It’s hard not to see that God is rousing hearts on behalf orphans when you hear about “Wait No More.”  Focus on the Family teams up with local churches, ministries, government and adoption agencies for these region-wide events.  Their purpose:  to help Christians understand the needs of children waiting in foster care in their area and consider opening their homes to love them.  The most recent “Wait No More” event last Saturday in southern California drew roughly 800 people, representing 450 families.   Local county employees, other foster system workers, ministries and community organizations were on hand to answer questions and help interested families explore the possibility of adoption.  Remarkably, 208 southern California families began the adoption process.  They join the 340 families that took a similar step at the two prior “Wait No More” events in Colorado and Missouri.  More events are already in the works.  This is what it looks like for the Church to make God’s heart visible to the world.  See the Denver Post coverage of Colorado’s event here, or learn more about “Wait No More” at www.icareaboutorphans.org.

An article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review presents a concept it dubs, “Catalytic Philanthropy.” The article urges philanthropic donors to consider that, at times, the best vehicle for their money and energy might not be existing nonprofits. Instead, they should consider applying all of their assets–talent, ideas and effort in addition to funding–to causes they care about.  There’s much to both question and affirm in this thesis. But for leaders of orphan ministries and other nonprofits, Catalytic Philanthropy need not be a threat to resist but a vision to harness.

The bottom line is that most philanthropic donors acquired their wealth through remarkable creativity, expertise and innovation. Every nonprofit, even the very best, could benefit greatly by drawing upon these capabilities, perhaps even more than through a donor’s dollars. This is not a time to be paralyzed by fear that innovative donors will start plowing their money into their own initiatives. It’s a time for nonprofit leaders to build opportunities for donors and other talented individuals to engage not only with dollars, but by applying their other unique assets as well. Of course, this is much easier to say than do. But the impact will likely reach far and deep—for effective ministry, robust engagement of supporters, and much more besides.

Interestingly, the article also carries a strong argument for cross-sector alliances that help otherwise “competitive” nonprofits join in coordinated initiatives.  This provides a great description of the role of the Christian Alliance for Orphans, from initiatives like Orphan Sunday to the many partnerships that are being built among member organizations:

Despite their often-heroic efforts, these nonprofits face severe limitations. Each nonprofit functions alone, pursuing the strategies that it deems best, lacking the infrastructure to learn from one another’s best practices, the clout to influence government, or the scale to achieve national impact… Collaboration throughout the sector is almost impossible, as each nonprofit competes for funding by trying to persuade donors that its approach is better than that of any other organization addressing the same issue…Building alliances that create the conditions for a solution to emerge and take hold is a very different pursuit… Systemic reform requires a relentless and unending campaign that galvanizes the attention of the many stakeholders involved and unifies their efforts around the pursuit of a common goal.

Dr. Dave Anderson of Lydia Homes met me for dinner this past weekend while I was traveling through Chicago.  I came away from our meal full not only on buffalo wings and a Cobb salad, but full of mind and heart as well.

In his prior work as an administrator at a highly-rated medical center, Dave was a well paid and well respected expert in child psychology and welfare.  But he couldn’t shake a desire to give his hours and energy to work that more directly tied to ministry to children in need.  So he plunged off a cliff in what some called “professional suicide” to serve at a small-budget ministry.

Six years ago, Dave pioneered the “Safe Families” model in Chicago.  Safe Families recruits families from churches to open their homes to children in danger of entering the state foster system.  Most child referrals come to Safe Families through the State, but they will take any child for any reason—sometimes for a few days, sometimes for months or longer.   To aid host families, an extensive network of additional volunteers helps with everything from babysitting to needed medical care.   This year, roughly 1,000 children in Illinois will be cared for in “Safe Families” homes.   Often, Safe Families works with the children’s biological parents as well, showing tangible love and helping them address deep issues.

What may be most impressive of all is Dave’s vision for Safe Families.  In his view, it’s not just a program, recruiting volunteers to do good deeds.  He believes Christians should be innovative systems-changers as well.  We should offer effective reforms and cutting-edge solutions to longstanding problems.  Safe Families is doing just that.

Safe Families shifts from a system that punishes parents for bad behavior (i.e. removing their children once neglect or abuse has already happened) to one that works with them to avoid harming their children in the first place.   As Dave explains it, a Safe Families approach addresses the need before it becomes essentially unsolvable.  (According to Dave, only 15 percent of the kids entering the Illinois foster system ever come under their parents’ care again.)  On a broader level, Safe Families shifts from an outlook that sees government as having primary responsibility for social problems to one in which the Church becomes central in responding to critical needs.

Safe Families is transformative in other ways as well.  As Dave describes it, churches and families that get involved begin to see that all of their assets— the unused bedroom, the car, TV time at night, and everything besides—can be used for Kingdom purposes.  “That’s a scary realization at first, seeing that God may want to use things I’ve always thought were mine alone,” explained Dave.  “But the deeper we go along that path, the more rewarding it becomes.”

A number of Christian Alliance for Orphans member organizations are now working to replicate Safe Families in seven other states as well.  Let’s pray they can help their local churches catch the vision that’s taken root in Chicago—not just another program, but an approach that transforms even state systems and the Church itself.

Project 1.27 is advancing a tremendous vision in Colorado helping Christians to care for children in the state’s foster system.  Project 1.27 and its nineteen partner churches have played a central role in reducing the number of waiting children in the Colorado foster system by 25% over the past four years.  They’ve facilitated nearly 100 adoptions to date, with over 100 more in process.

In additional to all the other impact for children and families, these entirely private efforts have saved Colorado taxpayers more than $5 million.  As a result, the State offered Project 1.27 a major contract to help them continue their work.

There are many successful examples of solid Christian ministries receiving government vouchers (which carry no limitations on religious elements) or direct grants (when publicly-funded services can be separated from services with religious elements).   But the terms of the contract that Colorado offered carried limitations that Project 1.27 felt would force them to diverge from the way God has called them to operate.  So Project 1.27 respectfully turned down the contract.  They continue their positive, non-financial partnerships with the State, but gave up a major source of potential income.

This was a remarkable step of principled faith, especially given that 1.27 is facing great financial challenges.  The story of how God will enable 1.27 to overcome those challenges has yet to be fully written.  But He’s begun.  One donor, hearing about 1.27’s principled decision, came forward with $20,000.  And one staff member that 1.27 had to let go due to financial shortfalls returned to work as a volunteer.   Best of all, the ministry continues to bear much fruit.  Just last week, a Project 1.27 recruiting event—promoted only via word of mouth—drew more than 200 individuals to learn more about engaging the foster system.

A number of national media outlets reported last week on the implementation of recent Center for Disease Control (CDC)  protocols that are having a drastic impact on some adoptive families, particularly from China and Ethiopia.  See this NPR report for more.   According to the CDC, the new TB protocols are intended to reduce the likelihood of tuberculosis being spread in the U.S.  But some TB experts and a number of adoption advocacy organizations have challenged the CDC, arguing that the protocols make things much harder on adopted children than medically necessary to prevent the spread of TB.  One of the organizations that has been engaging in this issue for some time is the group Equality for Adopted Children (EACH).   The President of EACH, McLane Layton, shared this update with us recently:

We have finally been able to get the CDC’s attention on this issue, due to a family adopting a four year old girl from China who had to leave her behind because of the new TB protocol.  It engendered some national media attention and the CDC finally allowed a waiver for this little girl to come home but that doesn’t fix the problem for those coming behind.  However, a number of adoption organizations including EACH were able to participate on a conference call with the CDC a few weeks ago (prior to the waiver being issued for the little girl) to discuss the problem and how it impacts adopted children of American citizens. We had the top pediatric TB specialist on the phone and he was able to provide specific medical information to the CDC that indicates that the protocol as applied to children is medically inappropriate.  Since the conference call, the CDC has established a new “unit” at the CDC to review current and future protocols and their impact on adopted children and coordinate with the adoption community.  This is a positive step in the right direction.  However, the issues with the new TB protocols need to be resolved now to avoid additional major problems for children in the adoption process.

In the media reports, the CDC says it doesn’t have the authority to exempt one class of immigrants from the TB protocol.  I would beg to differ with them since the CDC created the protocol (it was not done due to a statutory mandate), they can change it.  A few of the organizations here in Washington, including NCFA and JCICS and EACH are going to work for a legislative fix in the event we cannot get a satisfactory resolution from the CDC.  However, we are hoping to be able to resolve this issue without the need for legislation, but the CDC really needs to focus on a quick fix to this issue, not discuss and debate it for a year or so while adopted children of American citizens suffer. It is our understanding that very positive discussions are going on within the CDC regarding possible changes to address the concerns of American adoptive families and this is encouraging.  However, we would prefer for the CDC to suspend the implementation of the 2007 TB guidelines for adopted children until a mutually satisfactory approach can be agreed upon – one that satisfies public health concerns and one that won’t leave children sitting in orphanages any longer than necessary when they have American families waiting for them to care for them.

This week the Christian Alliance for Orphans launches the nationwide Orphan Sunday campaign.  What is Orphan Sunday?  Simply this: a chance for Christians committed to “the cause of the fatherless” to spread that vision to their church, community and friends. Churches, groups and individuals across the country and beyond are free to create their own unique activities for November 8, 2009.  These events will range from a sermon or prayer during Sunday services, to a small group study or prayer gathering, from a concert to a recruiting event for an orphan-serving ministry.  The Orphan Sunday Website created by the Alliance provides an array of resources, ideas and other support to help individuals seize the opportunity.

How are you planning to answer the call on Orphan Sunday? Post your plans and share your ideas on the event page .  Each local Orphan Sunday event will be a candle lit to cast light on God’s call to “defend the cause of the fatherless.”  Together, they add up to a nationwide blaze.