November meeting to focus on long term solutions for the Lake Chelan Valley

Join us Thursday, November 8 at 10am at the Chelan Fire Station for an informative, Community Roundtable-style meeting.

This week we will be sure to allow time for updates on specific needs, how those needs were met—by you! Our community has been very actively supporting many families these past few weeks, including food drives, material needs, raising money for a seizure dog, helping with funeral costs, to name a few. Not only that, but it has been my incredible pleasure to receive donations for specific needs we heard about, one after another. I am so humbled by the way the needs just keep getting met, whether it’s for a safe home/family or a twin bed. Each one may not seem like a big deal, but corporately it sends the message that we don’t want kids to fall through the cracks in our community!!!

We will look at opportunities for getting better equipped as a community to best help at risk children and their parents, teachers, counselors, etc. Through stories and anonymous case studies, we will look at some long term solutions for the Chelan Valley. We are hoping to have some school counselors as guest speakers to share the kinds of things they are doing and how we can help. Most importantly, bring your thinking cap because we want to brainstorm and put all our heads together to look for solutions. You are all full of possibilities and we think working together is a tremendous asset in helping kids in need in the Chelan Valley.

*Don’t forget to consider forming a team for this year’s Chelan Valley Mobile Pack Event. We are gaining momentum and have over 20 teams toward our goal of 76 teams! We are aiming for bigger and better as we plan to buy 175,000 meals, raise $38,000, and gather 875 volunteers to pack and send them to children affected by malnutrition and starvation.

Waiting Well

We have many families that are in the process of waiting. Waiting to find the right child to adopt, waiting to bring their new child or children home, waiting for the next foster child... The list goes on.

While it may seem frustrating at times, the waiting process is an important piece of the adoption and foster care journey, and there are many things you can do to learn and prepare for the exciting next steps in your journey.

First, pray. God knows all your feelings - struggles, fears, anticipation, excitement - so share with Him your heart. He is the ultimate listener and counselor in our lives, and cares about us deeply.

Second, get connected with others that are waiting. There is great comfort in joining with others that are also in the waiting process, and knowing that you're not alone. You may even find that life-long friendships and support networks may develop during this time.

Third, gather information on the next steps of your journey. There are many helpful resources online and at your local library. Some favorite websites include: Empowered to Connect, Christian Alliance for Orphans, and Tapestry, and interesting books you may want to look into include Handbook on Thriving as an Adoptive Family, Wrapping Around Adoptive Families, The Connected Child, Adopted for Life, The One Factor, and many more.

Fourth, wrap around another family to support their needs during this time. Take the focus off your own pain and come alongside another adoptive or foster family to help encourage to them and lighten the load.

Last, move forward with hope. Even though uncertainties remain, move forward with a faith-filled hope. God knows what He is doing. Trust in His perfect timing.

The Power of Being Present

Here is an awesome video on the Power of Being Present from a mom in the trenches. Excellent for everyone - regular parents, foster and adoptive parents, and more.

Buy jewelry, help Amanda's Compassion child

Chelan High School senior Amanda Stewart called to let me know today that she is now selling jewelry at Bellaphia. Part of the proceeds go to continue sponsoring her Compassion child, Shaelyn. Please take a look next time you're in town & support Amanda!

Compassion impresses me again with gift of clean water

I am a volunteer advocate for Compassion. We are child sponsors of 4 beautiful kids in Haiti and I love their holistic child development program. But another cool thing they do is distribute water filters. Dirty water causes diahrrea, cholera, and hosts of other life threatening health problems worldwide. This morning I was working on our Haiti mission trip and talking on the phone to the regional director. I mentioned the water of life program that distributes filtration systems, and he told me that when the cholera outbreak hit Haiti, they had to act. Though there was not enough money in the fund, they decided every Compassion family in Haiti needed to have clean water, so they gave EVERY COMPASSION FAMILY IN HAITI A WATER FILTRATION SYSTEM for their home! These simple designs provide over a million gallons of clean water. What a relief that would be to a mother who knows her child must drink water to survive, but knows that same water may kill her child. Jesus said, "Come to me all who are thirsty" How awesome to distribute clean water in his name!

Refuge Launches Adoption Assistance Fund

Interested in adopting? Refuge can help you with the costs of adoption through our new adoption assistance fund. Your friends and family can also donate to the cost of adoption through this tax deductible ministry.

Please contact us if you would like to know more :)

What is Refuge?

Refuge is our response to homelessness, 143 million orphans worldwide, children placed in foster care because of abuse or neglect, thousands of people dying of starvation everyday, kids with no voice, and loneliness.

Refuge seeks to raise awareness and create opportunities to help children in need. Our mission is to recruit quality foster care families, provide temporary shelter, encourage child sponsorship, give adoption assistance, mentor, lead mission trips, design service opportunities, advocate for kids, and encourage kids and families.

Locally, we want to make it hard for a child in the lake Chelan Valley to be uncared for. In a community with so much beauty, nice homes, prosperity, and generous people, there is no reason any child should go without a coat, food, a home, or the love of a caring adult. We want to partner with parents, schools, churches, individuals, and organizations to help kids thrive.