BCH Annual Offering Presentation/ Leviticus 19

express thanks/ God, BCH, BETHANY

introduce yourself/ NAME, I’m a member at Catherine Lake Baptist Church, I serve alongside Pastor Brian Mann, I’m a foster Dad with the Kennedy Home and BCH, I’m married with two children of my own, and right now we have 2 foster kids, however that will change soon, we are in the process of adopting the 2 foster children that we have now, I am a mechanic by trade, I’ve been doing that for the past 24 years

give the plan- tell our story- look at some Scripture that formed my mind set, and heart for foster kids, and then I’m going to make some appeals to you

Tell our foster care story

we started in 2016, with a presentation just like this one,

tell about Chris Allabaugh (he was then the manager of the Kennedy Home in Kinston and now is the senior director of eastern and western NC regions),

back then BCH was just starting to do foster care through foster homes/ families in the east region, they have been doing foster care at the Kennedy home since 1914, but they were expanding from just on campus foster care to off campus family/

my wife and I responded, we had been trying to figure out if we wanted to adopt or do foster care for awhile,

and online agencies seemed sketchy to me just reading reviews- one says good another says bad,

when we heard Chris’s presentation we kinda just looked at each other and acknowledged - said this is it- it just fell in our lap-

so there were probably 10 other people who responded, training one on one with Chris

Chris hosted the first interest meeting and they give you a ton of paperwork that needs to be filled out and he starts breaking down what all is involved in being a foster parent- elaborate

the plan was to meet back in a week with the paper work filled out, and my wife and I showed up to the 2nd meeting and we were the only ones who came back

we were licensed in 2017, and went a whole year with no kids,

Clay Jerrel our case manager at bch- defeated, do we want to move our license to another agency, did we still want to do foster care,

our answer- we trust the Lord’s timing, we know He is in control, and when the time is right He will send kids-

a week later our first 2 kids came to us

2 girls, a 5 yr old and a 1 year old, they stayed with us one year

tell the story about kenzie eating the leftover spaghetti

tell the story about patty not going to bed

our 5 year old foster daughter professed faith in Christ for the first time

sermon about restoring the family altar it really hit home with me

see we included her in our family worship that we have every night

each night the family gathers at the kitchen table at 7:30- 8pm and we have a time of devotion, brief discussion, a time of prayer, and then we sing a hymn

as I said we included her in our family worship, at this particular point we were reading through the Bible-

and do you know when she showed up, right as finished the OT, and started reading the gospels, that is God’s providence right there

and she sat and listened to the Word of God, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and she started professing faith in Christ

and we were a bit skeptical because of her young age, but the more we would talk to her about it, the more we could see she understood herself to be a sinner, and that sin is really bad, and that she believed Jesus died for her to forgive her sins

so we took her to the Pastor of the Church we were going to back then, he talked to her, and he came back and confirmed what we thought, she’s laid hold of the Gospel by through faith in Jesus Christ, and then she got baptized

well with a foster kid, dss said we had to have the biological parents permission which started a conversation with the parents

now the biological mom was wilding out and making a trainwreck of her life and didn’t care one way or the other

dad, as it turned out was trying to get his life together, and get his kids back, and when I talked to him about it the first time, he said something to the fact of, I’d like to go to Church but he said his life was a mess and because of that he didn’t think he could come to Church

its funny that I called him to get permission about our foster daughter’s baptism, and here him and I are talking about him not going to Church- something is going on there

i told him that his life being a mess actually made him the perfect candidate to come to Church, and that was really what Church was about, broken, burdened heavy laden people coming to Jesus so that He gives us rest (Mt 11:28).

so he consented to our foster daughter’s baptism, then he starts coming to Church, and not too much longer after that he went forward, made a profession of faith in Christ, he talked with the Pastor and then he got baptized

he was a young marine, who was about to get out of the marine corp, he was struggling to find a job and we helped him get a job, he still holds that job to this day, we helped him learn how to parent his kids, focusing on needs, not necessarily the wants.

he followed his dss plan and he got his kids back, and they are still with him to this day, and that 5 year old lil girly is now 13, and just went to her first middle school dance, which makes me feel very old.

then came the Cole kids, Trinity, Talon, and Brianna we called her Bri

Bri did not come to us at first, see we were only licensed for 2 kids so when we found out that Trinity and Talon had a younger sister, we went back to bch and asked what do we have to do to get the younger sibling

they had to check with dss, you know what it came down to, all we needed was another bed, I said that’s it, yep that’s it, I said well we have another bed in storage, we can have that set up within the hour, so then we got Bri 2 days after the first 2 came to us

They came to us, just after the school year started in 2019, and they were with us almost a year, all through Covid

as it just so happened the Cole kids came to us right as we had finished the Gospels in our family worship, and had just started the book of Acts

eventually with Covid, everything shut down, school, Church, we were at home all day for months together, and every evening we gather around the kitchen table, reading the Word of God, discuss it, pray, and sing a hymn

then stuff started to open back up, and we started going back to Church, and all three of the Cole kids make professions of faith, and then they want to get baptized

we had them talk to the Pastor after we had felt things out, and Pastor Brian, he says yep they got it, they’ve got the Gospel

and look it’s not like we set out to become foster parent baptizing institution but what we did intend on doing was serving the Lord

and that’s really what we are as foster parents we are servants, we serve the Lord by doing this work,

we serve the family that got broken up, an try if possible to help heal and put it back together,

we serve the court, the judge in family court ultimately decides what happens, we have no say, we just serve, and that’s hard

foster care is not easy, it is one of the hardest things, I’ve ever been involved with, and you need to know, that I’m a man who has been through it with foster care

we had 2 kids, a 2 year old girl and a 1 year old boy, who weighed 10 and 11 pounds, they were starving, parents weren’t feeding them, and the girl, I’d feed her, this poor child was starving she would just eat and eat and eat

we had a 2 year old girl, and a 6 week old boy, their mom was 16, you do the math on when she got pregnant with the girl

we had identical newborn twin girls for a month and a half at one point

then Iris came along, she was 2, we had her longer than we had any other, we had her til she was 4 almost 5, and that youngin - she was a handful, I always said she counts a 2 kids, I’ll be frank with you this child was a pain in my behind

but we worked with her, and after time I came to love her the most,

you get to this point where you’ve worked on everything there is to work on, and then there’s just your personality you know, you just accept each other as that’s just who we are

she was high energy and loud, and I’m not, but what drove me to love her was searching the Word of God

what does the Word of God say about foster kids?

I love the Word, I want it to Master me, I want it hidden in my heart

so I searched, I found Scriptures about orphans, but that’s not really foster kids. Orphans don’t have any parents, these foster kids have parents, they are derilect in their duty as parents but every case we were involved in- the kids had parents- so orphan didn’t fit

but I found it in the book of Leviticus, so if you will open your Bibles to the book of Leviticus ch 19

and let me just say, that Leviticus is probably not the first book you would think of when it comes to foster care, but my friends, God’s grace is all throughout the Bible

so what is a foster kid, they are an unknown person, not related to you, who is brought to your house to live with you, due to the fact that it’s not safe for them to stay in their old home with their relatives

the word the Bible uses to describe that person is stranger, think about it for a minute

that little child coming into my home is a stranger to me, I am a stranger to him or her- we don’t know each other

the Hebrew word for stranger is “ger” it literally means a temporary inhabitant, a newcomer lacking inherited rights, this word is also translated sojourner sometimes too,

but in this context in lev 19, it is translated stranger, and it is very important listen to what the Word of God says

“And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”

‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭19‬:‭33‬-‭34‬ ‭KJV‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/1/lev.19.33-34.KJV

Turn to the text

If the stranger, who is not related to you, who you don’t know where there from- they’re a stranger- sojourns with you- they are going to come to live in your house temporarily for a time

I always looked at it like God’s providence- He placed the child with us for a little while to take care of them

We meet the child’s needs, not wants but needs

he israelites, they were commanded by God to treat strangers- good

Do not vex him, ye shall not vex him

vex is a Hebrew word “Yanah” meaning do him no wrong, don’t mistreat him

ok, so that’s clear, don’t do them wrong

The stranger… shall be as one born among you.

so the stranger, the “ger” the newcomer who lacked the inherited rights is to be treated as one born- the Hebrew word for born is “ezrakh” literally meaning a native

so I am to bring that child into my home and automatically include him or her into my family as if that child had been born into my family, as if he or she had always been there.

“… grace can make strangers into sons.”

Charles Spurgeon

You shall love the stranger as thyself.

the Hebrew word for love used here is “ahev” literally means to love and there are about 19 different contexts to this word

but one stands out from the rest

The meaning is God’s love toward man, his special love

who taught love your neighbor as yourself?

it wasn’t a human concept, it came from the Lord

here it is in Leviticus 19, it is also taught by Jesus Christ in Matthew 22

love the foster kids doing good to them, what I would want someone to do for me if it was me in that situation

The reason why is given- because you were a stranger… I am the LORD your God

There was a time when we were strangers, maybe we never strayed as far away as Egypt,

By nature we are strangers to God, swine not sons.

Thomas Watson

but there was a time in the life of every believer, when they were afar off, gone astray, sold under sin, like a prodigal son

so reason #1 why I must not mistreat the foster child, take them into my home as if they were born to me, and love them as my very self is because I used to be a stranger to the family of God- He delivered me and with Divine authority and placed me in His family

God is a Deliverer. He delivered the Israelites who were strangers in Egypt out of bondage, and led them to the Promised Land. This foreshadowed a much better deliverance in Jesus Christ for all who repent and believe in Him.

Mark 1:15 ESV

and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

reason #2 I am the LORD your God, the hebrew reads “Yahweh Elohim”

The appeal to God’s name is an appeal to His character and His authority

do this act of kindness to this unknown person, because God showed me that same kindness by bringing me into the family of God when I was a stranger

God’s character is one of a mighty Deliverer

and being that I have been brought out of that state of lostness then I am convinced that I must out of thankfulness to God for bringing me into His family- obey this Divine command

God’s authority is such that I must submit to it in obedience

I am the Lord—This solemn admonition, is equivalent to “I, your Creator—your Deliverer from bondage, and your Sovereign, who have wisdom to establish laws, have power also to punish the violation of them.” It was well fitted to impress the minds of the Israelites with a sense of their duty and God’s claims to obedience.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 1:88.

Look to Christ in the New Testament

“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭25‬:‭31‬-‭46‬ ‭KJV‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/1/mat.25.31-46.KJV

this is a long passage and there is a lot to teach from here but notice the key words, Jesus said He was like a stranger, this is the greek word xenos literally meaning, stranger, foreigner or alien- Jesus our Lord and Savior humbling Himself says “I was a stranger” think about that

Jesus Christ, God come down from heaven in the flesh, who was a stranger on earth

Matthew 8:20 ESV

And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

He was a stranger on earth at this level- Jesus had no earthly home

i believe that Jesus is making a strong point, the Christian life is about helping people in need, and that helping the least of these-

helping the stranger is the same thing as helping Jesus.

“The LORD preserveth the strangers...”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭146‬:‭9‬a KJV‬‬

The Lord watches over, guards, preserves the strangers

God upholds the unknown person

This verse really highlights the Lord’s care and concern for the unknown person, He is the protector of the weak, which highlights our call to care for them, and we need to recognize our responsibility to care for the stranger

“For… we are to be conformed to the image of His Son.” Romans 8:29

Romans 8:29 LEB

because those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he should be the firstborn among many brothers.

That verse calls all Christian believers reflect Christ’s character in our thoughts and deeds toward the stranger/ imitate Christ

Statistics

most recent statistics- estimated 369,000 kids in foster care in the us

as of a week ago there were 182 kids in Onslow county who need a home

it is estimated that there are about 15,000 kids in the state who need a home

the average number of homes a foster kid in NC gets moved through- 7 homes

thats 7 different times of trauma getting pulled out of where you have been calling home

my wife and I have fostered 19 kids total since we got licensed, and we were in a training class at the kennedy home, and they said the average foster kid is moved 7 times, my conviction from that point onward is that we do not say no to placements anymore

The agency calls you and says we have a boy or girl this age, theres usually very little information, but some infomation about the kids situation, then they ask you yes or no do you want them, we quit saying no, just bring them, if the Edwards household has anything to say it is this is the last foster home you go to, you come to my house then you can stay

Appeals

You might be thinking how can we help

first appeal is not make an appeal, explain, if youre sitting here thinking I want to get involved and be a foster parent, let me just say this, if you are ok leaving the work to somebody else, then you need to stay out of it

i have had some real struggles with doing foster care, you take the kids in, and people say, don don’t get attached, but when you take them into your family the way God says to, then not getting attached is impossible, and it is heart breaking because, they go home, you're you’re looking at a man who has had his heart broken 17 times

and the thought hits me I can’t do this anymore it’s too hard, it hurts too much, then I think about who would I be leaving the work of the next child to, somebody else, nah that don’t sit right with me

so when times get hard, we suck it up, trust God and press on, and get one more

so if you cannot stand the thought of leaving the work of foster care to someone else then get with me after the service, I can help get you in touch with the right people

Other ways to help: financial donations to bch or the kennedy home, they do an annual food drive, they do a bunch of events, you can go there and volunteer for cleaning days

you can pray for the work