanghavi describes a Russian orphanage visited by a colleague:  “The problem wasn’t that the children were neglected: They were kept fastidiously clean and were well groomed and well fed. The problem was that they were bereft of normal human contact. “

As Sanghavi presents it, many Russian orphanages still reflect theories of care-giving championed by progressive psychologists in the 1920s, when some parenting books discouraged mothers from hugging children and the head of the American Psychological Association literally went so far as to recommend only one kiss per year.

Western theorists eventually woke to what most any parent knows by common sense:  that love and affection are vital to a child’s well being.  And so efforts to care for orphans in the West moved decisively away from orphanages in the 1950s and 60s.  Sanghavi notes, “By 1965, only 4 percent of American orphans remained in institutions.  But attachment theory did not influence child welfare programs in the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc…. At the time of a 1998 Human Rights Watch report, hundreds of thousands of children were committed to orphanages in Russia, while only several hundred lived in family-size foster-care settings.”

Furthermore, as Sanghavi describes, “A culture of adoption has never taken off in Russia: Of an estimated 800,000 Russian orphans today, only about 15,000 are adopted each year, half of them by foreigners.”

Describing the dire consequences of leaving children in institutions, Sanghavi refers to a watershed 2007 study by Harvard professor Charles Nelson, working in Romania.  The study found that of 136 infants placed either in foster care or orphanages, children in foster care produced significantly higher IQ scores, and the younger the child at the time of placement, the bigger the difference.

“Institutional care is bad for kids,” the study’s author told Sanghavi. “The fact is that institutional care always does worse than family care.”

A CBN headline news story today opened a poignant window into last month’s Summit VI and the rising tide of Christian commitment to orphans.  Commentary by Pat Robertson following the news segment, however, is likely to prod fierce discussion.

The news report by Charlene Israel captured well the spirit of Summit VI and the passion for orphans and adoption that surrounds it.  (See here for a sampling of blog posts on Summit.)   Along with other elements, it provided great snapshots of several of the adoptive families that attended Summit, including the Reynolds (the remarkable family interviewed on stage at Summit) and the Twietmeyer’s (another unforgettable clan, and the founders of Project Hopeful).

The report builds around the story of Tague and Lisa Harding of Lakeville, MN.  The couple already had five children, the youngest ten, and had been anticipating the freedom of an empty nest.  But on a mission trip to Africa, a concern for orphans budded into a sense of calling to adoption.  A year and a half ago, they adopted two boys from Uganda, 3-year-old Phillip and 4-year-old Zachary.

Lisa Harding expresses what I’ve heard from so many adoptive parents in recent years:  that the desire God stirred in them to care for orphans has most definitely not reached its completion in the adoption.  Rather, they see adoption as one part of a life-long call to live out James 1:27.   Speaking of their plans to attend Summit, Lisa expressed, “I’m excited about refueling what’s already a passion in us because this is not a period at the end of a sentence now that Philip and Zachary are in our house. Now, it’s what’s next?”

Just as significant, Harding’s words at the end of the interview capture the power of God’s intent in adoption and orphan care.  It isn’t just about rescuing orphans; it is about rescuing self-absorbed Christian adults as well.  Caring for orphans is a journey of root-level discipleship, because love for orphans transforms.  As Lisa Harding concluded, “People have said, ‘Oh, aren’t they lucky, you rescued them from whatever.  And I think, Are you kidding?  I’m the lucky one.  I get to be their mom.  And I get to be daily rescued from my selfishness, and my impatience, and things that are just as disease-ridden in my soul.”

Controversy springs following the news report, however, as Pat Robertson adds personal commentary.  See more in the next post…

It’s been thrilling to see the blog posts across the Web sharing experiences from Summit VI.    A sampling is below.   (Note:  no one encouraged or solicited these!)  The posts speak for themselves, but one element that comes through powerfully in so many of the posts fills me with special wonder.  What just a few years ago was essentially a small, disconnected and often isolated hodgepodge of orphan and adoption advocates…has grown into an increasingly intertwined, unified, mutually-nourishing movement that grows daily.  Clearly, there’s something more at work here than human hands.

“To say that the conference was inspiring is putting it lightly! I came away with my cup of joy and hope absolutely overflowing and was (and am) eager to share all I’ve learned with anyone who asks…”  here

“I have never laughed, cried, and talked so much in my life. I loved every minute of it!”  here

“It is obvious that God orchestrated my attendance at the conference to provide fresh wind and fresh fire to our involvement in and passion for adoption and orphan care…. I am thrilled that God allowed me to identify a potential ministry partner in every area we are currently working (India, Uganda and Mexico). It will be exciting to see how these relationships grow over the next several months and how His kingdom is served.” Here

“…Full of highlights, full of insights, full of God.” Here

“… it’s clicking finally. Seriously, I think I just “became a Christian” this weekend. Or I am growing through sanctification. One of the two. As a result of starting to grasp this better, I was able to see more clearly how caring for the Orphan is much bigger than anything I had ever understood it to be…” here

“We just got back from the national Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit in Minneapolis. It was truly an amazing experience. To be with over 1000 people from 37 states who are as passionate about orphans as we are was an absolute treat.” here

“I guess my ramblings come down to this.  The conference was awesome…” here

“…a spectacular gathering of ministries and organizations and ordinary people to share what God is doing in response to James 1:27. The conference was overflowing with information…” here

“The conference was powerful – inspiring speakers, helpful breakout sessions and great conversations… I experienced something deeper than happiness. It was joy…”  here

“I can sum up my experience at the Summit in one word: AMAZING. I can also sum up my feelings after the Summit in one word: BLESSED. Okay, maybe two words: BLESSED AND HOPEFUL. Beyond that, I don’t even know where to begin.”  Here…

“It has really opened my eyes to the need of the orphans in the world.”  here

“It has been an incredible time! The praise and worship time, the fellowship with other adoptive families, and learning about practical ways any and every person can care for orphans worldwide has refreshed and encouraged us.”  Here

“Just a quick post to say that the Orphan Summit was wonderful! So much to learn.  My head was about to explode…”  here

“Wasn’t the entire Summit amazing though?! Loved it so much.”  here

“I can’t wait to share all of the amazing events that unfolded, and all of the things we learned while we were there…”  Here

“It was an amazing conference and one that I think every believer should go to. I would go every year if I could. It was a reminder of the heart of God for the world, orphans and making disciples who will love future generations to come. It was a refreshing challenge to walk by faith and serve the Lord in a way that I’m not used to being challenged.”  here

“… it was like drinking water through a fire hose! And I loved it!….”  here

I can’t wait to go to Summit [7] next year, I have already started saving for Brian and I to make the trip together to where every it is going to be.  The conference was awesome and it was a huge blessing to be able to share two days with people who are advocating for orphans locally and globally and are really, really passionate about Gods call to …care for the fatherless…  here

“an incredible conference of adoption and orphan advocates….men and women called by God to give a voice to orphans and help care for them physically, emotionally, and most important of all, introducing them to the saving love of Jesus.  Here

“…a very powerful place to be.” here

“We had such an amazing time at the Summit VI conference this week…This conference was the first official adoption event that we’ve done since we brought our sons home and I knew it would be good, but I didn’t expect to feel so very encouraged.” here

“This is our first Summit and we are so thankful we came!…we made significant connections with families and organizations around the country, as well as became educated in many new facets of adoption and orphan care.”  Here

“AMAZING…left not only fired up, but also feeling equipped to begin making a difference….It was truly one of the best weeks of our lives and even in the few days that we’ve been home, we’ve already seen the Lord working in mighty ways!  here.

I have been to many conferences in the past but have never experienced anything quite like being around 1000+ people with a passion and heart for orphans!  Here

The people I met — I would not have the opportunity to meet them anywhere else…all in one place.  here

Perhaps the most value gained from this conference was in witnessing how God is “infecting” His passion for the fatherless into the hearts of His people around the world. here

I was just incredibly impressed with the high caliber speakers they flew in to share their stories or positions on caring for the orphans all over the world. here

It is SO AMAZING!!!! It is just like this giant oasis for me right now. God brought this to me at the perfect time. I cannot tell you how good it feels to be in a room, praising God with 1500 people who all have a heart for Orphans. These people are as crazy as I am. I love it!!! here

Summit VI is just days away, and energy and enthusiasm for the conference is running in high gear.  Meanwhile, the featured article today from Christianity Today’s highlights orphan care and adoption vis-a-vis recent events in Haiti.

The article tags Summit as a key part of the Christian orphan movement, carrying a great quote from Dr. Russell Moore on the commitment of believers to adoption and orphan care:

“There’s more momentum than I’ve ever seen,” Moore said. “We are at the beginning stages of a wave of momentum not just toward adoption but orphan care of various kinds. The church is beginning to have its conscience awakened when it comes to the orphan crisis.”