Oscar de la Renta... Did you know?

Prior to his death earlier this week, on October 20, Oscar de la Renta was known for countless achievements. Here, a short list...

Born, in the Dominican Republic in 1932, he was raised alongside six sisters. Perhaps his first introduction to the fashion world began at home watching his sisters swap clothes and model outfits in front of the mirror. (Can't you just hear his sisters? "What do you think, Oscar? The red blouse or the blue?")

He moved to Madrid at age 18 to study painting. In Madrid, he became enraptured by the fashion industry and became an apprentice to Spain's most renowned fashion designer.

His fashion career officially began in Paris in 1961.

Two years later, he moved to New York and joined Elizabeth Arden.

He began his own fashion label in 1965.

In 1967, he married Franciose de Langlade, editor-in-chief of French Vogue, who introduced him to the movers and shakers of fashion society. He lost Franciose to bone cancer in 1983, a tragic loss.

In 1990, he remarried philanthropist Annette Engelhard Reed.

His fashion designs have been revered for decades, with several first ladies showcasing his creations. Jacqueline Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama have all donned Oscar de la Renta designs.

Until his death, due to complications of cancer, he was still designing and still giving back. He supported the arts and several philanthropic ventures.

But did you know...

Oscar de la Renta was an advocate for orphans?

Did you know he was an adoptive father?

Neither did I.

He founded an orphanage named Casa del Nino in La Romana, Dominican Republic and visited it often.

He even adopted a son in 1986, from an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. It's been said that his son Moises, now a fashion designer like his Dad, was "the light of his father's life."

Oscar with son Moises

Isn't that the heart of every adoptive parent?

Farewell, Oscar de la Renta. You certainly left the world a better place.

The Church's Role in Orphan Care: A word from Jason Johnson

If you know me at all, you know I love a great quote.

So when I decided to share some points made by Jason Johnson of Arrow Child & Family Foundation at this past weekend's The CALL Summit VI, I figured I'd share some great quotes from his talk. 

But first, let me introduce you to Jason. Jason Johnson is a writer, speaker and leader in the movement of Church-led, Church-based orphan care ministry. Jason's many roles can be summarized this way -- to equip, train and mobilize church leaders and pastors to live out their calling to "care for orphans", as mandated in James 1:27.

So for my first "J.J." quote...

I. "[Adoption/foster care] is a church issue that has been outsourced to the government."

Jason's main purpose on Saturday was to remind us Christians that God gave the Church the mission of caring for orphans, not the government. We have relied on local and federal government far too long to care for the vulnerable children among us. It is our calling. It is our rightful role. 

We need to stop pointing our finger at the "broken foster care system" and do something about it.


II. "Our goal in this room should not be to recruit more families faster, but to empower and equip better families, longer."

The CALL is a 501c3 that mobilizes the Church in Arkansas to care for orphans by recruiting, training and supporting foster and adoptive parents from local churches. This is an amazing mission, and we are working hard to reach our goal of no children waiting for foster or adoptive families. 

However, it is easy to strive for numbers and statistics, and forget that the mission is changed lives. We advocates for vulnerable children must remember that our goal must be finding the right family for each child, not checking a child's name off a list once they've been placed with a family. 

We must work for stability in the life of a child, not for impressive statistics.


III. "The objective of foster care is not to get a child for my family, but to GIVE MY FAMILY for a child."

Do you hear the contrast in that statement? Oftentimes prospective adoptive parents pursue adoption (or foster care) with the mindset of really wanting a child to "complete" our families. Ouch... I've been there. We really want a boy. Or a girl. Or a cute little African American baby. So we adopt or foster. We figure it's a win-win. We get a sweet child to add to our family. The child gets a new family and home.

But this is the wrong perspective. It's not wrong to desire a child, but wanting a child is not equivalent to the calling to adopt or foster. And if we proceed into those waters with that mindset, we will soon discover our motives were self-centered and off-base. Our motive to adopt and foster should be first and foremost about the needs of a child, not our own desires.


IV. "We need to have a vision of restoration of an entire family, working as hard as we can to prevent children from coming into foster care in the first place."

Our goal in foster care should not only be to restore a child, but to restore that child's entire family. How does this look? It looks like mentorship, not only for children and teens, but also for troubled and/or single parents. It also means supporting vulnerable families. 

Sometimes reunification with a birth family is detrimental and even impossible. However, oftentimes a family can be restored through a healthy, consistent dose of support, encouragement, re-training and prayer.

And where should these families go to receive this support, encouragement, re-training and prayer? 

Not their local DHS office. 

They should receive it from the Church.

So let's get busy, y'all.