// Together for Adoption

I’m occasionally asked why we are called “Together for Adoption.” That’s a great question!

One of the many remarkable realities of our adoption by God is that it brings Jew and Gentile, slave and free, rich and poor into God’s family (Gal. 3:26-29; Eph. 2:14-22). By his grace to us in the gospel, God brings very diverse people together and forms them into a breathtakingly beautiful family.

Adoption is about being TOGETHER. This wonderful togetherness has both vertical and horizontal dimensions. Our adoption brings us together with God as our Father, and it also brings us together with each other as brothers and sisters. Together we enjoy the love of our Father and the love of each other. There is no family like God’s family.

Both the vertical and horizontal dimensions of our togetherness have Jesus at the center. We enjoy God as our Father and each other as brothers and sisters because of Jesus (Eph. 1:5; Gal. 3:28). He is the one in whom we are all brought together. So, when we enjoy our family togetherness, we make much of Jesus!

Ultimately, our Together for Adoption conferences are about celebrating both the vertical and horizontal dimensions of our adoption. We are convinced that Christians who celebrate the togetherness of their adoption in Jesus are Christians who are passionate about caring for orphans in their distress. Our celebration of our adoption by God moves us out joyfully to care for those who do not have an earthly family.

So, if you want to deepen your understanding of our togetherness in the family of God and to see your passion for orphan care increase, make plans to join us at Together for Adoption Conference 2009. Let’s all come together to make much of Jesus and learn how we can better serve orphans.
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Together for Adoption Conference 2009 is bringing together not only an excellent group of general session (Michael Easley, Russell Moore, Scott Roley, Maridel Sandberg, Scotty Smith, and Ed Stetzer) and breakout session speakers, but also a wonderful group of exhibitors (see left sidebar). Join us as we come together for adoption.

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“He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” ~ Revelation 21:7-8

Scotty Smith, one of our Conference 2009 speakers, writes:

The one word in the book of Revelation that used to either fuel my fear or stoke my pride, depending on my “performance,” is the word “overcomer.” As a young Christian in the late 60’s, I remember many last-night-of-the-retreat talks and fiery sermons prepping me and my friends to work hard to become an “overcomer”, ‘cause only the “overcomers” would survive the last days and finally make it to heaven.

The biggest, darkest, most evil problem was that most of those talks I heard, 99% of the time, “left behind” the gospel! The onus of overcoming fell squarely on my shoulders as a spiritual performer! But earlier is the book of Revelation we are given the gospel-key to overcoming: “They overcame him (the devil and his assaults) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…” (Rev. 12:11)

In other words, overcoming is a gospel issue. It is only by professing faith (the word of our testimony), in the finished work of Jesus (the blood of the Lamb), that we can be assured of inheriting the new heaven and new earth as sons and daughters of the living God!

Indeed, we inherit, not earn our way into the new heaven and new earth. Inheritance is a gift, not a wage. Only those who have Jesus as their forgiveness and righteousness, have God as their Father. The hope of Sonship is the conviction that Jesus, the Son, took the onus of our overcoming on himself. By his death on the cross, Jesus experienced the ultimate fiery judgment of God’s wrath on the cross, for us, so that all who know him do not have to fear either the first or the second death.

So why did John include the catalogue of 8 particular sins deserving judgment in verse 8? Probably for the sake of brevity, because he could have listed 8000 ways we fall short of the glory of God and deserve an eternity of being separated from God. For each of these sins, and for every other sin, there is only one answer, only one provision, the blood of the Lamb.

Do you have the hope of Sonship? Does the Spirit of God whisper a confirming witness in your heart that you are a legally adopted son/daughter of the living God—that you have already been declared righteous in the sight of God? Will you inherit the new heaven and new earth? Are you an overcomer? There is only one way to be certain: You have abandoned every attempt to have a relationship with God apart from the person and work of Jesus. Indeed, are you trusting Jesus in this very moment as the great Overcomer—the One who overcame sin and death for you?

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We are close to finalizing our list of breakout sessions for Conference 2009 in Franklin, TN (Oct. 2-3). The list below contains most of the breakouts that we will be offering. Once we announce that our list is complete, you will register for breakouts via e-mail.

There will be four breakout session blocks (see conference schedule). Each workshop will be given twice.

Adoption by Faith Alone, Kristin Wong, Author of Carried Safely Home: The Spiritual Legacy of an Adoptive Family - Orphan care and adoption bring with them vulnerable hope, heart-wrenching sorrow and splendid joy. Each of these comes with temptation to turn away from God – and precious opportunity to draw near to Him. In this workshop, we will explore how our adoption and orphan care adventures can be wonderful vehicles for a growing faith in the living God. We will discuss together how to wrestle to live by faith as we care for children, and will move towards a “when I am weak then I am strong” attitude that exalts in God through all ups and downs of adoption.

An Adoptee’s Perspective: Nature vs. Nurture, Lizette Beard, Project Manager for LifeWay Research - Lizette will share from her experiences what it is like to grow up with a God-given natural disposition that is quite different from her parents. She will highlight the blessing and challenges she encountered by navigating family, life, and the journey of becoming who God has created her to be.

Beginning the Adoption Journey: How to Get Started, Laura Godwin, Nightlight Christian Adoptions - Most couples spend about two to three years “just thinking about adoption.” If you are ready to begin adopting a child but are unsure of just which direction to go, this workshop will can help you decide what is the best path to building your family and how to start the process.

Birth Mothers and Adoption Stigma, Lisa Florian, Member of Christ Community Church’s Adoption & Foster Care Ministry - We often hear from adult adoptees about their experience in connection with adoption, but less frequently hear from the birth mother. We want the conference attendees to be able to hear a birth mother’s perspective on what it means to make that choice for her child. As well, we hope to address the stigma that appears to be prevalent among high school girls that choosing adoption makes you a bad mother, so much so that many see even abortion as a better and more accepted option.

Foster Care and Adoption, Panel Discussion, Eve Boger, Chad Crow, and Linda Roley

Implementing a Balanced Orphan Care and Adoption Ministry in Your Church, Johnny Carr, Bethany Christian Services - This session will help you think through the philosophy behind your ministry with practical suggestions for leading people to deeper involvement.  We will talk about educating and engaging everyone in the congregation, many in the congregation, and then a few in the congregation.  At each level, the education and engagement will get deeper and be more involved.  A sample calendar will be available to give you practical ministry ideas.

International Adoption 101, Tammy Bass and Amanda Clark Lawrence, Bethany Christian Services and America World Adoption - Are you interested in adopting internationally?  Join representatives from Bethany Christian Services and America World Adoption as they share an overview on the international adoption process. Very generic about countries are agencies service and hague versus non-hague immigration paperwork.

Mobilizing the Local Church to Serve Children in Foster Care, 4KIDS of South Florida - Opportunities to serve children in foster care are sometimes overlooked by churches wanting to respond to God’s heart for the orphan. Yet, local church involvement is critically important to the lives of these precious children. This session will provide an overview of the needs of children in care and the many ways that the church can become involved.

Moving from Success to Significance…becoming Orphan Advocates, Andy Lehman, LifeSong for Orphans - Many Christians today have great experience, expertise, and energy to serve the orphans and fatherless. This season of life is ripe to redirect time and skills for the Kingdom! This session will focus on how God can use Christian businesspeople and “everyday people” to become effective orphan advocates.

SPECIAL CHILDREN, SPECIAL NEEDS, Dan and Gretchen Rauter, Adoptive Family from Christ Community Church - Personal testimony, discussion and Q&A with adoptive families of special needs’ children — How are “special needs” defined?  Are some special needs too special?  How is the special needs adoption process different from that of a “healthy baby”?  Doctors, medical insurance, surgery, oh my!?!

Starting a Regional Orphan Care and Adoption Alliance, Middle TN Church Alliance for Orphan Ministry, Panel Discussion, Debi Armstrong (Christ Community Church), Marty Schwieterman (Fellowship Bible Church), Greg Buzak (Retail Orphan Initiative), Eve Boger, Cheryl Jenks.

Stewarding God’s Resources for Adoption, Jason Kovacs, ABBA Fund - For most couples, the greatest obstacle to adoption is the cost. This workshop will look at a Biblical and practical perspective on how to fund an adoption. We will cover God’s promises and God’s provisions through interest-free adoption loans, tax-credits, grants, and creative fundraisers. We will also look at the benefits of establishing local church adoption funds.

Strengthening the Church by Engaging and Mobilizing for Orphan Care, Alan Hunt and Michael Vinson, World Orphans - What if the church needs the orphan as much as the orphan needs the church? Come to this session to learn about the greatest kingdom building opportunity in our lifetime. God has an army of 143,000,000 orphans strategically positioned throughout the least reached places on the earth. Come hear how you and your church are being called to respond.

The Comfort that the Doctrine of Adoption Brings, Kevin Twit, Founder of Indelible Grace - In this seminar we will explore the way adoption into God’s family should affect our hearts, and not just our heads.  In justification we become God’s friends, but in adoption we are brought into His family.  Come explore the important link between the doctrine of adoption and the assurance of our salvation.

Unique Needs of Adopted Children, RJ Caswell, Weaving Families - Children who come to a family through adoption do have unique needs.  Loss, grief, rejection are all common themes that surface periodically throughout their lives.  As parents, we need to be aware of these unique needs so that we can can help our children navigate the journey of adoption.  Awareness of these needs might also man we need to change or alter or previous ways of parenting.

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From Saddleback’s Orphan Care Connection ministry:

How to START an Orphan Ministry in Your Church

S - Submit to God’s Word & pray

Gather together with other members of your church to study God’s Word and pray about the ways God wants you to care for orphans.

• Study: God’s Heart for the Orphan
• Pray: Download a 40 Day Prayerguide

T - Talk with the leadership of your church

Meet with the leadership of your church to discuss your heart and passion to start an Orphan Care ministry in your church. Share information about the number of children in need and talk about the reasons the church is the best plan for caring for orphaned and vulnerable children. Dream together about the strategy and next steps that need to happen to start the ministry.

A - Align with God’s purposes locally and globally

As you create ways for your church to care for orphaned and vulnerable children stay focused on the purposes and keep your mission clear.

• Evangelism: Take James 1:27 seriously “Pure religion in the sight of God cares for orphans and widows in their distress.” Create ways for your church members to define their faith the way God desires.
• Discipleship: Come alongside the vulnerable children in our world, showing them God’s love for them, and teaching them how to know and follow Him.
• Fellowship: No one can care for orphaned and vulnerable children alone. Create ways for small groups to support families who are in your ministry.
• Worship: Have a weekend series on God’s heart for the orphan. Hold a prayer service for the 138 million children in our world who no longer have a family.
• Ministry: Determine ways for your church to serve orphaned and vulnerable children, adoptive families, and people who have committed to fight for these children.

R - Research opportunities in your local community and around the world

Meet with the Foster Care agency in your community and determine ways to promote foster care to families in your church, establish ways to work together and come alongside foster care workers and families in your community.

Advocate for orphaned and vulnerable children locally and globally.

Partner with churches around the world through the PEACE plan and start church-initiated ways to help believers care for orphans in their community through their local church.

T - Take action locally and globally

Hold an informational gathering to engage the hearts of your church members and provide a clear vision of the opportunities in your local community and around the world. Be His hands and feet!

Read the entire article.

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Together for Adoption’s Orphans Refuge mission team returned home from Ethiopia on June 19th. Below are some photos from the final two days of the trip.

I plan on posting a series of interviews with team members sometime within the next 2-3 weeks. The interviews will focus on the relationship between the gospel and caring for orphans.

Many thanks to Joy McCarnan for taking pictures for the team.

You can find more pictures at Carolina Hope’s blog “From Hope to Reality.”

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Join us on October 2-3 in Franklin, Tennessee, as we explore our adoption in Christ—what it means for us and for orphans. The good news of the Gospel is that God adopts those who have “no hope” and are “without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). By the blood of Jesus, God graciously and amazingly brings outsiders into his household (Eph. 2:13, 19). The joy of the Gospel is that through Jesus Christ we become sons of God (Eph. 1:5).

Christianity has a unique vertical to horizontal movement. Christians love horizontally because God has first loved us vertically (1 John 4:19). We forgive even as God in Christ has first forgiven us (Eph. 4:32). We welcome others as Christ has welcomed us (Rom. 15:7). God’s vertical kindness to us inevitably moves us out in horizontal kindness to those in need.

Christianity’s unique vertical to horizontal movement has everything to do with mobilizing the church to care for orphans in their distress. Join as as we consider “Our Adoption in Christ: What It Means for Us and for Orphans.” If any group of people can be mobilized to care for orphans on a global scale, it will be Christians.  Why? Because “while we were still weak” (Rom. 5:6) and without hope, God came to us in kindness and met our greatest needs. We are moved to care for orphans because God has cared for us.

For conference information visit our Conference 2009 page. Here is our conference schedule.

Our list of breakouts will be available soon. God’s provided us with a great group of workshop presenters.

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Late last night the team began making its way back home from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. God provided the team members with the opportunity to visit a number of orphan care works over the past week. Joy McCarnan writes: “It has been a really full time here and it’s difficult to process all the thoughts and emotions and vision this trip has provoked in our hearts.”

I’ll provide more information about the team’s experience once they return and have had some time to process the trip. Our hope for this trip has been that the reality of our adoption by God would inform and enlarge our vision for and practice of orphan care within the church.

It was a pleasure to partner with Carolina Hope Christian Adoption Agency for this mission trip. Here are some pictures of the team in action.

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Scotty Smith, one of our Conference 2009 speakers, writes these words of gospel-encouragement:

Because we are “in Christ,” all of our sins are forgiven, (past, present and future), not just the 4% we are aware of, but the “whole sin-enchilada”; God has already declared us to be righteous in his sight because he has “credited” to us the righteousness of Jesus; Our experience of judgment Day is already over, because Jesus exhausted God’s judgment against our sin on the cross; We have been legally adopted into the family and embrace of Abba, God our Father; We aren’t just in God’s family, but in his delight, his great delight! He actually loves and enjoys and likes us, and there’s nothing we can do about it!

Read the entire post.

Visit our Conference 2009 page for conference information.

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Sam Storms writes:

The biblical doctrine of adoption makes sense only when we remember that we are not God’s natural children. It is true that God is the Father of all men and women insofar as He is Creator. But many such “children” of God will spend an eternity in hell. One does not become a spiritual child of God by being born, but by being born again. Let me explain.

My heart breaks each time I see or read about the orphans in such lands as Romania and Afghanistan. Communist oppression has taken its toll on countless little children who have been cruelly abandoned. They are alone, discarded, often diseased and deformed, helpless, and without hope.

It isn’t a pretty picture. It’s just as ugly when looked at spiritually. For we are all born spiritual orphans. Apart from Jesus Christ we too are abandoned and stricken with a fatal disease called sin. We have no family, no father, no future.

Here is where God’s incalculable love makes its appearance . . . “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26) . . . There is no saving relationship to God as Father without a living faith in Jesus Christ.

Being a child of God, therefore, is not a universal status everyone attains by natural birth. It is rather a supernatural gift one receives by believing in Jesus. Adoption is wholly and utterly an act of God’s spontaneous and uncoerced love (The Singing God: Discover the Joy of Being Enjoyed by God, 47-48).

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One of the Orphans Refuge team members, Joy McCarnan, writes:

Sunday morning, a few of the team members were able to meet with a worker from another orphanage, then visit yet another orphanage, all before the morning worship service. A team from Dallas Theological Seminary is currently ministering here at the international church we visited. The main thought I took away from the meeting was that in this nation, in its stark +/- realities, in any nation that has suffered war and famine and an orphan crisis, the overwhelming weight of the burden truly is too much for us to bear. No wonder these people, like most all of Creation, are waiting and groaning for–they know not what, but–a Savior Who can come and make all things right. Talk about a land that needs healing–and no wonder America doesn’t long for rescue and redemption and healing.

Sunday evening we felt like we needed “more church,” so we met together as a group at Joe’s house (Joe is another friend who works here with an organization drilling wells). We had some discussion time about how to keep the Gospel central in our efforts to remember and respond rightly to what we are experiencing here.

Please continue to pray for the Together for Adoption Orphans Refuge mission team.

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Adoption always involves suffering. Just ask any birthmother or a child who is one of three hundred orphans in a Chinese orphanage or an adoptive couple who has lived with infertility for years. There is no such thing as adoption without suffering.

The same thing is true of our adoption by God. The adoption to which we were predestined (Eph. 1:5) could not have happened without Jesus redeeming us “through his blood” (Eph. 1:7). There is no such thing as being adopted into God’s family apart from the suffering of Jesus. Jesus cried “Abba! Father!” in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:36) so that we could become sons of God who cry “Abba! Father!” by the Spirit (Rom. 8:15). Our adoption necessarily involved suffering.

I love windows. They allow me to sit in a small “world” (my home, for example) and look out into a big world. Through windows we can see beautiful beaches, lush green meadows, and towering snowcapped mountains.

I once sat in a small room in China looking out through a window that allowed me to see a beautiful mountain vista. I was very thankful for that window because the room I sat in was hot, humid, and confining. The window allowed me to see a “world” that I would not have seen otherwise; and it opened up for me an experience of joy that my little room could have never given me. But in order to look through that window I had to sit in a room of uncomfortable and sometimes suffocating humidity.

Our suffering now as the children of God is a window that provides us with the opportunity to get glimpses of a world more beautiful and wonderful than can be imagined. Paul writes, “we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom. 8:23). You don’t groan unless you are suffering. Happy people don’t groan. Suffering people do.

But with the eyes of faith suffering people who have been given the Spirit of adoption (Rom. 8:15) can look through the window of their suffering into a future world where all things are made new. Because of the gospel, our window of suffering provides us with the opportunity to get glimpses (with the eyes of faith) of a future world that “will be set free from its bondage to corruption,” a world that will “obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21).

Yes, we still suffer, but we do not suffer as those without hope (1 Thess. 4:13-14). Because of Jesus and the gift of the Spirit of adoption, God turns our suffering into a window that allows the eyes of faith to get glimpses of what will one day be.

Though there is no such thing as adoption without suffering, for the Christian there is also no such thing as adoption without glory and unspeakable joy. Right now we live in “the sufferings of this present time” (Rom. 8:18), but there is coming a day when all who have been adopted by God through the suffering of Jesus will “be glorified with him” (Rom. 8:17). We will one day share in the glory of the resurrected Jesus. This means that the day is coming when everything sad will become untrue. This is the good news of the gospel. This is the hope that moves us forward in “the sufferings of this present time.”

So, whatever kind of suffering you are being confronted with in the adoption of a child (whether you are the birthmother, child, or adoptive parent), don’t lose sight of the gospel. As I wrote last week, it will fill you with fresh hope, endurance, and, yes, even joy in the midst of your heartache now. Your adoption by God has profound relevance for the adoption of a child (and all the suffering involved in it).

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Our mission team (pictured above) spent the day at Children’s Home Ethiopia / The Forsaken Children. Thanks to Joy McCarnan for these pictures from day one.

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Joy McCarnan reports on our mission team’s activities on day one in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia:

This morning (of our first day in Ethiopia), we ate breakfast together (eggs with tomatoes and peppers, coffee, bread and jam) and then went to visit Children’s Home Ethiopia (CHE, which partners with the Memphis-based The Forsaken Children organization). CHE’s kids are street kids learning to transition into safer, more permanent homes–hopefully their own homes (with resources that would enable them to eat and attend school in spite of dire circumstances at home) or, if necessary and if possible, into foster care. The administrators here hope to begin a halfway house system with fostering house-parents. The staff is competent and innovative, very kind. The kids greeted us with songs and roses and hugs and kisses. They put on a series of skits to help us visualize what life is like for them on the streets. We ate lunch at CHE (injira, potatoes, onion-based ground ox stew sauce, cabbage and carrots) and then went to the courtyard for coffee, popcorn, and more hanging out with the kids. The good-byes were difficult, but we hope to return.

Children’s Home Ethiopia exists to rescue Ethiopia’s children at risk, insuring they remain in, or return to a loving home by providing Christ-centered programs that meet their physical, emotional, developmental and spiritual needs.

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When you have a child biologically, you basically know when you will be able hold your child in your arms (assuming it’s a normal pregnancy). You will be holding your child sometime between 37 and 42 weeks after the estimated date of conception.

But when you are bringing a child into your family through adoption, you most often have no idea when you will finally be able to hold your child in your arms. Depending on the type of adoption, it can take anywhere from a few months to several years before you’re holding your child.

Adoption agencies usually provide prospective families with an approximate timeframe for how long the adoption process will likely take (e.g., 12-18 months). But even in best case scenarios, unexpected delays are not unusual. You may have good reason to think that you’ll receive your referral within the next two months, but then something unanticipated happens and “suddenly” two months becomes six.

Waiting is never easy, but when waiting is filled with repeated delays it can become particularly painful. As Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.”

So, if you are an adoptive parent who is waiting to bring your child home, what can you do when this waiting has become painful? Well, let me encourage you to regularly consider how long God’s own adoption plan is taking.

Ephesians 1:5 says that God predestined us to adoption before he created the world, yet Paul says that Jesus came so that we might receive it (Galatians 4:4-6). Think about it: the adoption to which God predestined us before time did not take effect until Jesus came. That’s a long time between God’s decision to adopt us and our actual adoption.

Add to this the fact that the finalization of our adoption is yet still future (Romans 8:23), and you can begin to sense how unbelievably patient God is. God is not in a hurry to bring us home. The wisdom of his adoption plan is perfect.

We must be careful, though, not to look at his unbelievable patience and conclude that he must not be that passionate about bringing us home. No, God demonstrated his adoptive love for us by sending his Son to become a curse for us (Galatians 3:13) so that we might receive adoption as sons (Galatians 4:4-5). God is far more passionate about bringing us home than we are about bringing our new child home.

So, when waiting becomes painful, look at the patience of God in his adoption of you. It will fill you with fresh hope, endurance, and, yes, even joy. God’s adoption plans are perfect, for you and for your child. And they all end in joy.

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Our Orphans Refuge mission team of 14 members leaves today for Ethiopia (via Detroit, Amsterdam, and Sudan). Please pray for them as they serve Ethiopia’s orphans in the name of Jesus. Pray that the team would love because God has first loved them (1 John 4:19), that they would serve because Jesus has first served them (Mark 10:45).

In other words, pray that their service to Ethiopia’s orphans would flow out of their joy-filled experience of God’s grace to them in the gospel. Only the gospel can produce religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father (James 1:27).

Here are a few blog posts about the trip by team members:

Anthony Mathenia (team leader)
Joy McCarnan
Leslie Bowden

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Orphans Refuge is the mission arm of Together for Adoption. We are sending our first team to serve Ethiopia’s orphans tomorrow (June 10-19). Please pray for them as they serve and as they explore ways for churches to partner with these existing orphan care ministries.

If you are interested in praying for the team over the next ten days, please use this mission team directory that one of our team members put together.

Here are three of the ministries with which our team will be serving:

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“The heart is constituted such that the only way to dispossess it of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one…and when God stands revealed as an object of confidence to sinners—and where our desire after Him is not chilled into apathy by that barrier of human guilt which intercepts every approach that is not made to Him through the appointed Mediator…it is when released from the spirit of bondage…and admitted into the number of God’s children, through the faith that is in Christ Jesus, the Spirit of adoption is poured upon us—it is then that the heart, brought under the mastery of one great and predominant affection, is delivered from the tyranny of its former desires and the only way in which deliverance is possible”. Scottish Pastor, Thomas Chalmers, 1780-1847

(HT: Graced Again)

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My friend Johnston Moore, Content Manager at Hope for Orphans, co-authored an excellent article that considers the relationship between the biblical practice of hospitality and the Christian’s responsibility to care for orphans. He writes:

Biblical hospitality is a notion that was crucial to the growth and witness of the early church, but has been largely lost in today’s world when the concept of hospitality is reduced to Martha Stewart-style dinner parties thrown for those who will make us feel better about ourselves through association.

We know that we are to care for widows, orphans, and strangers—we’ve heard it before, maybe hundreds, even thousands of times. The early church didn’t just hear it, though. They lived it…and as a result, they impacted the world around them in incredible ways for the sake of the Gospel. In fact, the early church was known for taking in and sharing what little they had with those who had no one, and nothing, to call their own.

Read the entire article.

Ultimately, what motives us to practice this kind of hospitality? When we had no one and nothing, God brought us in to his household. Nothing motivates the practice of hospitality like the gospel.

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