Community Corner

Burnt Hickory Baptist Launching First Foster Care Ministry

The public is invited to learn about this faith-based ministry and learn about child fostering and adopting.

Courtney and Emory Lott, church leaders who were foster parents for two children they now call their own, will tell their story at Burnt Hickory Baptist Church in Powder Springs during services on Sunday, March 17. This is part of the church’s launch of a new faith-based foster care ministry that is part of its orphan care initiative.

The Lotts will explain how they were foster parents of two children they later adopted – something that sometimes is an option for families. The Lotts also have two other adopted children in their family of six children.

Partnering with FaithBridge Foster Care, Burnt Hickory Baptist, a 5,000-member church, will recruit and equip foster parents and volunteers. Those interested in learning more about Christian foster care ministry are encouraged to attend one of three offered Encounter FaithBridge orientations.

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Encounter FaithBridge is a 90-minute introduction to Christian foster care ministry and is also part of the state requirement to be a foster or respite parent. Support team volunteers should also attend Encounter FaithBridge to learn how they can serve foster children by assisting with meals, materials goods and services, transportation, childcare and more.

The church, located at 5145 Due West Road in Powder Springs, will host Encounter FaithBridge on Sunday, March 17 from 4 to 6 p.m.; Sunday, April 21 from 4 to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, May 19 from 4 to 6 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

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For those interested in becoming certified as foster parents and respite parents, there will be a weekend FaithBridge Foundations training located at Burnt Hickory Baptist Church the last weekend in May. FaithBridge Foundations training is an intensive, multi-day event designed to prepare prospective foster parents for the physical, emotional and spiritual demands of foster care. Training will be held Friday, May 31, 6 to 10 p.m.; Saturday, June 1, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, June 2 2 to 7 p.m. For more information or to register for these events, please visit www.burnthickory.com or www.faithbridgefostercare.org/news-and-events/events.aspx.

There are more than 7,000 Georgian children in foster care, and as of last fall, there were 304 in Cobb County alone--without enough families to serve them. Find out how the local church, its believers and the local community can make a difference in the lives of Cobb County’s foster children.

“We see this as an important ministry to teach our community how to serve those who have been neglected and need the love of a strong, Christian family,” said Daniel Poe, who is leading Burnt Hickory’s orphan care ministry.
This new ministry is in partnership with FaithBridge Foster Care, a Christ-centered, tax-exempt organization intent on changing U.S. foster care. FaithBridge’s strategy is to mobilize, organize and equip local churches and communities to solve the country’s foster care crisis. For more information on FaithBridge, please call 678-690-7100 or visit www.faithbridgefostercare.org.

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