My husband’s passion is ministering to young men without strong father influences in their lives. I recently asked him if he felt like there were enough men leading the charge to care for orphans and to adopt children in need of families. He said no; as we attend adoption related events, there are often more women attending and presenting than there are men. Additionally, most adoption and orphan care workers and volunteers we know are women. This is true even while God teaches in His Word that fathers are to lead the charge for the trajectory of the family, especially spiritually but also in the areas of education and training.
Why is this so, I asked my husband. His reply was that he just doesn’t think it’s on the radar for many men. He reasoned that what gets it on their radar is often the mother-heart of so many women who are undoubtedly equal and strong influencers as families pursue orphan care and adoption. Please don’t mistake my message – many men and certainly those we know within the adoption community are working tirelessly on behalf of the orphan. Dan Cruver, Jason Kovacs, and Jedd Medifend are just a couple of great examples of men faithfully serving God in the area of adoption and orphan care, and exhorting the church to do the same. As the church continues to rise up in this area, I’m confident an increasing number of men will emerge to lead the charge. Here’s another fantastic example in Zambia, highlighted by Jedd Medifend on the Christian Alliance for Orphans website and quoted directly from the site:
“In many parts of the world it seems that many Christian men have left “the cause of the fatherless” mostly to the women.
There are many reasons for this, I think. Sometimes, men view everything associated with children as women’s work—failing to see the vital role they can play in example, provision, discipline, protection, training, and fatherly affection. At times, the crush of work–from consuming office jobs to exhausting field labor–leaves men feeling they have little left to offer. In places of extreme poverty, many men have simply given up hope and relegated just about everything that needs doing to women, from bread-winning to bread-making.
Not Peter. He and his wife Teresa are farmers. Some 20 years ago they bought a small farm an hour from Lusaka. They draw from the land Zambia’s staple, maize, and other crops. Peter’s sun-soaked face breaks easily into a warm smile, accented by two missing front teeth. His presence carries gravitas—in a rare blend of sobriety and levity living side-by-side.
As part of the ministry of Every Orphans Hope, Peter and Teresa are living with and raising eight orphaned children.” You can keep reading, and see some great photos of Peter and his family here.
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