“My song, Dad,” he says.

I scroll through the iPod, press play. The voice of Freddie Mercury fills the van and the four-year old’s smile fills his face. The other three sing along…Can anybody find meeeee Sambhaji to love?

There are more than 44 million orphans in India alone. Separated from family by death or poverty. 44 million. And one calls me dad.

What a gift he is!

And what about the others? Can they all be adopted? Should they be? What other solution is there?

I’ll be singing (and would love to meet you) at the Together for Adoption (T4A) Conference in Phoenix October 21-22. The name of the conference might scare some folks away. It’s not a conference for people who have adopted children or would like to some day. It’s a conference where we’ll learn together what it means to be adopted by God and how this has “profound implications for how Christians address the global orphan crisis”.

And those implications are so much bigger than adoption. Adoption is not the only answer to the orphan crisis. It’s not the primary answer. It’s one of many ways Christians can respond to God’s mercy by showing mercy to the most vulnerable.

Conference organizers are offering 4 conference registrations to my blog readers. Here’s what you need to do to be eligible to win one. Fulfill the following requirements, and then come back and comment on this post saying you’ve done so. Deadline is 11:59 pm Wednesday, October 12. Winners will be randomly selected and announced Thursday morning.

• 1. Visit the T4A Conference website and see what’s happening.
• 2. Tell your social media friends/followers about the conference. You choose how to do it: Facebook, Twitter, blog post, etc.
• 3. “Like” T4A on Facebook; Subscribe to the T4A blog.
• 4. (Optional) Check out T4A’s new book: Reclaiming Adoption: Missional Living Through the Rediscovery of Abba Father.

I hope you’re able to make it to the conference or read that book. But more than that, I pray you’ll discover – or rediscover – God as your loving Father and allow Him to love the most vulnerable through you. Everybody has somebody to love.