Marcus was five when they found him, alone on a bus in the northeast of Brazil. A gentle little boy with a quiet, searching gaze, he was brought to a government-run children’s shelter. The staff cared, but the overcrowded and underfunded shelter was never designed to be a permanent home. It was noisy, chaotic and overwhelming. Marcus stayed there for six months, carried along by routines that revolved around survival rather than nurture.
Social workers eventually tracked down his father and began planning for reunification; restoring children safely to their families is the best and first solution in almost every case. But while that possibility was explored, there was still an opportunity for something better than institutional care: Reaviva, a local Christian organisation, had recently launched a fostering service and had space to place Marcus with a trained, loving foster family.
It was there, in the safety of a home, not the walls of an institution, that Marcus began to open up. It’s often in the unremarkable rhythms of family life that remarkable things can happen. He found language for his fears. He learned to trust. And in time, he felt secure enough to share parts of his story that made it clear he couldn’t return safely to his birth family. After careful assessment, the judge removed parental rights and added Marcus to the adoption list.
For most children separated from their families around the world, this is not how the story ends. Research shows that more than 80% of children in orphanages globally have at least one living parent. With the right kind of support, income assistance, disability services, parenting help and community networks, most families can stay together. The vast majority of children could go home.
"The vast majority of children could go home."
But, like Marcus, sadly, not all can. In those rare and heartbreaking cases, adoption becomes the best alternative, a loving family instead of years growing up in an institution.
A few months later, Marcus was adopted. Today he is thriving in a family that calls him their own. A boy once found alone on a bus is now found in the embrace of people who know him, love him and speak a better future over his life.
A movement the church is called to lead
His story encapsulates a global truth that the church can no longer ignore.
For decades, Christians have responded with compassion to the needs of vulnerable children by supporting orphanages. Many still do. Those acts of generosity were sincere and often sacrificial. But today, scripture and global evidence are drawing us back to the heart of God’s design: children flourish best in safe, loving families.
Psalm 68:6 tells us plainly: “God sets the lonely in families.” Not in institutions. Not in long-term residential care. In families.
Family is where identity forms, where safety grows, where children are known by name. And around the world, a huge shift is happening. NGOs, mission agencies and governments are recognising that institutional care, however well-intentioned, cannot replicate what a family provides.
"Institutional care, however well-intentioned, cannot replicate what a family provides."
The good news is that the church could be at the forefront of this global transformation. I’ve seen it firsthand across Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe: churches strengthening vulnerable families, reuniting children with their families, and building fostering and adoption movements that echo the heart of the Father who adopts us into His own family.
Helping churches give wisely: The Due Diligence Tool
But change requires wisdom. It requires asking the right questions. That’s why we’ve launched a new Due Diligence Tool for Christians and churches who support overseas work with children. It draws from trusted frameworks and helps churches assess whether their giving is truly protecting children and strengthening families.
It’s accompanied by a six-email learning journey designed to guide churches into deeper understanding, practical discernment and confident action.
This isn’t about guilt or criticism. It’s about alignment: aligning our generosity with God’s design, aligning mission with best practice, aligning compassion with the outcomes children actually need.
A hopeful invitation
Marcus’ story reminds us that every child deserves what he ultimately found: love, safety, stability and a place to belong. When reunification is possible, we must champion it. When families need support to stay together, we must resource it. And when reunification is not safe, adoption and other forms of family care must be the path, not long-term institutionalisation.
The global church has a pivotal role to play in this. In fact, I believe we are uniquely positioned to lead.
So here is my invitation: join us. Pray. Learn. Review your partnerships. Use the Due Diligence Tool. And direct your generosity to mission models that build families, not just institutions.
Because the God who sets the lonely in families is inviting His church to help make that a reality, for children like Marcus, and for millions more whose stories can still be rewritten.
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