Foster Care & Adoption

What would it look like if EVERY church committed to prayerfully raising up at least ONE family to bring at least ONE eligible child into their home through foster care or adoption, and provide a network of nurturing care for that family?

What if EVERY church committed to filling one of the many gaps in the child welfare system in their local community? Everyone in your church has a role to play. Watch how God takes simple acts of obedience and uses them to help transform the lives of vulnerable children in your community, while transforming members of your congregation and the culture of your church!

FOSTER CARE:

Thousands of children are removed from their families annually due to abuse and neglect. The primary goals of foster care are keeping children safe and reunification with the birth family, whenever possible. However, lack of resources, support and families in the foster care system often leads to compounding Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and challenges that can last for generations.

THE GOOD NEWS? God is moving his people to transform foster care in every community across the U.S. and Canada.

Hephzibah62:4 is proud to partner with More Than Enough, a collaborative movement with the goal of 10% of churches in every U.S. county involved in foster care by 2025, to ensure there are More Than Enough loving homes for every child in foster care — including foster, kinship, adoptive and restored biological families — with church-based support for all four.

READY FOR A NEXT STEP?

• Check out this resource that our team created with 25 things you or your church can do to support foster and adoptive families!
• Explore More Than Enough and sign up for e-mail updates.
• Like and follow the More Than Enough Facebook page for the latest resources, updates, and inspiration.
• Canadian Churches, connect with Forever Families Canada, a trusted partner dedicated to equipping churches with tool and best practices to effectively journey with vulnerable children and their families in your Canadian context.

SEEKING DIRECTION FOR YOUR PERSONAL FOSTER CARE JOURNEY? Become a Great Foster Parent

ADOPTION:

In situations where parents have died, or when reunification or parenting by birth parents is not best or possible for a child, identifying a loving adoptive family is often the best choice.

ADOPTION EXPENSES: Most adoptions from foster care are free. Private domestic and international adoptions meet vital needs of orphans and vulnerable children, but the related expenses can make them cost-prohibitive. To help make these types of adoption affordable for Wesleyan families, we offer our Hephzibah62:4 Adoption Fund.

FIND DIRECTION FOR YOUR PERSONAL ADOPTION JOURNEY through Loving Shepherd Ministry’s Adoption Assessment.

HEPHZIBAH62:4 LOCAL CHURCH MINISTRY PARTNERS

Kentwood Community Church, Kentwood, MI

Families of Promise

Since 2004, Families of Promise has been dedicated to raising up and equipping believers to live out the biblical mandate to care for orphans and vulnerable children and bring them the hope of Jesus Christ. We provide education and resources to match your passion with the needs of children in our community and beyond, and offer support through all stages of the process.

• Website: Families of Promise
• Contact: Jodi Lewis

Revive Wesleyan Church, Hamburg, NY

Every Child Ministry

Since 2012, this ministry has been bringing awareness to the needs of vulnerable & orphaned children, supporting families called to adopt or foster, hosting events that celebrate and equip families created through adoption and foster care, and equipping community groups and others to come along side of those who have been called to adopt or foster, as “wrap around support.” They are a partner in the Every Child coalition in Western New York, a network of churches, adoption and foster care agencies, pregnancy/women’s crisis centers, and other related organizations working together to meet the needs of their community’s vulnerable kids.

• Ministry Webpage: Every Child at Revive Wesleyan Church
• Coalition Website: Every Child Coalition
• Contact: Erica McFarland

FEATURED RESOURCES