Fall Orphan Care Bible Study

Open Hearts, Open Homes Orphan Care Ministry will host again this fall the Orphan Care Bible Study. This study is for anyone interested in learning what the Bible says about caring for the disenfranchised. Foster parenting or adoption do not have to be in your future to be a part of this study, just a desire to know what God's Word says about caring for the orphan. The text for the study consists of Scripture and A Passion for the Fatherless written by Daniel Bennett (Pastor of Bethany Community Church).

During the study we will look at God's heart for the orphan and some things to consider when looking at orphan care.

For those with a heart to foster and/or adopt this is the first step in partnering with the Open Hearts, Open Homes Orphan Care Ministry.

Orphan Care Bible Study

Sundays, beginning September 21- October 26, 2014

Time: 11:00am – 12:15pm (during second service)

Place:  Bethany Baptist Church, Room 809.  (7422 N. Heinz Lane, Edwards)

Teachers: Ken and Amy Park

Questions? Contact: Ken and Amy at levisix88@gmail.com or Jerry Sanderson at jerry@bethanycentral.org

The Theology of Adoption

With the desire to expose believers to the Scriptural mandate to care for orphans, help them understand why God has issued that call, and give them the ability to discern how God would have them joyfully respond to His call we host an Adoption Bible Study twice a year in our church.

As we look at God and the orphan we cover the following topics: The uniqueness of Christian orphan care, theology of the disenfranchised, the glorious grace of God in adoption, and six truths regarding our adoption by from the book of Romans. In Part 2: God's People and the Orphan we delve into orphans and the gospel, orphans and missions, and lastly hard issues to confront regarding how to be involved in orphan care.

Our desire is to present clearly the Lord's heart for the orphan and to encourage the church to think about how the Lord would have them be involved with orphan care.

We began our fall study this past Sunday evening as part of our Sunday Night Electives. It is not too late to join us! You do not have to attend our church to attend, anyone is welcome.

The study is from October 4 - November 8. Time 6:00pm - 7:15pm

Place: Bethany Baptist Church, 7229 N. Knoxville Ave., Peoria, IL 61614

Why Adopt...The Bennett Family

How did we come to the decision to adopt from Guatemala, or internationally for that matter? I could sum up my answer in one word: HOPE. Just as God calls His servants to serve in different fields and locations, He calls His people to care for orphans in different ways. We felt called to bring one of the fatherless into our lives to care for as one of our own. For those He calls to adopt, He calls each family to meet a need in different ways. This gives me great HOPE for the staggering numbers of orphans in the world! If we were all called to adopt from one country, children elsewhere would be without HOPE. I so am thankful that there are families called to foster and risk opening their hearts to children, even if it is only for a short time. I see families that are called to adopt domestically as one of our greatest deterrents to abortion in this country!
As a family, we are confident in our calling to be serving the body of Christ locally. We have been asked about one day serving as missionaries abroad, and our response is that God has given us a passion for the people in the Midwest and until He changes that, this is where we will serve. With that said, He still gives us a desire to see other people groups come to know Him. We pray for and support others who are called to other countries. We saw our adoption as a way to spread the Gospel to another people group that we were not currently reaching out to.
Why Guatemala? I had first started thinking about adoption when I heard stories of families adopting from China. After some research, I learned that we would not qualify to adopt from China for another two years, putting our youngest children at least four years apart, probably more. We felt that an adopted child would feel closer to our family if there was not such a big age gap. So, the search was on again. Daniel and I went on a mission trip to Spain in October of 2006 and developed a love for the Spanish speaking culture. This helped us narrow the world down even further. After the Lord ordained a meeting between a family that had adopted from an orphanage in Guatemala and our family, the adoption committee at our church began pursuing a mission trip to this orphanage in Guatemala. We met with the family again and gained a vision for the serving opportunities at the orphanage. The mother told us stories of the dozen or so families that were currently adopting from there from their church. This one church was sending families, at that time, almost every month to bring home or visit a child. Their family had even traveled together to work at the orphanage after their adoption was complete. As we first were considering starting an adoption ministry at our church, I heard stories mentioned about how churches were coming together to clear out entire orphanages. That church seemed to have the same vision!
Daniel and I quickly saw that this would be a great way for our family to minister long-term to this people group, not just our daughter. We can reach this beautiful place by just driving three hours and then a quick four hour plane ride, followed by a couple hours commuting from Guatemala City to the orphanage in the mountains…a relatively short journey given the size of the world. We are grieved about how Guatemala is now closed to adoption, but continue to pray and support the fatherless in that country. He has a perfect plan for each of those children.
Our daughter, Ellie, has been a God-ordained addition to our family. The challenges are not always as delightful as her little dimples, but the Lord has been gracious to us and taught us so much through this precious child. Ellie is a joy and ever-present picture of our own spiritual adoption!

Why Adopt...The McClelland Family

Our call to adopt.

Gregg and I were married previously for nearly 10 years each. When we met each other and began to talk about marriage, we talked about the possibility of having more children together. Gregg has two girls, I have two girls and they all live with us full time. After some time of working at blending our family, the thought of more children was a little overwhelming for me. I just was not interested, even though Gregg had not given up his dream of more children.

About a year and a half ago, I found out I was pregnant. It was quite a surprise and quite a shock. I did not have the most positive feelings for the first few moments. But, my initial hesitation turned into great joy of the gift God was giving us as a family. The girls were very excited. All was well...and then I miscarried. It was hard. But God had done something very special in my heart. He opened up my heart to the possibility of being a mom again.

Gregg and I decided after our "oops" that we would try to get pregnant again. After a few months trying, it happened. This pregnancy was even shorter lived. I miscarried in June 2008. I began to wonder what God had in mind for us. I knew I wanted to be a mother again, but was not sure I could go through another miscarriage.

About a year earlier I had become a part of our church's Open Hearts, Open Homes prayer ministry. I had been praying for families in our church who were going through the adoption or fostering process. It really became special as I saw our prayers to God answered as children came home to their forever families. After having two miscarriages, I began to question God as to whether adoption might be our calling. I did not talk to Gregg about this as I figured he would think I was crazy. I just kept praying.

One day a few months later, Gregg came home from having traveled to the Chicago area for work. He walked in the door and was crying. He told me he had been listening to a NPR show and they were talking about orphans in Russia. He told me we needed to do something to help. I asked him, "What?" He said, "Adopt."

Fast forward a few months and our family went to Maranatha for our annual family camp. We had switched weeks that year and happened to be there with a bunch of families from Bethany, our church. Of course, many of them had adopted/fostered, as well as many others at the camp, and we felt God leading us to make a decision to adopt. We began to research our options while we were on vacation!

We applied to adopt in February 2009. It took a while for us to sort out the details and to confirm God's calling on our lives. We also had to wait for the economy to take a downturn (ok, maybe that wasn't EXACTLY in our plans...) so that God could show us how it's not about US, but only about HIM. We have to depend on Him to get us through this or it will not happen. If it be God's will, we will bring home a little boy from Russia within the next year. If God has other plans, then we're in this for the ride of our lives.

God is so faithful and just. He brought Gregg and I from the point of broken marriages into a loving relationship. He healed the hurt in our family. He loved us unconditionally. Now He is calling us to add to our family through adoption. He's been faithful through the rest, why wouldn't we trust Him now? Pray with us that we can trust him fully and surrender all to the One who deserves all.