Empowered to Connect Conference Dates

Upcoming Empowered to Connect Conferences - a two-day conference designed to help adoptive and foster parents, ministry leaders and professionals better understand how to connect with “children from hard places” in order to help them heal and become all that God desires for them to be.

February 17-18, 2012, in Dallas, Texas at Irving Bible Church

 April 20-21, 2012 in Denver, Colorado at Mission Hills Church

To register for these conferences, click here.

Superbowl, Tony Dungy & Adoption

As Super Bowl Sunday comes this weekend, we are excited to give you a unique opportunity to share adoption with your friends and family. Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy and his wife, Lauren, have adopted several children and would love to see more families consider adoption.

A Free Half-Time Video Kit featuring Tony and Lauren Dungy is available to Super Bowl party organizers. This 3-minute video message includes a personal appeal to Americans on the subjects of adoption and the orphan crisis. 

The big win on Super Sunday would be to raise awareness about the millions of children who need a family. I would love to see thousands of local community groups and circles of friends gathering together to stop and consider how they can help.

-Tony Dungy, the winning head coach of the 2007 Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts. 

With the Super Bowl airing on NBC and taking place in Indianapolis, Tony will be prominently featured on TV in front of hundreds of millions of viewers, making it an easy transition to play his video message at any Super Bowl party.  We are asking you as a pastor or host of a Super Bowl party to consider spending half-time watching this video and going through this Conversation Guide with your church, small group, family or friends. Lifesong's complimentary Video Halftime Kit, available on www.adoptionjourney.org/dungyhalftime, includes: 3-minute video featuring Tony and Lauren Dungy Printable guide for event organizers for introducing the video and starting conversations about the Dungy's message Instructions for downloading the video with multiple ways to play it on your TV AdoptionJourney.org offers additional adoption resources, such Church Adoption Funds, FAQ's answered by couples who've already adopted, webcasts, child sponsorship, and features about families and leaders involved with adoption initiatives.

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

Thank you, Cherri, for your support of Lifesong for Orphans, your research on behalf of adoptive parents everywhere, and your heart for the fatherless!

2010 National Foster Care Prayer Vigil

The National Foster Care Prayer Vigil is calling followers of Christ together across the country this week (May 16-23) to cry out to God on behalf of children and youth in our nation's foster care system, their families, their workers, and the church as it responds to the needs of those involved in the foster care system.

A prayer vigil can take on many forms. It can be a formal, church-wide event, or it can be an informal gathering with your family after dinner. In fact, the possibilities are endless. 

A prayer vigil can be:

• Part of a regular Bible study group in your home
• Part of a regular Community Group meeting
• Part of a Sunday School class
• A prayer walk through your city
• A gathering of friends at a park, or the beach
• A lunchtime gathering with co-workers
• Whatever and wherever you want it to be

Please join us in committing to pray this week for the children in our country, our state, our county, our neighborhood!

For more information or how to find a group meeting in your area, click here.

Father, thank You for being a personal God...for allowing our prayers to come to Your ear.  Give us the faith to believe that You will hear and answer our prayers for Your children in our communities that will be prayed for today, this week and forever.  Let us pray for Your glory, Your fame, Your name...

'Every chance I get...'

Every chance I get, I point adopting families (and those who think they might be) to Lifesong for Orphans. Our Christ Jesus is using this ministry to empower families to adopt children, and thus to point the whole church to the gospel that saves us and the mission that sends us.                                

--Russell D. Moore, author, Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches.

Dr. Moore is the Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice-President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also serves as a preaching pastor at Highview Baptist Church, where he ministers weekly at the congregation’s Fegenbush location. Moore is the author of The Kingdom of Christ and Adopted for Life.

Thanks Dr. Moore for the significant part you are playing in raising awareness and equipping Christ-followers to participate in our Father's powerful plan for the fatherless.