There were certainly a number of Morning Star people who would’ve liked to attend the first annual conference put on by Together for Adoption (Nov. 1 in Greenville, SC), including several adoptive dads who were prevented by work obligations and other developments in the weeks before the conference. I was able to go and help the volunteer staff. It was a privilege to meet some more brothers and sisters in the family of God who are even more passionate about “vertical adoption” (God’s adoption of His children) than they are about “horizontal adoption” (and they are pretty passionate about that, too).

We are commanded again and again in God’s Word to meditate on the Gospel, to interact with people on the basis of the Gospel’s effects on us and the Gospel’s effects on them, to be motivated by the Gospel, to be enabled by the Gospel, and to exult in it. The T4A conference was, essentially, an entire day devoted to glorying in the story of what Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection has done and continues to do. The residual and continual effects of that story should be dazzlingly evident in the lives of God’s redeemed sons and daughters. And that living-out of the Gospel is described in its purest form in James 1:27—helping widows and orphans in their trouble and keeping unstained from the world’s anti-Godness.

Sadly, many believers are marked up by remnants of worldly thinking. We do not think of ourselves in light of God’s Gospel, what He has taken us out of and what He is making of us. We do not think of others the way God would, nor do we respond to them the way He would have us do. God has adopted transracially, drawing children to Himself from every tribe, tongue, nation. (Talk about a “conspicuous family”–what a beautiful picture adoption is of what heaven will one day be like!) But many believers think less of people of other cultures and other colors, thinking less of their capacities (including their spiritual capacities). And in general, we are constantly sinning against the Giver of the Gospel by the way we leave it out of everything we do, when in fact, it ought to permeate our thoughts and become the fundamental rationale and compassionate power behind everything we do.

One thing I took away from the conference was that adoption itself is not a “ministry” the way we sometimes think of it. Adoption is a serious family choice to parent a child; it’s a lifelong commitment, and it isn’t for everybody. Being passionate about adoption does not equal fulfilling the implied mandate of James 1:27. There is an orphan crisis (143+million!), and there are countless ways for individuals and churches to be actively engaged in ministering Gospel-glorifying love to needy children in accordance with God’s Word to us.

The audio recordings from the conference are available online now as downloads from here. All of the sessions were good for different reasons.
I would especially recommend these two:

“Adoption in God’s Story of Redemption” by Dan Cruver of T4A

“Adoption and the Multi-Ethnic Family of God”* by Carl Robbins
(pastor of Woodruff Road Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC)
* This is a Bible-based case against doubting the legitimacy and wisdom of transracial adoption.

Dan also shared some great excerpts and notes from Carl’s sermon. I hope you will take the time to check them out:
“Adoption and the Multi-Ethnic Family of God” [part 1]
“Adoption and the Multi-Ethnic Family of God” [part 2]

In August 2008, 18 adults and teens from Morning Star (Rockford, IL) joined Pastor Joel Tetreau of Southeast Valley Baptist Church (Gilbert, AZ) and Dr. Jack and Jenny Mitchell of Grace Dental Mission for about two weeks of deliberately-varied ministry in Jamaica.

By God’s grace, they were able to put on a Gospel-preaching Bible conference for the training of area pastors, a Christian day camp for local youngsters, and an open free clinic (with Gospel preaching and counseling) for anyone needing dental attention.

Before coming home, many of the team members found themselves joining the islanders in preparing for and enduring the pre-hurricane stages of the incoming storm Gustav. Even though they did not suffer through a full-force hurricane, it was unique to be “in others’ shoes” for once and get a small glimpse of what it’s like to be on the receiving end of such potentially-devastating natural disaster.

Today Ed, Robin and Alex (Losha) arrived home. Some friends and family threw them a “welcome home” party. Although tired from the long travels and change in time zones, they had enough energy to eat lasagna and cake. They took the opportunity to thank everyone for their prayers and support.

We rejoice with them as God has proven His faithfulness and graciousness to them during this long journey.

God be praised.

Ed sent a quick note and included some pictures.

We are well, submitted paperwork today for Alex’s Passport which we hope will be issued tomorrow, (Friday). Am sending some pics. Hope you can pick them up. We look forward to being home. God has been so good and thank everyone for all the prayers!

Ed

Joel just sent me a quick update for me to pass on to you.

Good News!
There is officially a new Foster Kid!
Mom and Dad and Alex just made it through the Russian Court.
God has bountifully blessed us and answered our prayers.
I will send a fuller update later when I get the details. Just wanted to let everyone know.
Praise the Lord!
Thanks,
Joel

This is an update from Joel Foster, as of Saturday evening:

Thank you all for praying, Mom and Dad will be able to stay in Penza through their court date. They were also able to pick Losha up yesterday, and he will be able to stay with them through the court date, instead of at the orphanage. Those are both big answers to prayer. They will all be going to a Baptist church tomorrow at 3:00 in the afternoon, and will have an interpreter going with them. Losha was at the hospital for a full four days, and has not really been able to see his friends yet; Mom and Dad plan to take him to see them sometime next week. He was a little nervous coming back to Mom and Dad, not having seen them for a while, but is ok now.

The court date is the next big problem - 2:00 Tuesday. Pray that all goes well.

Thank you.

Joel

Joel spoke with his parents today and forwarded me an update to share:

“They (Ed & Robin) went to Nishi Malov (I don’t think that is spelled correctly) on Monday and had an interview with the Director of the Ministry of Education, the director of the orphanage, and a social worker, all of whom endorsed them. All went well, they had a safe but wild ride they said! They are having an interesting time trying new foods.

Losha might have to stay at the orphanage until the court date because he has lost so much of his russian language, but Mom and Dad really want him to be able to stay with them. I think he is kind of nervous. They would appreciate prayer for that. They also need prayer that they will be able to remain in Penza until the court date. There is some ten day restriction they are trying to get past.

On Tuesday they visited eight doctors, had an amazing nurse who helped them get through, they are all done with their russian medical checkups. They say they are doing fine, just waiting now. They hope to be able to do a little sight-seeing.”

Let’s continue to be praying for our brother and sister as they are in Russia.

We are on our way home. Praise the Lord for the safety that He has given us so far! [As of 8:45pm Thursday ET], we are in Miami waiting to board our plane for Chicago. We are bracing ourselves for the snow and cold! We have been getting used to 75-85 degrees…now we’ll have to adjust back to the frigid Illinois weather.

We praise the Lord for a successful trip. Thank you again for all of you who have been faithfully praying. We finished Violet’s roof, electrical, and outside bathroom. Violet was extremely thankful for the work that was accomplished. It is a great feeling to give a “cup of cold water” in the name of Christ.

James 1:27 says, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” It is Global Grace’s privilege to fulfill this mandate to His honor and glory.

A special thanks to Terrell Goodwin, Jason Kors, Bill and Nancy Hunt, and Mike Moore for their hard work this week.

[UPDATED* AS OF 10AM] Lord willing, the visas will *did arrive via FedEx this morning [praise the Lord with us!], and three Fosters will be boarding a plane for Russia this afternoon! Ed and Robin Foster are leaving today with Alex (a.k.a. Losha, Lyosha, Alosha, Alexsey, Aleksey, etc.). They plan to stay in Russia for three weeks, in order to finalize his adoption. Alex has been living in Illinois with the Fosters since May, and he has really settled in with them and with all that is going on at their church. You can click here to scroll through some of the Foster family’s photos from the last ten months.

Since Ed is a self-employed tradesman, the loss of three weeks’ work will be an additional financial burden to the family, on top of the expenses already incurred during Alex’s adoption process. This past Sunday evening, Morning Star was able to collect about $1500 toward the Fosters’ needs. Two of the three airline tickets were covered by someone’s donation of frequent-flyer miles, and the bookings were able to be rearranged so that the Fosters could travel together rather than on separate flights (which was originally the case).

We are rejoicing to see these details come together! Everyone is excited to see Alex’s adoption become official and permanent. Please join us in praising God for all that He has accomplished over the last couple years to bring Alex into this family! And please join us in prayer that, three weeks from today, Alex’s “hope to stay” will have come true and he will be coming home for good.

Alexey “Alex” Kharl Foster

Visit Alex’s HOPE TO STAY page.
Keep track of updates about the adoption.
Read what Ed and Robin Foster have to say.
View photos of Alex with his family.

Hannah’s Heart (the adoption-fundraising division of Global Grace) can facilitate tax-deductible donations, if you would like to give toward the offsetting of the Fosters’ travel costs and many other expenses.

Praise the Lord for the safety and guidance that He has given us so far while here in Jamaica. We have definitely felt the Lord’s presence with us and the prayers of the saints as well. I know that many of you have been praying for our team. Let me give you some brief updates.

Saturday was our play day. We had to take advantage of the beautiful weather so we traveled northeast to Ocho Rios and spent about 5 hours at the small swim area and Dunn’s River Falls. We climbed the falls! It took us — Nancy, Jason, and Chris — about an hour to climb from bottom to top. We had a blast!

Sunday was a great day which we spent with the believers at United Evangelical and Missionary Outreach Church. What a sweet time of fellowship we had together! We worshiped together in singing and in ministering the Word. I had the privilege to preach to the people of Pastor Perkin’s church and our own group. In the afternoon, we traveled to Hope Worship Center in Old Harbour, which is about 1 1/2 hours from Top Hill. We sang “My Jesus Fair,” and Bill Hunt prayed a great dedicatory prayer asking God’s blessing upon this new ministry. It is such a joy to fellowship with the universal Body of Christ around the world.

Today (Monday) we went back to Violet’s house to pull the cement forms and clean up. The Lord gave us another productive day free from injury! Violet is full of smiles and hugs…she is overwhelmed with gratitude for all that we are doing.

It is overwhelming to us to be used of the Lord to meet the physical needs of one who has experienced such damage from Hurricane Dean. I can’t help but think of Matthew 10:42 – “And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.” We also, I believe, are preparing the way for future ministry in the country of Jamaica for the glory of Jesus Christ. Please pray that we will continue to build relationships with the people of Jamaica.

We have also been experiencing some interesting Jamaican dishes. Tonight we enjoyed Oxtail Stew. It was delicious! What a blessing our sisters Joy (from Jamaica) and Nancy (one of our own ladies from our church) have been in preparing the daily delicious meals. Tonight we are off to Junction, the closest town to Top Hill, to pick up some needed groceries and to get internet service to give updates about our trip.

Please continue to pray for our team as we work to finish this project. If you would like to donate to this project, please visit the main Global Grace website for more information.*

Serving a Sovereign Lord,
Chris Metras

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* Learn more about Global Grace at the main Global Grace website. If you would like to donate directly toward the continuing hurricane relief and ministry work in Jamaica, you may do so by sending a check to Global Grace, or initiate a tax-deductible monetary gift by credit card, online bank transfer or PayPal via the PayPal venue.