Celebrations & Ways to Get Involved

The past few months have been an exciting time for The Restore Network! God is on the move, and we are privileged to be a part of what He is doing. Here are some reasons to celebrate:

• We gave 6 presentations in September, and 25 families joined Support Teams. Others were interested in learning more about Foster Care and Adoption, and we were able to meet with 7 couples as they consider how God is calling their family.
• We met with a family in Greene County, and it looks like God may be expanding The Restore Network into new territory soon. This is very unexpected but exciting!
• We have 14 families who are willing to financially meet immediate, unexpected needs. Things change quickly in the world of foster care, and sometimes we need to meet a need on short notice. Here are a few needs these families have already met:
• Glasses: A 5-year-old boy was struggling in kindergarten, and it looked like a fine motor issue. After visiting the eye doctor, it was clear that the child could not see his paper because of his vision problems. Foster children have Medicaid, and his glasses were not scheduled to come in until Christmas. Two of our donors stepped in to purchase glasses out of pocket, he received them within a week, and this little boy is now thriving in school!
• New Placement: One family received a sibling group into their home, and they needed car seats, diapers, and clothes immediately. A few of our donors helped get this family set up quickly!
• Foster College Youth: Through DCFS, we connected with a foster alum who is attending a local college. She has not been adopted, and she cannot return home to her birth family. She was looking for an apartment and needed help paying the deposit. We were able to meet with her, pray over her, and help financially.

God is doing big things in our area, and we are excited to engage churches in working together to care for the vulnerable! Here are some specific ways to get involved in The Restore Network:

• Madison County Foster Family Christmas Party: If you would like to help plan this event or donate financially, please contact us.
• Support Teams: Our main goal for the rest of 2014 is to get our Support Teams full and ready to go. We need more volunteers for these teams:
• Babysitting Team: 19 more volunteers
• This team will put together a Foster Parent Night Out on a regular basis. We will use one of our larger Partner Churches, and we will need lots of volunteers to take care of children.
• Work Team: 3 more volunteers
• State licensing requirements can be pretty strict, and sometimes families are called to foster or adopt, but their house needs some work. This team will be available to help families get licensed by getting their homes ready.
• Meals Team: 14 more volunteers
• When new children are placed with a family, we want to provide dinner for the first week or two. We need a big team who is willing to cook or pick up dinner for families who need to focus on a new child in their home.
• Prayer Team: 15 more volunteers
• We need God's people to unite in prayer over our families and children. We are hoping to have at least 5 people from each partner church who will commit to pray together on a weekly basis.
• Financial Support: If you would like to give a one-time gift or be on our list of people to call with specific needs, please let us know.

Please email katiemyette@efmc.org if you are interested in getting involved with the Christmas Party, Support Teams or Financial Support. Thank you!