What If The Church Got Involved in Foster Care?

Just imagine, for just a few moments what could happen as churches get involved. What if, your church got involved in the lives of those in foster care and adoption? I don’t mean just promoting and encouraging people to get licensed to provide the care of our most vulnerable children in their homes. As good as that is, what if this became a ministry of the local church? What if, one out of every other church took a sincere interest in the lives of children and youth through foster care? What if, a church came along side every foster parent and provided support and a break through mentoring and other activities?

Church is the right place for this kind of ministry. We can not deny the biblical evidence of the role the church should play in this ministry! We only need to look up Orphan in the Bible dictionary to read the about the high importance the God places in those most vulnerable!

There are over 400,000 children throughout the United States that are in foster care and adoption ready. The church could have a profound impact on the very lives of the next generation! The need is great and the message is clear, as Francis Chan teaches on the book of James, saying, What if, (paraphrased) every church in the United States took an interest in one child, we could end this statistic. Read more.

There are several reasons that the church could make a profound impact on the lives of such a precious natural resource, our children and youth.

1. Mission-fit Ministry.

The Bible makes it clear that the Church has a responsibility to care for Orphans. In much of Western Culture the Orphan are not only those needing adopted but also those in Foster Care. This is "the church's next mission" as Dr. John DeGarmo suggests in his article of the same title.

Today’s churches have a tremendous mission opportunity before them; the mission to help children in foster care. Sadly, with roughly 500,000 children in foster care in the United States, the need is so very strong. - DeGarmo

The church is a design that was formed out of the early book of Acts as a helping ministry (see Act 2). Beyond this, we find much of the mandate of the church is to love the world and care for the needy. 

2. Compassion Runs Deep.

The church is a place where compassion runs deeply (mostly). Not every church does this well but most do. When there is a national crisis or emergency, it is the church that steps up first and gives the necessary charity.

Still, religious people, those with at least some college education and families with college students were more likely to donate and to volunteer than everyone else.  American Generosity After Disaster.

The church is a front line of defense in the defense of the vulnerable. They are the organizations that have historically started more Orphan ministries, Hospitals, Social Services, and Justice Reform than others in the U.S. The very ethos of the church is a response to what the Bible has to say about compassionate ministries. The story of the Good Samaritan is a key to this ethos. The idea to love your neighbor as part of the Golden Rule is etched into it's very identity.  They read James 1:27 and take it to mean that they are to literally get involved in the needs of the Orphan.

3. Resources are Available.

Along with generosity is the idea of abundance. The church is filled with generous people yet, as an organization they are united to provide resources that can make a difference in it's mission. The Christian Church us filled with many ministry-minded objectives that are based on Jesus and His ministry of care and compassion yet we also see that they are resourceful. They have the ability to get involved.

Resources are vital in the care and cause of the most vulnerable. They have the ability to utilize their united calling. Dr. John DeGarmo, in his book, Faith and Foster Care, he documents how the church can respond to needs. He quotes Romans 12:6-8 and highlights the talents of people that make up the organization of the church. He outlines several ministries the church could easily get involved in and often lead to help the Orphan and those in Foster Care. He first of all states that prayer is foremost. He writes;

There are a number of ways a church can pray for a foster child and his foster family....A prayer team can also begin praying for the children even before he is placed into his foster home, praying that the transition is as smooth and as comfortable as possible. (Page 126)

The church has the capacity to understand prayer in response to the needs that there are in foster care.  They read passages from the Bible like Matthew 25:36-37 and immediately make the connection that serving the Orphan is likened to serving Christ. This becomes a key religious experience and practice for the church.

4. Preserving the Future.

In addition, the ministry to vulnerable children and youth involves everyone! The church recognizes that every generation needs to be impacted and be a world changer for Christ. Many, if not most churches have a children's ministry. If they don't they make this one of the first ministries they start!
They see their role as investors into the lives of others. The church is likened unto the Friends Church which saw the need of Orphaned children through Josiah White. He stated several ministries including White's Residential and Family Services to care for the most vulnerable. Today, this organization carried on his Will and testament to care for children and youth as Christ instructed his disciples. Jesus said to let the children come unto Himself (Matthew 19:14). More can be read here.

Therefore, what if is not just a phrase woven into this article asking us to think and dream of an active church in the ministry to the most vulnerable. It is lived out as a mission and purpose of existing. It is representing Christ in the ministry of the local church.

The following are three simple acts the church can do today in response to the needs of the most vulnerable; children and youth in Foster Care and Adoption Ministries.


A. Daily Prayer.

A healthy church prays.  The first line of defense for churches and it's community is prayer. The church can reach out to God in prayer on behalf of needs.  As a reminder of this, Dr. John DeGarmo says that, "Prayer is a powerful tool." (Pg 57) In his book, Faith and Foster Care, he cites John 15:7 that reads, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."  Certainly the care of vulnerable children is in His Will.  It is what God expects us to do.  Just google "bible and orphan and see what I mean. In my case I was given over 13 million results of which one cited 41 Bible versus about Orphans.


B. Demonstrated Care.

The Bible, as the guidebook for the church offers hundreds of ideas on ministry and most prominent is the ministry to widows and orphans. Yes, these two social groups are tied together. Perhaps it is because those are the groups that often has no rights and were most vulnerable in every community. This is not much different today.

The church can demonstrate in relevant and practical ways. There is something everyone can do to affect change.

The church can meet the needs of the foster child without it even costing them anything!  The people of the church can get involved in hundreds of ways to help demonstrate the love of God to those in need. Dr. John DeGarmo offers one of many ideas. He simply says we can bring "HOPE. A future. As a foster parent, you have the potential of bringing a future home to a child." (Pg 47)

He further offers a simple, yet effective way to demonstrate God's love. He writes;

"Are you aware that hundreds of thousands of foster children have never had a present to open on Christmas Day? This reality alone makes me sad. To think that a child is sitting in a home, right now, on his birthday, and there is no one who will sing "Happy Birthday" to him, no cake or ice cream party, no presents with his name on them, no one to make him feel special." (Pg 47)

C. Devoted Concern.

The final idea that I want to express is that no one may even think about the plight of an Orphaned child or a child in Foster Care. That is until a church decides to devote just a little bit of concern. I speak in churches all the time and everyday I speak to pastors. I know that the majority of those I connect with have not even given the slightest thought in recent days of the plight of a vulnerable child. Ministry is just too busy for people to think about every need that there is.

I am not raising this concern because I want to make people feel guilty. It is a fact that unless someone tell them, they will not know. Many have a misunderstanding of the issues of Foster Care. See my article on the Myths of Foster Care. Unless they hear someone talk about it or see advertisement, they will not likely even think about those whom Jesus cared for most. I can prove that Jesus thought of the needs of vulnerable children. In John 3 we find Jesus using children as an example of His Kingdom. He could have likened this to anything but when he spoke of His Kingdom, He spoke of children. He even helps us to understand (as does the Apostle Paul) that we too are adopted into His Kingdom. We become His child.

I offer that the church should have Foster Care and adoption ministries woven like a thread in all they do around the world as well as in their neighborhood.

I like what Dr. Krish Kandiah said at the Global Leadership Conference regarding ministry to those in Foster Care or Adoption; "As leaders, we are called to see potential in people when others only see problems, hope when others see chaos, opportunities when others see obstacles." Some may say that this ministry is hard and complex but I say, as quoted from Edgar Allan Poe; "Never to suffer would never to have been blessed."

These are the options before the church. We should and can get involved so that we too can have a greater understanding of the love and grace of Christ who adopted us into His Kingdom.