She is a daily example of the reality of Christ's love and forgiveness. I also want to thank my family, especially my mother, Sherry, for all the love and support throughout my life and learning journey. I want to thank you not only for the knowledge you have given me, but also for the compassion and encouragement you have shown in and outside of the classroom.
He tried to help me with life and ministry inside and outside the classroom. Ken Walker was also a tremendous encouragement and asset during the final stages of the doctoral process, and to him I am grateful. To God belongs the glory, through his Son, Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
RESEARCH CONCERN
Only orphans of the estimated number have lost both parents.6 The term "orphan" is often divided into two categories: single orphans and double orphans. The next measure of engagement can be found in the question, "Are adoptions by evangelicals on the rise?" The answer to this question is of the utmost importance for the assessment of how the Church handles its responsibility towards orphans. 21 Administration for Children and Families, “The Adoption Home Study Process,” accessed April 17, 2014, https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_homstu.cfm.
In his exposition of the passage, Leupold defines death as "separation from God." Spiritually vertical separation from God is what produces a horizontal separation between humanity, physically and spiritually.3 In both senses of death, the formation of orphans occurs. Timothy Jones writes: "Adoption would never have happened apart from the Fall, but at the same time adoption expresses something good."5 The Bible is clear. The doctrine of adoption is an important concept in Scripture; however, nowhere in the Old Testament does a word for "adoption" appear.7 Only in the twentieth century did the word for "adoption" exist within the Jewish legal system.8 New.
Any concept of adoption in Jewish culture was considered "quasi-adoption". The adoptive family can provide care for the adopted, but the legal status of the parent-child relationship has remained unchanged.41 This fact does not deny the picture of adoption in the Old Testament, rather it points to the fact that adoption is more than a social, judicial construct. For example, Abia is a combination of the shortened versions of the terms for "father" and "Yahweh." The translation would have been "God is my Father".65 One point of clarification is that the commentator wrote that the Old Testament idea of God as Father does not reflect the same depth as the New Testament concept. The key term that supports the idea of adoption is "called." One writer describes the term "called" as "an election verb." The idea is that God is calling Israel into a relationship that did not exist before the event of calling.
Unlike the Old Testament, the New Testament expressly uses the word "adoption." The designation for. Father.'” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8,15-16). The first sentence is explicit in nature because he addresses believers as τέκνα τοῦ θεοῦ or "children of God." The phrase "children of God" appears in the letter to the Romans as part of the adoption passages.
Scripture says, "The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16). The writer of Hebrews reiterates the idea of Christ as the "founder and finisher" of the believer's faith. Russell Moore writes, “The Father adopts children, and we are called to be like him.
Additionally, both the Wesleyan Church and the United Methodist Church have produced similar documents regarding orphan care.1 The United Methodist document calls on the church to “make every possible effort to help eliminate the crisis of adoption/orphans through prayer, awareness, education, mission, ministry and funding.”2 Likewise, the Wesleyan Church seeks. Purposive sampling, where participants were purposively selected because of their experience or relationship with adoption, was used for both populations.9 The population 1 sample size consisted of approximately six evangelical adoption agencies.
ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS
A staff member of participating agencies completed a survey designed to identify potential factors contributing to adoption rates. The quantitative component of the study was probate data collected from participating adoption agencies. The purpose of the grouping was to categorize the data for more efficient comparison and comparison of the number of adoption agencies that had a similar focus.
The cumulative annual total was calculated as part of the analysis of the number of adoptions. Similarly, survey participants were asked to rate their views on the orphan crisis in terms of (1) the number of adoptions and (2) the number of orphans. When asked about their perception of the orphan crisis in terms of the number of adoptions, participants were given the following choices: improved, decreased, or flat.
To indicate their perception of the orphan crisis in terms of the number of orphans, they could choose from the following answers: improve, intensify, or plateau. Another component of this portion of data is whether or not the perception is that the orphan crisis is improving, intensifying or plateauing in terms of the number of orphans. Overall, there was a slight increase of 27.1 percent in the totals of the participating agencies between 2008 and 2014.
A further analysis revealed that motivation for adoptive families had a higher percentage in relation to the number 4 rating (66.7 percent) than religious ones. The first strength of the research design was that the combination of inheritance data from the adoption agencies and the survey questions provided empirical data for. The other strength of the combined data was that the survey questions provided insight from knowledgeable staff, along with expert panel members, about possible factors contributing to adoption rates.
A final weakness of the research design was that the potential contributing factor of adoptive families' motivation was too broad in definition.
CONCLUSIONS
Depending on the family's motivation, barriers may deter them from pursuing adoption. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the management of the agency, the number of agencies/. Factors involving the agencies ranked below the top four in varying percentages, but two-thirds of participants believed that the agencies themselves contributed to the number of adoptions in a significant way.
A summary of the implications is that although adoptions appear to be increasing, there is no consistent progress in terms of adoption numbers. One factor that continues to affect the number of adoptions is government restrictions and influence. Further research is another application of the study, as more research is needed to address the orphan crisis after this study is completed.
The research did not reveal the reason for the sharp drop in the number of adoptions, therefore more research is needed to see if there may be a common factor that has contributed to the negative trend. As part of the study, future research can determine what factors, if any, contribute to adoption rates over a longer time frame. This research project focused primarily on the adoption agency's perception of contributing factors.
A study focusing on adoptive families would provide a different perspective than that of adoption agency staff. The study of the adoptive families' denominational ties would benefit each denomination in assessing their efforts to combat the orphan crisis. The goal of the project is to determine whether adoption rates are rising among evangelical Christians.
This is another key part of the research, as it aims to identify the factors that influence the number of adoptions.
EXPERT PANEL
This research is being conducted by Matthew Thompson toward the completion of the Doctorate of Education program at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Do you perceive the orphan crisis in terms of adoption rates to have improved, declined or plateaued. Do you perceive that the orphan crisis in terms of the number of orphans has improved, intensified or plateaued.
Throughout human history, the church has been a primary response to the situation of the orphans. We hope that what God is doing in creating a culture of adoption in so many churches and families can point us to an evangelical unity that is not defined by the "flesh" racial, economic or cultural uniformity, but by the unity of the Spirit and peace in Christ Jesus. The Orphan Care Initiative will be placed under a yet to be determined office of The.
RIGHT, The Mission and Ministry of The United Methodist Church states that “Community Ministry extends to human needs wherever love and service can convey God's love and our own. WHEREAS, of the 800,000 children in the foster care system in this country, nearly 180,000 of these children are ready for adoption, and less than 10% will be adopted, and. That the New England Annual Conference, as the body of Christ, make every effort possible to help eliminate the adoption/orphan crisis through prayer, awareness, education, mission, ministry and funding.
The purpose of this document is to demonstrate what information will be communicated to the authorities upon completion of the investigation. The statistical analysis of the numerical data, which will provide the interpretation of the numbers. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, through whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
The quantitative part of the research uses historical numerical data from selected adoption agencies to determine a pattern of adoption rates.
