Everyone Can Do Something: Stories of Orphan Care & Adoption
As followers of Jesus, we're called to care for the vulnerable, including orphans and children in need of safe, loving families.
James 1:27 reminds us, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."
But what does that look like in our everyday lives? And how can we, as a church, come alongside children and families in need?
For some, it may mean opening their homes through foster care, adoption, or hosting. For others, it may mean providing practical support, offering encouragement, praying faithfully, or walking alongside a family through a difficult season.
There isn't just one way to get involved, and it doesn't have to be just one family carrying the responsibility.
We asked two Aletheia families, the Zopps and the Yoders, to share their journeys through foster care and adoption, how God has worked in their families, and what they want the rest of us to know about caring for vulnerable children.
Their stories are different, but they share an important reminder: Everyone can do something, and everyone has something to give.
THE ZOPP FAMILY
Can you share a little about your family's journey into foster care and adoption?
The short answer to this question is: God instructed and we obeyed. We talked about adoption being a way to build a family early in our relationship, when we were still dating. Many years later, when we were a young family (our first three boys were 4, 2, and 6 months), we were convicted of God's instruction to care for the orphans and prayerfully considered how to obey that instruction.
Our church had an orphan care ministry that was integral in supporting us and encouraging us as we started our adoption journey. The Lord led us to international adoption, and we have added three children to our family through adoption since that calling.
Children are a beautiful gift from the Lord, and having the privilege and responsibility of being parents to our children, both biological and adopted, has been the greatest blessing of our lives. All children deserve to grow up in a loving family, and no child should have to grow up in a cold orphanage or bounce around from one foster family to the next.
How has God grown and shaped your family through this experience?
God has taught us that walking out on the water with Him, though scary and sometimes lonely, is always full of inexpressible joy and peace. As we keep our eyes on His Word, our ears attuned to His whispers, and our spirits leaning into what is sometimes an almost palpable presence of His Spirit, He is faithful to be near us, answer our prayers, and guide our steps.
We have had some dark days. And we have had some huge victories. We could write pages about the incredible ways we have seen Him at work in our children's lives and our own. So many times, when the world told us, "She will never..." or "She shouldn't even be alive right now..." or "What if...," the Lord pulled us to our knees, assured us He is good, and gave us what we needed to continue to care for these beautiful children.
We are also thankful for the worldview this journey has given our children. They learned from a very early age that a lot of things the world (and the American church) gets wrapped up in don't actually have eternal significance or meaning. Caring for people, that matters.
What would you want other families in our church to know about foster care and adoption?
Two stories stay with me. Haunt me. Come back to me over and over.
One is this: We were listening to an orphan care conference early in our adoption journey, and a young man in his 20s stood up to address the audience. He had grown up in and aged out of foster care. He said that the church was really good about bringing Christmas gifts and school supplies, gifts of clothing or toys. But what he really needed was a home, and what he wanted more than anything was a family. No one stepped in to be his family. The last words he said that day were: "I was an orphan. And I will always be an orphan."
The other story is found in the memories of the cold, quiet orphanage in China where our daughter lived for a year and a half before she joined our family. Rows and rows of cribs on one floor and rows and rows of little beds on another. Hundreds of children in a government building, waiting for families. Hundreds of little faces, all beautifully made by God, wasting away in the most heartbreaking place.
There are so many children. Do they have trauma in their history? Yes. Do some have medical or educational needs? Absolutely. But their greatest need is a family. Parents who choose to love them exactly as they are, and fight and cheer for them to grow and complete the life and work God has for them.
There will always be a reason not to adopt. Money. Space. Fear. Social pressure. Unsupportive family. We faced ALL of those obstacles. But in the end, God's Word is very clear. Care for the orphan.
Our deepest desire any time we speak of adoption or orphan care is for the church to faithfully and purposefully pray about how the Lord would have them fulfill His instruction. What is their role? And then have the courage to step out in faith and obey. Everyone can do something.
The Yoder Family
Can you share a little about your family's journey into foster care and adoption?
Some of our first conversations when we started dating revolved around both of us feeling a desire to love and care for kids, specifically through adoption.
When we moved to Tampa shortly after getting married in 2021, we began attending Aletheia and joined a city group. Through that group we met Amber Privett, who introduced us to Safe Families. It felt like the best way for us to dip our toes into caring for children and opened our eyes to the reality of how many children are removed from their families simply because their parents needed support and had no family, friends, or community to call on.
Over a 4 year period we hosted several kids ages 3 months-11 years old, while still talking about potentially adopting down the road (when we were in our 30's, and were "more mature" and "had more time", ha!).
In spring of 2025 we took a break from hosting due to a string of weddings and funerals taking place. We were asked if we would consider jumping back into hosting for 1 week, for a boy who was one of 6 siblings that needed some TLC while their mom was back in the hospital for cancer treatment.
We picked him up, took him to McDonalds for cheeseburgers, and spent the rest of the week falling in love with him (which ended with us offering to keep him for the whole summer). We were so hopeful to be able to reunite him with his siblings once his mom, Linda, came home from treatment, but after a month it became apparent Linda would not be able to come home.
God called Linda home that August, and 2 days later we began the adoption process for our son CJ. The following 10 month were a whirlwind of completing our adoption process, while also working to establish guardianships, kinship cares, ongoing support, and finding permanent homes for all 5 of CJ's siblings to ensure none of them ended up separated or back in foster care. Praise God all kids are in wonderful, loving homes, have experienced the Gospel, and 4/6 have accepted Jesus and been baptized!
How has God grown and shaped your family through this experience?
There aren't enough time or words to convey all that God has done for our family- from using conversations we had as teenagers to grow desires from Him on our hearts, to leading us to start our married life in Florida at Aletheia where we have been supported by the most incredible church community, putting the exact people in our lives to equip and encourage us in every moment.
Mind you, we felt WOEFULLY unprepared- a young married couple, with next to no parenting experience, now tasked with caring for the most amazing kid on the planet as he and his siblings walk through some of the darkest days of their lives.
But God gave us everything we could have ever asked for in abundance. When we had no idea what to do, He sent the perfect people to give us wisdom and advice. When we felt unprepared, He provided the perfect resources for every moment. When we felt overwhelmed, our families and church families wrapped their arms around us and have never let go.
And honestly? What more could we give those sweet kiddos than the promise, both in words and actions, that there is a God who LOVES you, PROVIDES for you, and gives to you in abundance, even in your darkest moments.
What would you want other families in our church to know about foster care and adoption?
Everyone has something to give! Feel called to adopt/foster/host kids in your home? Awesome, we need you! Don't feel called to have kids in your home, but want to pour in to parents instead? Awesome, we need you! Have a unique gifting/passion (fixing cars, house projects, making music or art, shopping, thrifting, making cards, playing sports, ect)? Awesome, we need you! We need absolutely everyone- currently there are over 1,500 children in foster care in Hillsborough county alone. 30 of those kids currently don't even have a bed- they are in sleeping bags in social work offices, or on floors in group facilities without a permanent placement.
Imagine, if we had just 1 family at Aletheia that said we want to be that safe place for a child. Now imagine that family has 2 more families that intentionally check up on them every day to see how things are going. Then 3 more families who have kids the same age go out of their way to introduce themselves to that kid, so their child has friends and familiar faces when they enter Aletheia JR their first Sunday at our church. 4 more families step up to buy clothes, toys, books, room decorations, and snacks to make sure that kid feels unique and loved.
The outcome: a young boy who asks Jesus to be his savior at church camp and gets baptized by his best friend's dad, who looks forward to Sundays and Tuesdays because that's when he gets to see all his friends at church and Teleios. It's a kid who wants to learn the drums because he was dragged to worship rehearsal and now wants to "take Ethan's job" and who views Aletheia as "basically his second home"(his words to us after 1 month of going to church and being around each and every one of you).
This is what the outcome is when the church moves in unity as God has called us to- protecting the vulnerable and loving those he has made in His image.
It can't be just one person, one family, one city group. There are some of you reading this right now that will never understand the impact you have had on our family, our son, our story, and for that we are immeasurably grateful. Truly- there is not enough time or words.
Our ask is simple, and twofold:
Will you take the time to write down 2-3 things you are passionate about, gifted in, or simply enjoy? Pray over these during the month of November- give thanks for what God has gifted you, and ask Him to spark desire to use these for His glory.
Ponder how these 2-3 things can be used to help bring children outside of Aletheia to safety, security, and love; to know that they are children of God who have people in their corner fighting for them. Ask yourself "how can I use what God has gifted me to care for those kids, or surround a family supporting those kids". If you don't know, or aren't sure how or what that could look like, PLEASE connect with us by text, email, or on Sunday mornings. We want to help you get plugged into ASAP!
What's Your Part to Play?
The stories shared by the Zopp and Yoder families remind us that caring for vulnerable children isn't a calling reserved for a few families. It's something our entire church family can participate in.
At Aletheia, we often talk about stewarding our R.A.T.E.: Resources, Abilities, Time, and Energy. God has given each of us different gifts and opportunities, and we can use them to serve children and families in our community.
Consider these three things:
PRAY. Ask God to open your eyes to the needs of vulnerable children and families. Pray for foster and adoptive families, children awaiting permanent homes, and opportunities for our church to serve.
SURRENDER. Consider what God has already placed in your hands. Ask Him how He wants you to use your resources, abilities, time, and energy to care for others.
ACT. Take a practical next step. Learn about foster care, adoption, or hosting through Safe Families. Find ways to support a foster or adoptive family. Offer practical help, encouragement, or a listening ear.
Learn More & Get Involved
Interested in learning more about how you can support vulnerable children and families in Tampa?
Visit Safe Families for Children to learn about their local ministry and opportunities to get involved.
You don't have to do everything, but you can do something.
Let's be a church that doesn't just recognize the need, but moves together to meet it.