Wednesday, February 20, 2013

What: If You Were Mine Workshop
 
 
Where: Sovereign Grace Church, 111 Greentree Road, Marlton, NJ 08053
When: Friday, March 22 from 6:30-9:30pm & Saturday, March 23 from 9:00am-2:00pm.
Cost: The course materials and meals are covered by our church! But child care is not provided.
 
For more information, please contact:  ps82oci@gmail.com

Friday, February 15, 2013


 

 
Please join us on

Saturday, March 2nd 6:30 p.m.


Maranatha Christian Fellowship • 802 N. Lenola Road • Moorestown, NJ



Come join with us as Cheryl Nitz, ACSW, LCSW Accomplished attachment/bonding therapist with the Attachment Bonding Center of Pa will be our guest speaker. Her topic for the evening “Adoption-Not What we expected”!


Following the presentation, you’ll have an opportunity to ask questions to our panel. We’ll have desserts and spend some time in fellowship. It will be wonderful seeing everyone again and catch up!


Please let me know by phone at 856-234-3791, or by e-mail at secchanc@aol.com, if you can join us so we know how much to prepare for. And, of course, childcare will be provided.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                      

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Interim Care Meeting- Short Term Options to Care for Kids



Just a reminder that this Sunday we will be hosting an interim care meeting for individuals and families interested in learning more about short-term options for caring for kids. Anyone is invited to attend.

The meeting is at Sovereign Grace Church and will begin at 12:30pm after the main service.

We'll have representatives from three organizations there. Click on their name to be redirected to their site for more information about each organization.



CASA of New Jersey is a non-profit organization helping children in the foster care system. "In New Jersey, more than 1,800 Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteers, worked within a network of local, county-based CASA Programs to ensure that nearly 3,000 children, who are victims of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, or outright abandonment, have a voice in the court proceedings that impact their future. CASA volunteers advocate for these children, making sure that they are safe, that they get the services they need, and that they are returned to their parents or placed in a nurturing, permanent home as quickly, and with as few moves as possible."

Anyone over the age of 21 can apply to be a CASA.



Department of Child Protection and Permanency of New Jersey will be represented. We've asked the social worker to share about options for families to do short-term foster child placements in their homes.



Bethany Christian Services will have a representative present to talk about options to help with interim care through their private non-profit organization.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Eight Adoption Facts That May Surprise You

Check out this video to give you a new insight into the orphan crisis.

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ExUk0kxD-4s?rel=0

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

All God’s Children Ministry – Fellowship Alliance - Red Barn
Friday, November 16, 7-9pm
Making Sense of it All: Helping Adopted Children Understand Who They Are
This presentation highlights some of the essential elements that parents and professionals must focus on in order to truly connect with the child they love and serve. These elements include understanding their story, their losses, their expectations, their needs, and their heart. The presentation also features interview footage of adopted teens sharing aspects of their own stories.
After viewing this video presentation, Adrianna Willey, a trained adoption counselor will lead us in a discussion time

Thursday, November 1, 2012

What Orphans Need:  Christians Who Live in the Delight of Their Father's Love
Dan Cruver

When Christians are unsure of their Father’s delight in them, real Christian joy is absent and passionate Christian living is lacking. It is almost impossible (if not entirely impossible) to mobilize Christians who are unsure of God’s delight in them to care for orphans over the long haul, or at least to mobilize Christians who will serve orphans with unflappable confidence and joy.
When Jesus was about to go public with the mission of God, his Father declared over him, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). As Scripture makes clear, Jesus had been sent to fulfill the Father’s mission to redeem humanity and renew creation—which includes, by the way, the removal of the word “orphan” from the human vocabulary. The Gospel writers tell us that God’s Son went forward with the mission of his Father in the strength and knowledge of his Father’s delight (Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22).
Dr. C.F.W. Walther, a pastor who lived in the 1800′s, wrote: “Every Christian may apply to himself the declaration of God: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” As God’s children, not only do we have the privilege of participating in His mission to redeem and renew creation, we also do so in the strength and knowledge of our Father’s delight.
What orphans need are churches that are full of people who wake up each morning hearing and rehearsing these amazing words that are declared over them. “You are my beloved child, in whom I am well pleased. Yes, you were once without hope and without God in this world, but I have brought you near by the blood of Jesus. I have embraced you in the Beloved. Live in my love as you move out in mission.”
If you are a Christian, God declares these amazing words over you. He doesn’t speak them over you because you have earned them. You could never do enough to earn these words of love. God speaks these words over you because of who Jesus is for you.
As I’ve already mentioned, when God the Father spoke these words over His Son (Matthew 3:17), it was the day that Jesus launched his public messianic ministry. As our Messiah, Jesus was the faithful Son who always did the will of his Father. Never once did he disobey or disappoint Him. All of his living, from his birth in the manger to his death on the cross, was perfect in thought, word, deed, and motive. His missional life was perfectly lived, and he lived it as our Messiah. This means, among many other things, that the words that were spoken over him on that wonderful day are also spoken over us today.
Living as Christians in mission—in other words, being the church—involves learning to live each day knowing that God the Father delights in us even as He delights in Jesus. Those who learn to live in the reality of God’s loving pleasure will find that circumstances no longer control them. They will find that they are able to deal with the difficulties of a missional life with confidence and humility. To be adopted by God is to enter into a family relationship where all of God’s children are treated even as He treats His Beloved Son. If we are confident that we are being loved by God like this, we will not only desire to love others like we are loved, we will also be empowered and compelled to do so.
Imagine the impact that churches would have upon the global orphan crisis if they were filled with people who moved forward in mission in the strength and knowledge of their Father’s delight. Just imagine.
What orphans need are communities of missional Christians (churches) who live in the joy of their Father’s delight

Monday, October 22, 2012

Alliance Webinar Series
The Christian Alliance for Orphans Webinar Series is designed to help individuals like you create and grow effective adoption, foster care and global orphan ministry in local churches.
You're Invited...

FAS and NAS: Alcohol and
Drug Related Birth Defects
This webinar will explain FASD and NAS and offer an introductory view of their implications for the life of a family. It will discuss symptoms, assessments, the school system, daily life, and how they effect the brain. This will be a great session for those who have children affected or those that are considering adopting a child with alcohol or drug related effects. It will address many of the fears and give a real life picture of what raising children with FAS and NAS really is like. Join this session to better equip yourself to love and serve these children and families affected by FAS/NAS in your own communities and congregations.

The webinar will be led by Amanda Preston--adoptive and foster mom to 6 (several of whom are affected with FAS) and night student working towards a B.S. in Social Work.
Presenter: Amanda Preston, Speaker and Adoptive/Foster Mom

NOTE NEW DATE & TIME
Date: TUESDAY, October 30, 2012 Time: 1:00 PM Eastern
Each 60-minute webinar in this series will give local advocates access to the knowledge and experience of top Alliance member churches and organizations nationwide, covering key topics on adoption, foster care and/or global orphan care. Every webinar will be hosted by a local church orphan ministry and co-presented by one or more national experts on the subject matter. This pairing will deliver a combination of specialist information and resources alongside a “here’s how it works in a real church” perspective.