Stories Archives | Faith to Action

Ukraine Response

During this challenging time in Ukraine, it is important to help families in crisis stay together and make sure children in residential care are provided for and safe. Below are a few organizations who are supporting vulnerable children and families in Ukraine. A Family for Every Orphan Catholic Relief Services Hope and Homes Lifesong for Orphans Lumos Orphan Outreach Orphans Promise Samaritans Purse Tearfund World Without Orphans World Vision For those working in or around Ukraine, please see the following guidance. Critical Considerations for Movement of Children During [...]

Ukraine ResponseAllison Coble2024-01-10T12:53:03-05:00

Keeping Families Together During the Pandemic

Tags: Community Strengthening COVID-19 brought increased strain on poor families around the world as they struggled with the secondary impacts of closed schools, shut down businesses, and more. Families who were already vulnerable have plunged into desperation. Fortunately, there are organizations who are responding to the growing need and sharing hope in the process.Som is from a very poor tribe in Northern Thailand. When she was a young girl, only 13 years old, her parents sent her to the city to make money to support the family. But Som was tricked by her new employer, as [...]

Keeping Families Together During the PandemicAllison Coble2024-01-10T13:01:21-05:00

From Abandoned to Transformed: New Case Study on Residential Care vs. Family Care Outcomes

Tags: Adoption | Foster Care It was the dogs that alerted him, their barking incessant and irritating, drawing him toward the small bundle they encircled. What had gotten into them? He shooed them away, bending low to see why they were agitated. Shocked, he saw a newborn, tiny chest heaving with every breath, his body listless. The hospital said the baby suffered from sepsis, a severe infection, treatable with antibiotics. After a brief hospital stay, the infant was brought to a crisis nursery run by Alliance for Children Everywhere (ACE) Zambia, where nurses, social [...]

From Abandoned to Transformed: New Case Study on Residential Care vs. Family Care OutcomesAllison Coble2024-01-10T13:06:41-05:00

How Faith and Perseverance Led to Foster Care in Mexico

Tags: Foster Care | Transitioning Lola* was just five months old when she first came to the orphanage in Chihuahua City, Mexico. At a time when most babies are cooing and giggling from affectionate games of peek-a-boo, Lola was already emotionally and psychologically scarred, struggling from the effects of extreme neglect. Over the next three years, there was little change for Lola, as the stable relationships she needed for healthy development were not met in an institutional setting. Simply put, Lola was suffering from the lack of a family. At 4 years old, Lola was finally [...]

How Faith and Perseverance Led to Foster Care in MexicoAllison Coble2024-01-10T13:04:35-05:00

4 Keys to Building Up Family Care When it Seems Impossible

Tags: Adoption | Foster Care | Community Strengthening As the body of Christ, we are called to be advocates for orphans and vulnerable children. But what happens when we find ourselves living or working with those that don’t necessarily value the importance of family-based care? We asked HaTikva Families, a Messianic Jewish nonprofit that is pioneering the movement for family care in Israel, what advice they would give to others trying to engage communities in similarly complex environments. 1. Understand the context “We must have a solid foundation of understanding the current system we want [...]

4 Keys to Building Up Family Care When it Seems ImpossibleAllison Coble2024-01-10T13:03:55-05:00

Imagining a Different Story for Sofia and Marta

Tags: Community Strengthening | Economic Empowerment By Nicole Wilke Sofia* was just five years old when her mom left her home unsupervised for the first time. Her dad had left the family and had no contact. Her mom was forced to work long hours at a factory. Until recently, Sofia and her two-year-old sister, Marta*, had spent the hours away from their mom with an elderly neighbor. It wasn’t a perfect arrangement, but they were safe and she let them come for free. When their childcare provider passed away, there were no affordable childcare [...]

Imagining a Different Story for Sofia and MartaAllison Coble2024-01-10T12:39:10-05:00

Why Invest in a Strong Global Missions Partnership?

Tags: Community Strengthening Global mission partnerships can be challenging for both the U.S church and the local ministries. Recently Faith to Action was able to interview two partners who have journeyed together to strengthen families for three years to learn about their experience working together. Faith Lutheran Church is located in Appleton, Wisconsin and Puerto Abajo CarePoint supports families through medical care, counseling, after school programs, and much more in Guatemala. Tell us about your ministry before this partnership: Faith Lutheran Church: In the past, our congregation never had a single international mission focus. [...]

Why Invest in a Strong Global Missions Partnership?Allison Coble2024-01-10T13:09:57-05:00

YWAM Challenges Missions Goers to “Love Wisely”

Tags: Transitioning | Community Strengthening Every year, around 1500 individuals from all over the world descend on Youth With a Mission’s biggest training base located in Kona, Hawaii. Youth With a Mission, or YWAM (pronounced “why wam”) as it is commonly called, is an international volunteer missions movement and one of the biggest short-term missions-sending organizations in the world. In 2017, a small group of YWAM volunteers came across ACCI’s KINNECTED resources regarding best practices in supporting vulnerable children during short-term missions. They learned research shows the majority of children in orphanages are not actually orphans, [...]

YWAM Challenges Missions Goers to “Love Wisely”Allison Coble2024-01-10T13:12:11-05:00

For One Church, Orphan Ministry Isn’t an Orphanage!

Tags: Community Strengthening A banner hangs on the wall in Christ Our Shepherd Church that reads, “My House will be called a House of Prayer for all Nations” (Mark 11:17). This is a commitment that this 300-person congregation in Southeast Washington, DC takes very seriously. So when members of the congregation came to the church in 2009 and informed us about the needs in Mongolia and work of Light of the World Church, we could not help but pay attention. We began a relationship of support and prayer that has seen the some of [...]

For One Church, Orphan Ministry Isn’t an Orphanage!Allison Coble2024-01-10T14:10:27-05:00

From Orphanage Volunteer to Family Care Advocate!

Tags: Transitioning | Community Strengthening | Economic Empowerment I’m privileged to have recently joined Faith to Action as the Director of Engagement, eager to step into a critical role of equipping churches, organizations, and individuals with information about the importance of family-based care. As I reflect on all that has prepared me for this role, I’m honored to tell the story of how I began my journey of caring about vulnerable children. In 2006, fresh out of college, feeling called to “do more” and utilize my time and (limited) talent to care for vulnerable children, [...]

From Orphanage Volunteer to Family Care Advocate!Allison Coble2024-01-10T14:09:19-05:00

6 Ways Churches Can Use Short-Term Missions to Promote Family-Based Care

Tags: Community Strengthening Many churches are choosing to move toward a missions program that supports family-based care for orphans and vulnerable children. Grace Church, based in Noblesville, Indiana, is demonstrating this shift through their partnership with the Ethiopian nonprofit Berhan Yehun. Their partnership is a wonderful example of how a short-term missions program based on best practices can take a family-strengthening approach.Grace Church believes that the best place for a child is in the family. Caring for the vulnerable is a central tenet of their missions work, so when they learned about the ways poverty can [...]

6 Ways Churches Can Use Short-Term Missions to Promote Family-Based CareAllison Coble2024-01-10T14:06:12-05:00

Asking Why: One Important Question for Family Preservation

Tags: Community Strengthening A central question that those who care for vulnerable children must ask is “Why are children separated from their families?” Answering this fundamental question clarifies what interventions could be implemented or accessed to preserve and strengthen families, potentially preventing unnecessary separation of children from their parents in the first place. Children of the Promise’s (COTP) exploration of this question led them to develop unique programs that address the specific challenges facing families in a Northern Haiti community. In 1999, two Americans, Jan and Bud Bonnema, went on a short-term mission trip to [...]

Asking Why: One Important Question for Family PreservationAllison Coble2024-01-10T14:04:27-05:00

Trips that Create Advocates for Family Care

Tags: Community Strengthening Why read about family-based care when there is an opportunity to see and hear about it firsthand? Children in Families, a local Cambodian NGO, has created a program they call Rok Kern. Rok Kern is a Khmer phrase meaning “to come and see,” and that is exactly what they invite participants to do. Aligning with many of the principles discussed in Faith to Action’s Short Term Missions: Guidance to Support Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Rok Kern trips inspire participants to become family-based care advocates. Children in Families spent much of 2017 piloting [...]

Trips that Create Advocates for Family CareAllison Coble2024-01-10T14:04:08-05:00

Advocacy Efforts Propel Family-Based Care in Kenya

Tags: Foster Care | Transitioning | Community Strengthening | Economic Empowerment Child in Family Focus has been advocating for family-based care in Kenya since its inception in 2012. Cofounder and director Peter Muthui grew up in an orphanage in Nairobi and later worked as a social worker at the same home for ten years. His experiences both as a child living in an orphanage and as a social worker uniquely qualify him to champion the importance of family care for children. With a team of passionate and qualified Kenyans, Child in Family Focus is working [...]

Advocacy Efforts Propel Family-Based Care in KenyaAllison Coble2024-01-10T13:58:59-05:00

Partnering to Find a Family for Every Orphan

Tags: Adoption | Foster Care | Economic Empowerment A Family for Every Orphan (AFFEO) envisions a world where every child knows the love and stability of a family. To see this vision come to fruition, they partner with and provide support to Christ-centered local organizations around the globe that have developed foster care and adoption programs. Their international partners are strongly vetted to ensure organizational integrity and adherence to best practices. One of AFFEO’s international partners is a locally led faith-based organization (FBO)[i] in Southeast Asia composed of trained social workers, pastors, and a large network [...]

Partnering to Find a Family for Every OrphanAllison Coble2024-01-10T13:57:27-05:00

Students Connecting Theory to Practice in Costa Rica

Tags: Community Strengthening In April 2017, eight students accompanied Dr. Greg Burch, a professor at Multnomah University, to Costa Rica for a unique 12-day course. Students met with child welfare practitioners from a variety of local organizations, including Casa Viva and Roblealto Child Care Association, who represent best practice models along the continuum of care for children. Each day combined lectures, visits to organizations, and cultural activities. Dr. Burch describes the class as an “opportunity to connect theory to practice.” This year marked the third cohort of students from the undergraduate Global Studies program and [...]

Students Connecting Theory to Practice in Costa RicaAllison Coble2024-01-10T13:56:14-05:00

Where We Belong: The Importance of Family Tracing

Tags: Community Strengthening Every Saturday, 18 impoverished communities in and around the capital city of Uganda welcome staff and volunteers from Kids Club Kampala for games, music, Bible study, and other exciting activities. Olivia Barker White, Corrie Fraser, and Samuel Wambayo started these weekly Kids Club meetings in 2009. With an initial presence in only two communities, Kids Club Kampala spread as other neighborhoods invited the ministry to hold weekly gatherings with their children. The staff of Kids Club Kampala recruit volunteers from local churches to reach out to these communities, and both the staff [...]

Where We Belong: The Importance of Family TracingAllison Coble2024-01-10T13:51:33-05:00

A Father to Tie Her Shoes: A Ugandan Pastor’s Adoption Story

Tags: Adoption | Foster Care | Community Strengthening In 2014, then just a baby, Andaiye* was found abandoned in a drainage ditch in Uganda’s capital city, Kampala. After she received medical treatment, it was determined she was HIV positive. She was referred to Child’s i Foundation’s Malaika Family Centre, a short-term transitional shelter for children, while social workers began searching for Andaiye’s family. Through local radio and newspaper ads, social workers with Child’s i Foundation are often successful in finding a child’s birth family, as reunification, when safe and appropriate, is the preferred option along the [...]

A Father to Tie Her Shoes: A Ugandan Pastor’s Adoption StoryAllison Coble2024-01-10T13:52:17-05:00

Better Together for Children and Families in Uganda

Tags: Transitioning | Community Strengthening The crested crane is a symbol of pride in Uganda. It is both the national bird and the name of Uganda’s most popular sports team—the Uganda Cranes. There is, however, another organization with a national reach utilizing this symbol. CRANE, also known as the Children at Risk Action Network, is an organization based in Kampala, Uganda that utilizes the strength of networks to catalyze best practices in working with vulnerable children and families. CRANE consists of 134 churches, schools, and faith-based organizations (FBOs) that span the entire country. Members of CRANE [...]

Better Together for Children and Families in UgandaAllison Coble2024-01-10T13:35:18-05:00

The Pathway Home

Tags: Transitioning | Community Strengthening Each child living on the street in Jinja, Uganda has a unique story, but many of their stories have similar themes. Broken homes, poverty, abuse, neglect, and addiction are common threads. And many of these children have something else in common—a family who loves them—and if provided with the appropriate supports, these families could welcome their children home. The passionate and well-trained staff at Jinja Connection run a day program open to children and youth who live on the street. Their goal is to walk with each child, at his [...]

The Pathway HomeAllison Coble2024-01-10T14:31:30-05:00