Nearly a decade ago, Dr. Bob Griffith, a pastor in Virginia, prayed to God while discerning if he and his wife Rev. Wendy Griffith should become adoptive parents. Within 24 hours, that adoption prayer was answered, and what happened next was truly remarkable.
Griffith told The Washington Times’ Higher Ground that he and his wife had three children and were fostering three other children when they were asked to legally adopt the foster kids.
“I was busy working… I had three other children and so I just didn’t know how I could possibly [adopt],” he said. “But I did tell God… ‘Lord, if You really want me to do this then You’ve got to make way because I cannot see how it’s gonna happen.’ And so I gave Him a little crack, a little window into my life.” God took that window and changed their lives.
“Within 24 hours of praying that prayer, we had seven different confirmations,” he said. “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.”
One of the biggest confirmations that they should go through with the adoption came by way of an acquaintance, who approached the couple out of the blue about a house with more bedrooms.
“Within 24 hours, we had… sold our house and bought a new one,” said Griffith. “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.”
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The Griffiths’ decision to follow the call to adopt inspired others in their church to do the same. A movement was born in their church community to “look after orphans” and a support system was created for kids in foster care as well as foster and adoptive families. At one point, 30% of all of the foster families in the county were members of his church. Those who were unable to foster acted as a support system for those who could.
“Not everyone can be a foster parent or even should be, but everyone is called according to the Scripture to support and care for the widows and the orphans. So that’s what our church did,” said Griffith.
He told Southeastern Magazine in 2020, “The trajectory of each child in foster care is positively changed forever when each of us do what we can to help. For some, it’s being a foster parent, and for others, it’s showing encouragement to those that foster. Not everyone can be a foster parent today, but everyone can do something.”
Griffith and his wife have also written a book called “Fostering Jesus: Answering the Call to Foster Care in the Home and Church” which discusses how “to stand in the gap for vulnerable children in your community every day…”
