Journal: Journal of Discipleship and Family Ministry
Volume: JDFM 02:1 (Fall 2011)
Article: Equipping the Generations: Adding to Your Existing Family through Adoption
Author: Randy L. Stinson

JFM 2:1 (Fall/Winter 2011) p. 80

Equipping the Generations:
Adding to Your Existing Family through Adoption

Randy Stinson

Randy Stinson (Ph.D., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) became Dean of the School of Church Ministries at Southern Seminary in 2006. Dr. Stinson is a renowned authority on the subject of biblical manhood and womanhood. He is co-editor of Trained in the Fear of God: Family Ministry in Theological, Historical, and Practical Perspective (Kregel, 2011). Dr. Stinson has served as a senior pastor as well as other church staff positions.

“I can hardly breathe,” I told my wife. And I meant it. We were in an old elevator headed to the third floor of a battered women’s shelter in downtown Taipei, seconds before meeting our two new daughters. They were five-and-a-half and three-and-a-half They were just as nervous as we were. The social workers blandly announced to the girls, “Here is your mama. Here is your papa.” They handed us a bag of clothes that did not fit and sent us on our way.

No fanfare, no celebration, no instructions. It was one of the greatest days of our lives. It was also the culmination of years of conviction, hard work, bureaucracy, patience, impatience, and prayer.

The most common question we heard through the whole process was, “Don’t you already have kids ?” What people meant when they asked this question was, “Why would you adopt when you can obviously have kids biologically?” We had three biological children. Yet it never crossed our mind that we should not add to our family through the gift of adoption.

Here are the factors that were the driving force behind our decision to adopt. (1) We are committed to life. For our entire marriage we have supported many pro-life causes. But we always felt that, if we were going to encourage women to give birth to their babies, Christians should be in line, ready to adopt. It was our way of putting our money where our mouth was.

(2) We are committed to the helpless and disadvantaged. James (1:27) makes it clear that one of the evidences of our faith is how we respond to the “affliction” of widows and orphans. Taking care of these two groups is time consuming, messy, and sacrificial. But it is a central part of the Christian life. We wanted to make sure that our family was heavily invested in responding in obedience to this important admonition.

(3) We are committed to biblical manhood. Men are called to lead, provide, and protect (Gen 1-2, Eph 5, 1 Kings 2:1-9, 1 Pet 3, You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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