T4A Live Stream

The "Together for Adoption" conference starts tonight, and they are livestreaming!

Check it out here.

Speakers include:
Dan Cruver
Scotty Smith
Scott Roley
Ed Stetzer
Michael Easley
Russell Moore

Three people from my church are attending the conference.  I'm looking forward to hearing from them about the conference and what God taught them.

HT: (Abba Fund)

Orphan Sunday - November 8

Orphan Sunday is November 8th. Your church should recognize it, and I hate to say that.

I hate to say it not because I don’t believe in the mission of Orphan Sunday, churches from every denomination and tradition calling us to orphan care and adoption. I do, enthusiastically. I hate to say it because I know the probable reaction of many of my fellow preachers and church leaders when they see another special emphasis Sunday, especially one that’s part of parachurch ministry: slack jaws and glazed eyes.

After all, our church calendars are marked up enough as it is with everything from, it seems, “Clown Ministry Awareness Sunday” to “Week of Prayer for the Wives of Retired Interim Pastors.” Our “special emphasis” days are so usual that they’re neither special nor particularly emphatic.

But this one’s different.

Orphan Sunday isn’t an emphasis on a program or a “cause” or a special interest group. It’s not an offering or a volunteer recruitment tool. Orphan Sunday could be the Pearl Harbor for spiritual warfare in your church.

Orphan Sunday reminds us all that orphan care isn’t a special emphasis at all. Every Christian is called to care for the fatherless (James 1:27), in different ways to be sure. No one is exempt from this mark of the Christ’s followers. Orphan Sunday carves out a space for us all to encourage one another, together, toward that end.

You don’t have to have a huge program in place for Orphan Sunday, now just a little while away. Go to the website, www.orphansunday.org, and pray through some of the ideas there, to see which, if any, would work in your context.

HT: Russell Moore

Lauching a Church Adoption Webinar - Oct 8

The Abba Fund is presenting a free webinar on October 8th called "Launching a Church Adoption Fund. You can register by clicking the image below.

18 Seconds

Statistics show that every 18 seconds, a child somewhere in the world becomes an orphan. In a typical day of work, 1,600 children will become orphans. In the United States alone, there are half a million children in the foster care system, and about 120,000 children waiting for adoptive placements. These are staggering numbers. The danger is that they stay "just numbers".

Last night, Tricia and I went to a Steven Curtis Chapman concert in Brookfield. I've blogged about his efforts to promote adoption in the past. He has founded a ministry called "Shaohanna's Hope" which provides grants to families who want to adopt, but can't. During his current concert tour, the ministry collects spare change to provide an on-the-spot grant to a family in the area who is adopting.

At the concert last night, over $5,400 was raised. They typically give a $4,000 grant on a night. There are also donors who do matching contributions (to varying degrees). What that means is that based on the graciousness of the crowd last night, two families will receive the grants.

In the time that you've taken to read this post, another 4 or 5 children have become orphans.

Thanks for reading!