Some of the most vulnerable Americans are minors in the foster care system. In 2021, approximately 400,000 kids were in foster care. Our communities will experience the ripple effects of their childhood care, for better and for worse, for generations to come.
Our hearts are often stirred with sympathy when we hear of hardship. But awareness—and even empathy—aren’t enough. Christ calls us to go further. Christ invites us to share in His compassion, and that compassion takes action.
Matthew 25:44-45 says, “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’”
For a child in the foster care system, all they can see is brokenness. How do we expect them to imagine a future that looks any better? If it weren’t for the church, I would very likely have become another statistic. My broken past would have dictated my future.
But now, when I look at my past, I don’t see the “devil in the details,” but only the fingerprints of God. When I look back, I see Jesus because I see His people loving me when I once was the least of these. Together, we can see more traumatic stories become life-giving testimonies.
Everyone can’t do everything, but everyone can do something. Our personal contribution must start within the range of action God has given us to do His work: our own community, today, now.
