The Southern Baptist Pastors Conference took up the cause of orphans June 14 with the creation of a fund to defray the cost of adoptions, a presentation by a choir of Ugandan orphans, a sermon on the theme and a testimony by conference President Kevin Ezell, the father of adopted children.
Ezell, senior pastor of Highview Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky., who has adopted children from China, Ethiopia and the Philippines, said the Adoption Fund for Ministers (www.sbcadoption.com) will make $2,000 scholarships available to Southern Baptist ministers and missionaries who want to adopt a child.
Offerings collected at the conference that weren’t needed to cover expenses to host the event were designated for the adoption fund. And conference participants contributed more than $25,000 to the adoption fund goal of $1.5 million.
Ezell introduced a couple — Buff and Cissy McNickle, Floridians who recently adopted twin boys — as the first grant recipients. He surprised them by announcing a donor had provided $10,000 to pay off the remaining cost of their adoptions.
Russell Moore of Southern Seminary called for every family to pray about what God would have them do to reach out to orphans and widows. He recounted his own experience when he and his wife, Maria, adopted two boys from a Russian orphanage. “Adoption and orphan care is not charity; it is about the gospel and missions.” (Editor’s Network)
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