As you plan ahead for your ministry to children and families this year, here are 8 thoughtful ways you can care for the vulnerable children in your community and support foster families.
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- Host a Stand Sunday event. Stand Sunday is a global movement where churches choose a Sunday of the year to stand for the vulnerable children and families in their communities. You can download a free Stand Sunday pack here and put one Sunday this year aside in your calendar.
- A Backpack drive. Collect needed items for children who enter into foster care. Bags can be donated to foster care agencies to give to waiting carers. Each child entering care would receive a new bag containing:
- Baby bag: dummy, bottle, nappy cream, a unisex outfit, wipes, baby bath wash, wrap, washers, singlets, bibs socks, and a soft baby toy or books.
- Kids bag: outfit, soft cuddle toy, socks, singlets, a boy/girl toy, a special bowl/spoon set, comfort blanket, You Book, pyjamas, special book to read, toothbrush & kids’ toothpaste.
- Teen bag: Letter from someone at the church, pyjamas, journal, stress ball, book to read, head phones, toothbrush & toothpaste, sanitary items.Each bag can be prayed over, and a phone number for your church’s foster care support team can be included. Consider also including a ‘You Book’ for each child, which can be purchased on our online store at youparties.org. au. You can even have children from your congregation write letters or create drawings of encouragement to include in each bag.
- Call or drop a letter into your local Foster Care Agency and let them know you have a team willing to support families who might like to reach out. (The easiest way to find your local agency is to type ‘foster care agency (my suburb)’ into Google and see which are nearest you.
- Host a You Party for a foster family.
- Host a Noisy Picnicthis year. A great chance for your church families to sit alongside foster families in a local park.
- Host a Village Party for a family in your church stepping into foster care.
- Ask a local Foster Care Agency worker to come speak at your church to share about the needs of vulnerable children in your area.
- Interview a foster family in your church or life group network and let them share about their needs and experiences. (Don’t forget to arrange a babysitter for them!)
We hope and pray that your local church chooses to stand and care for vulnerable children and their families this year.
