Community Prayer Practices Module Five

NATIONAL WORKING GROUP ON PRAYER

PrayingTogether Rhythms for Foster Care

MODULE FIVE

Communitywide Foster Care Prayer Vigil Prayer is where we begin.

The needs of children and families are vast, and seeing these needs every day moves us to action. But our actions are utterly insufficient unless God multiplies them. Like the loaves and fish, we bring what little we have and trust Him to do what we cannot. Developed by the More Than Enough Community National Working Group on Prayer, this guide provides a simple framework to anchor our shared efforts in consistent, unified prayer. Adapt these practices to your local context, gather others, and ask God to do what only He can do.

Communitywide Foster Care Prayer Vigil

(VIDEO)

FORMAT

PURPOSE A local Foster Care Prayer Vigil can be a powerful way to invite the community to come together for an evening to intercede on behalf of vulnerable children and families and for those who care for them.

In-person in a church classroom, conference room or smaller sanctuary. Can be set up using round tables or as “prayer stations” that attendees can go through individually or as groups as they arrive.

RECOMMENDED DURATION 90 - 120 minutes

P R AY I N G T O G E T H E R : R H Y T H M S F O R F O S T E R C A R E

Communitywide Foster Care Prayer Vigil

RHYTHM Foster care prayer vigils can be held more often but are also excellent annual events during National Foster Care Month or on or around Pure Religion Sunday.

AUDIENCE All who support foster care in your community Church and non-profit leaders Church attendees and community members Child-serving professionals in the foster care and judicial systems Foster and adoptive families and kinship caregivers Care communities

PREPARATION Contact key individuals to promote an event within their locale.

Prepare a leader packet including:.

Agenda

Focus scripture

Local or national statistics, such as the number of foster homes and the number of kids in care,

Prayers for children and teens in foster care

Prayers for current and new foster families

Prayers for foster care ministries

Write a few guiding prayers

Encourage participants to prepare their hearts for the prayer meeting by fasting, completing a Bible study, or praying in specific ways in the days leading up to the meeting

P R AY I N G T O G E T H E R : R H Y T H M S F O R F O S T E R C A R E

Communitywide Foster Care Prayer Vigil

IMPLEMENTATION Recruiting Participants Building a prayer community around foster care starts with inviting people to the table.

1

Connect with local family ministries Speak to the why: Share the Biblical call to care for the vulnerable (James 1:27). Let them know that prayer is an essential foundation for the ministry.

2

Invite those with a testimony connected to foster care

3

Leverage existing groups Reach out personally: Send a followup text/email after events like backpack or clothing drives, social worker appreciation gift assemblies or holiday donations Invite them with language like: “You’ve already made a difference—would you join us in covering children in foster care and families in prayer this month?”

Offer a no-pressure, one-time prayer night so they can try it out.

Explore the Full Series This guide is part of the Praying Together: Rhythms for Foster Care series, designed to equip you to pray with others for foster care.

Praying every day, every week and every month for foster care MODULE ONE | Daily 3:20 Prayer Pause MODULE TWO | Weekly Foster Care 15 Community Prayer Calls MODULE THREE | Monthly Online National Foster Care Prayer Call

Other rhythms and tools for teams and communities MODULE FOUR | Praying as a Team for Foster Care MODULE FIVE | Communitywide Foster Care Prayer Vigil (Current) MODULE SIX | Foster Care Prayer Liturgy MODULE SEVEN | Key Prayer Resources and Creative Elements

The More Than Enough National Working Group on Prayer is a collaborative group of leaders and advocates from churches, organizations, and agencies across the country, working together to help every community pray for vulnerable children and families and for those who care for them.