“I’ll take anyone. Old or young, dad or mom, black, white, purple. I don’t care. And I would be really appreciative. The best I could be” –Davion Only, a 15-year-old Florida boy in the foster care system asking for someone to adopt him and give him a family
Davion has been in and out of foster homes his whole life, but has always wanted a permanent family. “I just want people to love me for who I am and to grab me and keep me in their house and love me no matter what,” he says. He learned that his birth mother was in prison when she gave birth to him, and she recently died. He told his caseworker that he wanted to make a plea at a church for someone to adopt him. Recently he found himself in front of the congregation at St. Marks Missionary Baptist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida. ”My name is Davion and I’ve been in foster care since I was born,” he said. “I know God hasn’t given up on me. So I’m not giving up either.”
The response to Davion’s pleas has been overwhelming. His story went viral on Twitter, and was picked up by Good Morning America. Hundreds of people have inquired about adopting him. What if this could begin to happen in thousands of churches in America every Sunday?
This November is Adoption Awareness Month. Heartland Vineyard Church has many families who have been foster families for children needing homes in our community and families who have adopted children who would not otherwise have a mom and dad, brothers and sisters.
Ten years ago, my wife and I began to travel north a few miles to Waverly and serve as a mentor to a 15 year old boy named Arnold. Later, we took the foster/adoption training and Arnold became our foster son. We had two other children stay in our home temporarily as foster children. But Arnold after two years became our adopted son. Arn never believed he would ever make it through High School. He graduated from West Waterloo High School. It was a great accomplishment for Arn.
Arnold then worked at Wonder Bread until the plant shut down a year ago. He then set his sights on enlisting in the military and in the first week of December of this year, Arn will graduate from Boot Camp as a private in the U.S. Army. We are proud of Arn’s tenacity. It wasn’t easy for him but he just would not quit.
There are other families in our church who will be telling their story this month. Each and every one is a heartwarming story. But more than warming your heart, it is our prayer that some of you might consider becoming mentors for children in our schools who need support foster families for children desperately needing homes and possibly even those who would consider adopting.
Does our God believe in adoption? He most certainly does and it was for that reason that He sent His Son to die on our behalf, so that we might be forgiven from the penalty of our sins, and to be adopt into God’s family, sons and daughters of the Kingdom.