By the grace of God, we're regularly learning new things... Our priority is to be good stewards of the resources God gives us, and the financial investments that our supporters and volunteers have made, so that relief, Christ's love and the gospel is brought to as many hurting people as possible. For years, we've had a clear sense of the best ways we can do that, but last year God reminded us of another way we can advance and grow His Kingdom.
Last year, three families came to us who were looking to answer God’s call on their lives to adopt or rescue children from the foster care system. To do that, though, they needed some modifications to their homes. That is a little different than how we have typically served in the past.
I greatly admire foster parents. They open up their homes to children from broken homes, often with emotional wounds, to provide them with stability and love. Family dynamics are disrupted. Foster parents have to deal with bureaucracies and be ready to give back the children on short notice. Why do they do it, then? For many, it’s a response to the gospel, as they remember the extraordinary lengths God has gone to, to save them from their sin, and claim them for His very own children. And they may well be remembering that God never gives His foster kids back! His heart for orphans is very clear. James 1:27 reminds us, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." (NKJV).
HRM saw a chance to multiply ministry by impacting some kids’ lives, and who knows how many others, so we took the requests as “from the LORD”. Their needs were different on the specifics, but they all needed HRM's help to make fostering or adoption possible.
If you have a service ministry or agency, how do you multiply community impact? Leave a comment below and let us know.
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