Book Review: Home For Good

I'd been looking forward to reading this since I heard about it, as I follow Krish on Twitter, and read his blog pretty often. The topic is also one that I find fascinating and challenging, both due to knowing several adopted children whilst growing up, and thinking about the future. 'Home for Good: Making a difference for vulnerable children' is a really helpful and challenging book-length engagement with what Christians can do about adoption, fostering, and the care of vulnerable children.

Krish writes from experience, as a foster parent, and also from his role as part of the Evangelical Alliance, and a local church leader. This multi-layered background contributes to the personal, hard-hitting nature of the book, and also the theological/biblical muscle/grounding behind it.

'Home for Good' pulls no punches. It challenges the reader, throughout and especially with the questions for 'further consideration' at the end of each chapter, to consider fostering/adoption, and if not, how they can be praying for/supporting those in their churches who do decide to foster/adopt. Each chapter begins with a powerful, often very touching, story of someone (often quite well-known!) who had an experience of fostering/adoption. Some of these stories were for me the thing that resonated the most whilst reading this book.

The approach taken, with every chapter being a 'why', is an interesting one. Peppered throughout with the aforementioned stories, there is deeply personal, deeply powerful practical theology here. Those of you who read between the lines on this blog will know that I am passionate about the Image of God, and and I loved the Kandiah's observation about this in Chapter 2, 'Why kinds end up in care and where kids in care end up'; "Our eyes must be open to the possibilities and potential in each child made in God's image, however damaged they seem to be". This hit me - this is seeing people with Jesus eyes, with Grace eyes, with redemptive vision. 

Occasionally I will dislike, or even point out critically, when a book uses emotional elements to tug at the heart-strings. This book does that. But it does it in the right way, echoing God's father heart, and challenging the church to be family. The Kandiah's close the book with a challenge - "Who will step up to find and rescue and love the thousands of children waiting for a home for good?" - a challenge that comes immediately after a snapshot of the practical reality of recieving a new child. A challenge that comes with a final reflection on this "essential part of Christian discipleship", and Krish's memory of wanting to be a Wilberforce, a Corrie Ten Boom, a Gladys Aylwood. The challenge of 'Home for God' is to be like them, to consider radical Kingdom obedience, and the effect it could have on one child. Or more.

This book was, at times, hard to read. Not because it was dense or confusing - in fact it was very readable - but because it really challenged my perceptions of how I could be involved in loving God's creation. I do a bit of social justice stuff, a bit of mission stuff, and other churchy things, but there was a deep and resonant call throughout this book to go beyond being a bit of a disciple. Personally, this book is something I need to reflect on and pray about. I'd recommend this book to all Christians who might, possibly, ever have the capability to adopt, and then to all the rest of us, who should be praying and loving and supporting those who do.

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As hinted above, 'Imago Dei' or the Image of God, is a vital Christian Doctrine, and one I'm passionate about. It's why a wrote 'When the Image of God is Broken, Damaged...', and why I review books like Home for Good, and also 'The R Factor'. Thanks for reading. If you don't already, I'd love you to find me on Twitter and Facebook.