Once there was a farmer in Bruno, Nebraska who had a big problem. He had a nice large barn, but it was at the bottom of a hill. Every time it rained, his barn flooded. Obviously his animals didn’t like that. The barn was supposed to be a safe place for them to go in the rain. Instead, it became perilous, like the Titanic. 

The foster care system is also supposed to be a safe place for kids to go when life is uncertain and the rains of trauma, abuse and neglect pour down. 

Today is Stand Sunday, a day when churches across the world recognize the work of caring for vulnerable children. The theme this year, as we celebrate 20 years of remembrance, is “look and see what God has done.” 

Twenty years ago was 2001. For anyone over the age of 30, this year holds a deep significance. One day categorizes an entire year for so many people. It will be a year that holds significance much like 2008 or 2020 or 1989 (and not because that was the year T Swift was born). 

For me 2001 also reminds me of the last airplane trip I took before travel changed dramatically.  I was only sixteen years old, but I had the incredible opportunity to spend two weeks in Kenya on a mission trip. I don’t remember a lot of the details, but I remember how Kenyan tea tastes. I remember the sound of the drums beating and the children singing. I remember the smell of the campfires. 

And I remember how eternity tugged on my heart. Perhaps it was the beginning of my realization of how big the world really is. Of how it doesn’t revolve around me. Of how there are people who are living in a poverty deeper than I will ever experience in my life. 

On this continent far away twenty years ago, I knew that I would adopt a child some day. 

This is my remembrance. 

In 2013 I went to a Christian conference for those who care for vulnerable children as a professional. Here I was called to adopt from foster care. That same exact weekend a little boy with curly hair and blue-green eyes was entering foster care.  Five and a half years later I would adopt him and give him my last name. 

This is my remembrance. 

I am grateful for the meaningful details God uses to weave our stories together. These messy masterpieces remind us that He alone is God. That His timing is perfect. That He is so incredibly good. 

Adoption is at the center of God’s heart. It is the Gospel message personified. Deuteronomy 10:18 says that he defends the cause of the fatherless and widow. He gives them food and clothing. James 1:27 says “Religion that God accepts is to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” God is a father to the fatherless, it says in Psalm 68. He sets the lonely in families. Jesus said that whatever you do for the least of these, you do for him. 

Yesterday I participated in my church’s Stand Sunday project. We helped a young woman whose dream from childhood was to become a foster parent complete projects on her new house so that she could provide a home for children. As I was raking with my friend, her mom and our other friend’s nine year old daughter I thought to myself, “THIS is family.”  Love was magnified as we laughed and served together. My prayer is that the children who come to live in that home find the same sense of family, and that our church family continues to come around and support her in her calling. 

The reality is that this past year has created a surge in children in foster care. The problems that exist are magnified by a lack of resources and foster homes to care for them. We look back at what has been done, but with the realization that the barn is still flooding. 

So what did that farmer do to fix his problem?

He came up with a crazy idea. He calculated the weight and determined that 344 people bearing about 50 pounds each could pick up the barn and move it to higher ground, just a little over 100 feet away. He gathered together a crowd for his town’s centennial anniversary. There were 344 people lifting the barn, one person guiding the process, and 4000 watching. In about 20 minutes this big problem was solved. The chickens, pigs, sheep, cows, horses and goats had a place of safety when the rains came down. 

There were old people and young people. Poor people and rich people. It didn’t matter because everyone did their part, worked together, and made it possible. 

Maybe you think that you are too young or too old, too poor, too single, too married, have too many kids or not enough experience. That is just not so. Everyone can do something. 

Twenty years ago a pastor in Zambia, Africa asked his church to help with the orphan crisis in their community. An older widow offered her home, but couldn’t feed them, so others brought their food for the day- a cabbage. Other people gave the very shoes on their feet. 

About the same time a pastor in Texas told his church that there was a big problem in their community. There wasn’t enough foster homes for the children who needed a safe place. Bishop Blake asked, who will stand with me to care for these vulnerable children? People literally stood up and said “I will.” Within a few months this little church in a rural community had 39 children placed with their families.

That sounds nice, but the reality was difficult. I met that pastor and two of his adoptive sons a few weeks ago. As teenagers these boys burned his house down. They assumed that they would be kicked out, but that pastor said no. I told you that you were a part of our family and nothing you can do will ever change that. 

This is the heart of the Gospel. This is what will change the world. 

One of those sons is now a Christian rap artist, Diego Fuller. One way that Diego pays it forward is by visiting Royal Family Kids Camps each summer. If Bishop Blake and his wife had not been relentless in their pursuit of loving Diego and his brother, it is likely they would be in jail. Instead he is encouraging and ministering to children just like my son. The impact of sacrificially loving a child just like Jesus loves us… it is like a mustard seed, multiplying its impact for generations.

Will you stand with me today for vulnerable children and families? If we all do something, we can do the seemingly impossible, creating a safe place for children in uncertain times.