I feel so compelled to write this letter to the adopted children of the world to encourage you and let you know that you are a special person no matter what you have been told or made to feel.

I am an adopted child and was adopted by my mother when I was a baby. I first learnt that I was adopted when I was about seven or eight years of age and while I was shocked at first I also realised how lucky and special I was - I was chosen.

I was raised by this kind and loving woman who still today is one of the greatest people to influence my life and now that she has gone home to the Lord, I miss her every day. I have learnt that your parents are those who raise you, put you through school and put up with your personal life-learning experiences. God Bless the adoption parents who have the right heart and care so much.

I have heard the stories by other adoptees of some of the hardships they have endured by 'parents' and 'foster-parents' in some homes and I truly count myself lucky despite some of the obstacles in my own life. Not everyone truly accepts you into the family all of the time.

I have seen adoptees go chasing after their birth parents only to find great disappointment and I have heard the cases of those who have been re-united with their 'blood' families bringing a time of great joy and fulfillment.

When my wife and I were first married, one fellow we knew of was devastated so much by his 'birth mother' rejecting him that it seemed to rock his whole identity in life. I felt sad for him and wished that he could find the strength in who he is as a husband and as a child in the household where he grew up.

Whilst in a seminar in church one day, I was prompted to write this letter by a verse of scripture in the Holy Bible from the book of Jeremiah, chapter 1, verse 5 (NIV translation):

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.

This verse of scripture brings such a deliverance from some of the emotional torment that can come upon you as an adoptee and in some cases is brought upon you by those who do not have the right heart.

No matter how you came into the world and under what circumstances, God knew you and He has a destiny for you to fulfill in life. "You are NOT a mistake!", "An un-wanted child", "A burden to those around you", "Someone who doesn't really belong". If you identify with any of these then take heart that these are lies and God loves you. You are a person in your own right and this very thing gives you your identity no matter what your circumstances are.

I would ask you to consider that where people may have failed you, God hasn't and you are here for a reason no matter what you know about your past.

I encourage you to stand strong as a Chosen One.