Click above image to read the article which includes the Biblical basis behind care for children.

Right now we are promoting a Christmas Drive for Safe Families for Children.

We also wanted to share a wonderful article by the founder of Safe Families, Dr. David Anderson, called “Unleashing the Family, God’s answer for Vulnerable Children” (click on the link to view the PDF).  This article shares more about the ministry, including the Biblical foundations for the ministry, as well as shares some heart-impacting stories.

Below is one of the stories Dr. Anderson shares in the article (emphasis added to the text):

From Depression to Life Change

Bridges were built when Donna handed her two children over to Safe Families volunteers Mike and Katy.  Suffering from depression and feeling overwhelmed, Donna had been habitually tucking her daughters, Alexandria, age four, and Taylor, age two, into bed and leaving the apartment to do drugs and attempt to escape her problems. She had no family to help. At one point, she called DCFS to hand over her children, but the State referred her to Safe Families.

“I was depressed, and things had gotten to the point that I almost didn’t care about anything,” Donna recalled. “But I did want to get better, so I agreed to have my kids placed with Mike and Katy.  I started meeting with a counselor to work through issues related to my own abuse I’d experienced as a kid.  I didn’t realize until then how stressed out and angry I had become.”

Donna, who lived in Chicago, began visiting her children at Mike and Katy’s suburban home and eventually began spending weekends with the family, which included Mike and Katy’s four children, ages 10 to 15.  Today she recognizes God’s hand in providing her with a friend/mentor like Katy at that critical point in her life.

“Katy wouldn’t give up on me and wouldn’t let me give up on myself,” she stated. “She challenged me to think differently about life and my kids and God. Katy was exactly what I needed in order to change.”

During the four months that Alexandria and Taylor were living with Mike and Katy, Donna received Christ as her Savior and became involved in a supportive church home where she was baptized by Mike and Katy.  She is now regularly attending a home group Bible Study, meeting weekly with a mentor, and ministering to the youth in her church.  She has also become a devoted mother, spending hours helping her children with their schoolwork and reaching out to other overwhelmed mothers.

“Safe Families made it possible for me to get the help I needed without losing my kids to the State, and I’ll always be thankful for that,” Donna said. “I think about how bad off I was before I met Mike and Katy, and I know God has really blessed me.”