Saddleback
Church’s Orphan Care Initiative gathered in May to catch the vision of how
mobilized volunteers can collectively end the crisis of children living outside
of parental care right here in Orange County. The need of vulnerable children
to belong in loving, lasting, and legal families is daunting, but together,
there is hope of meeting this need locally by 2020. Accomplishing this vision
will depend upon the church, county, and business partners focusing their
efforts around the pivotal 3 R’s of permanency where children remain
in healthy families, reunite with family, and regain
family through adoption or kinship care.
Our
local vision of “Getting to Zero by 2020!” was inspired by the model of orphan
care adopted by local churches in Rwanda. With the collective decision to close
all orphanages in Rwanda, ordinary church members throughout the country, with
ongoing support and encouragement of their churches, decided to legally adopt
children into their forever families, effectively emptying orphanages in the
process! Within four years, thousands of children living in orphanages in
Rwanda have been adopted, and the country is well on track to being the first
African nation without orphanages. This is the power of the Church championing
the cause of families for orphans.
Within
Orange County there are about 300 children waiting for a family – meaning their
parental rights have been terminated and are in need of a new family through
adoption. Within the Orange County foster care system there are over 3,000
children who rely on families to care for them until their family of origin
again is able to care for them or until they are adopted. The task of “getting
to zero” in Orange County may sound like a lofty goal, but through
collaboration of church partners, county officials, and other community stakeholders,
we believe it’s possible that no child should have to wait for a family!
We
believe every person can play a role in helping vulnerable children in the
foster care system in Orange County. Though not all are called to adopt or become
a resource parent, there are so many ways to support those who can. If you are
interested in helping accomplish this vision and “get to zero” by volunteering or becoming the family a
child needs, contact us at orphans@saddleback.com or 949-609-8555.
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