Churches Answer the Call for Foster Care and Adoption
The Answer the Call Conference brought Indianapolis-area churches together to encourage and equip people considering foster care and adoption. Hosted by Traders Point Christian Church, the event was designed to connect attendees with practical information, workshops, and resources.
- The conference grew from conversations among people from five area churches.
- Workshops addressed foster care, domestic and international adoption, attachment issues, and honoring birth mothers.
- Organizers hoped the event would lead to ongoing cooperation among churches serving orphans and families.
By Jennifer Taylor
Danielle Ott, a member at Traders Point Christian Church (Indianapolis, IN), began dreaming about the possibility of a citywide foster care/adoption event coordinated by several area churches. A conversation with one like-minded acquaintance grew to a small group of people from five churches meeting at Starbucks to discuss ideas. The Answer the Call Conference launched May 19.
“There are so many people who feel God’s call to adopt or participate in the foster care system, but they don’t know where to start,” she says. “We wanted to encourage and equip them to move forward in a meaningful way.”
Answer the Call Conference Brings Churches Together
TPCC agreed to host the one-day event, which was scheduled to feature Beth Guckenberger as keynote speaker and include workshops on foster care, international and domestic adoption, attachment issues, honoring birth mothers, and more.
Beth Guckenberger and her husband, Todd, serve as executive directors of Back2Back Ministries—a leader in the field of orphan care and child development—and reside in Monterrey, Mexico. She is the author of Relentless Hope and Tales of the Not Forgotten (both available at www.StandardPub.com).
“Beth was heading to Mexico that day and was willing to reroute her flight to speak for us,” Ott said in March. “We are so excited to hear from her.”
Several dozen exhibitors were also scheduled to participate in the event and local radio had agreed to help promote it.
“We hope a group of churches will cross demographic and denominational lines to be an ongoing resource to our city,” she says. “We hope this will be just the beginning of churches working together to help orphans.”
www.answerthecallconference.org
—Jennifer Taylor
