05/30/2026
Food for thought 💐
What if we valued foster parents like we do missionaries?
I have watched churches rally around missionaries.
We pray for them.
We raise money for them.
We send support every month.
We commission them.
We celebrate them.
We tell their stories.
And we should.
But I can’t help wondering…
What if we did the same for foster families?
Not instead of.
Also.
Because there are families in your church who are walking into hard places every single day.
Families saying yes to children carrying trauma.
Families sitting in waiting rooms, courtrooms, therapy appointments, and visitation centers.
Families loving children whose futures are uncertain.
Families holding heartbreak, grief, hope, and redemption all at the same time.
And most of them are doing it quietly.
No newsletters.
No support pledges.
No monthly updates.
No commissioning service.
Just a simple yes to whatever God places in front of them.
What if the Church saw that as ministry too?
What if we prayed over the family saying yes to a placement?
What if we brought meals when a new child arrived?
What if we filled their pantry?
What if we babysat so they could breathe for a minute?
What if we surrounded them the same way we surround those we send across the world?
Because foster care is not just social work.
It is ministry.
It is waking up at 2 a.m. with a child who is grieving.
It is sitting through visits and court hearings.
It is loving children who are hurting.
It is showing up over and over again when it would be easier not to.
It is Kingdom work.
Right here.
In our neighborhoods.
In our schools.
In our own church pews.
We cheer for the people God calls overseas.
And we should.
But maybe it’s time we started noticing the people He called across town too.
The foster parents.
The kinship caregivers.
The adoptive families.
The ones quietly carrying burdens most people will never see.
They’re not looking for applause.
But they do need support.
And they should not have to carry the mission field alone.
