I am a Safe Families Host Mom. I am one of many moms in the Willamette Valley standing
with Safe Families. Our families, stand with and for the orphan and
the widow; we stand with the fatherless. Indeed, Safe Families and
our families desire to push back fatherlessness, but we can only
continue this work if the Church is standing behind us, and
so I ask: Is the Church standing behind Safe Families?
Our family
joined Safe Families because Safe Families is Christ's power at work to prevent
homelessness, divorce, drug addiction, abuse, and many other wounds
that trouble our communities today. Let's face it, these wounds trouble our
families.
And we ask: Will today's children see the Church as relevant in their future?
It's a very real fact that while generous, participating in backpack
give aways, Sunday School, and coat collections will likely not be
enough to keep my children focused on Jesus. The very lives Christ
breathes into, so often are blown away by the winds of our cultures'
brokenness. For many, current church programs are band aids on the
wounds of the world, not radical acts of healing offering relational
depth.
Safe Families
offers hope through Christ for families by families. Safe Families is
Jesus' saving grace at work through Jesus' hands and feet: you and I.
I'd like to
invite you to look through the looking glass of some Safe Family
Children we have hosted.
I am Jose.
My mother left me, and my father's in jail. Adults think my mom did
drugs when she was pregnant with me. I'm seven, and I've been
sexually abused by someone close to me. I'm too young to understand
what happened, but I'm working on it. My doctor says I have ADD, and
I take medicines to sleep at night and concentrate during the day. A
Safe Family took me in for the weekend, so my aunt and uncle could go
on their first date in three years. I played outdoors all weekend. We
went for a hike at the Basket Slough, and I ate some new foods. I
overcame fears, like the whirring of the bathroom fan, and I went to
bed on my own. I didn't even cry myself to sleep; I was so tired. The
boy I stayed with, we share the same birthday. They said it was one
of those “God-things.” What's that?
H.E.N.R.Y.
I'm Henry, and I'm three. I talk a lot. I like words. I'm working on
saying M.i.s.s.i.s.s.i.p.p.i. I can spell it, and one day I'll be
able to say it too. I can count to 50, and I know all my letters and
sounds. You said I was super bright. Did you mean like a light? I
heard you talking about something called preschool at a nearby
church. I'd love to go. I like to read! Could you tell mommy how to
take me there? Here's my new book from Sunday School. It says,
P.S.A.L.M. 9.1 on it. I like my name on my book! It's mine, but I'll
share!
I'm Gunnar.
I'm the oldest brother in a bunch of boys; They are really my half
brothers, but I love them a lot.
I didn't see
this coming. I didn't know about foster care and DHS. I'm glad a Safe
Family offered to keep us.
I was pretty
anxious, but I did my best to hide it. I worked hard to use manners.
I wanted to impress you. You treated me like one of your kids. I
liked going to soccer with your son, and doing all the stuff you do.
Thanks for listening and not laughing, when I cried about my mom.
Thanks for telling me about all the problems your family has
overcome. It made me feel okay.
I am still
wondering about a few things. Like, do I really need meds? My mom
didn't mean to forget them when she packed us up and took us to the
hospital with that note, but I learned I was okay without them, at
least for awhile. Maybe some day I could go off them. I thought it
was weird you don't have tv, but I did fall asleep without it.
Listening to P.G. Wodehouse can make anyone fall asleep! I learned to
pray, and I think God might actually listen to me.
Thanks for
taking Henry and I to church. I'd like to talk about that sometime. I
hear Christians talk about getting saved. I don't really get it. You
say it's when Jesus moves into your heart, but didn't Jesus save
people with His hands and feet?
Isaiah 58 calls us to repair
broken down walls, and to be a restorer of streets to dwell in. Safe
Families invites you, needs you and your Church to vote for Jesus
with your hands and feet, not just your hearts, and to participate in
the building and rebuilding of our streets and neighborhoods. This is
Kingdom work, peace making work. If our children one day call the
Lord blessed, if they dwell in peace, it will be because we put our
hands and feet to the same tasks our Lord lived.
*Shared at a Safe Families Faith Forum in Salem, Oregon July 2015
