One-on-One with Todd Chipman on ‘Until Every Child Is Home’

“Orphan care ministries provide church leaders an opportunity to exemplify the gospel for their congregations and to the world.”

Ed: Why are you a passionate advocate for adoption and foster care ministry?

Todd: I see orphans through the lens of Scripture. At its core, the New Testament is God’s revelation of himself in Christ to forgive the sins of people from all ethnicities, establishing them as a special body, the church, to display to the world what he has done for them.

In my definition, I did not use the word “adoption.” Adoption is referenced in key doctrinal passages like Romans 8 and Ephesians 1, but my point here is that the idea of adoption is a ministry that squares with the macro themes of the New Testament.

The fact that I am adopted and an adoptive parent also compels me. My birth mom was in her late teens when she met my biological dad at a party. She gave me up for adoption and my parents adopted me when I was one month old.

Some adopted kids really struggle when they find out the facts of their birth history. Not me. So, when my wife, Julie, and I were dating I shared about being adopted and said that someday I would like to pass along what I had received.

In 2014, our oldest biological child went to college and we had an empty bedroom. That same month we found out about Focus on the Family’s Wait No More ministry that connects churches with kids in the foster-care system whose parental rights have been severed.

We completed the foster and adoption training required by the state and welcomed our two new daughters into our family in 2016.

Ed: What was it like for you to adopt children within in the context of your church?

Todd: The adoption of our children has helped our church ministry so much! When God began to burden Julie and me to become foster parents, we told church leaders about God’s leading in our ...