God is opening doors for SGPC to become more involved in the OC Foster Care community! The diagram above shows what happens in Orange County annually, to give you a sense of the challenge. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of kids who have no family to call their own. The County is very willing to work closely with the faith community because they cannot solve this problem without churches like ours getting involved.
Shepherd’s Grove is partnering with an organization called ZeroBy2020, which has built deep relationships with the County of Orange, Child and Family Services (CFS). The goal behind ZeroBy2020 is to find a family for every child in OC by 2020 and equip the church to support them. With the help of our local government and a church-to-church strategy, we can accomplish this God-size goal together.
SG has already started getting involved both with events and hands-on serving. Our Rooted groups (about 50-60 people) have served at three different locations to both connect with and support foster families. SG recently hosted a Family Fun Day for the Foster Community (this past March 3rd) here on campus, where about 60 showed up for food and purposeful fun. We also plan on hosting an Information Meeting on June 2nd for those who are interested in getting more involved (more on that later). So, we are well under way towards building relationships with both the County and with kids and families.
Next Event – a different type of Soccer Camp!
On July 15 to 19 from 9 am – 1 pm, we will sponsor a Soccer Camp here in Irvine for both foster kids and anyone in the local community. However, this is not your typical sports camp!
At every Ambassadors Camp, the goal is to:
- Provide the highest quality soccer instruction.
- Provide a positive and loving Christian environment. Each coach has the opportunity to demonstrate the love of Christ through activities and therefore has a positive, life-long impact on the children.
- Challenge and present children with the opportunity to put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The camp includes Bible times, testimonies and assemblies that clearly present the Good News.
- Have fun! We desire that the soccer camp is a positive experience for the children, moms, dads, coaches and all involved!
Each camps is run by a team of international coaches who come from Ambassadors Football programs around the world. It is not unusual to have coaches in a camp from Africa, Brazil, England, Ireland, Holland, and many other parts of Europe. The learning takes place on and off the field as children gain a greater understanding of both soccer and the Gospel.
Ways for You to get involved in the Soccer Camp:
-Sponsor a child. It costs $125 per child to attend, but any amount is appreciated. The total cost for the camp is around $10,000
-Be a host family for coaches. We need five households to house soccer coaches for one week. We hope to have households lined up by the middle of June.
-Help at the camp! We need many volunteers 16 or older to help at the camp each day! Students can receive community service hours too! You can help whether you play soccer or not!
-Sponsor snacks for the camp!
Next Steps:
If you are interested in getting involved, please contact Curtis Drever, Director of Missions & Outreach, Curtis@irvinepres.org or stop by the Outreach table on the courtyard on Sundays.