The Two Words I Missed {On Church and Birthfamilies}

Her worker left it in our mailbox with her name on it.

She opened it like a priceless treasure, a note and pictures of her mama.

Cha Cha kissed them a million times and held them across her chest. 

And in a second my mind had transferred to fix-it mode...

We can help her get the car, the house, counseling, the job...

The old-me-foster mama had all the problems of this family's crumbled world stitched together within seconds through connections and economics {and maybe a little Jesus}.

Those were the days I had missed two critical words...

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins, and will raise up the age-old foundations;

You will be called the Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets will Dwellings. ~ Isaiah 58

Your people...

Not me and my togetherness rectifying the generations of brokenness....

My people...the people of God.

Foster families are not the only ones called to the world of foster care. In fact, they cannot be the only ones.

The only space that can generate true, Gospel-centered, redemptive discipleship and friendship with the families of children in care...is the CHURCH...your people...HIS PEOPLE.

So how can the Church loves birth families when foster families cannot?

My Awesome Church: Altadena Valley Presbyterian Church

Drum roll, please....

~How the Church can Love Birth Families~

1. Pray. Need I say more?

2. Make intentional space in your mercy ministry budget for appropriate loans and aid to families who simply have tangible items separating them from reunification, such as beds, dressers, etc.

3. Appoint a church member to each foster care case represented in your church, to call the birth family, invite them to lunch, drive them to needed court dates and visits. Regarding confidentiality, you don't have to know details to love.

4. Hold a reunification celebration for the foster and birth family when that long-awaited day arrives. They have done what few are able to.

5.  Consider having an adopt-a-birth family program. Allow spaces for families to commit to birth families post-reunification, specifically with letters of encouragement, back-to-school needs and Christmas.

6. Connect the birth families with churches in their area. Visit with them. They are much more likely to stay plugged into a church near their location.

7. Recruit transporters for each specific case in your church. You will be able to serve the foster family, the child welfare workers, and the birth family.

8. Maintain regular, intentional contact post-reunification. This cannot only be the responsibility of the foster family.

9. Provide an accountant and/or lawyer who is willing to help them understand legal and financial needs. Teach them to budget. Financial understanding is one the the more constant needs for families in crisis. Meet with them for reviews.

10. Connect them with organizations like Grace Klein Community, places that are willing to help with monthly food distribution and encouragement.

Friends, if we leave the entire burden of the foster care realm to those who hold it as an occupation and to the foster families, we are establishing a cycle for the ones endlessly caring for the traumatized to become traumatized and in crisis themselves.

The Body of Christ is called to foster care. The Church is called to foster care, and it is so much more than being a foster parent.

Because of the One who empowers us to rise ~.