by: Nicole Leeper | Sr. Director of Communications
Looking down at his dusty feet, Bemnet considers many things. His hunger, the look of worn clothes on his body, and his mom. He remembers that when she was alive, he never felt hunger pangs like this.
Even more intensely, he remembers her sweet kiss on his head and the feeling of safety that comes with familiarity. He watches across the street as people begin to gather in a building, greeting each other with three kisses on the cheeks. Lost in his gazing, Bemnet is startled when a man walking by puts a hand on his shoulder and says, “Come, you are welcome here.”
It may not appear this way at first glance, but we’ve all been in Bemnet’s shoes—or maybe that’s the wrong term. We have all been standing there with dusty feet. Hurting, alone, and desperate in our condition, we wonder if we belong and if so, how? Then someone passes our way and, by grace, invites us into the family of God.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. (Romans 8:14-17 ESV)
The word translated here as “adoption” is the Greek term huiothesia, which literally means “placing as a son.” Adoption always denotes the idea of making someone a full member of the family.
We think of ourselves in these spiritual terms, but there are real lives being impacted by the local church in very literal ways. Many people have been introduced to the family of God because of adoption, empowerment programs, home based care initiatives, and other ways that vulnerable families are reached by the local church.
Programs themselves are an introduction, but relationships are where the light is shining consistently through the night: a social worker meeting monthly with a child; a mother making enough money from a sewing program to have regular meals with her daughter; a pastor from Ethiopia on a quarterly Zoom call with his partner pastor in Michigan. Bemnet being adopted into a family from the local church. He received shoes for his feet, food in his belly, and he learned slowly to trust the safety of his new family.
The local church is the hope in this world because it’s the tangible expression of the love of God. We are his hands and feet, and he has called us to reach orphans and vulnerable families, to care for the widows, and to set the captives free.
When we do this, when we love like Jesus, the world will know that we are his disciples (John 13:35). It’s the journey that we’re on together, the family of God. Everyone is invited. Everyone has a place at the table. Everyone has something to give. Dignity is offered here.
If you looked at Bemnet, standing there with his dusty feet, and you only accounted for his current condition, you might pass over him, thinking he had nothing to offer. He has God-given gifts though, and because he was loved, cared for, and empowered, these gifts are making an impact on those in his community. He may one day be the man who puts his hand to the shoulder of another young boy and says, “Come, you are welcome here.”