God Has No Foster Children

The day was a sunny spring afternoon in April 2010, when two boys came home from school only to find themselves alone and locked out. The boys patiently awaited the return of their mother to share the exciting day they had at school. When the mother finally returned home, she was accompanied with the boys two little sisters, grandmother, and a friend of the grandmothers. They picked the boys up and went back out to a store. What started out to be a delightful day ended with unfortunate events. Although they were involved in a car crash, the family did return home safe. After returning home, the four children went outdoors to play. Shortly later an argument broke out between mother and grandmother, which led the neighbor to call the police. When the police arrived, the three women were sent to jail because of intoxication and the four children went into foster care, yet again.


This is the memory O’Ryan, the oldest child, shared with me recently. The children had two visitations with mother in December, and none since. This has led O’Ryan to missing his mother and trying to find a way to process his feelings from the separation. O’Ryan is not mad at his mother only sad. I took this opportunity to share with O’Ryan scripture and explained to him, God has no foster children. I read him passages from Galatian 4:5 and Ephesians 1:5 and showed him that we all are adopted sons and daughters of God, none of us are ever considered fatherless, and we will always have a permanent place in the family of God. He shared with me, “out of all the places we have stayed, this feels like home and a family the most.” I hurried, grabbed him and wrapped my arms around him to keep him from seeing the tears! What an awesome feeling God allowed for me to feel at the time. With His help, knowing we are making a difference in a child’s life, for the glory of God.

Most of the children Joey and I see have been victims of repeated abuse, neglect, and have not experienced a nurturing, stable environment. After so many separation and placements occur in the life of a child, a child becomes so scared that he or she loses all hope. This is why our ultimate goal is to help these children to know Jesus Christ. Because only though Christ are we able to experience the ultimate adoption into the family of God and restore faith. We want to bring light in place of darkness in these children’s life. We thank each of you, who help us in any way, to make this happen.

The four children we currently have, and who have been with us since July, are doing great. These four had a hard time trusting, loving, and just seeming happy. Now we see children who laughs, hugs, loves, smiles, and trust. It is indeed an amazing site to behold. Here is a quick update on the four; O’Ryan (8) is now wearing glasses, doing well in school, and enjoys making us pictures to hang everywhere. Zion (6) loves to learn how to read, doing well in school, and loves beating his brother in relay races. Phylicity (5) just celebrated a birthday, loves for us to buy her new clothes, and enjoys fixing her little sister’s hair. Adessa (2) loves to sing and dance, play with Taylor, and loves to give ANYONE hugs. They have come a long way since July, however, I would have to say Adessa has changed the most. It is hard to explain, but it is like watching a cocoon develop into a butterfly.

We have seen six children following Christmas day. Yes, on Christmas we received two little boys who were abandon from their mother. They stayed with us 10 days and then went home to their grandmother. A few days later we received three more children, whom only taken for the night while mother and grandmother spent the night in jail as a result of public intoxication. Finally, we received another little boy and he stayed with us for seven days for the reason of neglect. All of these children are so precious and it hurts us to know personally and see firsthand what they go through. People need to know who God is, they need to know what God can offer them, and they need to know how to follow Him.

In order for a change to take place, I think it is more than just knowing Him it is learning how to follow Him and be a disciple. This is why Joey has felt a strong conviction to start a bible study on Monday evenings. It will be for anyone who wants to come and learn how to make a “RADICAL” change in his or her life. We purchased the Radical lesson plan and a few books to give out to help others learn how to make this change. The other purposes of the study is for Joey and I to learn more about how we are commanded to make the same change and to build more relationships with people as we had back home.

We have built a few relationships with the children in the community during open gym nights; however, we want to see these and more relationships become stronger and more trusting. So we have been led to start two classes up on Saturdays twice a month. One class for girls and the other for boys. The targeted ages will be six to eleven, they will incorporate a bible study and a “how-to” workshop. These classes will be fun, hands on, and provide a hot meal. We are starting both classes in March. I will try to provide pictures as we go. We are excited and have big ideas and plans, but we are going with God’s direction and guidance first.

Joey and I know God sent us here for a reason. Although sometimes we become discouraged, wonder if it is time to go back home, and lonely. When these feelings do come to surface, God is always showing up and confirming that we are to continue his work here. Examples of His confirmation have been; increase in monthly financial support, support from another church, support from people we barely know, faces of the children, ministry ideas, encouraging words, scripture, and a reminder of what is in our heart. God is not giving up on NCF or the Navajo and neither are we.

Please be in prayer over all that is mentioned in this blog, along with the families of James and Carol, Bo and Rosita, the families who are suffering from direct or indirect alcohol abuse, women’s shelter, and our children. God Bless each of you!

Love Angie