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This is taught in my church also, however, I don't agree with it. Most families in our church have at least one child, adopted internationally. They also seem to want attention for it. I don't agree with adopting for the purpose of bringing more children into Christianity, simply for the purpose of "conversion". I think that's a bad reason to adopt. In fact, it's wrong period. One should only adopt, if they want to have children.
So this is really a thing? I wasn't sure if it was true or not. Something I'm curious about, why the push to adopt internationally? I always thought it was due to a lack of infants available in the USA. We have zillions of older/foster children here who need homes.
Yea it has to do with having a savior complex and feeling they are fulfilling a mandate (evangelical type / Protestant belief) to convert people to evangelical Christianity-- they view "saving" those from other religions as a double win-- iow converting or "saving" someone who is Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu etc into being a Christian is viewed by others in the church as the top thing you can do as opposed to a child who is already here in America.
For a few year I was involved in this brand of Christianity (no longer, no way) and they were very big time into saving souls who are the "most unreachable"-- once a woman invited her Muslim friend to a service and it was a big deal "omg everybody pray! Maryann is bringing Mohammed to evening service- bless her she is trying to get him to accept the Lord tonight after service!" They were HUGE on international mission trips all pretty much for purpose of getting to the prized anti Christian religious groups to convert them. Don't ever recall any outreaches they had to just help regular American folks in the neighboring cities-- except for very occasional delivery of canned food to homeless people. There was a woman there and her and her dh couldn't have kids-- they had bank to be honest-- had money to burn so they easily could've adopted here and also since they're so Christian could've as poster above stated adopted a child in American foster care. But they wanted to adopt theee children - ALL from other countries that were not Christian- after the first thing they did was change their name to a biblical name- Caleb, Hannah etc and got huge props for saving children into the chirch
Yea it has to do with having a savior complex and feeling they are fulfilling a mandate (evangelical type / Protestant belief) to convert people to evangelical Christianity-- they view "saving" those from other religions as a double win-- iow converting or "saving" someone who is Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu etc into being a Christian is viewed by others in the church as the top thing you can do as opposed to a child who is already here in America.
I have a relative who adopted to bring a child into the faith. It really bothers me. I hate it when I am "praised" for adopting. I adopted because *I* wanted to be a mom, not to rescue someone. And I flat out say that. Nothing about my adopting my kids is altruistic. Could you imagine if you were brought to your family and thought of a charity, not an equal family member?
So this is really a thing? I wasn't sure if it was true or not. Something I'm curious about, why the push to adopt internationally? I always thought it was due to a lack of infants available in the USA. We have zillions of older/foster children here who need homes.
Sure. In some circles, though, international adoption is seen as "trendy" and something celebrities do. I considered adoption myself at one point, but only because I wanted children. I went to an adoption seminar one time and a young, hipster couple there said they wanted to adopt kids from Rwanda because they'd seen the movie Hotel Rwanda. There were also people there who saw children as "charity cases" that they wanted to take in. My husband and I simply wanted a family so we became disillusioned with all that.
So this is really a thing? I wasn't sure if it was true or not. Something I'm curious about, why the push to adopt internationally? I always thought it was due to a lack of infants available in the USA. We have zillions of older/foster children here who need homes.
I'd like to give another perspective which has NOTHING to do with evangelism or 'saving' a child of another ethnicity or religious background by raising them to be a Christian.
In my immediate family both my brother and my grandson are Korean and adopted ironically from the same Korean orphanage in Seoul, about 45 years apart.
Christianity is a large religious group in Korea and this particular orphanage is run by Korean Christians. So there was no need to "save" kids already in a Christian environment.
My mom and dad wanted to adopt a child from Vietnam because they were so opposed to the Vietnam War and wanted to make a positive difference for a child from that war torn country, but there was too much red tape. So they adopted from Korea instead while we lived in Japan. My brother is actually half American and half Korean so he would have been ostracized by most Koreans 50 years ago.
My daughter and her husband initially wanted to adopt from the US, but found that truly closed adoptions were more problematic and not as "guaranteed" to be permanently closed as international adoptions. What they did NOT want was for a birth mother (or father) to pop up ten years down the road wanting their child back or wanted to be involved in the child's life. And since both types of adoptions (domestic and international) cost about the same, they opted for an international adoption.
In the circles they run in, and among the Christians I know who have adopted, it's the fact that the adoptions are a "done deal" - permanent - that is a huge draw. The down side is that you may "get" a slightly older child but they need adopting as much as any other child does.
I have truly never once heard any Christian family involved in adoption state that they were doing so for evangelical reasons. Not saying that doesn't happen but I've truly never heard of it before.
I have truly never once heard any Christian family involved in adoption state that they were doing so for evangelical reasons. Not saying that doesn't happen but I've truly never heard of it before.
I heard it straight from a Presbyterian pastor in a sermon he preached to the congregation, as well as many of the congregants who have adopted internationally. Often at great expense and sacrifice. Said it was necessary to increase numbers of Christians in the world. They make it clear it's done for evangelical reasons and even do fund raising for the money involved. .
I heard it straight from a Presbyterian pastor in a sermon he preached to the congregation, as well as many of the congregants who have adopted internationally. Often at great expense and sacrifice. Said it was necessary to increase numbers of Christians in the world. They make it clear it's done for evangelical reasons and even do fund raising for the money involved. .
I know a Christian (evangelical denomination) social worker who worked in adoptions a good number of years-- loved talking about how lucky the kids who were adopted from "heathen" countries to have a chance to be in a "good Christian home and be able to invite Jesus in their heart"
I also said above a woman and her spouse adopted all three kids from "ungodly countries" and even though they were a little older , not infants, and already had a name, they changed their names to biblical names and geez I think by age 6 or something they were already coached into repeating the sinners prayer so they could be saved and talked of how otherwise they may not have had a chance to be saved.
It's no secret those churches are huge on intl missions, they pay missionaries a salary to live in a "heathen" country for a time to convert as many hell bound people as possible so makes sense they would see intl adoptions as a chance to be a hero
I have a relative who adopted to bring a child into the faith. It really bothers me. I hate it when I am "praised" for adopting. I adopted because *I* wanted to be a mom, not to rescue someone. And I flat out say that. Nothing about my adopting my kids is altruistic. Could you imagine if you were brought to your family and thought of a charity, not an equal family member?
One of the smartest things I've seen posted on cd- how refreshing you viewed it that way!
I heard it straight from a Presbyterian pastor in a sermon he preached to the congregation, as well as many of the congregants who have adopted internationally. Often at great expense and sacrifice. Said it was necessary to increase numbers of Christians in the world. They make it clear it's done for evangelical reasons and even do fund raising for the money involved. .
Wow, I've been going to church my entire life (Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian, and Methodist mainly) and never once heard anything like this before. Like I said, I'm not putting it past anyone, just reporting that even with my pretty extensive church experience over 55 years, and two international adoptions in my immediate family, I've never heard anything like that. So hopefully it's not a common mindset but who knows?
She could be developmentally disabled from being abandoned and then living in an orphanage. That was the impression I got. They aren't places where kids thrive and many come out of those conditions with delays or disabilities.
Would that be called a "developmental disability," though?
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Originally Posted by stan4
So the orphanage lady is saying no AND that she was totally healthy and eating solids and drinking liquids and happy and smart.
Also, neither of these parents was actually raised in India - UAE and Qatar.
I've known Indians born and raised in the UAE. They usually go to college in India and live in majority or 100% Indian communities in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, etc. Even if they're born in the UAE they are not (and can never be) UAE citizens; they're raised knowing they're "different" and "less than", so they stick together. I became pretty good friends with one coworker who was raised in the UAE and I asked her if she ever felt different from her friends in the Indian community because she wasn't raised there. "Nope" was the answer for the reasons described above.
So the fact that they were raised in the UAE and Qatar doesn't mean anything to me. They're very likely still extremely similar (culturally) to Indians born & raised in India. There's little to no assimilation.
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Originally Posted by TXNGL
Something I saw a week or so ago, someone speaking out about a news story about Sherin...and this is not MY theory, I have no idea if this is true or not...that the small church the family belongs to might heavily encourage adoption from India in order to bring more children into evangelical Christianity. It certainly grabbed my attention.
Eh...maybe, but even if the church did "heavily encourage" it, that doesn't mean that those two would have been influenced by that. I know tons of Christians and most of them don't adopt. The only women who did were those who were unable to bear their own children...and when I say "unable" I mean UNABLE, as in they didn't have uteruses and a gestational carrier is completely out of the question due to the insane cost. (It involves IVF AND payment to the surrogate and can easily top $100k.) The only other Christians I've known who adopted were male same-sex couples. The lesbian couple I knew who had their own kids used sperm donors. And these are your average white Christian Americans who come from a culture where adoption is far more common and far less stigmatized than it is in Indian culture.
The whole adoption thing really is bizarre.
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