By: Curtis Drever
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, God is opening doors for Shepherd’s Grove to become more involved in the OC Foster Care community! For this venture, we are partnering with ZeroBy2020, which has built deep relationships with the County of Orange, specifically Child and Family Services (CFS). The organization’s aim is to find a family for every child in OC by 2020 and equip the church to support them. Here at Shepherd’s Grove, we believe that with the help of our local government and a church-to-church strategy, we can accomplish this God-size goal together!
Earlier this month, on June 2, SGPC held a next steps luncheon for our church and the local community to provide them an opportunity to get accurate information, simple overviews, and have questions answered about getting more involved in the foster care community.
The day of the luncheon, about 30 people enjoyed tacos while listening to the ZeroBy2020 team’s presentations. We heard from ordinary families who have adopted or fostered children and were reminded about God’s heart for vulnerable children. We also explored the current state of marginalized kids, both locally and globally, and were advised of simple ways to consider getting involved.
All in all, our group was very engaged and asked a lot of great questions. When the presentations were over, attendees filled out a next step card to indicate if/how we were feeling led to give of our time. Even better, people committed to involvement in many areas, including becoming the following:
- Ambassadors: equipping other churches/campuses & teach them about foster care engagement.
- Family Care Coordinators
- Adoptive parents
- Mentors
- CASA – Court Appointed Special Advocates.
In addition, many others pledged to stay well-informed through receipt of the Orphan Care Newsletter and to uplifting the cause by becoming part of the Orphan Care Prayer Team.
Sound interesting? If God is stirring in your heart to learn more, we will host other events like this in the future. In the meantime, if you’ve thought about adoption or foster care for your own family, or if you want to learn about other ways to help adoptive and foster families, feel free to stop by the Outreach table and sign up, or email me at Curtis@irvinepres.org.