A Virginia pastor is sharing his miraculous story of adoption and encouraging other Christians to seek God’s plan for their lives. Dr. Bob Griffith, lead pastor of Christ Chapel in Woodbridge, Virginia, had once asked county officials while he was serving in Kenosha, WI, what was the biggest need from churches in the area for their community. Officials responded that they needed help with foster care. So, Griffith and his wife signed up to be foster parents, though Griffith admitted he was unsure about adopting. Yet, after several years of fostering, he and his wife were faced with the decision of whether or not to adopt three children that were in their care. “And I will be honest with you; my answer was, ‘No,’” Griffith told CBN News. “I used my brain that God gave me, and I did an assessment of how big of a home we had, and how many seats in our car, and just very practical things. And I could not see how we could do this.” Griffith and his wife already had three of their own children, which would expand them to a family of eight. 

However, despite his own feelings, Griffith turned to the Lord. “I prayed, and I told God, ‘My answer is ‘No,’ unless you really want this to happen. If this is Your plan for my life, then of course I will do it. But if that’s the case, you’re going to have to do something about it.’” God moved quickly after that. “Within 24 hours of praying that prayer, we had seven different confirmations. When I gave God a little bit of room there, He said, ‘Game on. I know how to do that.’ God made it happen. You know why? Because He loves kids that much,” Griffith told The Washington Times Higher Ground. “Within 24 hours, we had… sold our house and bought a new one. The price I sold my house for was the exact same price I bought this new home in the same neighborhood, same school district, nothing changed, but I got two new bedrooms from that whole deal. So, we had two new bedrooms for all the kids to be able to stay in,” he shared. 

While following God’s command to care for orphans, the Griffiths also inspired their own church to follow suit. At one point, 30% of all foster families in their county were attendees of the Griffiths’ church. Griffith is hoping to extend that reach throughout the country with his new book, Fostering Jesus: Answering the Call to Foster Care in the Home and Church. “The church has been focused on adoption, primarily, that’s something that has been talked about … and that has been amazing and wonderful. But, if you look at adoption and you back up one step, oftentimes, it’s foster care that is the step right before that,” said Griffith. “The area of foster care is one that I believe that the church in America needs to get more active on talking about as it relates to the heart of God. It really is found in the Word of God.”