by Hannah Rinehart with Perimeter Promise
A song by Brooke Fraser repeats these lines over and over, “Now that I have seen, I am responsible. Faith without deeds is dead.” Echoing what we see in James 2:26, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, faith with works is dead.”
These lyrics circle round and round in my head often. Especially when I think about the Foster Care crisis in America. Faith without works is dead. Faith without works is dead. What does it look like to engage with this crisis, the foster care crisis, in a life-giving, purposeful, and helpful way? The numbers are daunting. They are big, overwhelming, and discouraging. Where do you even start?
Currently, there are 391,000 children in the foster care system. The Atlanta Braves stadium holds 41,084 fans. The number of kids in foster care equals the Braves stadium filled up nine and a half times. That statistic is a number that causes you to pause and wonder. You are left so puzzled that all you seem to want to do is throw up your hands, cover your eyes, or walk away. That used to be my response. What can one mom do? What can I do that would really make a difference? What can I do when the brokenness of the world around me can seem scary, dark, sad, and overwhelming. Walking away or declaring things hopeless often seem like the easiest responses.
Foster care and adoption exist because we live in a broken world. In a perfect world, every child would be wanted, loved, and safe with their biological parents. End of story. Unfortunately, this is simply not the case. Kids in care have been taken out of their homes because of choices that someone else, an adult, made that impacts them in a negative way. Some things that get a kid taken into care include, but are not limited to, drugs, addiction, homelessness, poverty, food insecurity, unsafe conditions, abuse, neglect, or having parents that are unable to care for them [and meet their basic needs].
The dichotomy of a child needing to be cared for [food, shelter, clothing] and not having a safe place to go or a way to get those basic needs met is heartbreaking to me.
Because of this overwhelming sadness or emotion, though, I am motivated to do something. To do anything. But to do something over nothing.
Over the years I have had the distinct privilege to meet, hold, feed, play with, and pray for many, many foster kids. Despite the scary statistics, not a single one of these kids in care is themselves “scary.” Instead, these kids seem scared, vulnerable, and in need of protection. What can I do to meet these needs? What can I do to protect them?
This desire to protect and love these children is what I think God is commanding us to do in Psalm 82:3-4. These verses say that we are called to give justice to the weak and fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
Perimeter Promise is a foster care and adoptive ministry right here at Perimeter Church. We get to be the hands and feet of Jesus for adoptive and foster families who are welcoming children into their homes. We get to support them tangibly with meals, clothes, diapers, and food. We get to pray with and for them. We get to help advocate in our community for those families. We also get to help serve our local Department of Family and Children Services [DFCS] with clothing or shoe drives to help offset basic needs that exist outside the walls of our church among the most vulnerable in our community.
There are so many ways to serve and bring flourishing to our broken world through our ministry at Perimeter Promise. I know that not every family is called to foster or adopt, but we make it easy for everyone to do something (buy a gift card, babysit, make a meal, or pray) and get involved.
Perimeter Promise allows us to do just that of which Psalm 82 calls—bring justice, maintain these sweet kids needs physically and emotionally, protect and love them like Jesus does. Though at times it seems small, Perimeter Promise has tangible ways for us to step into the gap for these 391,000 precious souls. Each and every one of them in made is God’s image. Join me in fighting for God’s kingdom to come here on earth, just like it is in heaven! One child at a time.
