Tierra had been waiting eight years to be adopted by a forever family. 100 days after being “adopted” by the people of Grace Fellowship, she was matched with a forever family! Along the way, people from the congregation prayed for her, offered her a mentor and piano lessons, and looked for ways to bless her. Her picture was placed in the lobby of the church so that every time a person entered the worship center they would be reminded of her. Only God knows how the prayers and support of Grace Fellowship led to her adoption . . .but what an honor for the church, and what joy for Tierra!

There are 1200 kids like Tierra in the foster care system in Palm Beach County, waiting for their forever family. The Children’s Home Society would love to place a picture of one of those kids in your church’s foyer. Can you imagine how powerful it would be if your church came alongside a child who is waiting for a forever family? Powerful for the child. And powerful for the church. It’s as easy as a phone call to my friend Linda Coffin (561-252-7400) who will help you and your church “adopt” a child.

Many churches in Palm Beach County are working together for the next year to help dramatically reduce the number of children in the foster care system who are looking for families. “Follow” this site to receive updates on how you can get involved!

Those are the first 5000 reasons why Jazz Nativity is my favorite event of the year.

Thank you to the 19 musicians, the tech team, and every other person who volunteered to make the event a great success!

To those who bought tickets and donated even more . . . on behalf of every one of those kids who will be blessed by your generosity, THANK YOU!

BONUS CHALLENGE: If you are planning an event soon . . . what if you made your next event missional by leveraging the event to help someone in need? Jazz Nativity would have been great even without the $5,000 for orphans. Great music and improvisation, the story of Jesus’ birth told creatively, crazy comedy . . .  and your event will be great too. But can you imagine the impact if you led those attending your event to join God’s mission?

Who do you think should take care of unaborted babies?  Perhaps it’s the responsibility of people who put pro-life bumper stickers on their car, the facebook users who re-post pro-life videos, the ordinary people who try to persuade others of their pro-life views through everyday conversation.  In other words, it’s hypocrisy to be “for” the life of children when they are in the womb and to do nothing “for” those children once they are out of the womb.

Here’s a pro-life idea that will change your church and change the life of a child already out of the womb:

Grace Fellowship is adopting a fifteen year-old young girl named Tierra through the Palm Beach Heart Gallery.  Tierra is an honor-roll student, and she loves music and drama.  But she is one of 1200 foster kids in Palm Beach County who doesn’t have a forever home.  So the church is going to “adopt” her until she finds one.

The people of Grace Fellowship are going to pray for Tierra.  They’re going to pray she will find a forever family, and they’re going to pray for a forever family to open their home and heart to her.
In the meantime, the people of Grace Fellowship are going to love Tierra by finding a mentor for her, by inviting her to the church’s youth group, and by connecting her to a ministry the church sponsors that empowers teens to use their God-given gifts.  And that’s just the beginning!

Look into Tierra’s eyes, and you will see something far more beautiful and valuable than a child who was simply carried to full term. Look into her eyes, and you will see a child who our God loves with the same passion that He loves you and your own children. And God feels the same way about every one of the 1600 children in the foster care system in Palm Beach County.

Imagine if every church in our county adopted one of those children!  If you are part of a church, encourage your leaders to “adopt” a child.  Contact us to learn more about Grace Fellowship’s experience adopting Tierra.  What a powerful way to Join God’s Mission!

4 million Syrian refugees, half of them children, are trying to survive.  4 years of complicated war between the government, secular fighters, ISIS, ethnic groups . . . have left 220,000 people dead, 7 million people inside of Syria displaced, and 4 million on the run outside of the country.   Wherever those 4 million people are, they are now foreigners.

Take a moment to describe (out loud) the adults and kids you see in the picture below. 

As a follower of Jesus who lives 6,000 miles from the people in this picture, how do you feel about how you have responded to their need?  Do you think that followers of Jesus who live so far away should do something to meet their needs?  Is there anything Christians can do to meet their needs?

While you are weighing these questions in your mind, would you prayerfully consider God’s heart for foreigners?

God loves every person on this planet, and they are all created in his image (Genesis 1:27).  God inspired the Jewish people to love foreigners as themselves, reminding them they used to be foreigners in Egypt (Leviticus 19:34).   He also commanded them to provide foreigners food (Lev. 23:22) , to treat them fairly (Deuteronomy 24:14-15) to give them justice (Deu. 24:17), even to teach them God’s law (Deu. 31:12-13).  

Look back at the picture above, and remember Jesus’ words about the people He will separate from His true followers:

“I was a stranger, and you did not invite me in”
[the Greek word for “stranger” is xenos, which can also be translated “foreigner”]
(Matthew 25:43)

Instead of feeling guilty that you haven’t done anything yet, can you imagine yourself responding in some way to these Syrians who are now “foreigners”? Literally stop reading, and imagine it for 20 seconds.

If you live in Palm Beach County, and you are ready to make a decision right now to do something, we have something you can do.  Grace Fellowship is joining with Christ Fellowship and Gleaning for the World to collect the following items for Syrian refugees:

Shampoo, Soap, Toothpaste, Toothbrush, Diapers, Baby Wipes, Red or Green Lentils

We bought one of each of these items for a total of $20 a few days ago.  If you don’t have $20 to spare, you can probably afford to buy one of these items and bring it to Grace Fellowship or Christ Fellowship by Sunday, October 4th!

If you are deciding to do something, will you encourage everyone else and “share your thoughts” below?

The Take Heart event was a success!  Our goal was to lead every person in attedance to take a specific step toward children in need.  Once the movie and the presentations concluded, nearly every person of the 70+ in attendance went to talk to at least one of the representatives (from Place of Hope, Joanna’s Cottage, First Care, One Child, Wholehearted Orphanage, Rescue Upstream).

Yesterday we heard that 4 families attended a foster care orientation meeting, and 3 families have signed up for MAPP classes to become foster care parents!

What can you do if you missed the event?  Contact us and we will be glad to connect you with one of our partners listed above.

And . . . here’s a great idea if you are part of a church:  Grace Fellowship is partnering with the Children’s Home Society to “adopt” a child in the foster care system.  Pictures of the child will be displayed in the church lobby, and the congregation will be given practical ways to love the child until the child finds their forever family.  If your church is interested in “adopting” a child, contact us and we’ll connect you with Children’s Home Society.

Thank you for Joining God’s Mission!