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Safe Families
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Home · Programs · Chicago · Safe Families for Children · Newsletters · Safe Families
MonMondayAugAugust11th2008
August 2008
Dear Safe Families,
One of the most exciting things about being involved in the Safe Families Program is hearing stories of how the Lord leads people to open up their home. The following is a letter from Toby and Cassie Eng. They completed their Safe Families application process at the moment when we were in desperate need of a Safe Family that spoke Mandarin. The Lord’s timing is perfect! Although the longer term nature of their placement is not typical, the reason they open their home resonates with many of our Safe Families.
 Two years ago, Toby and I attended one of LYDIA’s annual fundraisers at the invitation of a close friend and were deeply moved when we heard about the work God was doing through Safe Families. Right there at the dinner table, Toby leaned over to me and whispered, "We should do that." I knew he was right. What was there to say no to? We figured if we made ourselves available, God would bring an opportunity when the time and the situation were right. We said yes. We knew God would handle the details.
He did, and does every day. A year later we picked up our very first placement, two little girls, ages 4 and 8. A three week stay with us during Christmas of 2007 turned into a continuing relationship with the family. The little girls returned to us this spring as their mother's condition deteriorated and we have had them in our home for over four months now. Depending on the ruling of the state, we may soon become their long term guardians. In my wildest dreams I couldn't have imagined a story as crazy and perfect as this. God has used these girls to teach me how much grace, patience, and forgiveness I need each day! I have never realized the depth of my sin as clearly as when I am up to my ears in Barbie dolls, crayons, and wet bathing suits. And since the girls have been in our home, people like my husband's co-workers, our DCFS caseworker, and total strangers ask why we do what we do. And that gives us opportunities to share with them that we do this because the love of Christ compels us.
Throughout our lives, God has strongly impressed upon both of us the mandate to love those who are oppressed, lonely, and under-resourced here in the city of Chicago. We live in a world-class city and are surrounded by thousands of people who have never experienced the love of Christ through the hospitality of His children! 1 Peter 4 says, "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms...If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ." Peter commands us to love one another, and to do so by showing hospitality! We can unleash the power of Christ's work on the cross in this city, simply by showing love and hospitality to those around us. Toby and I are very ordinary people. There's nothing "special" about Safe Family volunteers. We don't necessarily have lots of extra time or lots of extra room or lots of extra money. But we have abundantly more than we could have ever asked for or imagined in Jesus, and more than enough to share. Simply by opening your home for one night, one week, or one month to a child, you can make an eternal impact on him/her and his/her family for Christ. Sometimes it's a little inconvenient, a little challenging, or a little scary, but we take each day with the strength God provides, so that Jesus will be known in our home.
One of my favorite verses of scripture is Micah 6:8, "And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Partnering with ministries such as Safe Families and LYDIA is one way for Toby and I to honor and obey God's call on our lives. We are just ordinary people, but we serve an extraordinary God and he uses broken people like us to do His extraordinary work.
If you are still considering whether to open your home, I hope you would take the risk and give it a try. We certainly could use your home. If you are already a Safe Family, could you help us spread the word to others who might be interested in opening up their home? For more information please call (773) 736-1447 or
us. Thanks for your part in weaving together this safety net for children.
Sincerely,
Dr. David Anderson
Executive Director, LYDIA Home Association
MonMondayJunJune2nd2008
June 2008
One of the most exciting things about being involved in the Safe Families Program is hearing stories of how the Lord leads people to open up their home. The following is a letter from Dave and Karen Gilbert from Willow North Shore.
 It all seemed to start with a little girl in a yellow dress. My wife, Karen, and I had just left church last December where we had seen a video-taped interview with our pastor, Bill Hybels, and well-known British film producer/writer Richard Curtis. During the interview, Curtis showed a video he had made on the street in a third-world country. There was only one scene in this video: a little girl in a yellow dress was making her bed to go to sleep for the night. Only her bed was on a dark sidewalk, next to a homeless man who was already sleeping. She fussed with her small blanket, spreading it out on the ground, making sure there were no wrinkles, that it was just right. Then she placed a small, worn pillow at the head of the blanket and lay down to go to sleep. As she lay there, motionless, next to the homeless man, another man walked by at a fast clip, not even seeming to notice the little girl in the yellow dress or the homeless man. End of video.
Neither Karen nor I could get the image of that little girl in the yellow dress out of our minds when we left church. The next morning as I ate breakfast with our 16-year-old daughter Emily, there she was again. “That’s the little girl in the yellow dress,” I exclaimed to Emily, pointing to the background of a music video she was watching on TV. In the background, behind the singer, was the little girl in the yellow dress, meticulously preparing her sidewalk bed for the night. Now I really could not dismiss this small child from my mind.
That afternoon, Dec. 17, I received an email from Dave Anderson. We had recently been certified as a Safe Family but had not yet received a child. “I thought I would just throw something out at you,” Dave’s email began. “We have a somewhat unusual situation of a little 15-year-old girl from South America…(she) was trafficked up here (long story) but now has no place to live. She is currently living with some nuns but can’t stay there much longer…Placement would need to be long-term (no clear ending at this time) and most likely with someone who has some knowledge of Spanish….”
I sent the email to Karen in her office, thinking it might be easier for her to shoot this down and then I would agree with her. When we met later that afternoon, though, Karen’s compassion and God’s tugging convinced both of us we could not say “no” to this child.
On Dec. 22, after a week of rapidly exchanging emails and phone calls with Dave, the nuns, and Maria, director of the Immigrant Child Advocacy Center at the University of Chicago, Rosa (name changed) arrived at our house, with Dave, Maria and the Sisters, just in time for Christmas. At the same time, our three other daughters, Lizzie, Amanda , and Christine, were coming home from universities for Christmas break, with Christine being fluent, Amanda minoring and Lizzie and Emily recalling high school Spanish, language was not an issue. But culture? – well, that’s another story. On the first day in our home, Rosa looked at our backyard and wanted to know if we had sheep!
Now five months into this adventure, we see God’s grace at work daily as Rosa is enrolled at a local high school, which has a wonderful TPI/ESL program for second language students. She is doing very well in school and has learned to swim, ride a bike, been to a zoo for the first time, has made several new friends and helps Emily with Spanish as Em helps Rosa with English. While there are some unanswered questions, we do know that God brought Rosa to our home for a reason and we thank Him for her – as well as the little girl in the yellow dress.
While this case certainly fits the spirit of the Safe Families movement, actually most cases are different in that they are short term and there are still parents who are involved with their children. If you are still considering whether to open your home, I hope you would take the risk and give it a try. We certainly could use your home. If you are already a Safe Family, could you help us spread the word to others who might be interested in opening up their home? Thanks for your part in weaving together this safety net for children.
FriFridayAprApril18th2008
April 2008
Dear Safe Families,
First, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for participating in this movement of compassion to parents and their children. We have nearly 300 families who regularly open their homes to strangers. By doing so, you demonstrate the love of Christ in tangible ways. Thank you for partnering with us in this effort to return the Church to the forefront of caring for children. As we expand this safety net for children, we truly have an opportunity to significantly reduce the potential dangers children may experience.
Second, it has always been our desire to regularly communicate with you via an enewsletter. We have not been able to do that but we want this to be a priority for us. We want you to realize that you are part of a movement much bigger than any of us. So...on a regular basis, our desire is to send out an enewsletter telling you who is joining us, challenges and opportunities we face, and how you might support us in prayer. Feel free to reply to the emails and tell us your stories of compassion and hospitality. We will include those in future emails.
What’s Happening, stats about Safe Families:
- Average stay in a family: 45 days
- Where children go after a stay with a Safe Family: 85% back to their parents
- Ages of children: 75% are under the age of 5
- Biggest referral source: DCFS
- Number of churches that have a Safe Family attending: 104
- Most Safe Families coming from one church: 22
- Most children one Safe Family has cared for: 30
New Launches, Safe Families has begun in the following regions:
- Rockford, IL
- Davenport, IA (Quad Cities)
- Clemson University launched Safe Families in South Carolina in partnership with a faith-based child abuse program they are running.
- We are in the process of finalizing a contract for the launch of Safe Families in Atlanta, GA. This is scheduled to start July 1st and will be implemented in partnership with Bethany Christian Services.
New Challenges:
- Managing growth: During the first three months of this year, we placed over 100 children. This is nearly three times the number of children we typically place during a three-month period.
- City of Chicago: The City wants to partner with Safe Families in creating a community safety net. They will implement a marketing campaign in the near future that involves placing posters advertising Safe Families on every train and bus in the city.
Help Needed:
- Pray that the Lord is glorified and that we are more effective in unleashing compassion.
- More Safe Families: Can you help us recruit more Safe Families? We have run into some difficulties getting into churches to tell others about Safe Families. We project that we will need 1000 families by this fall. So...we really need your help. If every Safe Family recruited at least one other family to join them as a Safe Family, we would come much closer to our goal. Please pray about this. Also, if we haven’t made a presentation in your church recently, please invite us back. You could also host a gathering at your home where a member of the Safe Family team can present the need and opportunity to serve.
Thanks for all you are doing to make this dream a reality.
Please send me your thoughts about serving, here is a response from one Safe Family:
 “Our hearts intuitively know the difference between saving lives and just making room for more family activity. Purpose, genuine purpose, needs no explanation. We know it when we find it. Alison and I have been involved in ministry for all of our adult lives, but never anything as raw and simple as what we have found through Safe Families. The countless nights spent pacing the floor to bring comfort to the precious children that we were called to care for while their young mom got back on her feet became the simplest picture of the Kingdom of God that we’ve ever seen. Self-emptying love is not complicated stuff. The values of the Kingdom elude us because of their simplicity. There’s no degree needed to change the world...not the world of a child whose only other place to turn might be the streets.
As part of Safe Families you never know the whole picture behind the little ones you care for. But what a privilege it is to watch love break through the walls of a tiny survivor. There is something so wonderful about doing ministry as a family. Together with our four daughters we have discovered such a simple way to make an incredible difference in the life of a child who just needs love...and we have only just begun”. (Jason & Alison Morriss)
Thank you for being a Safe Family for Children. We want to hear more from you, please
us about your experiences. Also, we would appreciate anything you can do to help us find more families.
May God bless you and your family.
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