On Sunday, May 2, from 1:30 to 3:00 pm, in Room West C at Irving Bible Church, Tapestry will host a brief information meeting for anyone interested in knowing more about foster care, adoption from foster care or respite/relief care. This information meeting is a great opportunity to simply get more information about foster care and foster adoption to help you decide what path might be best for you and your family. For those wanting to move forward, foster care/adoption training classes will be held at Irving Bible Church (led by Arrow Child & Family Ministries) starting Tuesday, May 4. Click here for the complete Spring 2010 foster care/foster adoption training schedule, including dates and times.
As more and more people answer the call to adopt, it is important that we understand that the children that God will bring into our lives through adoption and foster care will likely have deep hurts and needs. Therefore, an important part of our call is to be prepared to be used by God to help these children heal and become whole. This is undoubtedly one of the greatest joys and privileges of adoption – but we know it will not be easy.
The resources and tools offered by Empowered To Connect are designed to help those whom God is calling and has called to answer that call well – to know what to expect, to be ready and prepared and, ultimately, to help bring long-term healing to their child. It is precisely this kind of ‘love in action’ that we believe reflects what it means to be called by God to adopt.
Empowered To Connect has recently released a new video series entitled Insights & Gifts. This new 16 video series (developed in partnership with the TCU Institute of Child Development) offers seven insights and seven gifts that are highly relevant for those who are parenting or considering adopting or fostering children from hard places. Empowered To Connect is also developing a discussion guide for this video series, which will be available in May 2010.
You can view the introduction to this new series below and you can find all of the videos in this series here. We hope that you will watch and be blessed by the insights and gifts Dr. Purvis offers.
Mark your calendars now for Tapestry’s next Foster Family Fun Fest at IBC on Saturday, May 1, 3:00 to 5:00 pm.
This free event will include games, activities and snacks focused on ages 3 to 10 — but siblings are welcome. The event is open to all foster and foster/adopt families. In addition, all kids in care will get to “shop” for a free pair of flip flops at the end of the event, provided by IBC’s Children’s Ministry.
If you plan to attend please email us as soon as possible, and please include the names and ages of the children who will be attending so we can be sure to have plenty of everything for everyone. Parents must attend with their children.
For more information or to let us know you and your kids are coming contact Amy Monroe at tapestry@irvingbible.org.
Please help Shawn find a family soon – one where he will have a brother and sister, and maybe even a pet or two. Help his new family to treat him well and to be patient with him as he heals from his past hurts. Help him to do well in school and to make lots of friends.
I love you Jesus, Amen.”
This is the prayer that my 8 year old, Grant, prayed last night. He, along with lots of other kids at IBC (our church), is praying for children in foster care. Not just children generally – he’s praying for specific kids. Last night was Shawn. Tonight he will pray for Ian and Cheyenne.
You can join with us in praying for children in foster care by visiting our prayer guide, where you will also find pictures and profiles of the children awaiting adoption that we are praying for.
During the month of April Tapestry is partnering with the Children’s Ministry at Irving Bible Church to collect flip flops and sandals for children in foster care. It’s just a fun way to help raise awareness of the needs of children in foster careas well as the many ways that people can love and serve them.
Just bring a pair (or two) of new flip-flops or sandals for a boy or girl of any age, from toddler to pre-teen, to Irving Bible Church on Sunday or at any Tapestry event or small group during the month of April. Help us put flip flops on the feet . . . and smiles on the faces of children in foster care.
But that’s not all you can do! Here are just a few ways you can get involved to love and serve children in our area who are in foster care:
Pray for children in foster care who are waiting for a forever family. Click here for a prayer guide and a few of the children that we are currently praying for.
Donate to the Tapestry Kid’s Closet. Donations can be made in the Kids Closet box in the Town Square at IBC. Click here for a list of items that we currently need.
Attend the upcoming Foster/Adopt Information Meeting on Sunday, May 2, from 1:30 to 3:00 pm, at IBC to learn more about becoming a foster, adoptive or respite care parent.
Foster/adopt training classes will be offered at IBC starting May 4 for those who are ready to move forward — click here for more details about the training.
Donate a $10 Wal-Mart gift card to help us provide framed pictures and photo albums for sibling groups that have been separated while in foster care. Gift cards will be collected at the Tapestry event on Saturday, April 17.
Help us buy adoption related books for CPS workers to use as they prepare children in foster care to transition to their adoptive families. The books are $10 each and donations will be collected at the Tapestry event on Saturday, April 17.
Many Tapestry families as well as other adoptive families around the area recently participated in a play therapy research study led by Kara Holt. Specifically, the study trained parents using the Child-Parent Relationship Training (CPRT) model, which empowers parents to be the therapeutic change agent in the life of their child.
The ten-session training taught parents basic child-centered play therapy techniques and relationship-based parenting strategies. While this is a well-researched intervention, the effects of this parent training had not been explored with adoptive families……..until NOW! Over 60 adoptive parents participated in the exploratory research study that examined the effects of CPRT on adopted children’s behavioral problems, parent-child relationship stress, and parental empathy. The results are of this research are ready to be shared!
If you want to learn about the results of this research study make plans to join us. This presentation is for anyone who would like to hear more about Child-Parent Relationship Training, play therapy, or participated in the recent research study and wants to learn about the study’s findings!
The meeting will be held on Sunday, April 18, from 5:00 to 6:30 pm, at Irving Bible Church in the Training Center (across from the Tubes). Sunday evening children’s programs are available for ages 0 to 12 during this time and reservations are not required (but it would be great if you would email Kara at kara.holt@unt.edu to let her know if you plan to attend). Feel free to forward this email to anyone who may be interested in attending.
Make plans to join us for our next Tapestry large group event on Saturday, April 17, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. This event, entitled Overcoming Challenges Along the Journey, will feature a story panel of adoptive and foster families who will share about the challenges, joys and insights they have gained as they have traveled the adoption and foster care journey.
No matter where you are in the adoption or foster care process, this event is sure to be both informative and inspirational – so make plans to join us. The event is free and training credits will be available. Childcare is also available for ages 0 to 12 with advanced registration (at least 48 hours before the event).
Tapestry is growing up. It’s hard to believe but the ministry turns 5 years old this year – and what a 5 years it has been.
In September 2005, we hosted our first “event.” We had 20 people there. Not families — people. But just the right people were there. In fact, most of them are still closely connected to Tapestry. Since then we have seen God use this ministry to touch the lives of many children and families, through small groups, mentoring, educational events, conferences, advocacy and outreach. In the last year alone Tapestry has directly served over 1,000 adults through various ministry events and activities. In addition, through the Tapestry website we are able to share our ideas, resources and stories with countless other families and churches literally across the country (and beyond).
In the end, the growth that we have seen speaks far more to the needs of children and families in our community (and every community) and the power and reach of the local church, than it does to anything that we ourselves have done. We are humbled that God has used us to play a small part in the lives of so many, and we are excited about what He has in store for us as a ministry and a community.
During any given week, we receive calls from people across the nation wanting to start an adoption, foster care or orphan care ministry in their church. Many of them have very similar questions: How do you get started? What do you do at your small groups and events? How do you handle this or that? Three things we have learned in these past five years are that there are no easy answers (although there are some very accessible and available resources), there is no ’one size fits all,’ and there are no shortcuts (at least none worth taking).
There are, however, three things that we at Tapestry would recommend to virtually everyone wanting to start or grow an adoption, foster care or orphan care ministry in their local church.
First, we would encourage every church wanting to start or grow a ministry to attend Summit VI in Minneapolis on April 29 and 30. Why? It’s simple — you will not find anywhere a gathering of more like-minded, passionate people, more helpful resources and more readily implementable ideas. No matter where you are coming from, no matter how much it costs to get there (and keep in mind the cost of Summit itself is incredibly modest), we would tell you the investment is undoubtedly worth it. We’ve gone to every Summit since Summit II and we would love to meet you at Summit VI in Minneapolis.
Second, we would encourage your church to join the Christian Alliance for Orphans. Membership is free and it takes only a few minutes to complete the forms and mail them in. By joining you will be adding your church’s name to the growing list of churhces, organizations and agencies that are committed to working together to serve orphans and at-risk children in Jesus’ name. You can learn more about how your church can become a member here.
Third, we would encourage your church to think “outside the walls” in terms of your adoption, foster care or orphan care ministry. We mentioned that over 1,000 adults (and too many kiddos to count) have been directly served by and connected with Tapestry in the past year alone. The great thing is that only about 200 or so of those same adults have ever attended a worship service at Irving Bible Church. The majority of the families we serve attend different churches all over the North Texas area, and some do not attend church at all. We wish we could say that we planned it this way — but this is simply one of the many surprises that God had in store for us along this journey. Having seen how God has used a church adoption and foster ministry to have a community-wide impact, we would encourage every church to start out by thinking and reaching “outside the walls.”
We remain keenly aware that the needs of adoptive and foster families as well as orphans in your community and around the world are certainly great. However, we are convinced that the local church not only has the answers, but is uniquely equipped to provide those answers in the context of a grace-filled community that is loving, compassionate and committed.
If you and your church are already in the game, keep going. If you’re not, give us a call or send us an email – we would love to help. But keep in mind the three things we have learned and the three things we would do if we were just getting started — and make plans to get going on what is sure to be the adventure of a lifetime.
