Throughout Scripture, one of the recurring and resilient themes is that God takes dead-ends and makes them starting lines. Famously, God worked at the Red Sea, parting the waters so the Israelites could walk on dry ground to safety. The message was that God makes a way. 1 Corinthians 10 tells us that even in the face of temptation, “he will also provide a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” God makes a way!

Over the first part of 2024, our ministry name has been fitting across the country: Dallas, TX; Memphis, TN; and Decatur, IL. God has been opening the door for our team and volunteers to share the ministry's vision, rally churches to join the cause, and get applications in the hands of would-be adoptive parents.

Dallas, TX: Steven was in The Lone Star State for a leadership conference, but it doubled as a prime opportunity to meet church leaders worldwide. It was amazing to join together with 3,200 pastoral leaders and think through what it would look like to link arms in our shared commitment to "pure and faultless religion" spoken of in James 1:27.

Decatur, IL: Board members Carol Nelson and Steve Surrat were at a conference for the Disciple Heritage Fellowship (DHF), a brotherhood of church leaders. Among the Bible-centric group, our GWMAW team shared their heart for adoption as an expression of the Gospel and the desire for our unifying practical ministry to be a tangible witness to the world. This is the place where the old idiom that started in the 1920s still rings true: the Church, unified together, gets to "walk the walk, not just talk the talk."

Memphis, TN: Multiple volunteers joined a Memphis Interfaith Foster and Adoption gathering. This served as a one-stop shop for prospective families to connect with foster/adoption advocates. We were able to offer a tangible lifeline to couples trying to overcome the financial hurdles to adoption. 

In Esther's gripping and captivating story from the Old Testament, we should remember her uncle's challenge: that she was in her queenly position to be used by God. It was "such a time as this" that God had placed, equipped, and deployed her. Let us, in the same way, not forget that it is "such a time as this" that we have been placed, equipped, and deployed so that children get parents, parents share Jesus, and that as individual church brands shrink, Christ's name can be exalted. 

To give, hit the DONATE button on our website, or to share our grant application with a family in your congregation, go to God Will Make A Way Ministries (gwmaw.org) and hit GRANT APPLICATION. Thanks for LOVING ORPHANS BY HELPING PEOPLE ADOPT. 

Sincerely,

The GWMAW Team!