When I facilitate gatherings of people in communities around the country, I almost always start with some questions for folks to answer at their tables to get to know each other better. One of my favorites is this: “When you look back at who you were as a kid, what evidence can you see that hints at who you would become today?”
This question usually generates some profound insights and some pretty funny stories.
My own answer to that question could include many things, but one that I’ve shared with others is about my favorite song in Sunday School class. If we were talking in person, I’d sing it for you right now. But since we’re not, here’s a little taste:
All God’s critters got a place in the choir
Some sing low, some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
And some just clap their hands, or paws or anything they got now
Well, listen to the bass, it’s the one on the bottom
Where the bullfrog croaks and the hippopotamus
Moans and groans with a big to do
And the old cow just goes, ‘Moo’
(By the way, in a Sunday morning performance, that last line that ends with a bunch of kids mooing always kills. Always.)
The unifying power of moving toward the vulnerable
For reasons I don’t entirely understand, I’ve always been enthralled with the idea of people (or, in the case of the song, animals) utilizing their gifts and skills while working together in unity. When I hear stories of that happening, I am inspired.
It turns out that helping the vulnerable has a way of bringing people together.
Visit any midwestern town in the days following a devastating tornado and see this dynamic in action. When community members become vulnerable, the whole community shows up.
This is increasingly happening around the country when it comes to churches responding to the needs of children and families impacted by foster care. Yes, individual churches are certainly stepping into foster care. But what inspires me the most is watching churches in a community work together to care for vulnerable children, families and the professionals who serve them. In community after community, collaboration is becoming the primary strategy of foster care engagement.
Wake County, North Carolina: Building trust through overwhelming generosity
In the Raleigh area, a growing network of churches shows what’s possible when the body of Christ comes together around a common mission.
Keith Fortier of Agape of North Carolina describes how their collaboration with county officials began with prayer and has grown into something transformational.
“We know that the foster care crisis is a huge problem that is not going to be solved by any one organization or any one church,” Keith shared. “But collectively together… that’s something we can do.”
When county officials shared that youth were sleeping in the agency building due to a shortage of foster homes, the churches responded swiftly. They asked the county to share everything they needed – and even everything they wanted – to support those youth. “They ended up giving us a list, 260 items long … In less than 48 hours, we had eight churches collectively gather all 260 items.”
The result was more than just meeting physical needs. It was a breakthrough in trust between local churches and county leaders.
“Things went from skeptical and wondering if we were genuine to a high level of trust … This is not just one church, not just one nonprofit, but this is a people of God together type of collaboration.”
That trust opened doors to more opportunities, like renovating a worn-down visitation home used for parent-child visits. “Us redoing a home where visitation happens is not something that Agape can do. It’s not something that one church could do. But collectively together… let’s see if we can actually turn this home into a beautiful space again.”
For Keith and the Raleigh-area churches, these moments are part of a long-term vision of working together to help provide more than enough for children and families in their community.
Their continued prayer? Not just for more programs, but for radical unity.
Keith shared, “We need supernatural types of collaboration that require deep levels of trust … Pray that we’d be one.”
Grand Rapids, Michigan: Seeing and celebrating state partners
In Grand Rapids, Michigan, a network of churches joined forces to host an appreciation breakfast for local foster care agency workers – a simple but deeply meaningful gesture that had powerful results.
“We had 13 different churches all come together to each contribute in different ways to different parts of this breakfast,” shared Jamie Bartlett, who helps lead the effort. “We were able to do way more than what we could have done individually.”
From drinks to gift cards to 20 dozen organic eggs donated by a local farmer, every piece of the breakfast was provided by someone who simply offered what they had.
“The whole mantra of the morning was, ‘there’s more than enough,’” Jamie shared. “That was a direct result of all of us coming together to do more than what we could on our own.”
The event not only affirmed the sacrifice of 100 agency staff, but also strengthened bonds between the churches themselves – a visible picture of the gospel lived out in community.
When churches listen well, share the load, and trust God to multiply their collective efforts, something beautiful happens. Walls come down. Needs get met. People feel seen.
The church becomes known not just for what it believes, but for how it loves.
I think the animals described in “All God’s Critters Got a Place in the Choir” would be so proud of that organic egg farmer in Grand Rapids – and his chickens, of course – who played their part in unity with the body of Christ to help care for the vulnerable. And I continue to be inspired by communities like Raleigh, North Carolina and Grand Rapids, Michigan, who are showing us all what the Church can be when we act as one.
–Jason Weber is the National Director of More Than Enough, facilitated by the CAFO community.
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More Than Enough Podcast
Looking for more inspiring stories and practical insight from people like Keith and Jamie? Check out the More Than Enough Podcast and get connected to the people, ideas, and tools in foster care that will help your community work together to fill the gaps that will make the biggest difference for children and families.
