Christian Alliance for Orphans Webinar

 

 

Alliance Webinar Series

 

The Christian Alliance for Orphans Webinar Series is designed to help individuals like you create and grow effective adoption, foster care and global orphan ministry in local churches.

 

You're Invited...

Wrapping Around Families: Providing Help and Hope to Those Called to Foster or Adopt

Not every family is called to foster or adopt, but we can all be a blessing to the foster and adoptive families in our community, providing much needed (and often lacking) support.

The webinar will explore some crucial ways to help families and some tools for doing it well.

Presenter: Kelly Rosati, Focus on the Family

Katie Overstreet, Focus on the Family

Gail Wahl, Woodmen Valley Chapel

 

Date: Wednesday, September 26, 2012 Time:  1:00 PM Central

 

Each 60-minute webinar in this series will give local advocates access to the knowledge and experience of top Alliance member churches and organizations nationwide, covering key topics on adoption, foster care and/or global orphan care. Every webinar will be hosted by a local church orphan ministry and co-presented by one or more national experts on the subject matter. This pairing will deliver a combination of specialist information and resources alongside a “here’s how it works in a real church” perspective.

2012 National Foster Care Prayer Vigil

Many kids in foster care feel like they don't have a prayer...let's change that.

 

A vigil isn’t really about holding candles, staying up late, or even about the event itself. A vigil is about heartfelt, concentrated prayer. A vigil is about settling our hearts on things that matter—petitioning God to move in our world.

The National Foster Care Prayer Vigil is a call to believers to join with others and pray during the week of May 20-27.  Join thousands around the country as we cry out to God on behalf of the over 400,000 children in our nation's foster care system, workers, their families (foster and birth), and the church’s response to the foster care crisis.

Would you be willing to give some of your time to join with others to pray for our Foster Care System in one of the following ways.

• With your family
• With your small group
• With your church
• With your community
• With your co-workers over lunch
• With your foster/adoption agency workers

No matter which of these you choose, you can register your prayer vigil here.

See the map for a listing of vigils already scheduled. The red flags indicate community vigils that anyone can join. We’ve also created a downloadable prayerguide that can help you and others know how to pray.  

Do you have friends and family who would also be willing to pray for these children?  Please pass along this web site and consider encouraging them to plan their own time of prayer. 

To learn more about a prayer vigil being held here locally or to learn more about this national movement and what is happening in other parts of the country, visit www.FosterCarePrayerVigil.org.

Adoption at the White House

Last month, in recognition of November being national adoption month, the White House hosted a panel on the importance of adoption in our country. The panel specifically focused on the role of secular and faith-based organizations in providing homes for children who are waiting in foster care.

Focus on the Family was invited to be part of that discussion in recognition for the outstanding work Focus on the Family has done through their Wait No More program. While they don't agree with the White House on many issues, they were pleased they recognized the important work of faith-based agencies which strive to place children in homes headed by moms and dads.

	Watch this Citizen Link report in which Stuart Shepard talks with Focus on the Family's Vice President of Community Outreach Kelly Rosati about her experience on the adoption panel. http://www.citizenlink.com/2011/11/30/white-house-panels-discuss-adoption/

Wait No More^® is an initiative that encourages the collaboration of adoption agencies, churches and ministry partners to educate and equip families with the tools they need to adopt from foster care. There are currently more than 100,000 legal orphans waiting for families in our country's foster care system—and it is their hope and goal that they will each find a forever home.

Since its inception, Wait No More has helped approximately 1,800 families start the process of adoption through foster care. That means that, through the joint efforts of Focus on the Family, state foster care programs and adoption agencies, more families are considering the possibility of welcoming children into their forever families.

For more information visit http://www.icareaboutorphans.org/WaitNoMore.aspx

Post-Adoption Hotline

Focus On the Family has just launched a free post-adoption phone line for adoptive families.

The phone number is 800-A-FAMILY (232-6459) and is staffed Mon – Fri from 8am – 10pm EST by Christian counselors who can help address adoption-related issues.

This resource is a vitally important complement to the role of the local church in supporting, encouraging and aiding adoptive families amidst the joys and difficulties of loving children from difficult places.

If you are an adoptive family with questions, issues or concerns about your child, please call

1-800-232-6459.