Stephanie Fast to Speak At Willow Creek's Orphan Sunday Event

Please watch this compelling video about Stephanie Fast's remarkable story of being unwanted, orphaned, left for dead, rescued & redeemed.  She will be our guest speaker at Willow Creek Community Church's Orphan Sunday event tomorrow, Nov. 1st from 5:30-7:30 pm.  67 E. Algonquin Road, So. Barrington, IL.  Dinner provided.  Room Blue Sky 2. Admission is free.

Register for an "Adopteen" Camp

Mark Your Calendars for...

Adopteen 2016!!!

Seriously...if you thought 2015 was jam-packed... 

TWO LOCATIONS!!!!!!!!

Camp Westminster
Conyers, GA
January 16 - 18, 2016
$280/camper
Ages 13 and up

 Adopteen Hotlanta is coming back for round 2! Three days and two nights of good old-fashioned fun, Midpoint will camp out at Camp Westminster -- just 30 minutes out of Atlanta!  Drive over, fly over, bike over --  We want to see you!  As always, if you do fly over, we'll pick you up. Probably with big cut-out photos of your face.   Maximum 50 participants

 

University of British Columbia
June 15 - 19, 2016
$580/camper
Ages 13 and up

You read that right. ADOPTEEN CAMP-CONFERENCE IS GOING INTERNATIONAL!!! Okay, so it's not "across the pond", but still.  Our first Camp-Conference of the 2016 summer is heading to the Great White North(west) and we want to see you there!  Drive in, fly in, ride a moose in -- We cannot wait to eat some piping hot pancakes with you. (Get it? Because maple syrup. Do you get it, guys?) As always, if you fly in, we'll be there to pick you up! Maximum 100 participants  For more information visit the ADOPTEEN web site.

Adoption Informational Meetings

Learn more about Domestic Adoption! The Holt-Sunny Ridge Branch invites you to attend an adoption information meeting to learn more about your options for domestic adoption!   Children adopted through our domestic adoption program are infants who are born locally in the Chicago area. It is very important to us that we provide the utmost care and personal attention to the birth mothers in our program. These women come to us at varying places in their pregnancy-anywhere from 6 weeks to 9 months-at which point we counsel them through making a decision and adoption plan for their child. Here's a quick overview of the domestic adoption process through Holt-Sunny Ridge   This fall, we will hold two domestic adoption information meetings that will help answer your questions about adoption in a format that walks you through the process one step at a time. Sign up below! October 26: Domestic Adoption Information Meeting November 16: Domestic and International Adoption Information Meeting These are purely informational, and you won't experience any pressure to adopt by signing up. We simply want to provide you with information that will help you decide if adoption is right for you and your family. If you don't want to wait until the meetings to begin your adoption journey, you are always welcome to contact us and get started right away!      Follow us on Facebook to stay up to date on events and announcements!

Webinar: 30-Day Discovery for Families Growing through Foster Care & Adoption

WEBINAR: Ready or Not with Pam Parish

Oct. 20, 2015

6:30-8:00 p.m.

Pam Parish, author, mother, mentor and foster parent trainer, will share her passion and heart for serving foster youth in this informative and inspiring webinar.

Parish is a committed advocate for foster teens and young adults. She and her husband have seven young adult daughters, one biological and six adopted.

We recommend Parish's first devotional book, "Ready or Not: A 30-Day Discovery for Families Growing through Foster Care and Adoption," to every new prospective foster parent. The book provides an honest look at her family's journey through foster care and adoption.
"When you step into the lives of a young person coming into your life through foster care or adoption, there's no way to know what that journey is going to look like for you," Parish says. "But there is a way to know what God's word has to say about it. So that's my prayer for you: that Ready or Not would be your key to God's heart when it comes to caring for the fatherless." 

To register, email Sharon Hedrick at shedrick@buckner.org.

Orphan Sunday with Stephanie Fast

In recognition of Orphan Sunday, Willow Creek and 
Loving Shepherd Ministries 

proudly present

Stephanie Fast

One Orphan’s Remarkable Story

Unwanted. Orphaned. Left for Dead. Rescued. Redeemed.

Author, speaker, Stephanie Fast’s story of survival as a four-year-old nameless orphan in Korea has inspired thousands of people to walk with vulnerable children down the road of hope and healing. Her story has been featured on Focus on the Family and remains one of its most popular broadcasts of all time.

Fuel  Your  Passion.

This event will inspire you to help children break free from their past — no matter how painful — and step into the future confident, full of purpose, and filled with hope.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

5:30 - 7:30 pm

Location:    Willow Creek Community Church

67 East Algonquin Road, South Barrington, IL

Room Blue Sky 1

Light dinner, presentation and expo of adoption, foster care and orphan care ministries.

*childcare will NOT be available

Register at: https://ourcommunity.willowcreek.org/default.aspx?page=3965&event=7890

Contact Dina Ackermann with questions at: vcministry127@gmail.com

Visit www.loving-shepherd.org/Stephanie-fast

Learn more about Orphan Sunday and find additional resources at: orphansunday.org

Supporting a Family After Adoption

It’s Been 5 Years Since Adoption, Now What?

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For many foster and adoptive families, working through past trauma goes beyond Adoption Day.  Often kids must work through trauma at each developmental stage as their processing and understanding abilities increase with age.  For some families, the effects of past trauma may not even surface until years after the adoption hearing, and it’s important to recognize that learning to work through trauma as a family and growing together as a family is a process.

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Supporting a Family Years After Adoption... As a support team member, recognize your role is crucial not only during the foster/adoptive process and shortly thereafter, but for the years following as a family develops. Review the Grief and Loss process and prayerfully consider what the child might be experiencing and need through each developmental stage. Take time to listen when adoptive parents need to process during a new developmental stage.  Arrange a time to get coffee and make yourself available to simply listen. Brainstorm with the parents how the group can better support the child and family in this new stage. Re-invigorate the support team!  (Read this support team newsletter for ways to keep your support team active and healthy) Talk about the possibility of re-attending a support group.  Offer to watch the kids for that evening. Gift parents with a weekend away to spend time together and recommit as a couple and as a family. Offer to watch the kids or fund their weekend getaway. (Some hotels will even give away free nights if you call and explain that it’s for an adoptive couple to get away). Have a fall house cleaning day or a painting party.

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​	Learn More Ways to Support A Family in "The Guide"

Walk for Adoption

  

 Saturday, October 3rd, 2015 Lake Arlington in Arlington Heights, IL 9:30 AM - 2 PM

MORE INFO HERE

Walk for Adoption Chicago began in November of 2010 with the purpose of celebrating National Adoption Awareness Month.  The Walk was designed to share with the community the beautiful option that adoption can be for someone facing an unplanned pregnancy. The Walk for Adoption Chicago mission is to: • Promote both a positive view of adoption and positive adoption language. • Walk annually in celebration and support of birth families and their loving decisions to place their child with another family. • Give children that have been adopted the opportunity to associate with children that may have similar life situations. • Assist families in building a strong network of people that can share foster care/adoption resources and help others through the adoption/foster care process. • Offer participants a wide array of adoption resources and educational materials from a variety of sources. • Offer ideas for adoption advocacy practices within personal communities. • Share personal stories of hope, patience, and comfort with those who are walking a similar path.

 

 

Safe Families Volunteer Training in the Chicagoland Area

Prospective Safe Families, you're invited to a live, accelerated Comprehensive Training Session. 

Offered as an alternative to online training, this event is designed to equip you to welcome a child into your home (Host Family) or support a host or placing parent (Family Friend) and move you through the training process efficiently. The live Comprehensive Training Session includes everything you need to become a certified Safe Family Volunteer—all in one place. 

• Start or submit your application
• Get fingerprints taken for the background check
• Complete your training hours
• Meet like-minded families who will support you

The training will be in two parts.  The first two hours will be for all volunteers.  The second two hours will be for Host Families.  So, anyone interested in being a Family Friend only needs to stay for the first two hours.  Host Families need to stay for the whole training.

If you have further questions please contact Sarah Mohr, 773-653-2222, or smohr@safefamilies.net




October 24th Life Bridge Church, Wauconda https://sftraininglifebridge.eventbrite.com

November 7th - College Church, Wheaton https://sftrainingcollegechurch.eventbrite.com

November 21st - Willow Creek North Shore http://sftrainingwcnsnovember.eventbrite.com

 

From an Adoptee's Heart to Yours Webinar

From an Adoptee's Heart to Yours: We Need One Another Some questions, some responses, some conversation. What does it look like to really listen to the deep heart of an adopted person? How does that relate to the human heart in all of us? Join CAFO President Jedd Medefind and Speaker, Therapist & Adoptee Carissa Woodwyk as they discuss what it means to both listen AND respond to one another, so that we are able to keep moving forward, together.   Whether you are an adoptive parent, adoptee, church or small group leader, or advocate with your own desire to listen better... this is a conversation you won't want to miss!  Presenters:  Jedd Medefind, CAFO President  Carissa Woodwyk, Speaker, Therapist & Adoptee Wednesday, September 30 1pm (Central Time)   Join the Webinar!

Post-Adoption Parenting Conference

 November 6-7, 2015

The West Campus Ministry Center, Austin, TX

Rooted ATX is presented by Hope for Orphans in partnership with the For the City Network and hosted by Austin Stone Community Church. The conference will be held in Austin, Texas at the Austin Stone Community Church West Campus Ministry Center located in Westlake Hills.

Adoptive and foster families across America are struggling with children who are dealing with PTSD, neglect, hurt and rejection in their past. Many of these families are in full crisis and their church or orphan ministry is not positioned to help.

At Rooted, we believe that families in crisis, both parents and children, will have the best outcomes only through the understanding of, and obedience to, the transformational power of the gospel. The gospel-centric parenting skills you learn at Rooted are likewise built on complementary developmental clinical research that will address the unique challenges you are facing. This event is for those who need help in understanding the biblical view of the dynamics in your home that are critical to raising at-risk children.

Through its gospel-centered parenting model, Rooted focuses on a foundational understanding of our identity and nature, God’s design in the roles of men and women, understanding spiritual warfare and the role of the body of Christ within the local church for parents who are struggling.

Rooted is based on the presupposition that we can learn much from God’s design for family and how He parents those who belong to Him. We believe that the greatest need of all children is not to become attached to parents, but to their perfect, saving Heavenly Father through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 REGISTER HERE