We always want to keep you posted on the activities Our Courageous Kids is connecting to for shared learning.

Today I want to tell you about the Christian Alliance of Orphans.

Within the Christian Alliance of Orphans (CAFO) you can find the largest collective of Christian based ministries devoted to concerns such as orphan care internationally, adoption, foster care in the United States, child trafficking, and teen runaways.

So obviously I wanted to get to know them.

As a collective body, they’ve said with their actions that it’s our job as people of faith to love all children, no matter what circumstances they find themselves in.  Invisible children will be invisible no more! And faith communities, these advocates say, must rise up and be more inclusive of this calling. To do this and build community among it’s members, every year, CAFO hosts an annual meeting of 3,000+ leaders called Summit.

In 2013 as part of our family’s work with Feed the Children, I attended this meeting in Nashville, TN and loved the energy and enthusiasm of those speaking and teaching.  My curiosity piqued. Like a sponge, I gladly learned what I could about such important concepts as attachment parenting, restorative therapies and what adult adoptees really thought about their institutional experiences from childhood.  It was great to apply what I learned to the kids we met during all our travels.

So, again I connected with CAFO at this year’s meeting May 5-6th in Orlando. It was great to be in a wonderful community of Christians thinking critically about what best practices in orphan/ foster care looks like.  And again, I left the conference convicted by these stats and all the more excited about what Our Courageous Kids could do to help!

• Globally there are an estimated 150 million orphans

• In the US over 400,000 children are in foster care with over 100,000 actively waiting for adoption

• 70% of children trafficked in the US are foster youth

This is what I know for sure: these are facts few in the church ever talk about. It’s the kind of work we often leave for “someone else.” But, I am confident that God’s heart is always on side of the most vulnerable– children without protectors. The question is: what are we going to do about it?

Want a simple way to think about beginning this conversation in your church?

Each year CAFO invites churches to participate in an Orphan Sunday emphasis. It’s an important day in congregations to raise awareness about children in the foster care system in your own town. It’s a great way to include those whose own stories or stories of their family have been touched by adoption. And it’s also a great day to talk about God’s desire for all of us to be adopted more fully into the kingdom of God.

Consider hosting Orphan Sunday on November 13^, 2016. I’m excited to be preaching at Broadneck Baptist Church in Annapolis, MD this year. It’s as simple as inviting a special speaker. Talking about the foster care system and it’s needs in your community.  Or, creating a call to action. The call of orphan ministry is one we can’t ignore.

-Elizabeth