Encouragement for Foster Parents

So to start, I just wanted to pose the question of why should the church talk about foster care? The Bible never mentions foster care.

Right.

But I believe when we look at scripture, we can glean that this is a ministry that is important to God.

Janet, could you read a few of the verses that I found that I think help point this out?

Absolutely.

Psalm 146.9, the Lord watches over the sojourners.

He upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

Psalm 68.5, father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

Exodus 22, 22 to 24.

You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.

If you do mistreat them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry and my wrath will burn and I will kill you with the sword and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

And I picked those verses for us to go through together because they demonstrate how part of God's character is that he watches over, upholds, and defends those without families, without homes.

He is the perfect father that kids in foster care need to know.

As I was reading it, I was like, I would love for all of those kids to know there is a heavenly father.

This is how he thinks about you.

Yes, exactly.

And throughout scripture, God also commands his people to care for the fatherless and the orphan.

And while many kids in foster care do have biological families.

For a variety of reasons, they don't get to live with that family.

So while they are wards of the state, these children do fit into the categories of the fatherless or motherless or orphans.

And I don't say that to demean the kids in foster care or their biological families.

I just say that because I believe viewing foster children in these ways just helps us have a biblical understanding and view of our duty to love, serve, and care for

them.

Janet, could you read just two more verses for us, please?

Absolutely.