The ministry is called A Chosen Home, and it started in the congregation at Hickory Community Chapel. The ministry is its own nonprofit organization, technically separate from the church. But church members are the ministry’s heart. All seven members of the board of directors attend church at Hickory Community, and two — Noel Powell and Karen Dilliplane — founded A Chosen Home a year ago. . . .Since the ministry was founded, it’s helped six families adopt eight children — four from overseas, three through Catawba County Social Services and one from another state.

This ministry was started at a church about the same size as mine–about 285 members. Our church, too, has many adoptive families, six that I can think of off the top of my head, probably several more. I think this story is an untold story. Anecdotally, I know of many homeschool and Christian families who have adopted hard-to place children, either from overseas or out of the foster care system. I would like to know how many evangelical Christian and Catholic families are participating in this ministry–not so that we can brag, but rather in order to have a response when abortion advocates taunt those who are pro-life and say that we only care about babies before they are born. I see lots of evidence to the contrary, but again, I don’t have any hard numbers. At any rate, I applaud those at Hickory Community Chapel who began this ministry and all of those adopt and foster parent the least of God’s children.