Adoption - There is no mathematics in love

"Christianity is not a statistical view of life." ~Malcolm Muggeridge

Having an appetite for efficiency I often marveled at the seeming eccentricity of those who adopt children from foreign countries. It did not make much sense to my logical mind that couples would exert such time, money, paperwork and overall hassle to pluck a child from Africa or Asia (usually) when there is an abundance of children in the foster care system stateside and the system is much more accommodating to those who "choose locally grown."
Indeed, for the cost of adopting a child from Africa one could sustain an entire African village for a reasonable amount of time. To me the inefficiency of foreign adoption appeared to be a concoction of the whimsical mind. My parents have worked in the foster care system and through interaction with the children taken into their home I warmed to the idea of adoption and possibly foster care in my future, but working with local children is a mercy that is well supported by government agencies.

From time to time I have also pondered the seeming inefficiency of Christ's ministry. One question I've asked myself on a number of occasions is "why did Jesus heal so many people in cumbersome ways when He could have healed any and all with a mere thought?" But the Son of God did not come down to us in flesh primarily to remove diseases and sickness. He came to love. He reached out and touched the untouchable with healing love. Instead of speaking away the blindness he mixed his DNA with the earth and pressed it in a very close and personal and tactile way into the eyes of the blind to convey a loving intimacy in the restoring of sight. (John 9)

There are those Christians whose ministry most would not find rewarding. Those that minister to the discarded and dying don't exactly alter the landscape of the unchurched regions they may be in. There's a story I've heard a time or two that talks about a young boy on the beach, throwing starfish back into the ocean after a heavy storm. A man walks up to him and tells the boy with all the countless starfish drying out and dying that his efforts won't even make a difference in the landscape. The boy picks up another starfish, throws it in the ocean and says, "But to that one I just made all the difference in the world."
Matthew 25:40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'