National Orphan Sunday

Nov. 6th was National Orphan Sunday and after our short video clip we showed last year David said we could do the whole service around orphan care this year to help bring more awareness! Between our partnership with Jeremiah's Hope in the Ukraine, advertising for foster care certifications, families throughout our congregation adopting, supporting and pursuing foster care, it's so exciting to see how God has worked through our church to embrace orphan care the past two years! Since that Sunday I've heard from three additional families who are either starting their foster care research, meeting with a domestic adoption agency and who ready to foster to adopt. The Lord has really been stirring hearts and I pray that it just continues as we all become a source of support and joy to one another!

Our service included a video from orphan sunday resouce page, video created my Andrew Kelly at Jeremiah's Hope, Bulletin insert with 10 ways you can be involved (all over the spectrum!), Heart Gallery photos and prayer cards of children in our area who are in foster care and waiting to be adopted (thank you Tara for your help with this and the prayer cards for the kids at Jeremiah's Hope) and a testimony from a young couple, the Mitchell's, who spent some time in an orphanage in Haiti last Christmas. It was a powerful morning and God's love for these children and for us was exemplified!

If you or someone you know would like to talk or have someone pray about your involvement (something as simple as mowing the lawn for a foster care family) then please let me know! I would be more than honored and will give you other ideas and resources to know how and where you can become more involved. Some of the organizations that I REALLY love are the ones that support families to PREVENT the orphan crisis to continue growing such as:
http://www.kiva.org/ (micro lending to families all over the world)
http://www.bloodwatermission.com/ (empowering communities while providing and then teaching them how to care for their water supply)
http://www.147millionorphans.com/Ugandan-Necklaces_ep_48.html (Mothers in Uganda make necklaces and you buying them will help them earn sustainable income for their families)
http://www.compassion.com/ (sponsor a child to help sustain a family)

Can't wait till next year!!! I already have some ideas brewing and hope to hear from you if you have any others.