Journey Fall 2022

Journey

issue no. 16 | Fall 2022

an alumni publication of L ifelin e C hil dre n’s S e r vi ces

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

God’s Very Good Idea By: Trillia Newbell This book for kids celebrates diversity and helps children see how people from all ethnic and social backgrounds are valuable to God.

Foreign to Familiar By: Sarah Lanier This resource assists readers to better understand all nations around the world.

It Takes More Than Love: A Christian Guide to Navigating the Complexities of Cross-Cultural Adoption By: Brittany Salmon This biblically-based guide helps readers embrace the beauty and challenges of transracial adoption.

Lifeline’s Continuing Education Units Lifeline’s Continuing Education Units provide practical and biblically-based resources for support, respite, and continued encouragement. For more information visit lifelinechild.org/ceus.

After They Are Yours: The Grace & Grit of Adoption By: Brian Borgman Brian Borgman talks transparently and redemptively about the often unspoken problems adoptive parents face set in the broader context of a God who is gracious and continually teaches us the meaning of adoption.

Connected Families A ministry that cares for, inspires, and equips parents to receive and pass on God’s grace and truth, by imparting a biblical, memorable, transformational framework for parenting.

For more information visit connectedfamilies.org.

A Letter from Herbie PRESIDENT & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

On June 24, 2022, the United States Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which circumvented state and federal laws concerning abortion for 49 years. The landmark decision in the Dobbs v.

Jackson case, which overturned Roe v. Wade, has created opportunities for ministry to women and children in the United States. Lifeline certainly rejoices in protection for a greater number of lives but also moves with compassionate care for women facing unplanned or even crisis pregnancies.

As these new opportunities arise, Lifeline remains committed to our roots, planted over 40 years ago. Our team is ready to serve, willing to serve, and totally equipped to make a gospel difference in the lives of women and their children.

Looking forward to what lies ahead, Lifeline knows that the advocacy for life does not end with the reversal of Roe. These battles will now be taken to state and federal legislatures where many states will pass abortion legislation much more progressive and deadly than that allowed

by Roe. This is why it is abundantly critical that missional

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families and churches committed to the gospel invest in the lives of the most vulnerable. In this issue of Journey, please read the incredible story of Hugo and Karen López, who were able to adopt their daughter from the same region in Colombia where Hugo was born. You also will read inspiring adoption narratives from both domestic and international families. Lifeline friend and mom, Ashley McMakin of Ashley Mac’s Cafes, also shares her dumpling recipe.

We continually pray for you as you daily live out the gospel with the children God has entrusted to you. Please pray for us and with us to follow God’s leading into the new landscape created by the landmark Dobbs decision.

In Him, Herbert M. Newell, IV President/Executive Director

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lifelinechild.org

Journey L I F E L I N E C H I L D R E N ’ S S E RV I C E S 200 Missionary Ridge Birmingham, Alabama 35242 Phone: 205.967.0811 Website: lifelinechild.org

EDITORIAL MEMORY SMITH Art Director JENNY RIDDLE Editor

RACHEL BIDDY Editor

LEXIE WILLIAMS Layout & Design DR. RICK MOR TON Senior Vice President of Engagement

CONTRIBUTORS Jenny Riddle, Rachel Biddy, Jennifer Travis, & Ashley McMakin

PHOTOGRAPHY Memory Smith, Aubree Stelogeannis, Tim Mossholder, Frank Zhang, & Daniel Lezuch

W H AT I S J O U R N E Y ?

Journey is an alumni publication dedicated to our families who have been through the adoption or foster care process. This is a way to stay in touch with Lifeline’s ministry, to celebrate along with other families through milestones and stories, and to encourage your walk with Christ and the well-being of your family in the days ahead!

W H AT WO U L D YO U L I K E T O S E E I N YO U R N E X T I S S U E ?

We love hearing from you! Send us what you would love to read about in the next issue of Journey to milestones@lifelinechild.org.

I S S U E N O. 1 6 C OV E R FA M I LY The López family lives in Buford, Georgia. They enjoy serving their church’s children’s ministry, taking college courses, and working for a local nonprofit. Karen and Hugo adopted their daughter Tatiana from Colombia in 2021.

WA R B I N G T O N FA R M S Feature family photos were taken on location at Warbington Farms in Cumming, Georgia. For more information about Warbington Farms, visit warbingtonfarms.com.

Contents FA L L 2 0 2 2

04

WELCOME HOME & MILESTONES

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A COMMON INHERITANCE

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PELICAN’S SNOBALLS STANDS FOR ORPHANS

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SERVING THROUGH FOSTER CARE MINISTRY AFTER ADOPTION

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THE ONE WHO PLANTS

Welcome Home

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Milestones

KENADIE GRACE Kenadie Grace was adopted domestically and is thriving in her new home. Her adoptive parents, Adam and Kristin, decided to home school her, which she loves. In her free time, Kenadie enjoys taking dance lessons.

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GRAHAM THOMAS WEHUNT After spending his first 8 weeks of life in Children’s hospital, Graham just hit a major milestone. He recently celebrated his 1st birthday!

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STANDS FOR ORPHANS By : Je n n y R i ddl e

G

rowing up, Ansley Johnson Gwyn often visited her grandparents in Chalmette, Louisiana. Unlike sno-cones she had eaten elsewhere, the sno-ball she experienced in Louisiana impressed upon her a desire to share this treat with others in her hometown of Garner, North Carolina. In 2001, at 13 years old, Ansley founded Pelican’s SnoBalls alongside her dad.

Pelican’s SnoBalls quickly became a preferred sweet spot in taste and in community.

The Johnsons knew that God was the One bringing success, and He grew their company beyond what they could imagine. There are currently over 200 Pelican’s stores in 14 states. Although Pelican’s Snoballs has franchised and grown, the Johnsons maintain a close relationship with the company they founded.

In 2016, Ansley experienced a significant life change that would connect the needs of vulnerable children with Pelican’s Snoballs. She and her husband, Kevin, pursued adoption from India through Lifeline. When they first met their son, Caleb, he was clinging to life in an Indian hospital.

Miraculously, Caleb’s fragile body grew stronger, and the Gwyns were able to leave the hospital four weeks later and are thriving as a family.

Because of their adoption experience, their burden for vulnerable children grew: “We started the adoption process very naive to the realities and complexities of the crisis of orphaned and vulnerable children in the world. As our eyes began to open, we felt a burden to do more. . . . As we looked

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for ways to do more, we kept seeing that Lifeline was already doing those things in really thoughtful and effective ways. So we decided to join!”

Intrigued by the idea of Stand for Orphans , which is a simple way for anyone to become involved in the global orphan crisis, Ansley approached Pelican’s corporate leadership with the idea of partnering with Lifeline’s Stand for Orphans. “Pelican’s had been looking for an opportunity to give back as a company,” Ansley commented, “and this felt like the perfect fit.” Pelican’s corporate leadership, excited to partner with Stand, provided $20,000 in matching funds and encouraged franchisees to participate in the fundraiser through their stores.

From a small daddy/daughter sno-ball project, Pelican’s has become an excellent Lifeline partner that impacts children and families around the globe.

And if you’re wondering the difference between a snocone and a sno-ball, Pelican’s SnoBalls shares insight: a snocone “is the crunchy mess you get at a fair” while a sno-ball is “soft, fluffy shaved ice.”

To learn more about Stand for Orphans and to download your free printable Stand for Orphans Kit, visit standfororphans.org.

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PORK D U M P L I N G S WITH SESAME DIPPING SAUC E By: Ashley McMakin, Lifeline friend, mom, and entrepreneur of Ashley Mac’s Cafes

INGREDIENTS • 50 wonton wrappers • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided, plus more as needed • 1½ cups chopped green cabbage • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger • 2 teaspoons minced garlic • 1 teaspoon kosher salt • 1 pound ground pork • ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sliced green onion, divided • Water, as needed • ¼ cup soy sauce • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds • Garnish: sliced green onion

MAKE-AHEAD After completing step 3, line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Place dumplings on prepared pan, making sure they do not touch each other.

Freeze until completely solid, at least 4 hours or overnight. Transfer dumplings to an airtight, freezer-safe container. Freeze up to 3 months. To cook from frozen, follow instructions above except after the ¼ cup of water has evaporated in Step 4, add an additional ¼ cup of water to the pan. Cover, and cook until the water has almost evaporated.

Continue as directed.

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STEP ONE Using a 3-inch round cutter and working with stacks of 3 at a time, cut wonton wrappers into rounds. Cover with plastic wrap or place in a resealable plastic bag until ready to use so they do not dry out.

STEP TWO In a small saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add cabbage, ginger, garlic, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool completely.

STEP THREE In a medium bowl, mix together cooled cabbage mixture, pork, and ½ cup green onion until just combined. Spoon a small amount of pork mixture into each wonton wrapper. Brush edges of wrapper with a small amount of water. Crimp edges to seal.

STEP FOUR In a large skillet, heat remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium heat.

Add 6 to 10 dumplings, seam side up, to skillet, and cook until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add ¼ cup water to pan; cover and cook until dumplings are tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Uncover and cook until water has evaporated, about 2 minutes.

Repeat procedure with oil as needed for the remaining dumplings, wiping skillet clean between batches.

STEP FIVE In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and remaining 2 tablespoons green onion. Serve dumplings with dipping sauce. Garnish with green onions, if desired.

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By: Jenny Riddle When a family grows through adoption, God has been planting seeds in their lives even before an application for adoption was filled out, even before a child is born. Several Lifeline families shared glimpses into the seeds God has sown in their family’s lives through adoption.

Sowing Faith Throughout Plot Twists Daniel and Markie Baird (a family who adopted from Ukraine), experienced great challenges throughout their adoption process. Their lives were upended when they had to give up a job they loved as house parents at a residential family reunification/counseling program and move across the state. Then, hours before they were scheduled for virtual court in February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. Their judge attempted to keep court, but air raid sirens forced everyone into a bomb shelter. They remember, “The next several months were a haze of unknowns, attempts to do things on our own, surrendering our plans for God’s, and an exponential period of growth

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in our faith and trust in God.” Through many logistical challenges and workings of God, the Bairds were able to bring their daughter home from Ukraine in the midst of a war, and God used that time to “draw [them] into deeper dependence on Him.” Shane and Jennifer (a family who adopted domestically) also experienced faith-building circumstances. During their journey to grow a family, they experienced four miscarriages, infertility, a failed adoption, negativity from others, and the closing of their first adoption agency. Jennifer shares, “It would have been so easy to throw in the towel and quit.”

Every aspect of their desire for a family felt out of their control, and the path was full of heartache. They found themselves at a place where they could choose faith or to walk away. They chose faith: “We had no control but placed everything in God’s control and in God’s hands. We had to trust God’s plan and timing is perfect.”

Justin and Madyson (a family who adopted from Hungary and Bulgaria), started their adoption journey with the intent to adopt a child 0-2 years old from India. In a twist of plans, they adopted a five-year-old boy from Hungary and are bringing home a six-yearold boy from Bulgaria. Although “the events or circumstances that led us to that ultimate outcome were ones we could’ve never planned . . . we are grateful to God that he moved our hearts in such a way to put us into our boys’ lives.” They trusted God’s timing and direction to put them in “the right places at the right time to be able to say ‘yes’ to [their] sweet sons at the exact moment they needed a family.”

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Sowing Strength in the Doubts

Sowing Relationships With Birth Families David and Mary Katherine (a family who adopted domestically), always had a strong desire to have a relationship with their son’s birth family. Through her years working in a Pregnancy Resource Center, Mary Katherine gained a unique perspective of the “hardship women face when experiencing an unplanned pregnancy.” David and Mary Katherine decided, “While it comes with many unknowns and difficult considerations, we know that it is best for him (and us, too!) to have this relationship.” Currently, they prioritize regular contact with their son’s birthmother but let her “lead the way” when it comes to communication. They want their son’s birthmother to feel like part of their family, and they have seen how meaningful their relationship is to this brave lady.

They are excited to see the fruit of their efforts as she “regularly expresses how happy she is to have us and to have placed her son into our family.”

Shane and Jennifer initially did not want any contact with their future child’s birth family. They explain, “We were scared to death and intimidated of the process and didn’t know an open adoption could be what was best for a child.” The more they read, studied, and discussed it, God transformed their hearts. They moved from preferring a closed adoption to a completely open adoption. Now, they have an “amazing” relationship with their child’s birth family. In addition to their child’s birth parents, Shane and Jennifer also have contact with their child’s siblings and his birth grandparents. Jennifer reflects, “The birth family has ministered to us as much as we have to them.” The fruit from this relationship is only beginning, and they can’t wait for their son to be able to tell of this story in years to come.

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Adoption is not an easy process, and the journey is full of twists and turns. Daniel and Markie Baird admit, “Throughout the adoption process, we rarely questioned God’s call to adoption, that is until the period of time that followed us finally getting [our daughter] home.” When the family arrived home, a simple medical admission turned into a five-week hospital stay that included medical transfer flights, surgeries, and multiple seizures. They acknowledge the doubt was their fear: “At the end of the day, our cynical minds and fears allowed us to doubt that our capacity to provide for Jocelyn was enough . . .” The Bairds recounted God’s faithfulness in the past, “. . . By refocusing our hearts back to the source of life and our rock of salvation, we were able to reorient the period of questioning to a source of worship.”

When Jake and Hanna (a family who adopted from Colombia) brought their children into their care in country, Hanna experienced post-adoption depression. She recalls, “Time in country was significantly harder than I could have imagined, and suddenly my mind was filled with doubt, fear, anxiety, and darker thoughts than I had ever faced in my life. . .. The ways I have come to rely on the Lord in the last 14 months have been some of the most painful and hardest battles I’ve faced, but it’s all been worth it.” Hanna began to heal as she sought out help from professionals to support her and put healthy supports in place for her children. Jake and Hanna have continued to do the hard work of building trust and attachment with their children. As a result, they’ve seen God knit their family together through His strength.

When we recognize God’s hand in planting, we are led to worship the One who brings the harvest. As our families walk through twists, doubts, and decisions throughout all stages of the adoption journey, Lifeline is committed to walking with them with understanding and support. Please contact us whenever we can celebrate, pray for, or come alongside you in any way.

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A Common Inheritance By: Rachel B iddy

Boasting the same big, brown eyes and tan complexion, six-year-old Tatiana López closely resembles her mom, Karen López. Coincidentally, Tatiana and her dad, Hugo López, were born in the same region of Colombia. Because they share so many physical and cultural similarities, no stranger would meet the López family and wonder if Tatiana had been adopted. Karen marveled at the fact that “she looks just like us.” When a stranger does meet the López family, what quickly becomes apparent, apart from the family’s many similarities, is their heart for the vulnerable.

Despite their similarities, Hugo and Karen experienced vastly different upbringings. Hugo was born in Colombia and lived there until he was 19. According to Hugo, he experienced a traditional Colombian upbringing. Karen was born in El Salvador and immigrated to the United States as a young child. Despite Karen’s difficult childhood, she became acclimated to and identified with American culture. Because Hugo grew up in Colombia, he witnessed the need that occurs when children age out of orphanages and end up on the street. He desired to help children in Colombia through adoption from a young age because he understood the poverty around him.

Hugo said, “I knew from the bottom of my heart that I just wanted to help a little girl.” Karen observed that as they started the adoption process, “the Lord had put the seed in him when he was

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a young man. For us, it was extremely important that we honor that.”

Karen’s journey toward desiring adoption was a longer road. The couple struggled with infertility. Karen became disheartened through the experience and gave up on the idea of being a mom completely. Eventually, after years of prayer that God would soften her heart to the idea of adoption, Karen realized, “I started feeling this longing.” Karen faithfully attended counseling to prepare her heart for her daughter. She knows the Lord healed her heart during that time and further equipped her to be Tatiana’s mom.

After Karen and Hugo decided to pursue adoption, they contacted an adoption agency. They were caught off guard by the financial aspect of adoption, and they decided to pause their newfound desire to adopt. Although the timing didn’t work out, Karen professed, “God did not allow us to forget. He kept pursuing it in us.”

A few months later, in September 2019, Hugo started a new job at a nonprofit that connected them to Lifeline.

Karen and Hugo faithfully served their church for years before their adoption journey began.

Karen believes “the Lord was setting a foundation” for their future adoption. They poured into their children’s ministry long before the desire to adopt was set on Karen’s heart. When they began the adoption process and required financial assistance, Karen explained, “People took

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us seriously. They knew our hearts.”

She knew, “We could not have done it without our church, without our pastors, without our community, without our small group leaders.”

In 2015 the López family bought a house. They didn’t know it at the time, but they later found out that was the same year Tatiana was born. Karen and Hugo had been hopeful about purchasing a house for a long time.

Hugo said the Lord orchestrated the timing and prepared them for Tatiana by allowing them to buy her future home in 2015.

The miracles that occurred during their waiting process made it clear that the Lord was leading Karen and Hugo to Tatiana. Karen needed a new birth certificate from El Salvador because her documentation accidentally had the wrong birth month. El Salvador’s Embassy told her she needed to travel to El Salvador to complete the paperwork. That same week, Karen reconnected with an aunt she had not spoken to in years. Her aunt happened to be traveling to El Salvador, and she was able to complete the necessary paperwork for Karen. Karen and Hugo Fall 2022

also experienced another miracle with their marriage license, which they knew, “is another miracle within itself.” Karen said, “He showed up in every roadblock we had… He cleared the way.” Hugo agreed, “He parted the seas.” Karen and Hugo know that all the trials they experienced perfectly led them to Tatiana. Karen said, “I know that all the things I went through in my youth and all the struggles that I went through and all of the things that happened in my journey, I know that he was preparing me.”

Hugo shared that what happened next in their adoption journey is “a testimony of what God did in our lives and especially in the process of adoption.” Initially, Hugo and Karen were matched with a six-and-a-halfyear-old girl from a different region of Colombia than Hugo’s childhood home. Hugo had difficulty accepting this referral because he expected to adopt a child from the same region he is from. They both had hopes of adopting a younger child too. Karen and Hugo prayed and asked God to soften their hearts to the idea of adopting a child who didn’t match - 12 -

their initial expectations. Hugo said, “If this is what God has for me, then this is what we will do.” The couple became genuinely excited and grew to love this little girl. When the match fell through, Karen explained, “We correlate that as if you were pregnant, then you had a miscarriage. It felt like it was a loss.” She said, “We mourned the loss because it was a loss.” The devastation that Karen and Hugo felt came from that feeling of loss and the realization that they had surrendered their desires to the Lord but did not receive an immediate reward. “I surrendered my heart to You. My husband surrendered his wants and needs to You. And it’s not the one. So that was incredibly hard,” Karen elaborated about her feelings of confusion during that time.

That loss was in September, and then Hugo and Karen received a Christmas miracle. They were matched with Tatiana on December 21, 2020. The family calls Tatiana their Christmas miracle, because, typically, people in Colombia begin celebrating Christmas during the last few weeks of December. “In lifelinechild.org

His amazing faithfulness and mercy towards us, we got a match with our daughter,” said Karen. Karen and Hugo traveled to Colombia in April 2021. After quarantine and more waiting, their daughter was finally going home after five years of living in foster care. Karen knew, “The enemy tried to do everything possible to stop this process from happening. God did not allow it. In His infinite grace towards me, He softened my heart. Because He knew that little girl from when she was being formed in her mother’s womb, (that) we were going to be her parents.”

When Tatiana arrived home, Hugo and Karen realized more fully the gift of their shared cultural background.

Tatiana had experienced trauma in her past, but her transition to her forever family was made easier by Hugo’s understanding of her culture. Karen said, “We were even more prepared than the typical Hispanic family.” Hugo and Tatiana already knew all the same songs, ate the same food, and spoke the same dialect. Sharing a common culture with her father was a comfort to Tatiana because she had already experienced enough uncertainty during her young life. He especially noted the miracle that he and Tatiana are from the same region. “You can come from the same country, but you’re very different people,” Hugo

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observed about people from different regions of Colombia because of how vastly they can differ in culture. Karen recognized “there are challenges, but that’s one area where God has been really faithful.”

Karen and Hugo have a wealth of advice they want potential adoptive families to know. Karen said,

“MAKE SURE IT’S A CALLING. IT’S NOT SOMETHING THAT YOU JUST SAY, OKAY, I WOKE UP THIS MORNING, AND I FEEL LIKE ADOPTING A LITTLE PERSON FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY.

”

“Make sure it’s a calling. It’s not something that you just say, okay, I woke up this morning, and I feel like adopting a little person from another country.” Hugo wants people to know, “If you’re going to adopt, make sure you have a strong community. If your community doesn’t back you up,

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there’s no way that you’re going to be able to succeed in this.”

They emphasized the importance of adoptive parents preparing their minds with knowledge along with preparing their hearts. Karen wants adoptive parents to know the significance of educating themselves on trauma. Through Lifeline’s Rooted in Love™ conference, along with her own research, Karen felt more equipped to care for Tatiana and to understand the circumstances her daughter had experienced prior to adoption. She and Hugo also urged adoptive parents to learn about the culture of their child’s home country.

They know that regardless of sharing cultural heritage, the Lord can break cultural barriers to bring families together.

The Lord planted seeds of faith in Karen and Hugo that grew to fruition in them individually. Because both of their roots remained firmly planted in the gospel, their faith stayed steadfast through every hardship that led them to Tatiana. The result allowed them to be used by God to then sow seeds of faith in Tatiana’s life. The family now shares a common inheritance from the Lord along with their common culture. Karen wisely stated, “This is my prayer to Him every morning: Guide me. Give me wisdom so she can know you.”

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Serving Through

FOSTER CARE

After Adoption By: Rachel Biddy & Jennifer Travis

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After a family has adopted, their experience of adoption can fuel a deep-rooted desire to continue caring for vulnerable children. It often opens a family’s eyes to opportunities to show gospel hope to children and their birth families through foster care ministry. Playing a role in family restoration is a meaningful ministry opportunity for adoptive families to act as the Body of Christ and serve the needs of children in foster care, their birth families, current foster families, and child welfare workers.

Families with children from adoption may struggle with engagement in foster care because of the lack of permanency that short-term care introduces. Nevertheless, they can feel encouraged because there are numerous ways to get involved aside from becoming foster families. Children from adoption can help their parents in foster care ministry and gain the experience of serving others.

PRAYER Effective foster care ministry prospers when centered on prayer because everyone involved in this difficult process needs strength from the Lord. Parents can engage their children in prayer and teach them the importance of turning to the Lord for their strength. Families can incorporate a few practices into prayer: • Creating a prayer calendar, including daily prayer prompts, or • Praying for foster families in corporate prayer on Sundays

ACTS OF SERVICE Practical acts of service can ease the weight of the physical, social, emotional, and spiritual investment that foster families make. Regardless of each adoptive family’s challenges, God has given them resources to love and support foster families well. Families can participate in multiple acts of service: • Giving of time through running errands, cleaning the house, doing yard work, or • Contributing to meals or needed supplies

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SERVING GOVERNMENT WORKERS Adoptive families who desire to minister to an often-overworked group of people can minister to Child Protective Services workers. The local church exhibiting care and concern is an impactful way to share Christ with people working in a system in need.

Ministering to child welfare workers can involve meaningful activities: • Engaging in prayer by starting an intercessory prayer ministry, • Taking action by providing lunch or other resources, or • Giving encouragement using specific verses from scripture

FAMILIES COUNT ™ Adoptive families who desire to serve birth families walking through challenging situations can get their church involved through Families Count™.

Families Count is a family restoration and preservation ministry for parents seeking permanency with their children.

Through Families Count, local churches have a platform to minister to and walk with broken families. The growth and healing children see in their parents through Families Count impacts them greatly. Because the end goal of foster care is for children to be reunited with their families, engaging in birth family ministry is a vital way to help families succeed. Participating in Families Count could look like numerous roles: • Serving as a Co-Leader, usually preferred as a married couple, or serving as a one-on-one mentor who meets weekly with participants, • Becoming a Ministry Coordinator and overseeing the Families Count ministry in your church, or • Caring for participating families by providing food, transportation, or childcare for meetings

RESPITE CARE Adoptive families who have the capacity to give a significant amount of time might enjoy getting involved in respite care. Respite care offers short-term

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relief for primary caregivers and is just one approach to encourage them in their service. Adoptive families can engage in this type of relief care through a few ways: • Providing aid with transportation, or • Volunteering to provide respite care for longer timeframes

HERITAGE BUILDERS Another foster care program adoptive families can participate in, especially if their hearts are burdened for children who are aging out of foster care, is Heritage Builders™. Heritage Builders was designed for the local church to help care for this highly vulnerable population. Many teenagers do not have a family or a support system when they age out of the foster care system. These teenagers and young adults are at risk of being trafficked, imprisoned, or homeless. Adoptive families can approach their churches about becoming involved with Heritage Builders and partner with them to ensure that adolescents have resources to exit the foster care system well. Through Heritage Builders, the church can become involved by: • Advocating through one-on-one relationships, • Providing life-readiness trainings, or • Serving as a connection to resources

ENCOURAGEMENT Foster care is challenging even with support. Although the encouragement of others helps, encouragement that comes from the Lord is above any support that this world could offer.

Adoptive families can direct foster families to the promises of God by reminding them of the truth found in the gospel. This encouragement could look like the following suggestions: • Creating a “blessings box” with passages from scripture, one for every day of the month, or • Forming support groups that provide a community that reminds families of God’s love.

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SERVING THROUGH BECOMING A FOSTER FAMILY Like with adoption, the choice to care for children in foster care recognizes the impact of past trauma in a child’s perception of the world as well as parents’ own need for the gospel. Families must be committed to sharing grace with children through the fear and instability they have faced as well as sharing grace in encounters with birth families.

Additionally, families must recognize that although foster care can be disruptive for all children in the home, it can

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be even more disruptive and triggering for children from adoption. Therefore, experts generally recommend that families wait a minimum of one year after their child from adoption has come home before they start the foster care process.

Foster parents can know that when their roots are planted deeply in the truth of who God is, they can point the children in their home to the only real source of joy, peace, and hope. To learn more about foster parenting and to start on the path toward becoming a licensed foster parent, visit lifelinechild.org/ become-a-foster-parent/.

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THE FRUIT FROM SERVING Foster families can know they are spreading gospel hope when they choose to serve through foster care ministry. Through Lifeline’s resources for foster families and church foster care ministries, parents and children hear about hope in Christ as they work toward family reunification. As a family chooses to partner with Lifeline through one of Lifeline’s programs, they act in obedience to the Lord to champion reunification in families.

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A N I N T E RV I E W W I T H J O D I E F RY E WHY DID YOU WRITE COMING TO LIGHT: AN ADVENT EXPERIENCE THROUGH THE BOOK OF LUKE? Coming to Light began on my Instagram page in 2019, as I read through the book of Luke during Advent season. It became a treasure hunt as I read one chapter a day, expectantly searching for just the right “gem” to bring into the light. How like God to create this Christmas storybook-of-the-Bible with twenty-four chapters, for the twenty-four days leading up to what we herald as His birthday.

Coming to Light is not only an Advent devotional but a piece of my own story.

It illuminates the Truth I find myself preaching to my prone-to-wander heart.

I’ve learned to cherish Advent more with each passing year, both in the beautiful and the brutal.

WHAT DOES ADVENT MEAN TO YOU? I didn’t appreciate the significance of Advent until I was an adult. I was practically born in the church nursery, and over the course of my growing-up years, I delighted in the usual wonder of Christmas. The longer I walked and talked with Jesus, my relationship with Him and His Bride grew with great respect and affection.

The season of Advent represents a time to slow and receive, which is not my natural inclination during one of the most anticipated, and busiest, times of the year! But it’s exactly what the Father knew I needed: permission to stop—to rest in peace, to wait expectantly, and to prepare quietly for the past, present, and future coming of the greatest Gift ever given.

These days of Christmas remind us that not only has our greatest need been met in Christ’s coming, but our every need is sufficient in the God who is with us right now and will forever be when He comes again.

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WHAT IS THE MEANING BEHIND

WHERE CAN PEOPLE FIND COMING TO LIGHT?

Advent means “coming.” It was first practiced as a season of celebration for the Messiah’s birth (the miraculous first coming). Over the course of centuries, Christians broadened the meaning of Advent to hold space for the celebration of the glorious second coming of Christ.

The One who, like the rising of the sun, keeps coming for us—morning by morning His mercies new, until that final Day. The thing about this season is that it’s not a thing at all. It’s a Person who personally created us and longs to love us.

A personal God who is always coming to light the way with His glory and grace.

Coming to Light is a Christmas wonder that I hope and pray will light the Way for you, not just for twenty-five days, but the whole year through.

Coming to Light: An Advent Experience Through the Book of Luke is available on Amazon, as well as several boutiques in the Birmingham area. You can also keep up with the launch on my Instagram page @jodie.frye.

THE NAME COMING TO LIGHT?

LIFELINE ADVENT RESOURCES:

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The Defender Bible Study Advent Series The Defender Bible Study is a weekly study of God’s word. During Advent, Lifeline offers a 25-day Advent series as we prepare our hearts for Christmas.

HOW DO YOU RECOMMEND THAT PEOPLE USE THIS ENCOURAGING RESOURCE? Coming to Light is an interactive devotional. For every day in December, you will read the corresponding chapter in Luke.

Each day has a word of the day taken from a portion of the reading in Luke. This word, surrounded with beautiful watercolor art, is meant to serve as inspiration for all the things that come small, yet glorious. Just like Jesus.

At the end of the devotion, you will find a section called Reflect, where you will respond to the Scripture. For those of us who need a little more space to process our hearts, there is a lined Journal page called Come with Your Heart. Additionally, twenty-five audio recordings that directly correlate with the daily readings have been created for you to further experience the quiet joy of Advent. It’s something you can Listen to while you’re running your busy Christmas errands, with your family around your festive dinner table, or lighting the Advent candles of hope, love, joy, and peace.

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Advent Cards We created a set of beautifully designed Advent cards that can walk your family through the whole story of Christ’s coming. Download for free or purchase to have them professionally printed and mailed to you.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

A L A B AM A President’s Weekend The Ritz-Carlton February 16-19, 2023

Golf Tournament Greystone Legacy April 20, 2023

Family Night at the Barons Regions Field July 21, 2023

R(un) for One Dawson Memorial Baptist Church September 09, 2023

Share the Story Banquet The Club October 19, 2023

F O L L O W @ L I F EL I NECHI LD AC RO S S S O CIAL M EDIA FO R UPDATE S A N D D ETAI L S ON U PCOM IN G EV EN T S .

At Lifeline, we are committed to the woman in an unexpected pregnancy, the foster parent, the unborn, the adoptive parent, and the orphan across the globe. When we commit to helping the vulnerable, God uses us to change lives.

Fall 2022

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