Mission Statement

Christian Orphan Fund (COF) will solicit, collect, and distribute cash contributions to support orphan adoptions and orphan care, consistent with Christian values.

James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Job 29:12 Because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the orphan who had no helper.

Matthew 25:34-40  Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’  “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

We believe Christian parents whom God has given the desire to adopt an orphan, particularly one with special needs, should not be hindered by a lack of funds. We aim to reduce the initial financial burden of adoption for those Christian parents willing to love adopted children and raise them in a Christian environment.

Board

Christian Orphan Fund is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a 5-member managing board.  The Christian Orphan Fund board is comprised of the following members:

Brock Hoskins

• Founder, President, and Chairman of the Board for Christian Orphan Fund
• Married to Crystal with daughters Bleu and Laken
• CEO at Garver
• Member of First Baptist Church, Rogers, AR
  brock@christianorphanfund.com
  tel: 479-430-2250

Melania Powell

• Mom of Morgan
• Certified Public Accountant; works at HoganTaylor, LLP in Fayetteville, AR
• Attends Christian Life Cathedral in Fayetteville, AR
  melania.powell@gmail.com

Rob Gross

• Rob is an attorney, and practices law at Gross Law Office in Webb City, MO
• Graduated from the University of Oklahoma and the University of Arkansas School of Law. Licensed to practice law in Missouri and Arkansas.
• Member of Fellowship Baptist Church in Joplin, MO
  rob@grosslawoffice.net

Ron Petrie

• Married to Kristi with two sons, Cale and Reid
• Licensed Professional civil engineer, works for Garver in Fayetteville, AR
• Member of First Baptist Church, Farmington, AR
  petrieron@ymail.com

Matt Gross

• Married to Jennifer with a son Nate and two daughters Natalie & Emily
• CIO at Garver
• Member of Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock
  mjgross76@gmail.com
  Twitter: @mjgross76

God

We believe in one God, who eternally exists in three equally divine Persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  This one true God is holy and perfect in all that he does.  He is the creator of all things, both visible and invisible, and therefore all things are ultimately for his glory.  Being immortal and eternal, he perfectly knows the beginning, the present and the end of all things and sovereignly rules over all things and providentially brings about his good will to redeem a people for himself to the praise of the gospel of his grace.

The Bible and Revelation

God has revealed his existence and power in the created order (Romans 1:20) and has supremely revealed himself to all mankind through the person of his son, Jesus Christ, God in human flesh (John 1:14).  God, through his Spirit, inspired all of the sixty-six books of the Old Testament and New Testament.  Every verse in the Bible is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16), without error and complete in its revelation of his will for salvation.  The Bible is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires and trusted in all that it promises.  God’s people hear, believe and do the Word and are equipped and bear fruit as followers abiding in Jesus Christ (John 15:4).

Creation of Humans

We believe that God created all human beings equally in his own image.  Adam was the first male created and Eve followed as the first female created.  Adam and Eve were made to complement one another in a one-flesh union that establishes the only normative pattern of sexual relations for men and women, such that marriage ultimately serves as a type of the union between Christ and his church.  As designed by God, men and women are not simply interchangeable, but rather they complement each other in mutually enriching ways.  God ordains that they assume distinctive roles which reflect the loving relationship between Christ and the church, the husband exercising headship in a way that displays the caring, sacrificial love of Christ, and the wife submitting to her husband in a way that models love of the church for her Lord.  Both men and women are called to serve Christ and to grow in grace and be equipped for the work in which God calls.  The distinctive leadership role within the church given to qualified men is grounded in creation, fall and redemption and must not be sidelined by appeals to cultural developments.

The Fall

We believe that through one man’s sin, Adam, death came to all people because all are sinners (Romans 5:12).  As a result of sin, all humans are separated from God and justifiably headed for an eternity separated from God in hell.  The supreme need for every human is not to get a little bit better or go from sick to healthy, but to go from dead to alive and be reconciled with the holy and sinless God.

God’s Plan for Salvation

Before the foundation of the world, God chose a people to save by his glorious grace, through faith in believing on the perfect work of his son Jesus (Ephesians 1:4; John 6:28,29).  We believe that God justifies and sanctifies those who by grace put their faith in Jesus.  God calls every person to repent of their sin and believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ who is their ultimate hope for yesterday, today and forever.

The Gospel

We believe that the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ.  The gospel message is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to those who are being saved (1 Corinthians 1:18).  We believe the gospel is not proclaimed if Christ is not proclaimed, including his death and resurrection.  Jesus died for our sins so that we can be reconciled to God.  Jesus rose from the dead so that we who are spiritually dead can be given spiritual life through repenting and believing on Jesus Christ as the perfect sacrifice and payment for our sins.

Jesus Christ

God’s eternal son, Jesus Christ, became human flesh through being born in a miraculous conception of the Holy Spirit and was born of the virgin Mary.  Jesus lived a sinless life, performed miraculous signs, suffered and was crucified under Pontius Pilate and arose from the dead on the third day, and ascended into Heaven.  Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Father, sovereignly ruling as our High Priest and Advocate.  Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect life, died and rose again so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Through his resurrection, Jesus broke the power of sin and death, so that those who believe on Christ are found in him with that same power.

Justification

We believe that justification is found only through faith in the finished work of Jesus.  By his perfect obedience, Jesus satisfied the just demands of God on our behalf, since by faith alone that perfect obedience is credited to all who trust in Christ alone for their acceptance with God.  This justification is based solely on free grace, in order that both the exact justice and the rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners.  We believe that a zeal for obedience and good works flows from this free justification (Titus 2:14).

The Holy Spirit

We believe that salvation is applied to people by the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son and is present in and with all believers.  The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin (John 16:8), unrighteousness, and judgement and by his powerful and mysterious work regenerates spiritually dead sinners, awakening them to repentance and faith in Jesus.  In the Holy Spirit, believers are baptized into union with Jesus Christ.  By the Holy Spirit, believers are renewed, sanctified and adopted into God’s family and receive gifts as distributed by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4).  The Holy Spirit is himself a down payment for the promised or guaranteed inheritance (Ephesians 1:13,14) that believers have in Christ.

The Kingdom of God

We believe that those who by God’s grace, put their faith in Jesus enter the kingdom of God and the blessings of the new covenant: the forgiveness of sins, the inward transformation to trust, obey and glorify God.  God creates in believers a zealousness for good works as they live as salt and light in a dark and futile world in order that the world might see and turn from futility to the only true hope of Jesus Christ.  God calls believers to be not of the world, but sent into it (John 17:14-19).  Christians or believers have been rescued and given the Light not merely to flee the darkness, but to share the light with others who need rescuing as well.  As we love God and love others (the greatest commandments, Matthew 22:36-40), we are living out the kingdom of God.

God’s People

The church is the body of Christ, the apple of his eye, graven on his hands, and he has pledged himself to her forever.  The universal church is manifest in local churches of which Christ is the only head.  The church is distinguished by her gospel message, her sacred ordinances, her discipline, her great mission, and above all, by her love for God and the members love for one another and for their neighbors.  The church serves as a sign of God’s future new world when its members live for the service of one another and their neighbors.  The church is the corporate dwelling place of God’s Spirit, and the continuing witness to God in the world.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

We believe that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordained by Jesus Christ. Baptism is connected with entrance into the new covenant community while the Lord’s Supper with ongoing covenant renewal.  Together they are simultaneously God’s pledge to us, divinely ordained means of grace, our public vows of submission to the crucified and resurrected Christ, and anticipations of his return and the consummation of all things.

The Restoration

We believe in the bodily return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with his holy angels, when he will exercise his final judgement and his kingdom will be consummated.  We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and unjust – the unjust to judgement and eternal conscious punishment in hell, and the just to eternal blessedness in the presence of him who sits on the throne and of the Lamb, in the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness.  On that day, the church will be presented as faultless and righteous before God by the obedience, suffering and triumph of Jesus Christ – all sin and its effects purged and banished forever.  God will be all in all and his people will be enthralled by the immediacy of his indescribable holiness, and everything will be to the praise of his glorious grace.