A Church for Orphans

MAKING A DIFFERENCE K rista Petty

A Church for Orphans

The church did eventually build a school, which today ministers to foster families. “Foster kids are welcome at the school, and we work hard to scholarship their needs,” says Sauder.

The church maintains a strong emphasis on issues related to orphans: 100 kids “We were planning on building a school are in their care on any given day, 200 in 1997, but our plans changed,” recalls volunteers participate in such ministries Doug Sauder, pastor of family minis- as mentoring and teaching, and over 200 tries at Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale Christian families are licensed to be foster parents. Every child brought into the (CCFL).

Why? Because that year the news- Broward County Child Welfare system paper headlines in Florida exposed a —yes, that’s right, every child!—is dire state of affairs: Foster children had given loving shelter and supervision at been lost, and some had even died yet SafePlace 4KIDS while they await a gone unmissed by the very system cre- more permanent placement.

After that, children are either placed ated to track and care for them.

This got the attention of CCFL’s with a foster care family or at KidsPlace leadership and members. Although they Shelter, a family-style shelter for up to had always been a church focused on six kids, aged 4 to 14. This allows sibcommunity needs, they chose to divert lings to be kept together while awaiting a energy, effort, and funds to solutions for foster home placement or reunification foster care children and youth as never with a family member. Those children who are not placed with a foster care before.

“Children need homes first!”exclaimed family or family member are welcomed Senior Pastor Bob Coy from the pulpit into GirlsPlace (for teenage girls), one Sunday.The congregation—a vibrant GuysPlace (for teenage boys), and body of more than 18,000 believers at KidsPlace 2 (for sibling groups and chilone main and two satellite campuses— dren who are difficult to place).

CCFL and 4KIDS of South Florida agreed, and today, much to the credit of CCFL, children in Broward County are also work in tandem with two additional not only being enfolded into new homes nonprofit organizations that were but are also receiving a quality educa- launched from the church. His Caring Place provides a safe harbor for pregnant tion and being formally adopted.

By delaying the start-up of the Christ- teenagers, and Adoption 4KIDS matches ian school project for a year, the church courageous birthparents with committed was able initially to add four people to Christian families.

Another aspect of this ministry to staff for their foster care ministry, 4KIDS of South Florida. Since then, the minis- foster children is CCFL’s commitment try has become its own nonprofit with to help other churches get involved in a staff of 70. To date, 6,000 kids have foster care solutions.To date, 140 churchbeen housed, fed, and loved in Christian es are involved in or partnering with shelters or foster homes as a part of the CCFL and 4KIDS of South Florida.

How did this church organize such ministry, and over 100 children have been connected with families for adoption. a comprehensive, large-scale effort so This ministry is in addition to their min- effectively? Seeing the need to draw in istry to thousands of prisoners, a home other churches and faith-based providers for pregnant teens, and 65 church plants throughout the tri-county area, 4KIDS birthed “Churches United for Foster Care” in Florida and around the world.

PRISM 2008

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in 2002.This initiative now facilitates the involvement of more than 100 organizations to care for Florida’s orphans.

“We have vision luncheons with other Florida pastors, sharing the mandate of Scripture to care for orphans as well as teaching them how they can be a part of the solution. We tell them, ‘We don’t need your money. We need your people to love and care for orphans,’” says Sauder.

CCFL empowers local churches to start their own residential homes for kids in need.“We train and take on liability so that a church can integrate a ministry to foster children into the life of their own church. It’s sort of a franchise model,” says Sauder.

In 2006, CCFL made 32 presentations to congregations, yielding 33 new families involved in the licensing process, 53 new homes licensed, and 53 children placed in ministry-based, foster care settings.

Parenting a child is a lifetime commitment, so getting members involved can be challenging.“Foster parenting can be scary, but once you see the kids and begin to work through the issues, it is very rewarding,” says Sauder, a foster parent himself. “Spiritually, our ministry to foster kids adds a vibrancy to the church.” Having foster kids in the classrooms of the church’s school and summer camps, as well as having foster parents in the adult Sunday school classes, brings a dose of reality to the scriptural call to care for orphans. n Krista Petty is a senior advisor for Backyard Impact (BackyardImpact.com), a community-involvement training organization for congregations, community agencies, and corporations. She also serves as an editor and resource developer for the Externally Focused Church (EFC) movement. Sponsored by the Compassion Coalition and Fasten Network, Petty writes EFC profiles of churches (available at FastenNetwork.com), from which this article was adapted.