Posted by Patrick Corkum on April 29, 2010
I am here sitting in a session with a panel about engaging the church for foster care and models that exist. The panel includes members of Project 1.27, 4KIDS of South Florida, the Call (Children of Arkansas Loved for a Lifetime), and Royal Family Kids Camps.
When the panel was asked about how the state is responding to their ministries, the response kind of surprised me. The gentleman who started RFKC said that the problems he has is with the church, not the state. That was enlightening, but not so surprising to me. The surprising thing is how the state is responding so positively to their ministries, largely because those who are helping in the church are doing such a great job with it! Now if only the church would step out in all states, imagine the bridges that could be crossed.
What I love hearing the most from these stories is how people are confused by the people of the church because they don’t understand why people would do these kinds of things. I love it!
Posted by Patrick Corkum on
Church Ministry, or 501c3? That is the question that Michael is trying to help us answer. He is the founder of Tapestry, an awesome ministry out of Irving Bible Church in Texas. My favorite statement so far is “God doesn’t want our ideas as much as he wants our faithfulness.” He’s brought out several things that we need to work on before we jump into the 501c3 arena. Glad I know!
While I am at it, I met a man who had n awesome story about how God transformed his life through his daughter. His daughter has started a ministry who’s goal is to help kids help kids. She is 17 and started it when she was 11. They handed out free kits… I can’t wait to dig in!
Posted by Patrick Corkum on
The former first lady of Guatemala and current first lady of Guatemala City is speaking about her journey with the children of Guatemala. All I have to say is, What an AWESOME woman! We need more people like her in this world. Her heart for the people of her country and God is amazing. What a story. I hope you can download her talk when they post the sessions online! Praise God for this awesome woman!
Posted by Patrick Corkum on
I am sitting here among many many people with a passion for caring about orphans worldwide. It is pretty awesome walking around with those that I have heard on recordings and read about on the internet. I know that I am going to forget to do something while I am here. I’ve already met a few different people, the first two from Oklahoma, how strange is that?
I love what people are doing here, but I must say that I think that people are missing something. Everyone seems to have James 1:27 posted in their booths. My issue is that everyone is using ellipses. People are either ignoring widows, the “remaining unstained by the world” part or both. People are missing a profound truth by doing this. There is an important aspect of what James is trying to tell us: caring for orphans AND widows is how you remain unstained by the world!
Looking forward to my first breakout with Michael Monroe of Tapestry – “Organization Matters: Church Ministry v. 501c3.