Paul’s use of adoption in Romans has strong exodus imagery that surrounds its three occurrences (Rom. 8:15, 23; 9:4). God’s deliverance of Israel out of Egyptian bondage echoes behind the cosmic story of adoption in Romans 8. We find exodus imagery all throughout Romans 8: “set you free” (Rom. 8:2); “led by the Spirit of God” (Rom. 8:14; cf. Ex. 13:21); “the spirit of slavery” (Rom. 8:15); “subjected to futility” (Rom. 8:20); “will be set free” (Rom. 8:21); “bondage to corruption” (Rom. 8:21); “obtain the freedom” (Rom. 8:21); “groaning together” (Rom. 8:22; cf. Ex. 2:23); “redemption” (Rom. 8:23); and “firstborn” (Rom. 8:29; cf. Ex. 4:22). The evidence is overwhelmingly compelling: God intends for us to understand His work of adoption as His redemptive activity to free us and all creation from every effect of the fall.

The evangelical orphan care and adoption movement experienced exponential growth over the last decade. One consequence of this growth is the almost ubiquitous presence of James 1:27 in sermons and articles and on the websites of nonprofits whose mission is to care for “orphans in their affliction.” James 1:27 reads, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction” (emphasis added).

As encouraging as the reemergence of James 1:27 is in the church’s collective consciousness, what’s often lacking is an accurate understanding of how orphan should be defined.

UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) define orphan as a child who has lost one or both parents. When we hear the word orphan, many of us immediately think we are referring to children who have lost both parents.

But when seeking to understand orphan-related statistics, it’s critical that we distinguish between single-orphaned children (i.e., children who’ve lost one parent) and double-orphaned children (i.e., children who’ve lost both parents). If we fail do to so, our strategies to care for them will likely be seriously flawed, unintentionally hurting the children themselves while giving ammunition to critics to discredit and hinder the church’s efforts to care for orphaned children.

The current global estimate of orphans worldwide (determined by UNICEF) is 140 million children. Of that 140 million, “only” 15.1 million are considered “double orphans.” In other words, of the 140 million orphans worldwide, only 10.7 percent of them have lost both parents.

But according to the Christian Alliance for Orphans, “One of the greatest weaknesses in these global orphan estimates is that they include only orphans that are currently living in homes. They do not count the estimated 2 to 8+ million children living in institutions. Nor do current estimates include the vast number of children who are living on the streets, exploited for labor, unaccompanied refugees, victims of trafficking, or participating in armed conflict.”1

To further stress the complexity of the need to care for orphans, of the world’s fifteen million “double orphans,” only 0.1 percent of them are legally adoptable. Therefore, even if Christians were to adopt every single child who is legally adoptable, we would still face a global orphan crisis of epidemic proportions.

So, what are we Christians to do?

The Apostle Paul is the only biblical writer who used the word adoption. Although it’s a term he borrowed from the Greco-Roman horizontal practice of adoption, he altered and expanded its meaning by filling it with rich redemptive-historical significance. As a result, he uses adoption to trace Scripture’s overarching story of redemption.

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