Continue reading »]]>

There was a different kind of fireworks going off the same day as “Thunder over Louisville.” These were fireworks in the hearts of over 100 attending the OCA Adoption & Orphan Care Seminar at Sojourn Community Church.

One of the day’s highlights was listening to Dr. Bill Smithwick of Sunrise Children’s Services. He challenged us to care for the foster kids (orphans) in our own community and state. Did you know that there are over 1,000 adoptable children in Kentucky wanting to be part of a family?

Another highlight was the testimony by birth father Seth Carter, who shared how he put his first son up for adoption because his life was a mess, and how Christ used that experience to draw Seth to Himself.

Various pre-adoption, post adoption, and orphan care breakout sessions completed the day. Mark your calendars for the next seminars: Saturday, September 15 at Southeast Christian Church Blankenbaker Campus and Saturday, November 3 at Highview Fegenbush Campus.

Continue reading »]]> Amy dreamed of being a teacher but fate seemed to have different plans. Her childhood in inner-city Louisville was filled with chaos and instability. At age 11, she was removed from her biological home because of abuse and neglect and began a series of placements through child protective services.

When she was 14 she was referred to Sunrise Children’s Services and placed in a foster home in rural Kentucky overlooking a lake. Adjusting to the peace and quiet of country life was not an easy change and Amy struggled for a while. Her foster mother provided her support, stability and love, and Amy eventually warmed up to the new setting and the new opportunity she had in life.

She focused on her education, grew to love her foster mother and her dreams of becoming a teacher suddenly seemed possible. Today, she’s back in Louisville attending college and majoring in education. Whenever the chance arrives, she travels back to her rural foster home for holidays, spring break or occasional weekends. She says her foster mother of over four years is the best mom and best friend she’s ever had.

Amy’s foster parent made a difference in her life and every life that Amy touches will add to the legacy of one woman who chose to be there for a child in need. Foster parents can impact generations, breaking the cycle that often follows abuse and neglect. Sunrise is constantly looking for people to share their heart and home with a child in need.

Since 1869, Sunrise Children’s Services has been helping the abused and neglected children across Kentucky. What began as an effort by ladies in a Louisville Baptist Church to help children orphaned following the Civil War, has grown into a statewide effort that currently provides care for more than 600 children each day. You can learn more by visiting www.sunrise.org.

Continue reading »]]> Could you help with someone like Janice? She’s a 15 year old whose father was homeless last spring and too overwhelmed looking for a job to take care of his child.

Continue reading »]]>

In January of 2009, a man by the name of Bob Mudd followed God’s leading to leave Louisville and his role as the President of Orphan Care Alliance (what was then known as Louisville Orphan Care Initiative) and head to Colorado Springs, CO to become the COO of Children’s Hope Chest. Thankfully, when God calls one great leader away, He prepares another to pick up the mantle and run. Having his own heart broken for the orphan many years prior, Darren Washausen was the board’s choice and God’s man for the job.

While sitting in an adult Sunday school class in March of 2003, Darren and Stacia felt the Lord moving on their hearts to adopt. This prompting led them half way around the world to St. Petersburg, Russia where they adopted a 13 month old named Andrew. Eight years later they traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo to bring home their son, Noah, a beautiful 7-year-old boy.

Darren’s passion for the fatherless is a driving force in his life as well as a calling. When we asked him about it, this was his response: “When you first set out to adopt, you envision an addition to your family. The objective seems clear in the beginning. But then along the way, God reveals the overwhelming needs of His children and you are crushed with the individual unavoidable stories as your adoption moves forward. The path is not easy but the awareness amplifies your calling. God calls you and equips you to do more than you ever imagined you could; a common theme among many adoptive and foster families.”

Darren at a Glance:

Family:
Stacia – wife of 28 years.
Britt – Daughter, age 21.
Andrew – Son, age 9. Adopted from Russia.
Noah – Son, age 8. Adopted from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Dharma and Brandi – Guard dogs/Family Pets ☺

Describe yourself in 3 words: Trustworthy, Patient, Persistent

Hobbies: Spending time with family, board games, swimming, bowling, flying RC aircraft, travel, an occasional round of golf.

Favorite Foods: Butter cream frosting. A good chicken parmesan dish. *Not mixed together.

Random Fact: We also have lizards in our house. We call them pets.

Life Verse: Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Continue reading »]]>

by Elisabeth Arthur

“Foster care, who would do that?” “Who would open their homes to unknown people with unknown problems?” “How could anyone allow children into their homes and not become attached?” These questions were once how I viewed foster care. I never imagined that I would be where I am today, living life as a foster family.

God has blessed us with a lovely daughter, and we knew that we were to have more children. God’s plan is not always our plan. After a couple years’ worth of trying for another child, we began seeking God’s direction on what to do next.

We met with adoption agencies and discussed domestic versus international and open versus closed. We really, never felt a peace about adoption through an agency. Yes, we want to adopt and have more children, but why wait to help children? The adoption process could take a year or more, depending on which agency we went through. There had to be a quicker way! Something was stirring in our hearts that said, “we need to be open for anything, at any time.” We also began to see this more of a mission opportunity, an opportunity to show and share God’s love with others. This is an opportunity to give justice to the weak and fatherless.

If God was calling us to adopt and open our homes to unknown people with unknown problems, why not foster?

So here we are. We have been a licensed foster family for almost a year. We are 9 months into our first placement. Although it has not always been easy or always fun, we feel peace about our calling. Sure, we get questions like, “Foster care, who would do that?” Sometimes people say they could never do that. We just smile and say, “We used to say the same thing.”

Continue reading »]]>

Our focus within OCA is Serving the Fatherless…One Need at a Time! One of the ways that we do this is by working with the State of Kentucky to support the young people in our community. The L&N Building, at the corner of 9th & Broadway in downtown Louisville, houses most of the state employees that work with young people and families involved with the foster care system.

Romans 13.1b says: For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.

1 Timothy 2.1-2 tells us that we should pray for those in authority…with that said and in conjunction with The National Day of Prayer, we would like to ask you to boldly approach the throne of grace on behalf of our state workers. Truly, they are the ones in the trenches with these families!

With their heavy work loads and limited resources, we need to lift them up in prayer. Here are a few ways that the workers themselves have ask us to pray for them:

• Wisdom for leadership as staff are ask to do more with less as the state funding dwindles.
• For the families they work with to be cooperative and put the welfare of the children first.
• That “The Church” would come along side the state workers they know to encourage and pray with/for them as God gives them the opportunity!
• Strength for the workers within the system as they see the worst of the worst on a regular basis.
• For the spirit of God to capture the hearts of the workers as well as the families they serve.
• For God to give rest to the weary and burdened folks that continue to do their work with little encouragement!

Continue reading »]]>

The Kids’ Care Closet got its start in 2010, operating out of various locations throughout Kentuckiana including a volunteer’s dining room, an office cubicle and donated storage space. The Closet is now consolidated in the basement of our offices on North Watterson Trail. OCA’s Care Closet provides supplies to kinship families and also for children being taken into foster care by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Children often enter foster care with nothing and Orphan Care Alliance strives to make this transition just a little bit easier. Eventually, the supplies will also be used to support the efforts of our Safe Families hosts who will be volunteering their time and homes to help families in need.

The Kids’ Care Closet contains clothing to size 5T, diapers to size 5, baby wipes, stuffed animals, crayons, coloring books, baby bottles, baby blankets, small toys, baby powder and bibs. We occasionally get school supplies and some larger baby supplies like high chairs, Pack ‘N Plays and baby swings. We receive donations from individuals, families, Bible study groups and consignment sales.

If you would like to help Orphan Care Alliance in its efforts with the Kids’ Care Closet, supplies can either be dropped off to our office at 115 North Watterson Trail or a pick-up could be arranged by calling the office at 502-498-4765. Specific needs at this time are summer clothing sizes 0-5T, crayons, coloring books and baby powder.

Continue reading »]]> Ever wondered what happens to young men and women who age out of our foster care system? The research tells us that over 70% of them will end up homeless or in jail within 12 months. Why, you might ask? The specific reasons are many, but in general it is because they age out without the necessary life skills to make the transition to adulthood successfully. They typically do NOT have a plan or the support system around them to develop a plan! Therefore they drift…often in undesirable directions!

There are about 300-500 young people right here in Jefferson County that will “age out” of our foster care system that could use your help! If the # above plays out that would mean that between 210 & 350 young people will be homeless or in jail at this time next year!

Our desire at OCA is to come along side these young people and help them take “next steps” in their journey! We do this by connecting them with committed followers of Jesus that desire to show them the hope we have in Jesus as well as their potential to succeed in God’s eyes!

Would you be interest in providing that support? Our Life Coaches believe that EVERY young person should have a chance to succeed. Give us a shout and we’ll tell you how to get started.

For more information, contact:
Jeff Stumph
(502)802-3410
jeff.stumph@orphancarealliance.org

Continue reading »]]> This is the 2nd year that OCA will be participating in the charity module for the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon/miniMarathon. Through this event we are able to raise funds by having runners train hard and encourage supporters to donate on their behalf to OCA. Last year we raised over $5,600 through the sacrificial efforts of 12 runners. This year we have 16 who signed up to run for our team. As of April 12, we are at just over $3,000 in our fundraising efforts. We hope to top last year’s total by race day.

Also, this year OCA volunteers will be manning a water stop to give water and Powerade to marathon runners in Iroquois Park. We will also be competing for the “most spirited” water stop and the “cleanest” water stop, as the prize will be an additional donation to OCA.

If you are a runner (or you know some miniMarathoners), please consider being part of our team next year. Send us an email and will keep you updated for next years events. We will start up the 2013 season in October.

Continue reading »]]> OCA had an amazing response at the Antioch Adoption/Orphan Care Seminar on Jan 28 which was held partnership with Antioch Church at Southside Ministry Center. We had over 105 people attend, including speakers and volunteers. Over 8 churches were represented at the seminar.

This seminar was well attended because of prayer and creative outreach that Antioch church did among neighboring churches. They created a postcard to market the event and passed these out to local congregations and the response was great!

We had a few breakout sessions covering general orphan care for those interested in helping in some way, but have not been called to adopt. These sessions were well attended and we plan on having more of these breakout sessions at our next Adoption/Orphan Care Seminar.

Currently we are in the midst of advertising OCA’s upcoming Seminar, which will be held Saturday April 21 from 8:30-3:00 at Sojourn Community Church located at 930 Mary Street Louisville, KY. Please join with us in prayer that hearts will be broken for these children that need our help. Remember, we may not all be called to adopt, but we are all called to care for the orphan and widow. “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” (James 1:27 NIV).

We ask for your prayers and help in spreading the word about the upcoming Adoption/Orphan Care Seminars with your family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Those wanting to attend and learn more about caring for orphans can register online at www.orphancarealliance.org.