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| I was invited to open CAFO2014 up in prayer on Friday! |
"We must yearn for restoration, not only for the child, but for the entire family." Jedd Medefind, CAFO President
An undercurrent throughout CAFO2014 was the movement towards family preservation and what I like to call "orphan prevention". The thought behind this: Provide spiritual, emotional, material and financial aid to families in crisis on the front end, hopefully preventing their children from becoming orphans in the first place. If we support families before they reach abject poverty, destructiveness and hopelessness, then maybe we can help keep their children out of the foster care system, group homes and orphanages.
So yes, Jedd, let's pray and fight for the restoration of families here in the U.S. and abroad!
"Urban Orphans" - Tyrone Flowers, President of Higher M-Pact in Kansas City, Missouri.
This is less a quote and more a new vocabulary term for me. Tyrone Flowers shared a powerful testimony of his youth spent in multiple foster homes, detention centers, reform schools and hospitals, recovering from gun wounds that left him paralyzed.
His triumphant story of giving His life to Christ, attending college and law school, then starting a non-profit to reach out to youths struggling as he did, reminded me to remember the orphans in my own community. These "urban orphans" may not be legal orphans, but as Tyrone said, we have to get busy "supporting the kids that aren't legal orphans, but have no strong parental guidance." After all, their futures can be as dismal as the child with no parents.
"Before our children got hurt, our Heavenly Father created the balm. I'm glad we serve a God who is Jehovah Rapha, God, our Healer." Dr. Karyn Purvis, Director of the Institute of Development at Texas Christian University
Can I just say - Dr. Purvis is absolutely my She-ro. Love. This. Woman. She has a fierce love and passion for "children from hard places", and I have two of those children in my own family who came to us through adoption. Needless to say, this conference isn't complete until I've gotten a word from Dr. Purvis.
And she did not disappoint. She reminded me as an adoptive Momma that God is my children's heavenly Father and that He will ultimately heal any wounds that their separation from their birth families and, subsequently, their feelings of abandonment may create in them. Thank you, Dr. Purvis.
"Anger is the main tool of Satan to steal, kill and destroy anything good in us and our relationships." Dr. Gary Smalley, family counselor, author and speaker
What a treat to hear from Gary Smalley on the topic "The Single Most Important Ingredient to Effective Ministry: A Vibrant Marriage." As a pastor's wife I am brutally aware of the enemy's attack on the marriages of us soldiers on the front lines of ministry. It was refreshing to be reminded that my husband and I are in a war, but we are not alone in that war.
"Shame tells us 'you're not enough, the world is not enough, God is not enough.'" Dr. Curt Thompson, psychiatrist, author, founder of "Being Known"
This workshop was a game-changer for me. When I saw the title "Shame: Healing the Story of Our Lives", I knew I had to put my rump in a seat in this session. I will blog more extensively about this workshop later in my other blog site Deep Waters, but I had to share this quote. Shame has done more to destroy our joy, our relationships and our purposes in Christ than maybe anything else. Shame is at the root of sin. And it's destructiveness wreaks havoc on us and our families.
But more on that in a future blog...
I could go on and on all day sharing amazing quotes from the amazing people of God who spoke at CAFO2014, but these five rose to the top for me. They blessed my soul and, hopefully, have blessed yours as well - maybe enough for you to plan for CAFO2015...
For Him,
Carla
