We continue this month to discuss ministries for displaced children, focusing particularly now on adoption. I asked Jordan, a frequent contributor to this blog and a Sophomore at Liberty University, to research and share information with us on some Christian Adoption Agencies in the U.S.

For some, the topic of adoption might be painful. For others, it might be something to celebrate. Regardless of the emotion it evokes, it has undoubtedly changed the lives of many families and children. 

There are two adoption agencies that I have chosen to dig into for this story: Bethany Christian Services and Nightlight Christian Adoptions. I do want to say that I understand that there are thousands of wonderful adoption agencies and programs, both in the U.S. and beyond. Many are regional, only licensed to practice in a few states, and thus I have decided that it would be best to focus on larger groups that are available on a wider scale. 

Bethany is arguably the more well-known of the two agencies. You might remember hearing about Bethany in a World Magazine article that covered the agency’s decision to include LGBTQ+ couples in its program. When same-sex marriage began to be legalized by certain states as far back as 2003 and then becoming legal in all 50 states in 2015 by the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, Christian adoption agencies were threatened that either they had to allow all marriages the same opportunity to adopt children or face prosecution and/or possibly closure.

In a lengthy post on its website, Bethany president and CEO Chris Palusky defended his decision. He wrote that, to Bethany, the most important goal is to place children in loving homes and to remove them as quickly as possible from the disturbing living conditions many of them come from. If this means they should go to a loving home owned by a same-sex couple—so be it, he wrote. 

There is so much more to be said on this. I am not going to step into the trenches of that argument or assert my own opinion. I trust that our readership can establish their own thoughts on that issue. However, I did reach out to Bethany seeking comment, and was able to get in contact with a representative who could point me in the right direction as to who to talk to. When I informed her that I wanted to speak with someone regarding that controversial decision, I did not receive a reply back. 

Nevertheless, Bethany has a long history of serving families. Begun over 75 years ago, Bethany Christian Services works in over 30 states and more than a dozen countries, annually serving more than 50,000 people. They do awesome work, placing thousands of kids in stable and comfortable homes every year. Many families (religious or not) use that agency to find children they can foster or adopt, and it is a beautiful process. 

A reverse kind of service—pregnant women choosing adoption for their children—allows those women to choose the family they would like their baby to grow up in. This unique opportunity, provided by adoption agencies at no cost to the biological mothers, has developed successfully over the years as abortion has become legal. In this way, unwanted pregnancies become vitally wanted and lives are saved. Bethany Christian Services has been on the forefront of this movement.

Nightlight Christian Adoptions (https://nightlight.org/) is lesser known but still worth noting. Their services include international adoption, domestic infant adoption, pregnancy services, and foster care. In 1997, Nightlight started one more intriguing service: embryo adoption. Before doing research on this topic, I had never even thought that to be a possibility, and I would venture to guess that I am not alone in that. It seems that another form of early life in recent years begins in fertility clinics. Controversial as that may be, discarding unused embryos is the same as destroying possible lives. Embryo adoption rescues these lives and brings them to birth.

Through Snowflakes Embryo Adoption, which is the division of Nightlight that places families with embryos, desiring parents can receive an embryo that is implanted in the woman and carried to term. According to the Snowflakes webpage, the process is safe, secure, legal, and all-inclusive. They have numerous links on that page about FAQs and ways to get involved. I reached out to Nightlight for comment but did not receive a reply back. 

To conclude this post, I wanted to include a story from a woman in my home church who has five adopted children. She and her husband chose to pursue international adoptions. She has twin boys from Russia, a son from China, and two girls from Ethiopia. She graciously allowed me to interview her on why she and her husband chose to adopt, how the process went, and how it impacted her walk with Christ. 

One of the first questions I asked her was how she and husband prepared to adopt. This is what she said: “Preparing for adoption is extremely important. Adoption agencies are required to present material and educate prospective adoptive parents. We used three different agencies, and we went through the educational requirements of all three agencies. But we also did our own research. I enjoyed researching the history of our children’s birth countries. I also researched how to care for African hair. We just kept learning as much as we could.”

She continued: “Throughout every step, my husband and I prayed together. We knew that God knew our children by name and knew where they were. We are always utterly dependent on God, but adoption taught us that in a very real way.” 

Something else that stood out to me was how the Lord used the adoption process to bring her family closer to Him. I love what she said: “I truly could write pages to answer this question. Adoption is a walk of faith. First, we learned that our ideal picture of how life should look is often not God’s design or plan for our lives. We learned that we needed to live our lives open to His leading and walk each step in faith, even when the road bends and seems frightening.  Second, adopting children gave us a truer picture of our adoption in Christ. It is different, of course; we are not our children’s savior. Only Jesus fills that role. But it helped us to understand the love of our Father for His adopted children in a deeper way.”

She also gave advice for anyone who is looking to adopt. “Pray! Ask God to lead you to and to prepare you for your child. And then soak in every word of the education. Adoption is such a process and it feels all-consuming, but don’t rush the learning. It is so important. Every child coming to you through adoption has experienced trauma. Even if you adopt an infant, being separated from birth parents is traumatic. So, learn and keep learning so that you can parent with an open heart and mind to what your child must face and how you can walk with them towards healing.  

“Talk to other adoptive parents and glean from their experience. Do not choose an agency solely based on how quickly you can be matched with a child. Choose a reputable agency, whose ethical standards are unquestionable. Know that your family will be different, and it is a beautiful different. You will get a lot of opinions from others who have never even considered adoption. Practice the ‘take and leave.’ Take what is helpful and leave what is not. Embrace the journey that God has given to you and use it to know God more and love others more deeply.”

Her story and thoughts mirror those of many parents who have adopted children. There are thousands of families who have, through adoption, learned to love God more dearly, seek Him more nearly, and see Him more clearly, regardless of whether they adopt domestically or internationally. The beautiful thing about adoption is that it reminds us of how God, in His infinite mercy, adopted us as sons and daughters to be heirs with Christ. He did not have to, but He chose to in love. In that sense, adoption offers us a chance to extend that love we received from Him to children and teenagers who desperately need it. This is, after all, the God who “sets the lonely in families” (Psalms 68:5-6a).