I don't know if you have ever looked at the world and thought "This is all such a mess, its so broken and cruel, where is God in all of this?"
Well I've certainly wondered about this. And I'm not going to attempt to answer that question here!
But one think I know is that a lot of the time the way God touches people's lives is through other people. So the answer he gives to big social problems is by moving many many people to be a small part of the answer to a massive problem.
I often think of it as being a bit like the bus boycotts of the... 50s? Where it wasn't an organisation that set up a protest and mobilised and organised people. It was just many many people who said to themselves 'This is enough!' and took action. And eventually there was some formal organisation, but that isn't where it started.
I think what God does is the same, often. He moves many people to think 'This is enough!' and to take action, and when enough people respond, the world changes.
But back to the title - why I am writing about this is that again this weekend I noticed this trend of people wanting to adopt. More and more and more in the past 5 or so years I've been hearing my friends say they want to adopt. Some are starting too.And some will, I have no doubt, when they are a bit older and are more settled.
Even guys saying they want to adopt, remarkably. A year or so ago we were discussing this issue and my brother totally surprised me by saying that when he is married and settled he will consider adoption.
And I was thinking of it this weekend because I was hanging out with two new friends, and the topic of adoption came up. They both want to adopt.
I'm sure this wasn't the case 10-20 years ago: young people hoping to adopt one day. But now people see the need, and they are moved by it, and they want to be part of the answer.
I have a friend who was a doctor in an Eastern Cape hospital and she would tell me horribly sad stories of babies being abandoned at the hospital. And we know about the problem of young kids being left parentless by AIDs, and other reasons.
But then I look around and see that God is creating an answer to the problem.
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2 comments:
In Setswana we have a saying 'Mabogo dinku a thebana'. I hope you have friends who will translate that for you but that is the basis of Botho or Ubuntu. It's a good thing that more and more people are considering adoption and we can only hope they will be doing that for the right reasons. I've heard some people saying 'Oh you'll be so blessed!' and 'maybe I should consider that'.
Abandoned children deserved to be loved uncoditionally and not because they are perceived to be blessings or because someone is on sa mission to enhance their social status. So please Africans, let us help one another, not because we expect recognition and not even because we need blessings. There are other ways of adopting. You can assist a needy child by ensuring that s/he goes to school, buying uniform and/or clothes. There is so much that can be done even by those who cannot afford to raise a child.
Well, I still say, it's a good thing that people have begun considering adoption. At least that says we are now really aware that there are kids who need us out there. Keep the spirit!
Thanks for the comment! I'm going to have to find a Setswana friend to translate for me... :)
And you're right, there are other ways of doing these things without the lifetime commitment of adopting a child!!
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