Bethany Baptist Church Foster and Adoption Ministry

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Bethany Baptist ChurchFoster and Adoption
MinistryOpen Hearts, Open Homes
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Presentation Outline

• Ministry Goal
• Biblical Mandates
• Opportunities for Believers at Bethany
• Opportunities for Bethany as a Church
• Current Status and Next Steps

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Ministry Goal

• Equip families to reach foster children and
  orphans through the ministry of the Home, with
  the guidance, support and prayer of the church
  bodyto the glory of God!

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Biblical Mandates

• Gods Care for Orphans
• Deut 1018a He executes justice for the orphan
  and the widow.
• Psalm 1014b The unfortunate commits himself to
  Thee Thou hast been the helper of the orphan.
• Psalm 685 A father of the fatherless and a
  judge for the widows, Is God in His holy
  habitation.
• Hosea 143 For in Thee the orphan finds mercy.

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Biblical Mandates

• Gods People Care for Orphans
• Isaiah 117 Learn to do good Seek justice,
  Reprove the ruthless Defend the orphan, Plead
  for the widow.
• James 127 Religion that God our Father accepts
  as pure and faultless is this to look after
  orphans and widows in their distress and to keep
  oneself from being polluted by the world.

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Biblical Mandates

• Orphans and Evangelism
• Deut 66-9 And these words, which I am
  commanding you today, shall be on your heart
  and you shall teach them diligently to your sons
  and shall talk of them when you sit in your house
  and when you walk by the way and when you lie
  down and when you rise up. And you shall bind
  them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as
  frontals on your forehead. And you shall write
  them on the doorposts of your house and on your
  gates.

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Biblical Mandates

• Orphans and Evangelism
• Matthew 2819-20 Go therefore and make
  disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in
  the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy
  Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I
  commanded you and lo, I am with you always, even
  to the end of the age.
• Revelation 59 And they sang a new song,
  saying, "Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to
  break its seals for Thou wast slain, and didst
  purchase for God with Thy blood men from every
  tribe and tongue and people and nation.

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Opportunities for Believers at Bethany

• 1. Adopting Children
• 2. Fostering Children
• 3. Mentoring Families who Foster and Adopt
• 4. Prayer Commitment
• 5. Financial Support
• 6. Babysitting
• 7. Administration

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1. Adoption - Domestic

• Sharing the love of Christ with a child by making
  him or her a permanent member of a family
• Agency Adoption - Children matched with parents
  via Agencies (DCFS, Catholic or Lutheran Social
  Services)
• Numerous eligible children in the Central
  Illinois area
• Through DCFS, little to no cost partial expense
  subsidization through age 18 (medical card WIC)
• Private Adoption Children matched with parents
  via Doctors, Lawyers, Crisis Pregnancy Center,
  word of mouth, etc.
• A consenting birth mother matched with an
  eligible family

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1. Adoption - Foreign

• Sharing the love of Christ with a child from
  another country by making him or her a permanent
  member of a family
• Number of Orphans worldwide is over one hundred
  million
• Common countries for adopting include China,
  Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, India, and Guatemala
  (to name a few)
• Children matched with parents via agencies
• Agency has staff in both the US and in target
  country
• FamilyLife has recommended agencies

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2. Foster Care

• Sharing the love of Christ with children by
  bringing them into the family on a short or long
  term basis
• Short term foster opportunities exist for
  families to offer respite to long term families
• Eligible children range from newborn to age 18
• Through DCFS, families must
• Complete a home study
• Complete classes
• There is a constant waiting list of children
• Families can decide to foster a placement child
  based on gender, race, age, disability,
  likelihood of adoption, and any other available
  information

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3. Mentoring

• A Mentor serves to guide a new family through the
  Adoption and Foster process from the very first
  step
• Many families within Bethany have experienced
  Adopting and/or Fostering and can offer prayers,
  advice, answers, encouragement and guidance to
  new families.
• Adopting and Fostering can be emotionally and
  mentally overwhelming
• The adoption experience can bring long waiting
  periods, last minute back-outs by biological
  Mother, private questions, numerous questions,
  etc.
• The foster experience can include frustrations
  with agencies, emotionally scared children,
  separation anxiety for both the children and
  foster parents when children are relocated, etc.

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4. Prayer Commitment

• The faithful prayers of believers at Bethany will
  be essential for this ministry
• Prayer needs include
• Families both considering and in the process of
  adopting and fostering
• Children who will be impacted by this ministry
• Orphanages around the world who sustain children
  while they wait for adoption

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5. Financial Support

• Believers at Bethany have the opportunity to give
  to help meet the financial needs associated with
  adoption
• Adoption expenses range from 10,000 to 30,000
• Opportunities may exist for
• Giving to specific families who are trying to
  adopt
• Giving towards an adoption fund
• Giving to the general fund

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6. Baby-sitting

• Providing relief to foster parents by babysitting
• Increasing the family size can stand as a
  significant barrier
• Other families, individuals, or even a team could
  organize to baby-sit for families who are
  fostering children on a monthly or quarterly
  basis
• Could utilize church facilities to accommodate
  numerous families

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7. Administration

• The assistance of several individuals will be
  needed to organize, plan, and communicate for
  this ministry
• Opportunities include
• Communication to the Church and those involved
• Planning and running events
• Informational Meetings
• Bible Study
• Answering questions
• Leadership responsibilities for specific areas
• Domestic Adoption
• Foreign Adoption
• Foster Care

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Opportunities for Bethany as a Church

• 1. Facilities
• 2. Communications
• 3. Financial Support

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Facilities

• To help with the ministry, Bethany could offer
  facilities for
• Informational Luncheons several times a year
• Meeting place for a Bible study
• Baby-sitting team once a month or quarterly for
  participating families
• Provide a meeting place for DCFS training classes
• Meetings for general administration purposes

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Communications

• Individuals leading this ministry will need to
  communicate to the general congregation and to
  those involved
• Bethany could facilitate the communication of
  this ministry to the church body through
• Announcements in the bulletin
• The pulpit
• Adult Bible Communities
• Website
• The Broadcaster

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Financial Support

• As families face significant expenses with
  adoption, Bethany has the opportunity to help by
  creating a specific adoption fund and assisting
  from the general fund
• Expenses can range in cost from 10,000 to
  30,000 varying significantly based on country,
  agency and foreign vs. domestic
• Most significant expenses consist of
• Agency/Program fees 2,000 - 28,000
• Orphanage fees or donations 1,000 - 5,000
• Travel airfare accommodations 500 - 10,000
• Attorney fees 500 9,500
• Birthmother expenses 0 - 5,000
• Home study fees 500 - 3,000
• Document fees 35 - 2,400
• Misc 500 5,000
• Screening, fees in foreign country, physicals,
  dossier translation preparation, USCIS fees,
  etc.

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Current Financial Assistance Available

• Employer Grants
• State Farm - 5,000 per adoption (Caterpillar -
  ?)
• Life International Matching Grants (1,000 -
  5,000)
• Needs Based at the discretion of LI
• Funds from Bethany (church individuals) given
  to LI for Bethany grant purposes Funds raised
  by the family (through support letters for
  example)
• Adoption Tax Credit (10,000 per adoption)
• Remaining credit can fall to next year for up to
  5 years
• Does not help with up-front investment

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Funding opportunities for Bethany

• Connect a giver with a specific adoption effort
• Adoption Fund Fixed amount per adoption and/or
  variable amount based on needs
• General Fund Discretionary assistance from the
  general fund would be available for families who
  still fall short on necessary funds
• Support Letters similar in concept to support
  letters for missions trips
• Consider starting a Fund at Life International
  for their matching grant program
• Grant amount is needs based at the discretion of
  LI

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Funding opportunities (cont.)

• Funds provided by Bethany should have specific
  criteria established by leadership
• Criteria examples Married for at least a year,
  Members of Bethany, Completed the Bible Study,
  Personal financial status review (see application
  for LI for net worth determination example)
• 10,000 Tax credit is prior to Adopting
• An Interest-free loan could be est. with the
  intent that tax credit is used to repay (LI
  provides a program like this)

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Current Status and Next Steps

• Next Steps
• 1. Continued direction from leadership
• 2. Organization of ministry participants into
  functional areas (Domestic and Foreign Adoption,
  Foster Care)
• 3. Plan Bible Study and Informational Meetings
• 4. Finalize scope of the ministry at Bethany and
  begin communicating

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