Christian Adoption Ministry's New Program Seeks Prayer Partners
by Allie Martin
March 25, 2004
(AgapePress) - A Michigan-based ministry is encouraging churches to help children in need of adoptive homes.Late last year, Bethany Christian Services unveiled a new program called Partners In Prayer. The initiative currently focuses on finding Christian homes for 1,200 children who are up for adoption in Michigan.
Bethany spokesperson Kimberly Offutt says the goal of the program is to recruit Christian families for orphans in need of permanent homes. She points out that there are many ways that individuals and church groups can get involved in the effort.
Offutt says the program has two primary needs, the first of which is prayer. A church can help by "having the women's group pray, the men's group pray, the youth group pray -- any way that we can recruit for these children -- having them praying for them is the first thing and the most basic thing that any church can do," she says.
"Other than that," Offutt says, "it's all about educating the community, because not many people know how many children are out there who need homes." Obviously, she notes, the more people are made aware of the work Bethany does, the more children the ministry will be able to place.
And Offutt says the Partners In Prayer program could be expanded across the United States, "if this program gets running the way we want it to, and churches get more involved the way it needs them to," she says.
Offutt points out that the Michigan-based children's services ministry has many offices across the U.S. and abroad. "There are 75 locations, even overseas," she says, adding, "Bethany is everywhere. So yes, this is something we would like to expand."
Since 1994, Bethany Christian Services has placed more than 22,000 children worldwide in Christian homes.
