The ADOPT Framework: A - Awaken · D - Decide · O - Orient · P - Pray · T - Team Up & Take Action. Click or tap each step to expand.
Frontier people groups are often "hidden" from the existing church because of their distance culturally, religiously, socially, linguistically, and geographically. Awaken to their existence. Pray for God's blessing upon them. Learn about them and share about them with others.
As awareness grows, so does a sense of responsibility. The Awaken step is about letting God shape your heart for those with the least access to the gospel and inviting others into that journey.
Adoption becomes real when you choose a specific frontier people group rather than keeping the burden general. Use the FPG Adoption Manual, online tools, and prayer to help your family, small group, church, mission organization, or network decide on one or multiple frontier people groups to adopt.
Deciding clarifies focus. It allows you to move from "someone should do something" to "we are committed to this people." That clarity shapes how you pray, give, mobilize, and partner.
Orientation is learning the world of your adopted people so you can pray and serve with understanding. It includes learning about their history, identity, language, religion, locations, felt needs, and barriers to the gospel.
As you orient, you begin to see how God is already at work and where the gaps remain. This step shapes how you intercede, how you communicate to others, and how you discern appropriate forms of outreach and partnership.
Prayer is the engine of adoption. Praying means building regular rhythms to intercede with the Lord on behalf of the frontier people group. Pray for open doors, the rise of local laborers, protection and boldness for believers if they exist, next steps in your involvement, and for the Lord to advance the gospel in unexpected ways.
As prayer deepens, God often gives fresh insight, unites partners, and highlights specific invitations for your community to respond in faith.
Adoption is sustained through shared ownership. With the challenges involved in engaging frontier people groups, joining with others in adoption multiplies the resources, efforts, and opportunities beyond your own reach. Teaming up may include partnering with sending organizations, mission networks, local churches, and other adopters of the same FPG to share information, coordinate efforts, and support workers on the field.
Taking action could involve financially supporting another organization that will begin to engage the frontier people group, directly sending workers, or engaging regularly through digital means. Whatever the level of involvement, taking action should catalyze evangelistic engagement among the frontier people group in a way that leads to discipleship and the starting of churches.
In this step you clarify specific roles, timelines, and commitments, and you regularly revisit and adjust those actions as God leads and circumstances change.
