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H.O.P.E. is Here to Help!
posted on Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Did you know there's a new ministry here at Calvary Chapel Melbourne designed to meet the needs of orphans and children in foster care and their caregivers?
Most of us can't relate to what it would feel like to be all alone in this world, and yet there are a staggering 143 million orphans at home and abroad today. In fact, according to an article in the August 1, 2008 issue of FLORIDA TODAY, "DCF said about 3,000 children become available for adoption every year {in Florida}, when courts sever ties to their birth parents due to abuse, neglect or abandonment. Only about 40 percent of them land with relatives and another 40 percent get adopted by foster parents, the department said."
With no parents, how does a child survive? How does he grow up to be healthy and strong, to learn basic life skills or learn right from wrong? How does he ever know what it feels like to be loved or nurtured? And most importantly, how will he ever know Jesus?
We know there are children who are alone and suffering around the world, and we know God commands us to look after orphans. But honestly, we don't know how. Unless we know some kids without parents or we have connections with orphanages, we haven't known where to start.
But thanks to this new ministry, now we can make a positive difference in the life of an orphan or a foster child. Now we can offer them HOPE!
H.O.P.E: Helping Orphans Prepare for Eternity
H.O.P.E.'s mission is to demonstrate the love of Christ by meeting the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of the fatherless and their caregivers in order to give them the hope of eternal life.
God began to birth this ministry in the heart of Donna O'Malley of CCM three years ago when she and her husband, Chris, began the process to adopt their daughter, Hannah, from China. Already with three biological children of their own, God had put it on their hearts to adopt an orphan. Little did they know God had more up His sleeve! Three years later, after taking part in orphan ministry in Ukraine, presenting her idea to the elders, and discussing it with Steve Zades, CCM's Director of Missions and himself an adoptive father, H.O.P.E. was born.
"God opened my eyes to the plight of orphans and the conditions they live in around the world and began to birth His vision for H.O.P.E. in my heart," she said. "I learned that Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me' - (emphasis mine). God asks us to each help at least one, and that we can easily do," she explained.
Support Group Available
HOPE also reaches out to foster and would-be adoptive parents with information they need to navigate through the system. Hosting such events as their recent Adoption, Foster Care and Orphan Care Seminar here at CCM, they covered topics like sponsorship, hosting, foster parenting, Guardian Ad Litem, mission trips, and support and funding for both international and domestic adoptions.
With a whopping 83 attending their first event, Donna knew there was a great need for this type of ministry. She heard many comments like, "We didn't know how to even start, and these sessions did a lot to inform us."
Another type of help they offer is an Adoptive Parent/Foster Parents Support Group. This group regularly meets the first Tuesday of the month for adoptive/foster parent support and the third Tuesday of the month for those wanting to learn how to get involved.
Donna summed up her heart for this ministry like this. "When I look at these children and think that there is no one to hold them when they are hurt, to rock them to sleep at night, or to pick them up and give them a hug, it just breaks my heart. Orphans and kids in foster care often find themselves with nothing more than what they are wearing or what they can take with them in a garbage bag. When I have so much, how can I not do something to help these kids?"
Upcoming Events:
- How to Become a Foster Care Mentor
- A welcome home celebration for two families who just adopted!
For more information, or to RSVP for child care, please contact Donna O'Malley at 779-8617 or donnafomalley@yahoo.com. Together, we can make a difference!
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