Adopted people adopt people

Adoption is a word used in Scripture to describe the way God brings people into His family. It is a significant word for Christians who are forever brought into a saving relationship with God through faith in Christ.

In his sermon titled “Adoption: The Heart of the Gospel,” Dr. John Piper said, “The deepest and strongest foundation of adoption is located not in the act of humans adopting humans, but in God adopting humans.”

That truth became a life-changing reality for Pastor Andrew Hopper and his wife, Anna, as they opened their hearts and their home to a baby girl.

Reviving the dream

As pastor of Mercy Hill Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, Hopper and his family were living a fast-paced life. However, it was during this unlikely season of life – with three biological children and a host of church responsibilities – that God began to revive the Hoppers’ long-standing desire to adopt.

“Anna spent a good amount of time on the mission field in China working in orphanages, and I had spent time on Indian reservations in the western part of the United States,” Hopper told The Stand. “And we saw a lot of kids growing up in very tough situations where the gospel wasn’t present. It just broke our hearts.”

Knowing God had given them a heart for adoption, the Hoppers began working first through an agency, then through the foster care system. However, it was not in God’s timing to give them a child. Then, in 2016, after returning to a former agency and being on the list for only a month, the news they had been waiting for finally came – but with an unexpected twist.

Responding in faith

“The adoption agency called us and said, ‘Your profile has been chosen. The baby girl is not here, but there’s a 99% chance of Down syndrome. We want you guys to pray about this,’” Hopper recalled.

“We wrestled in prayer,” he added. “There were a lot of tears about what life could look like, but also joyful tears of what we believed God could do.”

Since he and Anna had already agreed to welcome any child God might bring into their lives, making a decision did not take long.

Hopper reminisced about a key moment in talking with Anna about their decision: “We were on the phone one day, and I had pulled over on the side of the road. We were both praying and talking to each other about faith in what God could do through her life, even though it might look different. I got off the phone with Anna, and I just felt like the Lord spoke into my life – ‘Her name is Faith.’ So, we told them we would do it, and when she was born, we were just overjoyed!”

Recognizing the reason

Hopper stressed that a couple must look beyond personal guilt – and even the welfare of the child – when considering motivations for adopting.

“I do feel like the Christian adoptive community has fallen prey to making adoption a bit of a litmus test for how serious you are about your faith,” he said. “It should never be that. The greatest motivation is asking the question, ‘Where was I before Christ came and the Lord adopted me through His sacrifice?’”

He continued, “In the gospel, you and I, because of our sin, were kicked out of the family, but Jesus took what we deserved on the cross and gave us what He deserved in the resurrection. And now we have the opportunity to come back into the family of God once again.

“When we begin to think about what God has done in our lives, it helps us see clearly that we can go and be to others physically what God has been to us spiritually. We often say at Mercy Hill, ‘Adopted people adopt people.’”

It is this gospel perspective that provides a solid foundation for families considering adoption and the challenges they can expect to encounter – one of which is finances.

Removing the barriers

According to a 2022 report from the National Council for Adoption (NCFA), 51% of adoptive parents identified cost as at least somewhat of a barrier to adoption. While the average cost of adoption from foster care is between $0 and $1,000, the cost of private domestic adoption can range from $30,000 to $70,000, and the average intercountry adoption can cost from $25,000 to $45,000.

But Hopper said money shouldn’t be an obstacle for families who believe God is calling them to adopt.

“I know the fear of finances,” he admitted, “but at the same time, I have seen the Lord come through so many times for so many families. This should not be our greatest fear; it should not be our greatest hinderance. If we put the need out there, I really believe the Lord’s people are going to be faithful.”

This kind of encouragement, offered to support adoptive and foster care families, is indicative of a rising trend among church leaders in recent years.

“More pastors are encouraging members to adopt and provide foster care at a time when adoptions have declined in the U.S.,” writes Aaron Earls, a senior writer at Lifeway Research. According to Earls’ article titled “More Churchgoers Hear Encouragement to Adopt, Provide Foster Care,” the number of American Protestant churchgoers who have seen their leaders encourage support for adoption and foster care increased from 14% to 16% between 2017 and 2022.

Providing tangible means of assistance for adoptive families is something that Hopper continues to encourage his congregation.

“We call that rope-holding at Mercy Hill,” he explained, referring to a well-known account of missionary William Carey and his pastor, Andrew Fuller. “Carey said, ‘I’ll go down into the pit and dangle from the bottom of the rope, Andrew, if you’ll hold the rope from the top and support me.’

“So, we want to have every [adoptive] family matched up with rope-holders who are willing to support them in whatever they need,” Hopper said. “That might be driving kids around, getting a meal train together, or taking care of their yard for a month when these families travel to get their child. The rope-holders are really jacks-of-all-trades” who help families live out the gospel through adoption.