Missional Communities and Adoption

Dan Cruver:

One of our hopes for the Together for Adoption National Conference in Austin is to begin serious, Spirit-led dialogue about how to intentionally and strategically unite the church’s missional engagement in the world, both locally and globally, with its privilege and responsibility to care for orphans. How can the church be what it is to be missionally and have orphan care be an integral part of its missional engagement? This question that we will be seeking to answer is one that both encourages and discourages me at the same time.

First, the discouraging part: I once heard a church-planting organization say that it tells its church planters not to get involved in orphan care because orphan care is a distraction from the church’s mission. To be fair, I think I understand what they mean. But I would have a difficult time saying that kind of thing in front of “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” I just do not think that James would let a statement like that go unchallenged. If the practice of true religion necessarily involves caring for orphans and widows in their affliction, than it seems to me that orphan care must be an integral part of what the church is and does. So, I’m somewhat discouraged by the fact that we even have to ask and answer that question.

But there is also a very encouraging part: many missional leaders are beginning to ask this question because they are convinced of its biblical importance. They are seeing orphan care not as a missional add-on but as a vital aspect of what the church is to be and do missionally. In God’s infinite wisdom, he has made orphan care a key component of the church’s missional DNA. If something is part of your DNA, it will have an impact upon both your being and your doing. No longer is the orphan care part of the church’s spiritual DNA lying dormant. God is at work to awaken it within the church, and for that I am extremely encouraged.

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I will be live-blogging the conference again this year and providing some video support as well. Hope to see you there! It was a GREAT conference last year and looks to be even better this year.