Compassionate Hearts for Hurting Children

                                       

     If my parents, Jim and Maddie Turner, were still living, they would be amazed to see how their family has expanded and changed over the past decade. One major change is the adoption of ten children from many different cultures between Jim and Maddie’s five kids and their respective clans. A little two-year old boy from Haiti and a baby born in the LA area are still in the process of being adopted, increasing the grand total to twelve in the near future.

     The legacy of love, faith and hope with which we were raised is now being passed along to these little ones who were abused, unwanted, neglected and who may not have survived at all. It is inspiring to see how they have been accepted, with the same rights and responsibilities as all of the natural born kids. There are a variety of new opportunities now available to them, including a good education, competitive sports, lessons in the arts, traveling and church activities. But most importantly, they now have stable, loving homes which will help launch them towards a bright future.

      Ken Burnett from Pathway Family Services recently spoke about this nonprofit, faith-based, foster care agency during a Sunday morning service at our church. He shared that there is a growing need for “caring, altruistic families” to reach out to the hurting, often neglected, group of children in our foster care system.

     There are two areas in Tulare County identified by the Pathway program which have large numbers of children in the system who need good homes and loving families. Can you guess the two places mentioned by Ken? One was harder to get right—Dinuba; the other one was easier, sad to say—the Porterville/Lindsay corridor.

     The Pathway program is designed to place children into foster homes for temporary care or adoption. It also provides activities and outings for the families, as well as counseling and other services. It was started in 2006 first in Bakersfield, Kern County, and has since expanded to the Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and most recently, Tulare counties. The mission of Pathway is to “see each child’s destiny changed to impact generations to come.”

     After he had finished giving an inspirational talk, Ken encouraged people to pray about how they could help. I just happened to notice one dear friend signing her name on an “Interest” form in the back of the church foyer. “Well,” she said with a smile, “you know, I could take care of infants. I’ve done that before!”

     Three cheers for Pathway Family Services, for my family, for all of the organizations and people who have compassionate hearts to help hurting children. If you want more information about PFS, you may call 877-550-KIDS or go to www.pfsffa.org

    

      Dear Father, Thank you for adopting us into your family, through faith in your Son, Jesus Christ. Please help us to reach out to others in need. Give us your heart of compassion for children who need good families. In Jesus’ name, Amen

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27 NIV

(Published in the Porterville Recorder, July 2014)