Equipping the Generations: God, the Gospel, and the Global Cause of Christ -- By: David A. Gundersen
Journal: Journal of Discipleship and Family Ministry
Volume: JDFM 02:1 (Fall 2011)
Article: Equipping the Generations: God, the Gospel, and the Global Cause of Christ
Author: David A. Gundersen
JFM 2:1 (Fall/Winter 2011) p. 86
Equipping the Generations:
God, the Gospel, and the Global Cause of Christ
David A. “Gunner” Gundersen (M.Div., Th.M., The Master’s Seminary; Ph.D. cand., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) serves as Director of Student Life at Boyce College. He previously served as Dean of Men at The Master’s College in Southern California. He and his wife Cindi have adopted four children from East Africa: Judah, Ember, Isaiah, and Brooklyn. Gunner blogs at http://www.rawchristianity.com. He enjoys family, sports, words, and fall weather. This article appeared originally in The Master’s Current 15 (Spring 2009) 14.]
They call it a “paper pregnancy.” It’s the period of time between the conception and finalization of your adoption. There’s no positive pregnancy test, no hormonal upheaval, no morning sickness, no amazing ultrasounds, no growing belly, no random food cravings, no little feet-kicks coming from the womb, no agonizing labor pains or delivery. Yet each of these finds its reflection in the paper pregnancy.
Our first was nineteen months long.
We decided to adopt in December of 2005, and I picked up my wife and our eighteen-month-old Ugandan son at the airport on July 13, 2007. Our positive pregnancy test was the U.S. government’s acceptance of our application. Our hormonal turmoil was the onslaught of emotions that flow from the ups and downs of pioneer adoptions in African countries. The morning sickness came in frustrations of all kinds, from paperwork pains to cross-governmental headaches to the dizziness and nausea caused by the roller-coaster of international bureaucracy. The surreal ultrasound came in the first picture we ever received of the baby boy we were “matched up” with, and the periodic arrival of pictures over the months functioned as so many kicks and somersaults in the womb, reminding us that our son was real, alive, and growing. As the process lengthened, the anticipation bulged, and at the end of it all came the agonizing labor pains of my wife’s second trip to Uganda and her final week in the capital city—which she will tell you was the most hectic and hair-raising week of her life.
Why go through this? The same question that women throughout the centuries have asked in the pangs of delivery can be asked of those who have chosen to walk through a predictably intense adoption. Why?
It wasn’t because we wanted a child and couldn’t have one on our own. We’re a young couple, and we actually just wanted to adopt first. Scripture doesn’t have a Plan B view of adoption. We’ve never discovered a verse presenting adoption simply as a second-rate way to grow a family. We’re overjoyed at friends who decide to adopt because they can�...
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