Orphan Care In Practice by Paul & Rebecca Freidel

New Covenant Family,

As a follow-up to last week’s article on the theology of adoption and orphan care, we would like to spend some time this week examining some of the many ways that we can care for orphans as a church family.

Adoption
According to recent studies, over 130 million children have tragically lost one or both parents, and at least 16.2 million children worldwide have lost both parents.[i] In comparison with this staggering number of orphans, only 250,000 children are adopted every year.[ii] In the U.S. foster system alone, there are more than 115,000 children waiting to be adopted, and an estimated 20,000 young people “age out” of the foster care system every year, never to be placed in a permanent family.[iii]

Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and about four in 10 of these unintended pregnancies are terminated by abortion. Overall, twenty-two percent of all U.S. pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion.[iv] As Christ’s church, it is our responsibility to offer these women adoption as an alternative to abortion.

There are many paths to adoption, each with its advantages and disadvantages. Adoptions can take place domestically or internationally, through an agency, independently, or through the state foster system. One common barrier to adoption is the financial cost. Domestic adoptions typically cost between $4,000 - $30,000+ and international adoptions typically cost anywhere from $7,000 - $25,000, while adoptions through the state foster system typically cost nothing.

NCBC Adoption Fund
Due to the financial burden of adoption that is commonly encountered, NCBC has created a new fund to assist families who are members of our church that are seeking to adopt, but need financial assistance in order to complete the adoption. This new fund will be administered in conjunction with a national non-profit, The Abba Fund (http://www.abbafund.org/), which will help NCBC administer the fund on a no-cost basis.

This new fund will primarily make interest-free loan “covenants” with adoptive families in need of financial assistance, but can also make matching grants. The interest free loans are meant primarily to bridge a cash-flow gap between initial fund outlays, and subsequent receipt of the adoption tax credit (up to approx. $13K, received 1-2 years after initial outlay of funds) or other income. Oftentimes, an adoption is almost fully funded by the adoption tax credit, but the cash-flow timing gap prevents a family from completing the adoption. Matching grants will be made available where an interest-free loan is not financially supportable by the adoptive family.

As families repay the interest-free loans back to the fund, these repayments will be used to fund further adoptions by other families. As a result, the fund becomes self-perpetuating, and the money contributed can be leveraged over many sequential adoptions.  As announced this past Sunday, we will be taking a special offering over the month of February to provide the initial seed money for this fund. Already an anonymous donor has offered to match every dollar given, up to $10,000. Praise God! Let’s pray that the Lord will use this fund to bring many children into our congregation and that they would become Children of the King.

State Foster Care
More than 16,000 children in Illinois are in foster care custody, and more than 500,000 nationally.[v] Typically, these children are from families that have experienced parental neglect, substance abuse, physical abuse, or sexual abuse. As a result, the state has been forced to pull the children from their homes for their safety and well-being.

Placements can be as short as a year, or can be permanent with adoption as a possible outcome. Due to the extreme situations the children have come from, by some estimates approximately 50% of the foster cases in our area end in adoption by the foster parents. Children of all ages can be available for placement, but there is the greatest need with older children, boys, and sibling groups.

Safe Families for Children
Do you think that you might feel the Lord’s leading to help care for a child, but are not ready for adoption or long-term foster parenting? Consider becoming a Safe Family (http://www.safe-families.org/). In crisis, many of us rely on relatives and our church family for support. But for some parents there isn't a safety net. Often problems such as drug addiction, domestic abuse, incarceration, or illness can be debilitating, making it impossible for parents to care for their children. With the changing economy, many more families are experiencing financial crisis, unemployment, and homelessness. During such crises, children are especially at-risk for neglect or abuse as their parents struggle to cope with crushing circumstances and emotions. Without assistance, many of these families will find the issues in their homes escalating to episodes of abuse or neglect with long lasting consequences.

Since 2005, Safe Families for Children has offered sanctuary to thousands of children, minimizing the risk for abuse or neglect and giving parents the time and tools they need to help their families thrive. The ultimate goal is to strengthen and support parents so they can become Safe Families for their own children. [vi]

Homes of Hope Support Group
Homes of Hope for Kids is a Christ-exalting support group for families in the Fox Valley area that serve the Lord by adopting children or by caring for children through Safe Family ministries or foster care. We will be meeting monthly at New Covenant Bible Church. Contact Paul and Rebecca Freidel or Patrick and Melissa Whitchurch if you would like more information. Additionally, we are looking for volunteers who would be able to serve these families either every month or every couple of months during meetings by providing childcare at the church for about two hours.

Global Orphan Care
There are a number of ways to get involved with global orphan care ministries. Below we have listed a couple of the wonderful Christ-centered organizations that physically and spiritually care for vulnerable children and orphans.

New Hope Uganda
NCBC’s missionaries Keith and Laura McFarland are a part of this organization, which places orphans in “families” at their facilities and teaches them life skills.
http://newhopeuganda.org/

Christian Alliance for Orphans
Comprehensive list of orphan care ministries around the world
http://www.christianalliancefororphans.org/

We pray that God would place a deep desire in your heart to be obedient to Christ’s command to “visit the orphans … in their affliction.”

Fellow adopted children of the King, your brother and sister,

Paul & Rebecca Freidel

[i] Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, United Nations Children's Fund and the United States Agency for International Development, Children on the Brink 2004: A joint report of new orphan estimates and a framework for action , Population, Health and Nutrition Information Project for USAID, Washington, D.C., July 2004, p. 7. http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_22212.html . UNICEF, Press Release: As G8 leaders discuss global poverty, UNICEF puts spotlight on children in poor countries. http://www.unicef.org/media/media_21421.html
[ii] http://transracial.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/international-adoption-statistics-1
[iii] Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and reporting System (AFCARS) #11 data submitted for the FY 2004, 0/1/03 through 9/30/04. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/ tar/report11.htm. National Foster Care Month, Facts about Children in Foster Care , 2006 Fact Sheet. http://www.fostercaremonth.org/FactsAndStatistics/
[iv] Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States  August 2011 http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html
[v] http://www.state.il.us/dcfs/foster/index.shtml , U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children's Bureau, AFCARS REPORT 6, at 1 (June 2001).
[vi] http://www.safe-families.org/whatis_whowehelp.aspx