More about Invest in Love
For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him.
Therefore I have lent him to the LORD. As long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD."
~ 1 Samuel 1:27-28
THE STORY BEHIND INVEST IN LOVE
Invest in Love is an adoption fundraising and orphan care effort that sprang out of
Morning Star Baptist Church in Rockford, Illinois.
In August of 2005, just days before Hurricane Katrina hit, a group of single adults were meeting together for fellowship and a study of biblical stewardship.
They brainstormed for ways to "be" God's hands and feet, ways to "invest" their physical talents and resources into everlasting, eternally-valuable projects.
As unmarried Christians, the Morning Star single adults were looking for ways to thrive within God's sovereignly-appointed parameters for their lives,
including the lack of spouses or children of their own. That evening, it dawned on them that no other investment can promise to yield greater
spiritual returns than the investment of helping godly couples finance their adoptions. And the rest is history. While the singles group
shrank over the years and is now practically extinct, God has continued to grow a churchwide awareness
of the necessity of orphan care and a passion for giving hope to needy children, both locally and globally.
There are many reasons to invest financially in Christian adoption and orphan care, but here are two:
(1) You have the opportunity to help meet the physical and emotional needs of children whose living circumstances would otherwise be less than ideal, often miserable, even hopeless.
Your investment goes toward demonstrating unconditional, practical love to a needy child.
James 1:27
is very clear that helping widows and orphans in their affliction is a mark of true Christianity. It is not a non-committal, impersonal well-wishing from afar. Helping the fatherless in their
affliction is an actual responsibility that brings immediate benefits to a child.
(2) You have the opportunity to help bring a child into a loving, Christian home. We do not typically think of adoption as
a rescue effort on an eternal scale, but in many cases, that is true. There are many children whose lives are not bound to intersect with a Gospel influence
of the magnitude they would find in a Christian family. To help a Christian family adopt a child is to help bring that child into an environment that exposes
him or her to the life-changing power of God's Word. It is not necessarily a guarantee that the child will trust Christ as Savior, but it increases the likelihood
exponentially. We cannot buy and take things with us into eternity. But giving financially toward a Christian adoption is one way to use money as an
asset toward investing in souls.
Invest in Love is essentially a project-in-progress that the congregation of Morning Star Baptist Church supports.
Bringing orphans into committed Christian families is an investment both for now and for eternity.
The description of "pure religion" in James 1:27 indicates that Christians ought to be involved somehow in orphan care individually (capitalizing upon our unique gifts, connections, and affinities).
It also implies that orphan care is not an optional hobby for the local church--churches ought to be involved corporately in caring for orphans and in helping Christians who seek to parent orphans
or to minister to orphans somehow:
a. Pray for Christian families who are seeking to adopt yet struggling to finance adoption.
b. Give to support Christian adoptions and orphan care efforts.
c. Consider your resources and think of other ways you yourself can demonstrate "pure religion" before God, Who is of course the ultimate Father.
Invest in Love was most recently trying to promote an adoption-funding need for a family in our church,
Jeremy and Anouk Scott, who
had hoped to bring home two sons from Liberia by Christmas '08. Their adoptions situation has since taken a very different turn, and the boys are going to be taken care of in Liberia now. You can read more about that here,
or send an email to invest@globalgracemissions.org for more information.
To donate online via PayPal or credit/debit card, click on a DONATE button from this page,
or you are also welcome to post a check to the following address:*
Morning Star Baptist Church Invest in Love Orphan Care and Adoption Funding Efforts
3430 Colony Bay Drive
Rockford IL 61109
*If you do mail a check, please also email invest@globalgracemissions.org us to help us track the amount.
Your gifts are tax-deductible, so you will receive a receipt. If you would like to donate Frequent Flyer miles or airline points,
please also email invest@globalgracemissions.org to arrange that.
As unmarried Christians, the Morning Star single adults were looking for ways to thrive within God's sovereignly-appointed parameters for their lives,
including the lack of spouses or children of their own. That evening, it dawned on them that no other investment can promise to yield greater
spiritual returns than the investment of helping godly couples finance their adoptions. And the rest is history. While the singles group
shrank over the years and is now practically extinct, God has continued to grow a churchwide awareness
of the necessity of orphan care and a passion for giving hope to needy children, both locally and globally.
The description of "pure religion" in James 1:27 indicates that Christians ought to be involved somehow in orphan care individually (capitalizing upon our unique gifts, connections, and affinities).
It also implies that orphan care is not an optional hobby for the local church--churches ought to be involved corporately in caring for orphans and in helping Christians who seek to parent orphans
or to minister to orphans somehow:
Invest in Love was most recently trying to promote an adoption-funding need for a family in our church,
Jeremy and Anouk Scott, who
had hoped to bring home two sons from Liberia by Christmas '08. Their adoptions situation has since taken a very different turn, and the boys are going to be taken care of in Liberia now. You can read more about that here,
or send an email to invest@globalgracemissions.org for more information.