135,000 Desperate Cries for Help

One-hundred and Thirty-five Thousand. That is the number of American children currently waiting to be adopted through the foster care system.

Their parents' rights have been taken away, they are living in a temporary situation in a foster home, but they are anxiously waiting for someone to care for them. To take responsibility for them. To say to them: "You are now a part of our family." 

As I have said in previous posts, there is a fresh movement of God in His church to address this crisis. But the need is still great.

I encourage you to check out the number of foster children waiting to be adopted in your state. This graphic is shocking when you compare the number of kids to the number of churches in each state. In many Bible belt states, if just one family out of every two churches would adopt one child, we could solve the problem. And so many lives would be changed. And, man, would God be glorified!

One movement that is gaining momentum is the "Wait No More" campaign. Initiated by Focus on the Family in the state of Colorado, "Wait No More" is a plea to the church to step in and adopt these children. Over the last 18 months in Colorado, the number of foster kids waiting to be adopted has dropped from 800 to less than 350. And this is mainly because of Christian families stepping up and following the directive of James 1:27.

You can hear the heart of Jim Daly, Focus on the Family president, in this short video...

"Wait No More" is gaining some momentum in Georgia. Focus on the Family is planning a major launch in early 2011 that I look forward to telling you more about in the coming days.

If you are a Christ-follower, I challenge you to go to God and honestly ask Him this question: "Who do you expect to care for these orphans?" He just might give you a very personal answer.

Again, I want to remind you that Johnson Ferry Baptist Church is addressing this issue in our Sunday services this weekend. And we will be rolling out some more resources and opportunities to find out more about adoption in the following weeks. What will your response be?