‘Adoption is the big secret of the universe.’ This bold claim lies at the heart of this powerful book by Krish Kandiah, founder of Christian adoption and fostering charity Home for Good. Drawing on his deep theological experience and his many years as an adoptive parent and foster carer, Kandiah argues with passion that our ‘vertical’ experience of being adopted by God must translate into a ‘horizontal’ commitment by Christian families and churches to foster and adopt some of the nearly 70,000 vulnerable children who find themselves in care each year in the UK. He reinforces his point with several moving case studies.
As an adopted child myself, I needed no persuasion about the merits of fostering and adoption. What makes this book so compelling is the skill and eloquence with which Kandiah provides theological ballast for the idea of fostering and adoption. He also debunks some of the myths that prevent Christian families coming forward; especially the notion that all social workers are biased against Christian foster carers and adopters.
In perhaps the most striking part of the book, he calls on every church in the country to provide practical support for at least one adoptive or foster family in their congregation. If just 6,000 churches took up Kandiah’s challenge, the number of children in residential care in the UK – most of whom are older children with behavioural problems and are often regarded as ‘unadoptable’ – would be eliminated overnight. This book needs to be read, and Kandiah’s Home for Good initiative requires our support.
JEREMY MOODEY is CEO at Embrace the Middle East
