Adoptee Reading Resource

 

Adoptee Reading Resource is a new site designed to catalog and promote books written by adoptees and other adoption-related books recommended by adoptees.


A blogger, an adoptee and an editor and columnist for Lost Daughters, Karen Pickell created Adoptee Reading Resource to be the go-to site for books of interest to adopted people.




"First and foremost, we feature books written by adoptees themselves. Many of these are about adoption, but adoptees are also writing great books that have nothing obviously to do with adoption in any way. We list these titles as well, because we believe adoptees have a unique perspective on life in general. We also link to reviews written by adult adoptees for every title for which we can find them. We do this because we believe adoptees are the best authority on the relevance of any book for adoptees."

To learn more about materials written and reviewed by adoptees, please visit adopteereading.com.

Monthly Gathering at Willow Creek Community Church

We want to invite you to this month's Vulnerable Children's Ministry Community Gathering for Adoptive, Foster, and Safe Families.  Wednesday, October 23, 2013

 

The focus of October's meeting will be on providing our families with resources in their surrounding communities. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the types of services that are available to you, your children, the children you serve, and the families that you partner with. We want to strongly encourage you to invite the families that you partner with (i.e. placing families through Safe Families, foster parents, D.C.F.S. clients, etc.) so that they can be made aware of the services that Willow offers and the services of other agencies.

 

The following agencies will be available on this night: Cherry Hill Counseling Center, Child and Family Connections, D.C.F.S. training, Life Books, and Metropolitan Family Services. We have a few more agencies we are hoping can join us as well. Furthermore, we will be giving tours of the Willow Creek Care Center and will be reviewing the types of services the Care Center can offer. The Willow Creek Care Center will also be a great resource to learn about for the social service agencies who are able to attend.

 

Here is a picture of how the evening will go:

• 5:30pm-7pm - Meet in the Atrium for sharing a meal. If you are facing the Atrium from the main lobby entrance, we will be off to the right-hand side (your right) in the little area that is close to/underneath the stairs that lead up to the lounge area by the Seeds bookstore. There will be signs and/or table cards that will have our ministry name on them, so you can also look for those. 
• 7pm-7:30pm - Worship in the Lakeside Auditorium
• 7:30pm-8:30pm - Meet in Hospitality Room in the Care Center for the remainder of the evening. You can get to the Hospitality room by following the hallway that links the Atrium to the Care Center. Go up the stairs that are in that hallway and that will lead you right into the room. We will have signs and/or have someone in the Link that can direct you to the hospitality room. 

Please RSVP to vcministry127@gmail.com and let us know if you will be joining us for the program portion of the evening. Also, if you would like to sit with us during worship or meet with us before the program, please meet us in the Atrium prior to worship. We look forward to seeing you there! 

Leadership Team

Members of the Vulnerable Children's Ministry Leadership Team were privileged to attend the 2012 Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit earlier this month.  It was a rich time of learning, networking and being inspired by God. Thank you for praying for us while we were there.   I wish each and every one of you reading this blog could have been there!  You may want to make plans for next year's Summit which will be held May 1-2, 2013 in Nashville, TN. 

Steven Curtis Chapman Concert on the last evening.

I wanted to let you know that each and every plenary session and breakout session from this year's Summit are now available for purchase.  Main sessions are available as a download or on d.v.d. and breakout sessions are available as a download or a c.d.  Below is the link to purchase the sessions.  I encourage you to check out the titles and purchase the ones that would be helpful for your ministry.
http://www.conventionmedia.net/for20coreplc.html

The Summit was hosted at the beautiful campus of Saddleback Church.

Resources4Adoption

If you are in the midst of the adoption process or are considering adoption here is a great resource. Resources4Adoption provides answers to numerous question and updated information on many different resources. Here's a word from the founder, Cherri Walrod:

Resources4Adoption.com has been a vision of mine for more than nine years.

My husband and I knew we wanted to adopt, but when I began searching for financial resources, I became frustrated by the lack of information. But we were committed and determined to make our adoption dream a reality. After literally hundreds of hours of research, countless emails, dozens of phone calls, stacks upon stacks of paperwork and an out-pour of support from friends and family, we were blessed with three wonderful adopted children.

Adoption is such a beautiful experience, and I wanted to make it more feasible and eliminate some of the stress involved, so more moms and dad could bring their children home. My goal was to create one comprehensive site so parents would not have to repeat my experience, trying to navigate through broken links and outdated information to find resources to help them (yes, there are resources that can help you!)

It took nine years of information-gathering and careful planning, but alas, Resources4Adoption.com is here! It offers a wealth of knowledge that can only be obtained through hundreds of dedicated hours, first-hand experience and a passion for adoption.

As you venture on your adoption journey, I hope you find Resources4Adoption.com to be beneficial. If it helps you—if even in the slightest—bring home your son or daughter, I have succeeded. Use the information on Resources4Adoption, and never, ever lose sight of your dream. With hope, determination and the right knowledge, your adoption dreams CAN and WILL become a reality!

~Cherri Walrod, founder

Resources4Adoption

If you are in the midst of the adoption process or are considering adoption here is a great resource. Resources4Adoption provides answers to numerous question and updated information on many different resources. Here's a word from the founder, Cherri Walrod:

Resources4Adoption.com has been a vision of mine for more than nine years.

My husband and I knew we wanted to adopt, but when I began searching for financial resources, I became frustrated by the lack of information. But we were committed and determined to make our adoption dream a reality. After literally hundreds of hours of research, countless emails, dozens of phone calls, stacks upon stacks of paperwork and an out-pour of support from friends and family, we were blessed with three wonderful adopted children.

Adoption is such a beautiful experience, and I wanted to make it more feasible and eliminate some of the stress involved, so more moms and dad could bring their children home. My goal was to create one comprehensive site so parents would not have to repeat my experience, trying to navigate through broken links and outdated information to find resources to help them (yes, there are resources that can help you!)

It took nine years of information-gathering and careful planning, but alas, Resources4Adoption.com is here! It offers a wealth of knowledge that can only be obtained through hundreds of dedicated hours, first-hand experience and a passion for adoption.

As you venture on your adoption journey, I hope you find Resources4Adoption.com to be beneficial. If it helps you—if even in the slightest—bring home your son or daughter, I have succeeded. Use the information on Resources4Adoption, and never, ever lose sight of your dream. With hope, determination and the right knowledge, your adoption dreams CAN and WILL become a reality!

~Cherri Walrod, founder

http://www.resources4adoption.com/

Empowering, Connecting & Correcting DVD

The Institute of Child Development at TCU has created a nearly two-hour presentation available on DVD in which Dr. Karyn Purvis explains her research-based approach with children who come from what she calls “hard places.” This DVD offers a very helpful overview of the three principles that serve as the foundation of Dr. Purvis’ approach to help parents better understand how to connect with their children in order to help them heal and reach their highest potential.

In this presentation, Dr. Purvis explains how harm during the critical stages of brain growth can cause significant disruptions in a child’s development and behaviors, and offers strategies to overcome these challenges. This insightful and educational presentation is designed for parents, ministry leaders and adoption and foster care professionals alike.

You can order the DVD online from the Institute of Child Development for a price of $30 (plus shipping). To view a preview of the DVD, click here. http://www.child.tcu.edu/ECC.asp

New Resource Library

I am excited to tell you about a brand new resource library created by the Christian Alliance for Orphans. You can find it on their web site or click on the following link to go directly to the Resource Library page: http://christianalliancefororphans.org/resources/resource-library.

There you will find a wide range of quality resources to help you grow effective, Christ-honoring adoption, foster care, and global orphan ministry. Categories of books include Global Orphan Care, Foster Care, Adoption, and Getting Started.

For more information about the Christian Alliance for Orphans, visit www.christianalliancefororphans.org.

New Insight & Gifts Video from Empowered to Connect

Please click on the link below to hear Dr. Karen Purvis (TCU Institute of Child Development)and Michael Monroe (Tapestry Ministry) talk about the need to help bring healing to adoptive and foster children, and how a new resource tool TCU has developed can help.


http://vimeo.com/6860006



As more and more people answer the call to adopt, it is important that we understand that the children that God will bring into our lives through adoption and foster care will likely have deep hurts and needs. Therefore, an important part of our call is to be prepared to be used by God to help these children heal and become whole. This is undoubtedly one of the greatest joys and privileges of adoption – but we know it will not be easy.

The resources and tools offered by Empowered To Connect are designed to help those whom God is calling and has called to answer that call well – to know what to expect, to be ready and prepared and, ultimately, to help bring long-term healing to their child. It is precisely this kind of 'love in action' that we believe reflects what it means to be called by God to adopt.

With this in mind, Empowered To Connect is excited to announce the Insights & Gifts Video Series. This new 16 video series (developed in partnership with the TCU Institute of Child Development ) offers seven insights and seven gifts that are highly relevant for those who are parenting or considering adopting or fostering children from hard places. Empowered To Connect is also developing a discussion guide for this video series, which will be available in May 2010.

We hope that you will watch this new series and be blessed by the insights and gifts Dr. Purvis offers.

For more information visit www.empoweredtoconnect.org.

Resources from the 2009 Christian Alliance for Orphans Conference

The following is a list of resources that were purchased at the Christian Alliance for Orphans Conference in Dallas, TX. If you would like to view or listen to any of these key note addresses or breakout sessions, please e-mail Dina at avoiceforhischildren@gmail.com.

D.V.D. #1 Dennis Rainey (Family Life) & Rob Mitchell (author of “Castaway Kid”)

D.V.D. #2 Dr. Russell Moore (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) &
Lightning Alhers (testimony: adoptee from Liberia)

D.V.D. #3 Elizabeth Styffe (Saddleback Church) and Mariela Clark (Vision Trust International)

D.V.D. #4 Dr. Tony Evans (Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Church) &
Joscelynn Carbonell (testimony:foster child)

C.D. #4 Practical Ideas for Church Adoption/Foster Care Ministries (Michael & Amy Monroe, Irving Bible Church)

C.D. #9 A Theology of Adoption: Six Truths About Our Adoption from the Book of Romans (Daniel Bennet, Bethany Baptist Church)

C.D. # 11 Getting in the Way of Trouble: What Every Church Should Know When Intervening in the Lives of Foster Children & Families (Chris Padbury, Project 1:27)

C.D. # 15 Orphan Care, Adoption, and God’s Story of Redemption (Dan Cruver, Together 4 Adoption)

C.D. #18 Using the Heart Gallery as a Way to Raise Awareness & Mobilize People to Serve (Penny Cook, Irving Bible Church & The Faith Connection)

C.D. #22 How Foster Care Agencies Can Serve the Local Church (Suzanne Sims, Arrow Child & Family Ministries)

C.D. #28 Welcomed In: A Trinitarian Approach to Adoption (Greg Fields, Westminster Presbyterian Church)

C.D. #32 Mobilizing the Local Church to Serve Children in Foster Care (Tom Lukasik, 4KIDS of South FL)

C.D. #34 Engaging Youth & College Age for Orphan Ministry (Emily Richards, Shaohannah’s Hope, Brenda Niemyer, Campus Crusade & Paul Pennington, Hope For Orphans)

C.D. #38 Wait No More: Finding Families for Colorado’s Waiting Kids (Kelly Rosati, Focus on the Family & Dr. Sharen Ford, State of CO)

Book: “Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches” by Russell D. Moore

Book: “Thriving as an Adoptive Family: Real-Life Solutions to Common Challenges” by David & Renee Sanford