“Rescued: The Heart of Adoption and Caring for Orphans’

Adoption is not just bringing a new child into a family.

It’s spiritual warfare.

Rescued: The Heart of Adoption and Caring for Orphans, the first film by Samaritan Ministries members, Randy Winton and his family, urges Christians to go on the offensive and become involved in adoption, either by adopting children or by supporting families that are trying to adopt.

“It’s so important that Christians understand our Biblical role is to care for orphans,” Randy says. “It’s not a Biblical mandate that we adopt, but it is a Biblical mandate that we care (James 1:27). And, for many people, that will look like adoption, we hope.”

It’s also important, the Wintons say, that children are adopted into homes that will teach them the Bible and the need for redemption through Jesus Christ.

The 61-minute film will be released this month and is available for $20 through www.rescuedthemovie.com.

It has led to a new ministry as well: Rescued Adoption Fund (rescuedadoptionfund.org), created by Wintons Motion Pictures in conjunction with Central Valley Presbyterian Church in Modesto, California. A portion of the proceeds from Rescued will be donated to the fund to aid families interested in adoption with information and financial assistance. The fund has already raised nearly $2,000 through a Christmas boutique event.

The passion for this project was kindled in the Wintons’ hearts after they had welcomed two children into their home through adoption—Anna Christina, 5, and Heidi Joy, 3. Randy and Lisa had decided years earlier, due to serious medical complications Lisa experienced, not to have more children after their sons, Cody and Jesse, were born. Regretting that decision, they reversed the physical steps they had taken, but couldn’t conceive.

The Wintons then decided to adopt through a government agency despite the potential clashes that Christians sometimes face in such situations. Randy says the family decided to take that route through the state of California after “a dear sister in the Lord” convinced them that it was vital for Christians to be involved in the government system—especially with homosexuals gaining adoption rights.

“She came up and said, ‘You know, if the Christians don’t adopt these children through the county, the homosexuals will,’” Randy recalls. “And they were. They were adopting them right and left. They were willing to jump through the governmental hoops to get these children. That convicted us.”

Anna came to them at 4 months old, and Heidi Joy at 11 months old.

Although the adoption process, especially with Anna, was not easy, it gave the Winton family an opportunity to be a witness for Christ to the workers at their local children’s protective services agency.

“There should definitely be a degree of caution from all Christian families who choose to go the state route, and I realize it’s not for everyone,” Randy says. “Each family called to adopt needs to prayerfully consider how the Lord would have their family proceed. But in our case, the way our boys, who were teenaged at the time, were involved with the girls, the way they participated in their care, and the way they interacted with the workers was a testimony of a family loving Christ and working together to care for children. And we weren’t the only family. There are multiple large Christian homeschooling families in our county who have adopted through the state and it’s not going unnoticed.”

Not only were The Wintons invited to perform their Gospel bluegrass music at several state-sponsored foster and adoption events, but their family was named Foster Family of the Year in Shasta County in 2008.

“They even made an exception by inviting our band to play at the ceremony so that Jesse and Cody could be in attendance when our family was surprised with the honor,” Randy says. Normally, children under 18 are not invited to attend the annual banquet.

The idea for a film about the need for more Christian families to adopt was initially Jesse’s, Randy says, but it was shelved until the Wintons attended the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival run by Vision Forum. That gave the family the vision to do a film, and adoption was the natural subject.

“It’s an easy topic for us to talk about because we’re very passionate about adoption,” Randy says.

So were several other families they had already met while on bluegrass tours. They interviewed those families, compiling more than 100 hours of footage.

“One thing that I’ve been very impressed by is that the people we’ve interviewed who either have been adopted or have adopted children or are brothers and sisters, all have spoken from the heart for adoption,” Cody Winton says. “It’s not just a theological, abstract issue for them. I’ve found that dozens of people around this country really have a heart for adoption, which has been really neat to see.”

While in preproduction, the Wintons met another crew planning a film about adoption, but Hedrick Brothers Productions “were several months behind us” in the process. The Wintons and the Hedricks decided to join forces, a move which Randy calls “clearly providential.”

The Wintons hope people come away from the movie “encouraged to care for orphans, thinking, ‘How can I be involved in adoption?’”

Making the movie has helped Jesse Winton, who plans to be a filmmaker, pick up skills for his chosen vocation.

“Rescued has given me an opportunity to kind of branch out and do a project that’s on a larger scale,” he says. “But more importantly, I hope that the message of the film will go forth and encourage the church to seriously and prayerfully consider their James 1:27 responsibility.”