THOUGHTS


I have always had a special place in my heart for children waiting to be adopted. For whatever reason it has been on my mind a lot lately. Today I had an email from our church about a mission trip to Mexico to work on an orphanage and a newsletter from Focus on the Family about ways to support the children in orphanages and foster care. So, I will be searching for ways that I can get involved because I feel like God has put this on my heart. Maybe you can find ways, too.

What You or Your Family Can Do

To care for orphans and waiting children

Pray for ThemGo online to find a waiting-child listing (AdoptUsKids or Rainbow Kids). Print out a picture and description of a waiting child and tape it to your dashboard, refrigerator or bathroom mirror. Every time you find yourself waiting – in traffic, walking through the kitchen, looking in the mirror – pray for this child. Plead with the Father on their behalf.
Want a change of pace for the dinner hour? This simple one-page guide will help your family explore what life must be like for the most vulnerable of our world.
Speak Up For ThemKeep a picture of a waiting child in your wallet or purse. When you are visiting with other believers pull it out and ask if they, or someone they know, would give this child a home. Be their advocate.
Become a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). CASA volunteers are trained citizens appointed by judges to represent the best interests of abused and neglected children. These are people who volunteer their time to get to know a child in foster care and speak to the court on their behalf. Visit National CASA for more details and to find an office near you.
Mentor Vulnerable ChildrenThe ranks of the fatherless and even the motherless continue on an upward spiral as the breakdown of the family continues unabated and births to unwed mothers increases. Mentoring offers an opportunity to help to break this cycle by providing a Godly role model and friend to a foster or otherwise vulnerable child. Learn more about mentoring and how you can make a difference to these children.
Support Those Who Support ThemMow a foster parents yard, offer to baby sit, or organize a few days worth of meals when a new child is placed in their home. And tell them often that you appreciate what they do.
Throw a shower for a family adopting an older child. Often showers aren’t thought of for adoptive families especially when the adoption involves an older child. This greatly encourages adoptive families.
Sponsor a local child welfare social worker and commit to pray for them, an occasional lunch on you, and sending gifts or notes of encouragement
Make One Phone CallWhat do you need? How many times do you think people call up a government office and say that!
Waiting Children exist right in your community. Call up your community’s Child Welfare Services office and ask the simple question … “What can we do to help foster children in our community?”
When youth turn 18 in the U.S. foster-care system, they are often left to fend for themselves. Over 20,000 teenagers a year “age out” of the U.S. foster care system with no place to call home. Call your local foster care office and let them know you have the desire to be a support for a child who is aging out of foster care.
Download a Contact Information file to learn how you can ask this simple question – What can we do to help?”
Donate Money and Essential ResourcesYou can designate financial gifts to be used for an item of your choice to be given to an orphanage in the country of your choice. To learn more visit Buckner Orphan Care International and click on the “Gift from the Heart” link on the left side of the page.Financially support reputable orphan care organizations on an ongoing basis. Give financially to a family in the process of adoption. See Shaohannah's Hope and Life International for more information about financial assistance for adoptive families.
Sponsor an Orphan or an Entire OrphanageMake a difference in a single child or an entire orphanage full of children through active child sponsorships. Or make it a family project to sponsor a single child or an entire orphanage. Write to them or encourage your children to write notes of encouragement to your sponsored children and hear first hand what its like to be an orphan who is being cared by the love of Jesus Christ.
When youth turn 18 in the U.S. foster-care system, they are often left to fend for themselves. Over 20,000 teenagers a year “age out” of the U.S. foster care system with no place to call home. Call your local foster care office and let them know you have the desire to be a support for a child who is aging out of foster care.
Visit the following websites for more information about sponsoring orphaned children overseas or supporting foster children in the U.S.:Children's HopeChest VisionTrust InternationalLife International
Build an OrphanageDid you know that your church can build an orphanage in the Third World that would support up to 40 children for under $8,000 dollars? It's not as hard as it sounds.Visit World Orphans to learn how a gift of $4,000 to $8,000 can cover the building costs of a new orphanage, housing up to 40 children, in one of dozens of countries. These homes are built in conjuction with a local hcurch. Consider raising this money as a small group, Sunday school class, or youth ministry.
Take a Short-Term Mission TripWe don’t care where you go, whether it’s the far reaches of the planet or right in your own backyard. Go where you are already invested, go to new places the Lord sends you, but go and experience the face of God through orphans in our world.Visit the following websites for more information about short term mission opportunities:
Buckner Orphan CareGlobal Aid NetworkWarm Blankets

Children's HopeChestVisionTrust International
Provide Them a Safe HomeExplore what it would take to become a foster parent in your local community. Your county’s child welfare office is looking for safe and loving homes to place children who must be removed from their current home. Do you have an empty bedroom that could be put to great use for a child in need? What are you waiting for! Contact your county’s child welfare office to find out about upcoming information meetings in your area.
Give Them a Forever Family — Adopt a ChildWaiting…There are thousands of children waiting for a forever family. Waiting to experience God’s unfailing love and hear the message of hope found in Jesus Christ. You can make a eternal difference in God’s kingdom. You can give a child a home through foster care, domestic or international adoption. Caring families are especially needed for older youth, sibling groups and special needs children. Do you have a place in your heart, an empty bedroom in your home, and an empty seat in the minivan that could be put to great use for God’s kingdom?
To learn more about the three types of adoption call 1-800-FLTODAY to order a free booklet entitled Welcome Home: Eight Steps to Adoption.
You can also download it here. (Approx. 1.4MB PDF)
Explore other information and identify key adoption agencies at Hope for Orphans.
Launch an Orphans Ministry in Your ChurchGod is moving in churches throughout the country to care for and to protect a group of people very close to his heart: the orphan. Explore the amazing things God has done in churches who were faithful to respond to God’s heart by establishing an orphans ministry in their local body.
To learn more about starting an Orphans Care Ministry in your church explore the following links:Hope for OrphansShaohannah's Hope

BLESSINGS

I feel so blessed to have grown up in a wonderful family and to be able to offer so much to my children.

So that's all in this day in the life of mommysmart!