Just Around the Corner...

Orphan Sunday, November 6, is your opportunity to raise a torch for the fatherless in your church, family or small group. 

We’re less than two weeks away, so here are some easy ways to make the most of Orphan Sunday:

• Request the Orphan’s Table (by Oct 27) and receive a simple meal, along with a prayer and discussion guide, for family or any size group.
• Request a free copy of the “Answer the Cry:  Faces of Hope” 30-minute DVD to show and discuss.
• Join the LIVE from Kansas City hour of GUIDED PRAYER and WORSHIP for the fatherless at 6 PM CST on November 6, along with Jon Egan of the Desperation Band, David Platt and other Christians around the globe!

See more at the Orphan Sunday website, including ideas for activities, downloadable posters and other materials, prayer and study guides, short videos, and much more!

Visit the Orphan Sunday Facebook page here.

The Hard Questions

We believe it is critically important that parents who are preparing to adopt or foster a child must be honest and realistic about the journey and the challenges that lie ahead. Just as Jesus in Luke 14 challenged those who would follow him to ‘count the cost,’ so too parents who respond to God’s call to adopt or foster must be willing to count the cost of the adoption journey and prepare to “lay down their lives” to love their child and help him or her become all that God intends." - Michael Monroe, Tapestry

Read the rest of Michael's article, Ten Questions for Parents Preparing to Adopt or Foster here!

In the Irving, TX area? Don't miss the 2011 Tapestry Conference!!

We're in the Weeds!

Readers,

Please take a moment to read this BEAUTIFUL article on adoption and foster care. It is one of THE MOST truth-filled, authentic, hopeful, reality-check, loving messages we've ever seen.

Check it out HERE... and know that you are not alone!

Joy & Purpose in Peoria

Earlier this month, a group from Peoria, IL came together to bring JOY and PURPOSE to their foster care community by re-vamping one of their local DCFS offices. 

Partnering with, Lifesong for Orphans & The Forgotten Initative, they raised over $3000 and collected donated items.  With these donations, they, like us, were blown away at the body of Christ and its ability to BLESS kids who have been forgotten by simply working together!  They were able to provide sleeping cots, blankets, pillows, rocking chair, new widow treatments, books & toys and diapers & wipes to their local DSFS.

Now check out these pictures to see for yourself!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

We've developed great relationships with those working in DCFS to let them know that the body of Christ genuinely cares about kids who live on the margins in our community. 
-Catherine Cambra, Project Leader

Thanks Catherine & crew for your heart for the forgotten!!

Want to see more?  Check out the news story that covered this project!  Click here!

To learn more about The Forgotten Initiative and how YOU can be involved in YOUR community visit http://theforgotteninitiative.org

See you at the Summit!

Are you going to the Summit this week in Louisville? We hope so! If it's anything like the years past, it will be an amazing opportunity to be refreshed and connect with others!

Even if you can’t join us in Louisville for Summit VII, we invite you to join us in prayer.  Please pray especially:

• That God would prepare each person coming both to give and to receive much at Summit.
• That the countless details and the myriad of volunteers, speakers, exhibitors, and attendees would all come together smoothly.
• That seeds sown and cultivated at Summit would bear much good fruit—for the fatherless, the Church and God’s glory for decades to come.