The Louisville Courier-Journal carried an insightful article highlighting not only Summit VII, but the broadening of Christians’ approaches to caring for orphans.   The article, Adoption 2.0, is certainly worth the read.

As I shared with author Peter Smith at Summit, what once was a movement focused heavily on inter-country adoption has both broadened and deepened.   Enabling U.S. families to provide homes for orphans certainly remains a potent element of all that’s happening.  But alongside it, a host of parallel efforts are growing in emphasis as well—what author Peter Smith calls “Adoption 2.0.”

One particularly important vision spotlighted at Summit and explored in the article is support for indigenous adoption movements, hoping to spur an awakening similar to what’s happening in the U.S. in recent years.  Other initiatives are taking flight as well, from finding local homes for foster children in the U.S. to innovative church-to-church partnerships around the globe.  As Smith writes, “the movement has expanded, and not just in promoting efforts to have children adopted by families in their home countries. It’s also emphasizing the need for foster parents in the United States itself, and on adopting children who have experienced such things as homelessness, disease, disability and exploitation.”

Even for those of us immersed in this work, Summit VII was eye-opening and inspiring.  It’s incredible to see the full spectrum of compelling and creative ways the Church is living out God’s call to “defend the fatherless.”  It’s also encouraging when an outside journalist seems to have caught a full sense of what’s happening as well.