The Local Church is Uniquely Equipped!

I must confess I’m blown away by all God has done through Tapestry over the last 5 years. They’ve made a profound difference for local families and the children those families have fostered and adopted." - Jedd Medefind, President of Christian Alliance for Orphans

Check out this post from Tapestry titled 'Three Things We Have Learned & Three Things We Would Do'! A glimpse at the depth of this post -

In the end, the growth that we have seen speaks far more to the needs of children and families in our community (and every community) and the power and reach of the local church, than it does to anything that we ourselves have done. We are humbled that God has used us to play a small part in the lives of so many, and we are excited about what He has in store for us as a ministry and a community.

During any given week, we receive calls from people across the nation wanting to start an adoption, foster care or orphan care ministry in their church. Many of them have very similar questions: How do you get started? What do you do at your small groups and events?  How do you handle this or that?   Three things we have learned in these past five years are that there are no easy answers (although there are some very accessible and available resources), there is no ’one size fits all,’ and there are no shortcuts (at least none worth taking)."

See you at Summit VI!

Look how others are advocating... will you?

We are so thankful for all of our Lifesong advocates around the world... and how God can use each of us exactly where we are!

He has given each of us unique skills andabilities that can be used for Kingdom purposes. 1 Corinthians 14:12 

Check out how these stay-at-home moms are using their gifts - Amy and Wendy.

Click here to see how you can become a Lifesong Blogger.

Quita's Story

Hello, my name is Quita. I'm 5 years old. The rebels came to our village during the disarmament time in our town and they took all the men and carried them to an unknown place. Since that time, my father never returned. We heard that my father and the other people from our town were taken to the bridge and they shot them and threw their bodies in the river.

My mother and the other women ran to Salala district where my mother later got sick and became paralyzed. My mother died last year and the people took me to the Lifesong Master's Home of Champions to take care of me. I'm in the K-1 class and when I grow up, I want to be a medical doctor to help children. 

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young...

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12

What a sweet reminder from 6 year old, Siena Medefind! She sent her birthday money to Lifesong for the orphans in Ethiopia!

Siena - May the Lord continue to work in your heart... and may the world be a different place because of your generosity! Thank you so much and Happy Birthday!

Adoption Has Changed My Kids

We are so excited that Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, WI has created a solution to the financial barrier many adoptive families encounter!

Elmbrook has an amazing ministry for foster/adoptive families and takes the word community to a whole new level! They are currently holding classes for families interested in adopting, raising funds for a church adoption fund, raising awareness for local foster care children in need, having weekly prayer meetings, and easing the transition for families opening their homes to children.

Check out their ministry blog here. I love this recent post -

Lincoln and I were driving home from Joe's work. We take lovely country roads and always enjoy checking on our favorite animals. Pretty close to home we pass a great country home with 20 or so sheep in the front yard. At that house we have a choice to drive right by the home or turn down another street and miss the sheep altogether.

Today, we decided to take the way of the sheep. We were giggling about how chubby the sheep have become over the winter. We noticed two horses hanging out with the sheep, which is a bit unusual.

Lincoln wondered why the horses were in with the sheep.

I replied, 'I don't know, Bud.'

Lincoln thought for a while and then said, 'Mom. I think the horses adopted the sheep. The sheep needed a mommy and a daddy so the horses decided to adopt them.'

Beautiful."

Advocacy in action... awesome!