By Ryan Ropp, Director of Foster Care & Adoption, Arkansas Baptist Children & Family Ministries
I hate foster care. Those words may seem odd or even profane, especially for a leader in the foster care space. Foster care represents brokenness in all aspects of our society. Its existence is a tangible reminder that we are in a spiritual battle with massive impact on the lives of children and families….and Satan is relentless. The first human institute given by God is the family (Genesis 2) and the first attack of Satan was to destroy the family as God ordained it (Genesis 3). The result is families fraught with brokenness, chaos, poverty, and misplaced hope in temporary things of this world.
Foster care is a stark reminder to the body of Christ that for many families, Satan has not lifted his grinding heel of destruction. He still hates anything good that God ordained and seeks to destroy it. Thus, I hate foster care because it embodies the reality that children and families are suffering as a result of this spiritual war. Foster care is hard; it is filled with difficult days, long sleepless nights, cries for help, and overwhelming brokenness.
Sound like something you want to get involved with, something you are willing to have as part of your life and home? I can only assume that the gut answer is an immediate “no”, but I would ask you to reconsider. We could sit and talk through scripture and debate how it applies and why we should all engage this level of brokenness (James 1:27; Psalm 127; Genesis 1: 26-28; Zechariah 7:10; Micah 6:8) but instead I want to remind all of us who Jesus is. The reason to be involved in restoring broken families, in foster care, is because of Jesus.
The life of Jesus shows us that He came to restore broken people for the glory of God. The teachings of Jesus call us all to follow Him; to literally be with Him, become like Him, and do what He does. In other words, as disciples of Jesus it is our calling to get intimately involved in broken lives to restore them to God and His design for them, because that is what Jesus is doing. Luke 1:68 tells us “Blessed be the Lord God, for He visited us and accomplished great redemption for His people.”
Jesus is still doing this work. He is redeeming and restoring families through the hard work of foster care, and I believe He is calling all of us to be involved. The need is great: there are over 3600 children in foster care in Arkansas. The workers are few: there are approximately 1300 foster homes. Here is my ask: Hate foster care with me, hate it enough that as the body of Christ we get so involved that it becomes unnecessary; pray and take action, ask God to raise up workers and then get involved by joining us in our mission to build, strengthen, and restore families for God’s glory.