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How Gen Z Can Answer the Call to Adoption
My name is Tristyn,
and I had the opportunity this summer to intern at Lifesong.
I saw all the children that are being adopted into amazing families, but I also saw the critical need for more waiting children to be welcomed into a loving home.
And as part of Gen Z, I know there is a desperate call that needs to be answered.
Here’s what I would love to say to my peers:
“In a world where Gen Z is craving to be different and to make a difference, what if this longing could be directed into something that has an eternal impact?”
Gen Z has both the qualities and resources needed to close the gap in these numbers and provide safe, loving homes to children in need.
Here’s why Gen Z could be the world-changer we need:
1. We want to create change.
Gen Z is driven by the desire to make a positive change in the world. So with the need and the desire to impact, Gen Z can be this change in the staggering number of children who are in need of a loving home.
One child at a time, we can lower the number of children who are without a home. And we can create change.
2. We have access to digital resources.
More than any previous generation, Gen Z has unlimited access to information on childcare, adoption, parenting, and trauma.
With this information so widely available, Gen Z is well-equipped to parent orphaned and vulnerable kids.
3. We desire connection.
Because of the digital age we’ve grown up in, one defining trait of Gen Z is our deep longing for connection and for creating authentic relationships.
So this internal desire can help us empathize with people in need and creating a lasting bond. Adoption can fulfill not only the need of children who want a loving home, but the need for individuals who hunger for worthwhile connection with others.
4. We have abundant ways to communicate.
Gen Z is the most connected generation yet as a result of social media and other digital tools. These resources make it possible to share experiences, give advice, and advocate for orphan care.
So with the ability to communicate, we can be a community committed to caring for the orphaned and vulnerable. All while providing support along the way.
Gen Z also has an immense amount of influence within the digital space. So advocating for adoption could encourage others to join the cause to make a difference.
5. We have a biblical call to provide care for those in need.
By answering the call to adopt, individuals are not only serving others, but they are fulfilling an opportunity to bear the fruit that the Bible calls out to believers in James 1:7—
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
Above all, we have this call to serve and care for God’s people and to expand His kingdom. Adoption is a way for Gen Z to embrace our purpose in life that so many individuals search for and to answer the call on our lives.
You are invited.
Gen Z has the abilities and resources to make a profound impact on orphaned and vulnerable children. Our desire to create change, our access to to digital resources, our longing for connection, our many avenues of communication, and our calling as Christians … position us to lead the way in transforming orphan care.
So by answering this call, we can pave the way in providing loving homes for children in need of family.
And you are invited to join us.
To learn how to get started or to find more resources available, visit lifesong.org.
Help orphaned and vulnerable children experience the love of family.
100% of your gift to Lifesong directly helps children in need. TMG Foundation and key partners cover our fundraising and administrative costs. So your entire gift goes where you want it to go.
Will you help orphaned and vulnerable children in Liberia experience the hope of the Gospel?
When you give to Lifesong, you show orphaned and vulnerable children they are seen, known, and loved through Gospel-centered holistic care. Thanks to TMG Foundation, 100% of your gift goes directly to helping orphaned and vulnerable children.
Tommy and Heather only planned to adopt one child.
They had three biological kids already, and they believed their family was nearly complete. Never in a million years could they have predicted what the future held. In Tommy’s words—
“What God had planned was adding five more kids to our family in a story He’s now writing with a family of ten.”
This is a story about saying yes to adoption and seeing what God will do.
“It’s an adoption story only God could write.”
Heather and Tommy were always open to adopting, but while Heather felt the call to move forward, Tommy needed more time. Everything changed when Tommy attended a conference where the speaker talked about adoption, and Tommy felt a shift in his heart. He knew at that moment, God was leading him to say yes to adoption.
“But I still didn’t have the courage for a month or so to tell Heather.”
The reason for his hesitancy?—Tommy and Heather had just quit their jobs to start a new ministry. Tommy explains—
“We took a 100% pay cut and were raising our own support. How were we going to take care of the three kids we already had? It’s not that I didn’t want to adopt; I just couldn’t financially make it make sense.”
But, as Tommy and Heather would soon find out, adoption is an investment far bigger than dollars and cents. It’s about stepping out in faith into a story bigger and better than anything we can write for ourselves.
Adoption makes eternal sense.
“We knew right away.”
Once Tommy told Heather he was ready to say yes to adopting, they knew they would adopt two girls from an orphanage in the Dominican Republic whom they had known for several years through trips overseas.
But as can sometimes happen with an adoption story, what Tommy and Heather thought would be a year-long process turned into a three-and-a-half-year process with multiple court appearances, many trips, living in the DR for months at a time, and taking their whole family back and forth.
“Many times we felt like it was not going to happen, even though we said yes.”Â
In the end, they brought home two wonderful daughters—Jada and Izzy—and began a journey that hasn’t been easy but was absolutely worth the wait.
“And then, God allowed our path to cross with a single mother who needed help.”
Even before Jada and Izzy’s adoption was complete, God allowed Heather to meet a single mother in their local community who was in need of help and support. Believing strongly that God ordained their meeting, Heather did whatever she could to offer her love and support.
“And within a month of our connection, she asked me to care for her ten-month-old baby girl.”
Surely God wasn’t asking Tommy and Heather to say yes to another child, was He?
“I can remember the first night I went to Tommy and told him Aubree’s mom asked for us to watch Aubree overnight.”
They had no idea what God was doing, but they decided to trust that He was leading, even if they couldn’t see the full picture yet.
And so began the journey of bringing Aubree into their family.Â
But God wasn’t done.
And this new student, Noah, wanted to learn to play basketball.
Tommy started his career as the head basketball coach at the kids’ school before surrendering to the call of full-time ministry. Their new ministry’s mission was to equip college basketball coaches and athletes to leave a legacy on and off the court for the glory of God. Â
So Tommy agreed to meet Noah. And that meeting began a year-long investment into Noah’s life.
And then, at the end of the year, a situation occurred where—for Noah to be able to finish school—he needed to find a new place to live.
“I think we all know when opportunities are Divine appointments, when God puts something in front of us and His Spirit nudges us. And we can either say yes and see what God does, or we can say no, and we can talk ourselves out of it.”
—Heather Kyle
So Tommy and Heather welcomed Noah into their home and family to finish school.
When Noah was 22 years old, he asked Tommy and Heather to officially adopt him.
Though it was an adoption story they never anticipated, they again said yes.
Giancarlo’s parents are missionaries in the Dominican, good friends of Tommy and Heather’s. They reached out to see if Giancarlo could live with them to finish high school and pursue playing basketball in college.
Tommy explains—
“Giancarlo has great parents that love the Lord and serve Him. He came to live with us when he was 15. He went to high school and just finished college. And we love him as a son.”
And in the remarkable way that God weaves stories together, Giancarlo grew up serving the orphanage where Jada and Izzy lived before Tommy and Heather adopted them. So they’ve known each other their whole lives.
Giancarlo makes 8 kids, and now the family is a party of 10.
“We started by saying yes to one.”
But God said, “five more.”Â
When God calls us to step out in faith—especially when it comes to adoption—the word “yes” is loaded. It’s not just a simple, three-letter word. It’s a personal declaration, a holy rebellion against fear. It’s looking at all the unknowns and saying, “We trust You, God, more than we trust our own understanding.”
It’s the audacious belief that God’s plans are infinitely better than our carefully laid-out ones. It’s knowing that when we say “yes,” we’re not just changing a child’s life—we’re letting God radically transform our own.
Thankfully, Tommy and Heather didn’t have to do it alone.
“Lifesong became one of our biggest advocates.”
In Tommy’s words, “We would not be here today if a lot of people, including Lifesong, did not give.”
Here at Lifesong, we believe money should never be the reason a child doesn’t have a family. So through adoption financial assistance, like matching grants, interest-free loans, and adoption crowdfunding pages, we help families like Tommy and Heather’s bridge the gap in adoption fundraising.
Tommy shares—
“People think we’re superhuman, but we’re not. It’s just totally God’s story. We opened up our home and brought in God’s children and literally watched Him change us.”
“You may not be called to adopt today, but we’re all called to do something. And when you invest in adopting or in adoption, you’re making an eternal return on investment that I can guarantee you is going to change a life. My advice?—Ask God what He wants you to invest.”
We agree, Tommy. And we’re thankful for the way you and Heather are showing us how to do it.
Will you help orphaned and vulnerable children in Uganda experience the hope of the Gospel?
When you give to Lifesong, you show orphaned and vulnerable children they are seen, known, and loved through Gospel-centered holistic care. Thanks to TMG Foundation, 100% of your gift goes directly to helping orphaned and vulnerable children.
Will you help orphaned and vulnerable children in Tanzania experience the hope of the Gospel?
When you give to Lifesong, you show orphaned and vulnerable children they are seen, known, and loved through Gospel-centered holistic care. Thanks to TMG Foundation, 100% of your gift goes directly to helping orphaned and vulnerable children.
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