Dedicated Defenders
YOUR IMPACT IN ACTION Celebrate a Few of our Foster & Adoptive Kiddos Latest Wins!
4KIDS Defenders Ken and Vicki Denison We had just newly begun attending our church when we heard a message on foster care that led us to begin partnering with 4KIDS. This ministry hit our hearts, as we became parents much later in life than we expected, having had difficulties in having children. Our twin girls, Elizabeth and Liliana, were born a full trimester early and went to heaven only a day after their birth. Just over a year and a half later, our next child, Alexandra, was born at a similar time frame, weighing only 1 pound and 10 ounces. She spent 104 days in the NICU, but is now completely healthy and active. In light of our story, we know how precious these “little gifts” are and how much love and care is required to raise children, and even more so if they have experienced trauma. We recognized immediately that those who take care of children in foster care need both financial support and prayers, so we partner with 4KIDS to do both.
I was born at Broward General Hospital and have lived in Fort Lauderdale my entire life, and in the last few decades I have seen the amazing growth of people moving here from all corners of the earth. Our community is extremely diverse and relatively new compared to other areas of the country, and I see it as our family duty to step up and be the “village” for all our community’s kids if and when their parents can no longer be parents to them.
7 month old Luke* . . . . . . . . . . . .
10 year old Brandon*. . . . . . . . .
Luke is army crawling everywhere, sitting up by himself, and just learned how to feed himself teething crackers. He is the happiest, sweetest boy who loves catching his reflection in any mirror.
Brandon is one step closer to reaching his goal of getting straight A’s on his report card. For the first time, this quarter he made the A/B honor roll at his school.
6 year old Jada* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16 year old Mariah*. . . . . . . . . . .
Jada’s foster parents have been walking with her through behavioral issues for almost four years. But last month, she was recognized as the "Student of the Month" at school for the first time!
Mariah got her learner’s permit for driving recently! She has also started getting a few babysitting gigs and is doing very well with her time management and organizational skills.
The 4KIDS vision of, “A Home for Every Child,” is not just a slogan on a t-shirt. It is a call to action for our family (who is blessed to be able to raise our kids within their birth family) to help other children who by no fault of their own simply cannot have that same experience. With this calling, we make our community stronger and fulfill God’s commandment to look after those who cannot look after themselves. *Names and photo were changed to protect the identities of those we serve.
Written By Ken Denison 10
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