One of the most precious doctrines in all of Scripture is the doctrine of adoption. In justification, God forgives our sins and declares us righteous through the atoning work of His Son. Though that is an immense privilege, God does more than free us from guilt as our Judge. He takes us, guilty criminals, frees us from our bondage to sin, and makes us members of His own household (Ephesians 2:19), adopting us as His own sons and daughters (Galatians 4:4–7).

As a result of receiving this grace, Christians should be most eager to give this gift to others—not only by speaking the gospel so that others might be saved, but also by imitating our Father and becoming adoptive parents ourselves. May is foster-care awareness month, which means our church family has a great opportunity to become acquainted with our Hands for Hope ministry, which provides counsel and resources for families considering foster care and adoption. Read the testimonies below of some of our members’ experience with fostering and adoption, and prayerfully consider whether the Lord might be guiding you to serve in this way as well.

Rusty & Summer Page
Entering the world of foster care and adoption is definitely a journey of faith. Welcoming someone new and inviting them not only into our home but also into our family brought us to the frontlines of brokenness. It challenged our family to step out of the comfort zone we so often cling to. But it also gave us the opportunity to share the gospel—to the children in our care, to their birthparents, and also to our other children as they observe us walking with the Lord through the inevitable trials. We were able to model fighting to trust the Lord with all our heart in ways that would not have been possible otherwise. Most importantly, fostering and adoption has given us a unique glimpse of the love that our Heavenly Father has for us, along with the opportunity to extend that love to the hurting.

Tim & Isabel Hunter
Through the humbling journey of adoption, our family has experienced firsthand fellowship with God, as His sovereign plan for us unfolded before our eyes. We have stood in awe of the precision of His perfect orchestration of people, places, and timing in our adoption. As a result, our trust in Him has grown exponentially, and we have learned more and more not to trust in our own limited understanding. We also have the privilege of being able to serve our children’s birthparents, who courageously chose life for their babies and entrusted us to raise them up in the Lord. What a blessing it has been to see the Lord accomplish His will and glorify Himself in our family.

Sheldon & Alana Ko
Foster care can be scary. It was for us. What would it be like to have a new child in our home? How would our children respond? How would we deal with the grief if the child returned to his birth parents? But our concerns were overpowered by the opportunity to help needy children, to tell them about Jesus, and to bring the gospel to their families. For us, foster care was a vital class in God’s school of providence. When a child left our home, God comforted us. When court decisions were unjust, God reminded us that He was in charge. When times were tough, we learned to love Christ and others more than ourselves. And after several foster children had left our home, God graciously allowed us to adopt two sons through foster care. In them, we continue to learn more of God’s love for us, His adopted sons and daughters through Christ (Ephesians 1:5).

Visit gracechurch.org/h4h for more information.