As a number of recent news articles have noted, the Christian orphan care movement increasingly includes a robust emphasis on kids in foster care.  (See, for example, Fostering a Family).  This is beautiful.  It’s common to observe one church—and often a single family—that is simultaneously supporting orphan care in Africa, adopting from China and fostering locally.

Each of these, and all of them together, are a vibrant response to God’s call to care for the orphan in distress.  Few foster youth are technically “orphans,” but most live with the vulnerability and absence of nurture and protection that is at the heart of the biblical understanding of the idea of the “orphan” or “fatherless.”

One of the great champions of this growing commitment to foster youth is Focus on the Family through its Wait No More (WNM) events.   Each event is a major region-wide happening — including months of planning and promotions.  The process joins myriad churches and other partners from throughout the target region.  Each event delivers a compelling invitation to Christians to consider foster care and adoption within the local foster system.

To date, they’ve hosted 15 WNM events in 12 states – reaching more than 8,000 attendees.  As a result, more than 2,100 families have initiated the process of adoption from foster care, and countless more are more aware of and engaged with the needs of local foster youth.

If you can make one of the 2013 Wait No More Events (below), don’t miss your chance.

March 2 – Greenville, SC http://www.icareaboutorphans.org/SouthCarolina.aspx

April 27 – Houston,TX http://www.icareaboutorphans.org/TexasHouston.aspx

June 1 – Dallas, TX http://www.icareaboutorphans.org/Texas.aspx

August 24 – Orlando, FL http://www.icareaboutorphans.org/Florida.aspx

September – TBD

For more, see this prior post on what’s happening in Colorado’s foster system.