CHAPTER 4

LOOK LONG ENOUGH

Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.

ISAIAH 1:17

ONE DAY IN 2006 I was having lunch with a woman who has a passion for orphans and children in foster care. As we munched on our salads, she shared information about orphans in the world, particularly in the United States, as well as foster children who get adopted. Then she said something that shocked me.

“Did you know that the majority of kids in California’s foster-care system actually have loving and supportive parents?” I couldn’t believe it. I assumed that every child was placed in foster care because parents had died, were addicted to drugs, physically or sexually abused their children, or simply abandoned them. Instead, the woman explained, these parents lost custody because, for whatever reason, they couldn’t provide basic necessities such as food, clothes, a refrigerator, a stove, baby supplies, baby and toddler safety items, cribs, and beds. Sometimes even a home. What she shared tore me up inside.

Families in these situations are often reported to the local Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in California by a neighbor or teacher, someone who sees signs of neglect—frequent absences from school, unusual behavior or violent attitudes, obvious hygiene issues. DCFS investigates and compiles a list of requirements that must be fulfilled within a certain amount of time in order for parents to get their children back or to prevent them from being removed in the first place. Some lists are longer and harder to accomplish than others.

Over the next weeks, I began to research this for myself and learned that the situation has been going on for a long time.7 In particular, as many as half of the 75,000 children in the Los Angeles County foster-care system “were needlessly placed in a system that is often more dangerous than the homes from which the children were taken.”8 I also had no idea that almost half a million children are in the foster-care system in the entire country.9

A Portrait of Brokenness

Imagine for a minute what it’s like for parents who are doing their best to provide a safe and secure environment for their child. Maybe the sole provider for the household has left. Maybe a mother is battling a terminal disease and her savings are depleted, yet the medical bills keep coming. Maybe a father is working multiple jobs and still can’t make ends meet. Imagine the desperation that permeates each of their lives.

Now imagine the anguish when a social worker knocks on their door to take their child away because at the end of the day their best isn’t good enough. Imagine the overwhelming terror and inconsolable hurt of this mom or dad as they worry about the welfare of their child. Who is caring for my child? Where is he staying? Who is doing God-knows-what to her? Imagine this mom or dad, in tears and paralyzed by their dire straits within the system. Heartbreaking, isn’t it?

Now picture a group of strangers knocking on their door and telling them they will provide whatever they need to keep or bring their child back home. Imagine the rush of gratitude. The abundance of joy. The flood of tears. Oh, the tears. This is a scene I’ve had the privilege of witnessing many times. It’s a picture that makes my heart dance.

It’s not wishful thinking to believe reuniting parents with their children is possible. It is possible if people are willing to walk on water and make it happen.

Getting out of the Boat

When Jesus told Peter to come and walk on water, Peter responded immediately. He didn’t peek over the side of the boat, shake his head, and say, “Are you kidding me? No way!” He didn’t question the impossibility of the situation. He didn’t request a five-minute break to research how the laws of physics could be defied. He didn’t turn to the other disciples and ask their opinions on whether or not he should step out. Peter followed Jesus. He trusted Him. He knew who his Master was. And without looking back, he stepped out into unknown waters.

I had to do the same thing.

Many people don’t want to hear about the suffering in this world because they feel powerless to do anything about it. Others simply feel uncomfortable with the raw reality of injustice. They would rather pretend that iniquities like genocide, starvation, persecution, poverty, hunger, and homelessness don’t exist or that they take place too far away to matter.

Here’s some good news. You don’t have to feel helpless, powerless, or uncomfortable. There is a solution. You can make a difference. You can effect change. If you’re willing, God can use you to walk on water. If you’re willing, He will equip you with His power and resources so you can act as His person on the front lines to combat brokenness.

Trust me on this one—it’s easier to submit to God and do what He asks of you than it is to avoid, ignore, or run away from Him. You never have to feel that you can’t do or give enough. Don’t look away from suffering. Look close and long.

Opening Your Eyes

Looking long enough means making a deep commitment to your trigger. Do your homework. Gain as much knowledge as you can. Research it online. Talk to people who have a similar passion and are making a difference. Glean insight from their experience.

Look—really look—at what you can do, whether it means feeding the hungry, mentoring a child, or organizing a day camp for inner-city kids. Don’t just serve others or rally for a cause on a superficial level. Be a part of the experience. Get involved in the particulars of your trigger. Get to know those you help. Begin to understand their challenges, their needs, and their struggles. Dig deep and learn how they got where they are.

Robert, a former inner-city high school teacher, wanted to make a difference in the lives of teenagers. He had seen firsthand the young people trapped in destructive lifestyles and wanted to do what he could to be part of the solution. So he quit teaching and went into full-time ministry with troubled youth. Here is how Robert looked long enough:

I grew up with great parents who loved me and sacrificed to give me the best possible shot at a successful life. Though they supported me fully in my endeavors, I can’t say they were excited about my decision to become a high school teacher in the inner city of Los Angeles.

As I began to work with teenagers, I quickly realized that many of them needed more help than just a youth service at an inner-city church. If they didn’t get out of their communities, a sense of hopelessness was a very real probability for most of them; jail and even death were good possibilities for others.

When one of my students, a high school soccer player, was gunned down in the street, it reinforced my thinking. The young man’s picture in my office is a reminder of why I do what I do.

I had to leave full-time teaching. God had moved my heart and He was inviting me back into full-time ministry through the Dream Center, which provides a residential home for teens in trouble, teens who want to start over.

Today, I run the residential program, a private school, and the youth ministry at the Dream Center as well as minister weekly in the Central Juvenile Hall here in Los Angeles. I’ve seen lives changed forever and I’ve seen lives lost. It still breaks my heart to see young men in juvenile detention who are headed for a life in prison or death. Every day I ask myself, What more can we do to reach them?

God’s Plan Takes Shape

I couldn’t stop thinking about the lunch conversation about orphans and foster-care children I had had with my friend. The wheels started turning in my mind. If “stuff,” albeit essential things, is all that’s needed to keep a family together, I can find a way to make that happen. By mobilizing our efforts and resources at the Dream Center, we can provide what is needed to create safe and healthy family environments and prevent families from being split up in the first place.

Within a month, the women of our church and I launched Project Prevention, a foster-care intervention program designed to keep children with their families. Though the first year we faced some challenges finding the right leadership to head the program, we worked through the setbacks and remedied some of our mistakes, and eventually established effective ways to maximize our efforts.

We had a great head start with the Dream Center’s resources at our disposal—a sizable inventory of donated clothes, cleaning products, baby supplies, and furniture from individuals and corporations. Then we packed up groceries from our food bank, grateful for the provisions we could contribute to stabilize families and help them stay together.

James is one of the many single parents we’ve helped over the years. James is a hard worker, but he barely makes enough for rent and struggles to provide food for his daughter, so we have partnered with him. Every Friday afternoon, James picks up a week’s worth of groceries.

Do you see a need for a similar program in your community, whether it involves providing food or other tangible goods? It doesn’t have to be as large as the Dream Center’s program. It can start with meeting one need. As you willingly step out, God will direct you to the right people with the right hearts in your community and among your friends and family to build a stockpile of necessities for any need.

Danielle is a wife and mother of two. Every two to three weeks, she pulls into our parking lot with her SUV packed from top to bottom with diapers, clothes, and other house supplies for Project Prevention.

Whenever she learns about a specific item that’s needed, Danielle e-mails her friends and posts a request on Facebook asking for donations. She schedules pickups and then delivers what she has collected to the church. Danielle’s networked donors contribute regularly, each person feeling privileged to be called upon.

Partnering with Others

When we first came up with the idea for Project Prevention and stepped out in faith, we didn’t have a clue what sort of influence we could have on these families or if there were any legal parameters. We also weren’t sure whether the state’s social workers would allow us to intervene or whether they even wanted us to help in the first place. Would they be suspicious or prejudiced against us, thinking we had an ulterior motive because we were a religious organization?

We contacted the local DCFS chapter and let them know what we could provide. We didn’t have a formal strategy to partner with the government, just a strong desire to serve the local social services agency. We wrote and submitted a plan of what we dreamed Project Prevention would look like and began to outline what we could offer. Then we hounded the local DCFS office until someone was willing to take a chance on us.

The social workers did question our commitment as we were ironing out the initial kinks in our program. They were accustomed to people who seem willing to help, but never follow through with their promises. Before long we proved how willing and able we were to step in and make ourselves available to them. After we successfully helped a few families, word spread like wildfire. DCFS started referring us on a regular basis to families in need. We went from making a difference in one family’s life to serving fifteen families in just a few short weeks. Today, we are contacted with new referrals three or four times a day.

In our case, what we may have lacked in experience was made up for with our consistency and commitment. I believe that was the key that solidified a long-term relationship.

While having a plan is important to pursue your trigger, it’s equally important to have a willing and committed heart. If you are trying to link efforts with others to relieve a need—whether it’s with a governmental department, a corporation, or even another volunteer organization—you must act on your willingness. You must be so committed that others know they can count on you. You have to be faithful. You have to consistently show up. You have to be available. You have to do the work and get the job done right. This is how you build lasting partnerships.

I am thankful that the United States has social service agencies on the federal and local levels, both of them striving to assist in maintaining a livable standard for all people. We do not work against the system or assume we can do a better job. We work with them for the sake of the children and families who need help.

Making a Local School Better

We at the Dream Center often team up with others for the greater good. In our part of Los Angeles, schools have often been ranked low academically. So two years ago we decided to explore the question of whether there was anything we could do. Matthew set up a meeting with the principal and teachers at Rosemont Elementary School nearby.

“I want all of you to know how thankful we are for you,” Matthew began. “It’s obvious that you love your students and the members of our community, but we know you are hindered by small budgets and no resources. You are fighting an uphill battle and we want to help.” The school officials, who had received only complaints and criticism before, couldn’t believe what Matthew was saying and openly wept.

Since our partnership began, we have updated their computer lab, supplied volunteer help, read to and tutored the kids, donated school supplies, offered incentive programs (like donating bikes and electronic devices to the kids who consistently get good grades and high marks for good behavior), and given them food and clothing.

A combination of willingness, cooperation, and a cohesive team spirit has created a match made in heaven. Recently one of the elementary school’s staff members expressed his gratitude in an e-mail:

Thank you for sending us volunteers during the first week of school. The volunteers were a tremendous help with delivering books to the classrooms, organizing the resource room, and sweeping the school grounds. All of these tasks would have taken days and/or weeks to complete! We are immensely grateful for your continued support of our students, teachers, and school. . . . We are thankful that the Dream Center has become one of Rosemont’s most generous community partners. Because of the stressful climate of education, the economy, and family life, we realize the need to seek monetary, service, and volunteer support from the various organizations in our community. We cannot do it alone! We look forward to continue working with our community partners such as you to enhance our students’ academic needs, motivation, and emotional health.

So look long enough to discover how you can couple with others to fill needs within your community. Be proactive. Take the initiative and make the first move if others don’t reach out for help. Contact your local school board, volunteer organizations, government program, YMCA outreaches, and even other churches. Collectively you can make a difference.

What We Do

Our first step at Project Prevention is to conduct an initial visit with the family’s social worker to determine whether we are the right fit for the family and how we can help. We make our assessments and schedule a delivery. If the family is in need of ongoing assistance like food, toiletries, or diapers, we add them to our weekly route of deliveries for six months. After that time, we reassess their situation and determine whether they are able to function without assistance or estimate how much more time they need to close their case with the state.

We provide much more than tangible items. We teach the families how to be frugal and practical. For instance, we show them how they can use just enough soap (whether bar soap or dishwashing liquid) so it doesn’t need to be replenished as often. In addition, much of our ministry focuses on spiritual and emotional support. We offer counseling. We provide transportation to church, pray with them, and even hold Bible studies in their homes if they’re willing. We encourage them to dream again and reinforce that we care and understand their struggles. We also extend temporary housing to some of the families, those who would never be able to get back on their feet without having a place to stay. While these parents receive an education or learn a job skill or trade, they stay on our family floor until they are ready to move out on their own.

You can do the same thing on a smaller scale in your community. Talk to your family, friends, people at church, or neighbors about individuals or families who are going through a rough time and need help. You may learn about a single mom, a person who recently lost his or her spouse, parents of a terminally ill child, a family whose home has burned down, or an adult battling cancer. There is always something you can do to fill a need. Donate clothes. Clean someone’s house. Bring dinner on a regular basis. Make school lunches. Buy groceries. Put together a gift basket of baby supplies.

Look long enough, find a need, and fill it.

Helping Lucia

One of the women that Project Prevention helped was Lucia, a mother who was on the verge of losing her four children (ages five, eight, ten, and sixteen) to the state. Her husband, the father of all four kids, had been deported. The family lived in a dangerous housing project notorious for gang activity. The mother’s two older boys were constantly getting in trouble at school—when they showed up, which they rarely did. Their frequent absences had prompted the school to report the mother to DCFS. I think the boys’ rebellion stemmed from their father’s absence and they were looking for love and acceptance on the streets.

After the initial visit, Becky and Kelly, volunteers on our team, arrived at the house with food, furniture, and hygiene and cleaning products. Becky will never forget that memorable day.

We were very excited to be able to help Lucia and her family. But the look on her face when she came out of her house was very disheartening and confusing. She was terrified and ran over to the truck, begging us not to take her children away from her.

When we tried to open the back of the truck to get the supplies, she fell against the doors, trying to close them. Both Kelly and I tried to comfort her and explain who we were and why we were there. When she finally allowed us to open the doors of the truck and she saw all the supplies we were giving her family, she fell to her knees and cried out of her gratitude. Then she ran inside the house and grabbed her children to help us unload the truck. They were excited too.

Lucia and her family will always have a special place in my heart, helping me to remember the importance of loving and serving families who need someone to believe in them.

This woman was able to keep her kids, and her file was closed. Though she attends church regularly, her boys still struggle. I’m hopeful it won’t be long before they, too, experience a life change.

Sometimes I wonder why we spend so many hours each week within our church’s four walls when it’s so much more thrilling to use our faith to be heroes on behalf of God in the world. I’m not telling you to stop going to church or that it’s not important. I’m just suggesting we need to broaden our focus and invest our time outside the comforts of our familiar spiritual territory.

Each year since Project Prevention’s inception, our team has been able to save about two hundred families from being split apart (our goal is to increase the number to four hundred a year). We’ve also witnessed the wonderful moments when fifty families were reunited.

Discerning Where Brokenness Begins

Over the years, those of us involved in this outreach have detected root issues that we believe have contributed to the brokenness of the individuals involved. When families arrive at the Dream Center, they receive counseling, are tested for their education level, and are assessed for their natural gifts and talents. This information helps us better equip and guide them into the workplace.

When you start meeting a need, you usually uncover more needs beneath the surface, some of which are root problems. It’s a natural progression of looking long enough. The number one issue we have found is the impact of the individuals’ environment. The situation people are in when they arrive tends to be remarkably similar to what they experienced as a child or teenager.

The people who are part of Project Prevention have no idea what a better life even looks like, let alone how to achieve it. Most of them come from abusive homes, then marry or have relationships with abusive people. They don’t have a biblically stable and healthy foundation to equip them to be self-sufficient and emotionally whole, and to live with purpose and meaning. Most of them have not had any encouragement or positive reinforcement from mentors or loved ones. So they continue to experience the vicious cycle of what is familiar to them—an unhealthy environment and lifestyle.

Emotionally, they’ve built walls around their hearts to protect themselves from being disappointed or feeling unloved. Sadly, when these walls begin to crumble and their vulnerability is exposed, many of them quit the program. The process scares them. They’d rather hide behind their walls because it makes them feel safer and more comfortable. Unfortunately, nothing will change for the better if they don’t let down their guard and allow God to work. It breaks my heart when I hear about those who have decided to return to their old ways.

For those participants who stay in the program and commit to inner healing, most experience a change in their emotional health and mental outlook. Kelli, our program director, surveyed families who had been at the Dream Center for more than a year, comparing their responses to the ones they’d given to the same questions when they arrived. Here is what she found:

I am inspired and encouraged to see this kind of inner transformation. I know once we tackle these root problems, there is hope for a total life change.

Why Education Matters

What I’ve discovered with the families involved with Project Prevention is how many of the parents lack basic education skills. In fact, a majority test at first, second, and third grade levels. One particular mom in her forties, who had six children (two of whom were grown and no longer lived at home), couldn’t even read. I had no idea how this woman had gotten as far as she had in life. I was impressed by her survival skills.

We sent her to tutoring classes off campus. As with all of our programs, we try not to reinvent the wheel if a particular need is already being met by established organizations nearby. Though we do offer GED classes and professional counseling to service the needs of our in-house residents, we outsource some of the other participants’ individual needs.

I sympathized with this woman. She would come back to the Dream Center frustrated and embarrassed because she was the oldest woman in the literacy class and had a hard time keeping up with the other students. Finally one day, she broke down and told me her story. This woman had been molested by her father as a little girl and, as a result, placed in foster care. She was bounced around to more than thirty homes until she was emancipated at the age of eighteen.

This woman had to fend for herself without money, family support, education, or any job skills. The truth is, she is a survivor and has done the best she could do. It makes me sad that no one in her entire life loved her enough to teach her a basic skill like reading, something that most of us take for granted. Now this woman has the opportunity to learn to read because someone was willing to walk on water and teach her.

It’s Our Job to Step Out

I was doing some reading on illiteracy in America and found the following statistics:

What shocked me most was reading that “to determine how many prison beds will be needed in future years, some states actually base part of their projection on how well current elementary students are performing on reading tests.”13

We are actually planning for people to fail instead of planning how to prevent them from failing. Some might argue that it’s the government’s job to educate our kids. Isn’t that why we send them to school every day? But that doesn’t sit well with me. I find it hard to believe that American adults cannot read because their state’s educational system failed them. I don’t think it’s that simple.

When this fortysomething mom first walked into our facility, she looked like a little lost girl. In the three years she was with us, she made tremendous strides. She left our facility testing at a fifth-grade level, which makes her eligible to pursue her GED. Her children have also benefited spiritually, emotionally, and educationally. They caught up with their class levels and received a strong foundation of faith and love. Each member of this family has been given a glimpse that life can be different. Though they are no longer with us, I pray they will use the tools they learned at the Dream Center to continue to grow in their understanding of God and pursue their education.

Life after Foster Care

I have found another common denominator among the parents living on the family floor as well as among the many residents who have stayed at the Dream Center throughout the years. Many of them have spent time in the foster-care system. This fact prompted me to research what happens when a child is emancipated.

Please hear my heart. I’m aware of and appreciate the countless foster parents who do a wonderful job of loving, providing for, and taking care of their foster children. I’ve met many of them. I admire and respect these parents for raising foster children as their own and giving them an education and skills so they can thrive in life once they legally become adults. Sadly, many foster kids aren’t so lucky to have loving foster parents who care enough to invest in their lives.

Once foster children turn eighteen, they are legally on their own. For a large number of foster parents, there’s not much incentive to allow these almost-adults to stay in the home, especially since the monthly government checks to help support the child end. Many of these children sever ties with the foster parents and the social worker. They embark on their new life lacking a good education, life and job skills, and the resources it takes to create a successful life. Many of them also suffer emotional scars from their past, having been sexually abused, abandoned, or rejected.

In 2010, Human Rights Watch published a report titled “My So-Called Emancipation” that details the struggles of young people who leave foster care. The publication suggests that around 20 percent of the approximately 20,000 youth leaving foster care in California each year will become homeless. Of the young adults interviewed, the majority lacked basic living skills; they had no plan for housing, no means of supporting themselves, and essentially nowhere to go.14

One of the men in our discipleship program shared what it was like being bounced around different foster homes as a child and what his life was like after he was emancipated. His story gives a good idea of how difficult it is for teenagers to transition to life on their own. Reading about his experience underscores why it’s so important to minister to children who are struggling in the system: so they can live a better life when they leave their foster homes. Our friend shares,

My first memories were of being in foster care between the ages of three and five years old. I was moved around to several different foster homes because my mother was trying to kidnap my eight siblings and me. My first memory of being molested was when I was seven years old. It was a friend of my foster parents who told me that if I said anything, I would be killed and so would my siblings. The abuse continued for three years until I was moved to another foster home. There I experienced more abuse and molestation.

I was moved back and forth between institutional boys’ homes and foster homes. I was bullied, taunted, beaten, and sexually abused, often by friends and relatives of those who were responsible for my well-being. Eventually I found myself in several juvenile detention centers around the LA area until I was finally emancipated at the age of seventeen.

When I left the foster-care system, I was a broken young man. I despised any kind of authority and trusted no one. I struggled to have healthy relationships. I was homeless several times, turned to drugs, and got involved in criminal activity, eventually ending up in jail. I was living a hopeless life, not knowing where I was going to end up or if there was anything left for me to live for.

It’s easier to stop the bleeding of a scrape or gash than of a gaping wound. As we’ve worked with Project Prevention families, we’ve come to realize that it would have been so much easier to help these teenagers as soon as they were emancipated, before they started having children of their own.

Our women’s ministry is in the process of tackling this injustice by helping to support emancipated foster kids. We are currently planning to open a home for about a hundred young adults to give them the best possible chance at becoming successful in life. When I started writing this book, we had raised only 50 percent of our goal, but I had faith God would provide. By the time I was finished, God had provided every penny. Plans are finally underway to open that home.

The Effects of Living in the System

There are many reasons why a child ends up in foster care. Studies show that children in the system who jump from their birth parents’ home to multiple foster homes experience long-term, damaging consequences. On average, children are moved to three different foster homes,15 though it’s not unheard of for some to be bounced around to twenty, even thirty different homes.16 Of course, the longer children stay in the foster-care system until they age out, the more foster homes they will live in. Obviously, this creates a lack of stability and consistency that children need in order to thrive in life.

The American Academy of Pediatrics warns that “the emotional consequences of multiple placements or disruptions are likely to be harmful at any age. . . . Multiple moves while in foster care (with the attendant disruption and uncertainty) can be deleterious to the young child’s brain growth, mental development, and psychological adjustment.”17

When I read “My So-Called Emancipation” report from the Human Rights Watch, I was in tears. Reading the stories of those who were in and out of foster homes was heartbreaking. Phillip, one of the young people interviewed, had been in foster care since he was seven years old. “I can’t even count how many [foster] homes or placements I was in. I think it was between 20 and 25. Age seven to 13 was really rough.”18 For kids like Phillip, it’s nearly impossible to make connections, form relationships, and build friendships when you’re constantly moving around. Without these important social connections, it’s difficult to build a healthy, productive, and successful life as a child and then again as an adult.

But that’s not all.

The National Center for Youth Law reported that around 25 percent of former foster kids have been arrested and spent time incarcerated. About 33 percent receive public assistance. Also, the unemployment rate among former foster children is more than 50 percent.19 Then we have the high financial price exacted by foster care. United Friends of the Children, an organization dedicated to advocating for children in foster care, estimates the direct cost of foster care nationally at $33 billion, or $80,000 per child. Foster care in California alone costs about $4.7 billion annually, with the highest number of foster kids in the country, 100,000.20

These statistics aren’t merely numbers representing the astronomical amount of money we spend on children shuffled into foster care. They represent the natural progression of the consequences these kids ultimately experience. Did you know about 70 percent of prisoners and 80 percent of death row inmates were former foster kids?21

We are the product of what has been poured into us. What if members of the body of Christ who have a trigger to help children in foster care adopted or mentored a child? Can you imagine what would happen if they used their willingness to love on and believe in these kids, to give them a real chance at life? In a few years, I’m confident we would see these numbers decline.

What Love and Willingness Can Do

When I think about the power of a willing heart embracing the foster-care system, I think about Ida. She has experienced a better life because two people stepped out to walk on water and adopt her.

I was a biracial baby, born out of wedlock, who was adopted as a newborn by white parents at the end of the civil rights movement. I am thankful to my biological mother for not aborting me. The pressure she felt from her own family must have been intense. I am reminded of her when I read Proverbs 23:25, “May she who gave you birth be happy.” I hope that she is.

My adoptive parents, Olga and Ilmar, were willing to take a chance on me. Mom, who was Estonian, had experienced racism and prejudice firsthand. When Hitler and Stalin “split” Europe, she and her niece were on one of the last trains out of Estonia. She never saw her parents or her brother again. She met my father, a Finnish-American, in Germany where he was stationed with the army. They were married and returned to the States.

Mom went to great lengths to make sure that I “fit in” wherever we lived. She wanted to make sure that I didn’t stand out or feel different because I was adopted or because of my race. These issues were never discussed in my house, but they were issues that I would face on my own later.

I’ve had a great life (including a full basketball scholarship to Loyola Marymount University) because of the love and support of my parents. Today I work for the Dream Center. Many of the people we serve are in their situations because of abuse and poor parenting, while others had a Christian upbringing but chose to go their own way. Sometimes the only difference in my story and theirs is the fact that I had stable, hardworking, and loving parents who were proud of me.

I identify with the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. The crowd’s number was based only on the men being counted, not the women and children who were there. And yet the huge crowd was fed from a little boy’s lunch, a boy who had not even been counted. God uses people that other people don’t count. That’s what my parents did for me and what the Dream Center does every day for others.

Making Changes One Step at a Time

I know that the problems of the foster-care system cannot be solved overnight and that these are not the only problems facing our society today. But I truly believe that positive world changes begin with children. And I know from firsthand experience that it is possible to do something about it, step by step, one child at a time.

We can stop the bleeding. We can save our country billions of dollars annually. But even more valuable than the dollars saved is saving a generation from foster care, correctional facilities, and welfare. We can stop the vicious cycle of generation after generation of people who grow up without love, not knowing how to live productive, purposeful lives. Foster kids are God’s children, and they are meant to accomplish their dreams and enjoy their lives.

Sometimes we act as if we’re weak, as if we are powerless, as if we’re helpless. We simply don’t think we can make a difference. There are 246,780,000 soldiers in the Christian army in the United States alone.22 More than 250,000 children enter the foster-care system every year, and today there are 104,000 children in foster care waiting to be adopted.23 Only .04 percent of Christians would need to adopt to take care of every child in the system. We can eliminate this problem. We can be the answer. We are strong and powerful in Christ.

The Difference We Can Make

When we first opened up the family floor in the Dream Center to the Project Prevention families, we asked DCFS how much money we were saving them. One of the supervisors did some calculations based on a family of nine who were part of our program and told us that “savings to DCFS would be $453,600 for the 2010 year.”24

By helping just seven children, we were able to save the state of California and taxpayers $453,600! Imagine what we, as the body of Christ, can do throughout the country with our entire army. Imagine how many children and how much money that adds up to.

Safe Families for Children (SFFC), an organization based in Chicago, is making a huge impact in the lives of foster children. When parents find themselves in a crisis and are temporarily unable to provide for their children, Christian families open their homes to these children in the interim. As the parents look for jobs, find a place to live, or do whatever needs to be done to create a secure home environment, their children are cared for by willing and loving families. SFFC is making enough of a difference in Chicago that some social services agencies consider the group dangerous because the organization is putting their jobs on the line. But that hasn’t stopped the church member–supplied network from expanding to more than thirteen states and still counting.25

This is what happens when believers are willing to walk on water.

Perhaps there is an area of injustice you have avoided or ignored because it hurts too much to face. Guess what? It just might be the cause God wants you to champion. Look long enough to hurt. Be willing. You’ll be surprised what can happen when you take action and partner with God. You might help solve problems that others consider unfixable. Don’t be a bystander while those around you suffer. Use your influence and initiate change where you see a need.