Christian Alliance For Orphans
C A F O S U M M I T M E D I A K I T 2 0 1 7 cafo.org
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“Christians at their best have always been known as a people who rise to ‘defend the fatherless.’ It’s thrilling to see the myriad ways that Christians today are re-earning that historic reputation. Nowhere is that growing movement more visible or vibrant than at Summit.” - Jedd Medefind
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TA B L E O F CO N T E NT S + ABOUT CAFO
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+ CAFO SUMMIT 2017
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+ SAMPLE NEWS STORY
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+ APPROVED QUOTES FOR USE
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+ APPROVED IMAGES
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+ K E Y S TAT I S T I C S
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+ C O N TA C T
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A BOUT CAFO The Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) powerfully connects more than 650 member churches and unites over 190 respected organizations through joint initiatives that inspire and equip Christians to effectively live out the Bible’s call to care for orphans and vulnerable children. It is through several key initiatives that these members are connected, empowered, inspired and equipped.
cafo.org
CAFO Initiatives CAFO’s National Church Ministry Initiative exists to motivate, equip
CAFO’s OVC Research and Best Practice works to elevate the quality
Orphan Sunday is a catalyst for
and connect local churches nationwide,
of care for children worldwide through
U.S. and in 85 countries worldwide.
in their efforts to grow effective,
the annual OVC Research Symposium,
Orphan Sunday is the chance to grow
sustainable orphan, foster care and
webinars, issue white papers and other
hearts for orphans in you church and
adoption ministries.
resources, we help CAFO members
home through free resources, ideas,
apply the best available research and
videos and more to grow each church’s
models to their daily service to children.
Orphan Sunday event.
CAFO’s National Foster Care Initiative works toward the day when there are more Christian families
CAFO’s Student Initiative is a
waiting to receive foster children than
one-of-a-kind experience for students
children waiting for a family. The NFCI
to embed themselves into, learn
not only inspires involvement – it also
from, and make connections in the
connects emerging church ministries,
CAFO community of organizations
networks and families with the best
and individuals, with distinctive and
models and resources nationwide.
specially crafted elements intended
CAFO’s Global Movement Initiative invests in emerging leaders
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only for our college audience.
CAFO Summit is an annual
worldwide, providing technical
conference that inspires and equips
support, leadership training and more
Christians to care for orphans with
to ultimately allow the local church
wisdom-guided love by convening
in every nation to be known as the
2,000+ attendees from all 50 states and
primary answer for the global orphan
from 30 nations to collaborate, learn
crisis.
and restore.
awareness and action across the
Jedd Medefind Pre sid e nt
Jedd believes that love for orphans
reentry to global AIDS. As described
transforms. Both personally and
by the Harvard Political Review, these
through the example of countless
reforms “fundamentally changed the
others, he’s seen that lives are turned
government’s strategy for improving
upside-down when Christians reflect
the lives of the downtrodden…”
God’s heart for orphans through adoption, foster care and global orphan care. This kind of love transforms not only orphans, but also those who open hearts and homes to them. Churches can be transformed as well, moving the entire community beyond self-focused religion to self-giving faith. Finally, when a watching world sees the Gospel embodied in this way, onlookers are transformed as well. Desiring to spur this kind of transformation through the
Previously, Jedd held a range of posts in the California State Legislature. He also helped establish the California Community Renewal Project, which strengthens nonprofits in some of the state’s most challenged communities. He has worked, studied and served in more than thirty countries, with organizations ranging from PriceWaterhouse in Moscow to Christian Life Bangladesh.
Church, Jedd serves as President of the
Jedd has written many articles and four
Christian Alliance for Orphans.
books, including Upended and Four
Prior to his this role, Jedd served in the White House as a Special Assistant to President George W. Bush, leading the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. In this post, he oversaw reform efforts across the government to make community- and faith-based groups central partners in all Federal efforts to aid the needy, from prisoner
Souls. His most recent book, Becoming Home, offers a short yet meaningful exploration of how families and communities can embrace vulnerable children with wisdom and love through adoption, foster care, mentoring and more. Jedd Medefind and his wife, Rachel, live in central California with their five children.
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C A FO S UMM IT 2 0 1 7 On May 4 and 5, thousands of foster and adoptive parents, orphan advocates, students, pastors and leaders from every U.S. state and more than thirty nations will converge at the 2017 Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit, hosted this year at Brentwood Baptist Church in Nashville, TN. Their ultimate goal: to see Christians rise as the answer for kids in foster care and orphans worldwide. There is no better learning opportunity for adoptive and foster parents and those considering it. Likewise, nonprofit staff, pastors and lay leaders committed to serving vulnerable children in the US and globally will also find rich workshops, connections, potential partners, resources and more.
cafo2017.org Location:
2017 Speakers
Brentwood Baptist Church
• Arturo Barrientos
7777 Concord Road
• Ruth Haley Barton
• Advocacy
Brentwood, TN 37027
• Bishop Aaron Blake
• Building Church Orphan Ministries
• Steven Curtis Chapman
• Child Welfare Professionals
Schedule:
• Robby De Luzuriaga
• Continuum of Care
CAFO2017 is two full days, Thursday, May 4 to Friday, May 5 with pre-event intensives on Wednesday, May 3.
• Brian Fikkert
• Engaging Effectively for Foster Youth
• Araceli Flores
• Engaging Effectively for Orphans
Registration: Full Registration March 1 -March 31 Members – $150 Non-Members – $200
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• Dr. Sharen Ford
110+ Workshops in the following tracks
Worldwide
• Belay Gebru
• Family Preservation
• Randall Goodgame
• Hague Training
• Peter Greer
• Help for Adoptive & Foster Families
• Jane Kansiime
• Leadership Forums & Roundtables –
• Jedd Medefind
CAFO Organization Members Only
• Russell Moore
• Loving Children with Special Needs
• Nelson Paulino
• Maximizing the Impact of Your
• Dennis Rainey
Ministry
Late Registration: After April 1
• Kondo Simfukwe
• Pastors & Church Leaders
• Lysa Terkeurst
• Prayer and Praise
Members – $175 Non-Members – $225
• Sandeep Thomas
• Research & Trends
• Curt Thompson
• Serving Children Aging Out
• Brittany Underwood
• Soul Care
• Carlos Whittaker
• Strengthening the Family
Deep Dive Intensives
Kids Summit
For the complete CAFO Summit
At the KIDS Summit, children ages
experience, attendees may join a day
4-10 will plunge deep into rich
early for a pre-conference Intensive
learning and experiences…allowing
Session. These day-long interactive
you the freedom to engage the
workshops are designed to help you
CAFO Summit as you always
dig deep with experts in the field.
have. Children will experience two days of biblically-based teaching,
• Becoming a Trauma Competent Caregiver • OVC Research & Best Practice
activities, and fun … opening young eyes to ways they can care for the fatherless at any age.
Symposium • Foster Voice
$85 (1-2 Children)
• Starting, Scaling and Sustaining
$60 each additional child
• Collaborate, a forum for Global Leaders
Vi ce Pres i d ent for Engagem e nt
Elizabeth Wiebe is the Vice President of
an Orphan Care Ministry in Your Church
Elizabeth Wiebe
Children will be joined by a special
Engagement for the Christian Alliance
guest artist Randall Goodgame,
for Orphans where she loves to watch
Slugs and Bugs
families and the local church transform as they show God’s unfailing love to orphans and vulnerable children in
Exhibits & Sponsors
Student Summit
their communities. Elizabeth works to
Summit also features concerts,
This year also welcomes a new
among Christians and child advocates
movie premiers, special resources
addition to Summit, specifically
around the world through a variety of
for adoptive and foster families,
tailored to university students who
best-practice initiatives and the annual
more than 100 booths and exhibits,
are invited to join the first annual
CAFO Summit.
a marketplace of global arts and
College Summit. This one-of-a-
crafts and bookstore, and a host of
kind experience allows students
other opportunities. Ultimately, all
to embed themselves into, learn
of this is designed to inspire, connect
from, and make connections in the
and equip families and churches to
CAFO community of organizations
become communities known for
and individuals. The College
adoption, foster care and global
Summit features distinctive
orphan initiatives.
and specially crafted elements intended only for our college audience. $49 Student Summit (Friday ONLY)
provide connection and collaboration
Prior to this role Elizabeth served in the White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives under President George W. Bush where she spearheaded outreach and organized trainings for faith-based organizations nationwide. She received her BS in English Education and Masters of Music Education and thoroughly enjoyed teaching junior high and high school for a short season before moving to Washington, DC.
$80 Entire CAFO Summit 7
Tending to Your Inner Life in Long Journeys of Justice and Mercy
February 24, 2017 By: Jedd Medefind Justice. Inner life. Our minds naturally sort these ideas into
recognition, pure-hearted idealism, or sincere ache at the
opposing categories. Outward versus inward. Deeds versus
world’s hurt – may propel us for a time. But eventually, they
thoughts. Action versus contemplation. But this separation is
will be outstripped by the world’s great hurt.
deadly, for the two can never long survive apart. To paraphrase the book of James, an “inner life” that
promised. This abiding is mostly unseen, like an oak sinking
produces no outward works is already dead. But just as
its toes deep into hard earth; it is as mysterious as the way
surely, actions of justice and mercy not rooted deep in the
a tree’s phloem heaves water upward from roots into leaves.
inner life will soon perish, too.
Abiding is all gift and wonder; undeserved, grace.
The truth is, most any work of justice and mercy will be
Yet somehow, we also choose it. We must participate in
harder and longer than we imagined at the start. One little
cultivating that deep-down life, just like any good farmer
thing after another, the weariness and disappointment can
tends to his crops even though he knows that only
suck idealism dry, leaving our noble dreams limp like corn
Something beyond him can actually make them grow.
stalks in drought.
Saints throughout history have found there are small, humble
What can sustain us when the rain stops? Here’s a simple
choices that irrigate the soul. These practices draw our
truth: if we have no Source beneath the surface, we will
roots down: disciplines of solitude and silence, Sabbath and
eventually run dry.
simplicity, memorizing Scripture and chosen thanksgiving,
Any other source of nourishment – whether yearning for 8
“If you abide in me, you will produce much fruit,” Jesus
and other habits practiced mainly out of view. They nurture
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a hidden life that, in time, rises upward into fruit we can see
carrying heavy loads. It is the one way to see our giving
and others can taste.
dressed always in sincere love.
Here is a simple fact: modern life tends to desiccate our
If we desire to give others what they most need, what we
inner life, from always-on technology to relentless activity in
most need is an inner life that drinks deeply of Christ. Justice
both work and play. Cultivating the inner life requires cutting
and the inner life grow only together.
against the grain of culture and even our own habits. It cannot be done without a clear vision for both why and how.
To gain understanding of specific habits and practices that cultivate a deep, vibrant inner life in Christ, the annual
A vibrant inner life is vital if we hope to persevere in long
Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit, held on May 4 and 5
journeys of justice and mercy. But there is something even
in Nashville, Tennessee will explore both why and principally
worse than quitting: it is to persist in giving, yet without
how we can cultivate our inner life, especially in the thick of
love. We may continue to serve, but the light has left our
ministry, parenting, healing and serving amidst our world’s
eyes. When this happens, the hurting person we touch feels
hurt.
only cold philanthropy. We may meet her physical needs, but our labors for her no longer whisper to her that she is of matchless value.
There is no better learning opportunity for adoptive and foster parents and those considering it. Likewise, nonprofit staff, pastors and lay leaders committed to serving vulnerable
The greatest need of every orphan…every foster youth…
children in the US and globally will also find rich nourishment
every struggling parent…every human soul…is not merely to
through the series of workshops and experiences devoted
be tended. It is to be loved, and to know that they are. That
to justice and the inner life. There are also opportunities and
happens only if the little girl sees our eyes light up when she
rooms set apart to engage individual and corporate practices
enters the room; only when the single mother knows we are
that feed and refresh deep down.
wholeheartedly present as she shares her story; only if the juvenile delinquent hears tenderness and respect in the way we pronounce his name. That kind of love is not something we can simply put on. It
le
Ultimately, the CAFO Summit is designed to inspire, connect and equip families and churches to become communities known for adoption, foster care and global orphan initiatives and to thrive in long journeys of justice and mercy.
cannot be faked for long. It rises only as fruit of a vibrant inner life, roots sunk deep into God’s love and drinking daily of it. That is the one wellspring. It is the only sure way to persevere amidst the hurt and disappointment that always come. It is our only hope of keeping light hearts while 9
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“There is tremendous value to a Summit like this, as people gather together to say, ‘How can we best show God’s love to orphans here and around the world through our lives, our families and our churches.’” - David Platt
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APPROV ED Q U OTES Please feel free to use any of the following quotes in your coverage for Summit.
“It is also worth noting that the field of
“If we hope to persevere in long
“The Summit is an amazing experience.
orphan care, foster care and adoption
journeys of justice and mercy, we must
A place of enthusiasm, of information
enjoys a rare unity and strategic
grow down before we grow upward.”
- it’s like drinking from a fire hydrant -
leadership – led by the Christian
- Jedd Medefind
there is so much information.”
Alliance for Orphans (CAFO). CAFO
President, Christian Alliance for Orphans
- Kay Warren
field, all working together to inspire and
“It is thrilling to see Christians come
“I’m high on the Summit...Mutual
equip Christians for effective response
together in such a powerful way.
encouragement, input, inspiration, hope
for vulnerable children. Unified efforts
Throughout history, Christians at their
and ideas.”
like that bring far greater impact than
best have been known for the ‘pure
- Crawford Lorrits
when organizations work in isolation or
and faultless religion’ that cares for the
competition.”
orphan in distress, We join at Summit
- Evangelical Council for Financial
to learn how to live out this call wisely
Accountability (ECFA)
and well.”
facilitates shared initiatives involving many of the best organizations in the
- Jedd Medefind President, Christian Alliance for Orphans “Scripture tells us that God is a Father to the fatherless and loves to set the lonely in families. The Gospel says that’s
“How can you not look at Summit and
exactly what He did for us, too. So
see there’s definitely a movement of
when Christians embrace an orphan or
God going on?”
child in foster care, we’re just giving a
- Steven Curtis Chapman
small, humble reflection to the way God
5-time Grammy Award winning musician
first loved us. When that happens, no one is left unchanged.” - Jedd Medefind President, Christian Alliance for Orphans
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APPROV ED IM AG ES Any or all of these images are available for media and press use. For full-resolution images, please contact Karl Dinker at karl@cafo.org.
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K E Y S TATIS T IC S If we are to communicate with humility, credibility, and integrity, Christian orphan advocates must both accurately understand and carefully present orphan-related statistics. Failure to do so undermines the strength of our advocacy and can misguide the actions that organizations, churches and individuals take on behalf of orphans. Meanwhile, an accurate grasp and communication of the true nature of the need provides a strong foundation for an effective, wellfocused response. One of the greatest weaknesses in the global orphan estimates is that they include only orphans that are currently living in homes. They do not count the estimated 2 to 8+ million children living in institutions. Nor do current estimates include the cast number of children who are living on the streets, exploited for labor, victims of trafficking, or participating in an armed conflict.
To learn more go to cafo.org/ovc/statistics
Key Statistics Total estimated number of orphans worldwide: 150 Million
Average age of U.S. children awaiting adoption: 7 years, 7 months
Estimated # that have lost only their mother: 34.5 Million
Over the past decade, 179,719 children from around the world were welcomed into families in the U.S. through intercountry adoption.
Estimated # that have lost only their father: 101 Million Estimated # of “double orphans�: 17.6 million Estimated # of children on streets or in residential care: 2-8 Million Number of U.S. Children awaiting adoption: 101,840 Number of U.S. Children adopted 2013 (with public child welfare agency involvement): 50,608
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6441 inter-country adoptions took place in 2014. Inter-country Adoption has decreased 72% from its high in 2004 due primarily to restrictions by sending countries. Top 5 sending countries in 2014 were China, Ethiopia, Ukraine, Haiti, and South Korea. Number of caring adults it takes to make a life-long difference for an orphan: 1
ALL IT TAKES IS ONE
Follow the Conversation
CO N TACT
#CAFO2017 For more information, resources or to schedule an interview with Jedd Medefind, President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans, please contact:
21,604+
@christianalliancefororphans
Karl Dinkler Christian Alliance for Orphans karl@cafo.org 407.496.3885
8,711+
@orphanalliance
cafo.org cafo2017.org
1,463+
@orphanalliance
@orphanalliance
@orphanalliance
Interviews available with CAFO President Jedd Medefind from March 8 to March 26. Medefind formerly led the White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives for President George W. Bush. His most recent book is Becoming Home: Adoption, Foster Care and Mentoring – Living God’s Heart for Orphans
@ChristianAllianceForOrphans
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cafo.org