May 19, 2025 • 15 mins
This National Foster Care Month, the needs are urgent for the almost 400,000 children in the U.S. foster care system. Statisics show that 62% of children are placed in foster care due to neglect, and 33% due to a parent’s drug abuse. On Monday's Mornings with Eric and Brigitte, Austin Ludwig, a manager at WinShape Homes will share his story.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:03):
You're listening to Moody Radio's South Florida 89.3, and this
is mornings with Eric and Bridget.
S2 (00:08):
Well, this weekend at church, Pastor Doug Sauder talked about
foster care. Foster care weekend. And one of the things
he said is if you could just see their faces
and know their stories, I think we would be more
inclined to act and be a part of bringing redemption
to their stories. And so we don't always know. But
(00:30):
today we get to highlight one of those stories that,
you know, has kind of run the gamut here and
is we can see the redemption now.
S1 (00:36):
Yeah. You know, I see that 40 400,000 children are
in the foster care system, which seems overwhelming, right? So
as you talk about if we could just see there
the a face, if we could just see one face,
that would make that even more manageable for us, I think.
So that's why this conversation is important, because we're going
to take that large number and break it down to
(00:58):
one story, one person, one child who was affected and
how the church had a role in that child's life.
And Austin Ludwig is with us. Austin, really, we're going
to take that 400,000 and turn it into one. And
that's you. Tell us a little bit about your story,
how you ended up in the foster care system.
S3 (01:19):
Yeah. Well, thank you for having me, Eric and Bridget,
it's such an honor to be with you this morning. Um, yeah.
So my family, um, like most children who go through
the foster care system or impacted by it, we grew
up in a lot of brokenness, a lot of poverty.
You know, the chaotic scenery of my childhood looked like
the inside of courtrooms, the back of cop cars, social workers,
(01:40):
runaway charges, siblings and juvie dad in and out of jail. Um,
before I was even a teenager, you know, the instability.
We moved more than 20 times. I went to eight
different schools, had a front row seat to three divorces. Um,
you know, we lived in government housing, food stamps, welfare,
the whole nine yards. But things kind of just culminated
with the instability when I turned 13, um, as a teenager,
(02:01):
my father was Released from jail, I was placed back
in his custody. He was caring for five children at
that time as a single parent. The issue is he
was a non-functioning alcoholic drug addict. We were dirt poor.
Two of my siblings were just one and two years
old at that time and with no childcare. My older sister,
who was 16, she dropped out of high school to
try and work a part time job, and I actually
(02:22):
never enrolled in what should have been my freshman year
of high school so I could stay home. My sister
worked that job, and we try to take care of
my younger siblings in the home. But the bills stacked up,
you know, the power got cut off to the point
where we try and light candles at times to heat
up water, even to get my siblings, you know, a
warm bath and, um, just an example of kind of
the nature of things. But my dad, you know, he
(02:43):
abused substances, more physical abuse. It increased as well, eventually
to the point where, you know, we couldn't hide it
or lie about it anymore. Um, and one day, my
sister took a bad beating, ran off, uh, and reported
my father, you know, and it wasn't the first time
he was reported, but it would be the last, because
within 24 hours, police came in the middle of the night,
kicked down the front door, arrested my dad for multiple
(03:06):
charges of child abuse and drug possession. And as a
result of this, my siblings and I, we were all
separated and placed into the foster care system. And so, yeah,
I was in the foster care system as a teenager,
just accepting this like harsh reality. The courts denied any
opportunity for reunification with my family because of the nature
of what was going on over the years. So that
(03:27):
meant as a teenager, I was accepting I would likely
be in the foster care system for the rest of
my childhood. Um, and, uh, and, you know, I was
super confused. Alone. I was moving to a second placement,
and then, yeah, one day the phone rang, to my surprise,
and it was a call from me at my foster home,
and a couple from a local church reached out and, um,
(03:47):
started a call, started to love on me and visit me.
And then through God's grace, a divine appointment. I would say, uh,
connection through that same local church, an organization named Winshape Homes. Um,
they heard that I needed a long term solution because,
you know, as a teenager in foster care system with
my parents rights terminated. So, you know, I needed to,
to end up somewhere for the last few years of
(04:10):
high school until I aged out and they heard that
I needed an opportunity in a home. And by the
grace of God, I got to move into a Christ
centered foster home, and it completely transformed my life. Um,
I mentioned that I missed that first year of of
of high school education, and Winshape worked on my behalf.
I was able to catch up, uh, graduate and, um,
(04:31):
go to college, which I never would have had, um,
an opportunity to do. And, you know, since graduating out
of foster care, I've been in ministry full time in
the past 12 years, a pastor for many of those
years now, Christian artist, songwriter, speaker, but in a crazy,
you know, way that only God could orchestrate. I've actually
joined the staff at Winshape Homes, um, helping us equip
(04:52):
churches to engage the foster care crisis. Now leveraging my story,
just sharing that the gospel really can transform lives, and
getting to brag on the local church because I feel like, um,
that's just such a unique opportunity. So just talking about
the good work of what God has done through his people.
S2 (05:08):
Yeah, it's so true that the church really is the
answer for this issue. And I want to go back
into your story a little bit. You talked about being
separated from your siblings, and I've heard that is like
that's like a secondary trauma, wasn't it?
S3 (05:24):
Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, that's that's, um, a
very common in the foster care system. Uh, you know,
it's not really the state's fault or anything of that nature.
It's just the reality that we we need more foster families.
And a lot of times, you know, we already don't
have enough foster families, but the foster families that we
do have in the US, a lot of times they
(05:45):
might want to take children from the age of, you know,
nine months to to seven years old, but you have
sibling groups that happen of 3 or 4 siblings that
end up and, and there may be a few teenagers,
there's age gaps, um, or just families can't take siblings groups.
So what happens is they end up getting separated. Oftentimes
they go to a different county, um, and they get removed,
(06:07):
you know. So, so absolutely. It's like you're you're experiencing
this traumatic, you know, you're already experiencing trauma if you're
if you end up in the foster care system, but
then you're experiencing this, this next level of that by
being separated from anybody that you have some form of
healthy attachment with.
S2 (06:23):
So then were you ever reunified with your siblings?
S3 (06:27):
Yeah. So that's a there's a complicated answer there. Yes
and no. Um, so, you know, in adult years, yes.
You know, later on in life, but, um, a handful
of my siblings, you know, uh, for, for a few
months went to, to group homes, state run group homes.
I was in a foster home. I was in one
of those foster homes with one of my siblings, and
(06:49):
then a few of my half siblings. They ended up
going to live with some of bio family on their side.
So kinship care, um, with some grandparents. And then my
older sister, she, she moved into, uh, winshape with me, um,
and uh, and then, you know, gosh, when she graduated, um, out.
You know, it was, you know, just me. All my
(07:10):
siblings separate places. So. But by the grace of God,
you know, I've been able to reconnect with most of
my siblings. Um, and everyone's had their own journey and
uphill battle towards healing and restoration, but, um, yeah, I mean,
even even in the midst of that, that season as,
as a, as a young man, as a teenager, um, I,
I wasn't able to be with my siblings just based
(07:31):
on the circumstances.
S1 (07:33):
I want to hear more about Winshape homes. But before
we get there, one of the major issues for a
child who's in the system, the foster care system, is
when they get too old to be within the system.
What happened to you when you could not be a
part of it anymore? Was there any way that you
had been prepared for what was next?
S3 (07:55):
Yeah. So I think I consider myself incredibly lucky because of,
of winshape, uh, and just the resources that they have,
the way that they do ministry. I had a really
incredible support system sending me into adulthood, you know? And
by the time I got to Winshape, I had had
(08:15):
two and a half years to make a dent in the,
in the, the roller coaster of my life that happened
and the trauma that I was carrying. So there's a
lot that I had to unpack later on. But, you know,
I mentioned I missed that that first year of high school.
So I was held back. So I was they helped
me take summer classes for the next three years to
catch up, graduate, go to college. And not only did
I have resources, but I had relationships that paralleled those
(08:38):
resources because oftentimes you see, um, a system, you see
government services where we're like, hey, we want to just,
you know, give children scholarships. We want to do all this,
but without actually relationship that's attached to those resources. We
see failure all the time. So I consider myself incredibly lucky.
I had a support system. I got plugged into a
local church when when I went into college, you know, 18,
(08:59):
19 years old when I moved to the Atlanta area.
But most foster alum, you know, I think it's about
20,000 children age out of the foster care system every year. Um, and,
you know, most of those kids, um, don't have the
support that they need. You know, statistically, they become the
most vulnerable in society. You know, there's a long list
(09:21):
that I could just read to you of, just like,
crazy statistics, but, uh, they experience, you know, a high
volume experience, homelessness. 71% of, uh, girls aging out, you know, experience, um,
pregnancy by the age of 21. Um, they're, you know,
3 to 4 times less likely to finish a college
degree or, sorry, a high school degree, ten times less
(09:43):
likely to get a four year degree in college. So
there's there's just, uh, an unfortunate reality with foster alum
who age out of the system, who don't have the support,
don't have the resources. And again, more than anything, the relationship,
the familial attachment and support that that is God's design
that we would have. A lot of times they don't
(10:04):
have that, which again, I think is the incredible opportunity
for local churches who we we're not just an institution.
We're always meant to be the family of God. We
are the ones who are equipped to step in and
be that, um, that family, even for for young adults
aging out of the system.
S2 (10:20):
We are talking with Austin Ludwig, who's with Winshape Homes,
about his personal story. But tell us about your ministry
with this organization, Winshape Homes.
S3 (10:30):
Yeah. So Winshape Homes is a part of a larger
nonprofit by the name of Winshape Winshape Foundation, which is
a Christ centered nonprofit founded, you know, nearly 40 years
ago by Truett and Jeanette Cathy. Um, and it was
initially formed as a way to invest in college students
to shape winners, ergo, the name Winshape. Um, and over time,
(10:50):
it's transformed into many different ministries focusing on summer camp,
foster care, college discipleship, marriage enrichment. But specifically, I serve
with Winshape homes and we are a ministry that focuses
on foster care. We're a foster care agency in the
state of Georgia, which means we license families, but we
(11:10):
also partner with local churches. We create foster care ministries
within those churches. And um, yeah, we activate people into
this incredible work of caring for vulnerable children and families,
and we develop resources for people and want to, um,
do things like this, raise awareness however we can, um,
on a national level as well.
S1 (11:31):
So what's the church's role in all of this? You've
mentioned Winshape and working with the churches. How can churches
actually be a part of that, helping that one child
who's in foster care right now?
S3 (11:44):
Yeah. Well, I think some practical ways I'm always going
to start by just saying, you know, asking the Lord,
you know, and praying, God, am I called to this?
I think a lot of us have heard, um, you know,
growing up in church, it's like, you know, you're not
always called to go, but you are called to ask, Lord,
are you calling me? And so I would say, just like, um,
(12:06):
there's an incredible invitation from the Lord into this work
to care for the orphan and the widow. We hear
that in James 127. Um, and it says pure and
undefiled religion is this to care for the orphan and
the widow, to visit them in their time of need. Um,
and obviously we know that Jesus says caring for the
least of these is, is, um, what we're called to.
(12:27):
And I even shared a little bit with you, by definition.
Children are touched by the system. They are the most vulnerable,
the least of these in society. So, um, I think
there's just a huge reason why we're called to this already.
That's apparent. But I think becoming foster parents is is
a great need. We have. You said it. Uh, we're
under right under about 400,000 children in the foster care
(12:48):
system in the US. Um, but the problem is we
have about half of that with foster parents. There's there's
half the foster parents. We really need about 190,000 to
200,000 foster parents. So there's just a practical need for
foster parents. But but we know that everybody can be
a foster parent, that everybody's not in that stage of life.
But we, um, especially in the state of Georgia, but
(13:09):
also across the nation. I get to go and partner
with ministries and churches and get to share my story
and talk about what God is doing. Um, there's church
communities who are creating care communities of support for foster families.
Studies show that families who are fostering, who have the
support of a community, they foster um, longer, they foster
stronger without that support. Studies show that they that within
(13:32):
the first year that they it's likely that they won't
make it to a second year. But with support they
can they usually foster for 4 to 5 years longer.
So we see that just having care, community support of
wraparound community of people who can do practical things, whether
it's cooking meals for them, praying for them, emotional needs,
spiritual needs, meeting all those, um, that's a huge part
(13:53):
of that. And so we in the state of Georgia,
we see people just, um, starting foster care ministries in
their churches saying, we want to own this. We want
this to be a ministry that we do to bless
our community, to bless our city. Um, and so we
know that not everyone, um, can become a foster parent,
but we believe everyone can do something. And then I
(14:15):
would just say to just advocacy being a voice, I
feel like there's a little bit of a glass ceiling
that's being broken right now around the conversation of foster
care in local church. Even the evangelical conversation across the
board of what God wants to do in the work
of justice and mercy, um, my heart's desire and my
belief is that, um, we're seeing churches awake to the
(14:38):
call and, and, um, and so I think just advocacy
as well, doing what you guys are doing, being so
kind to host me today, talking about this problem, we
want to see churches do that.
S2 (14:50):
Well, you know, I was sitting down with a local
foster care ministry, and one of the things the leader
said is, you know, there are these kids aren't bad
kids there, but they are in bad situations. And when
they're taken in and loved Austin as you were, their
lives can be completely transformed and you're just testimony of that.
So thank you for sharing your story. And we've got
(15:11):
a link to Winshape Homes at our website. Eric and brigitte.org.
You're listening to Moody Radio's South Florida 89.3, and this
is mornings with Eric and Bridget.
S2 (00:08):
Well, this weekend at church, Pastor Doug Sauder talked about
foster care. Foster care weekend. And one of the things
he said is if you could just see their faces
and know their stories, I think we would be more
inclined to act and be a part of bringing redemption
to their stories. And so we don't always know. But
(00:30):
today we get to highlight one of those stories that,
you know, has kind of run the gamut here and
is we can see the redemption now.
S1 (00:36):
Yeah. You know, I see that 40 400,000 children are
in the foster care system, which seems overwhelming, right? So
as you talk about if we could just see there
the a face, if we could just see one face,
that would make that even more manageable for us, I think.
So that's why this conversation is important, because we're going
to take that large number and break it down to
(00:58):
one story, one person, one child who was affected and
how the church had a role in that child's life.
And Austin Ludwig is with us. Austin, really, we're going
to take that 400,000 and turn it into one. And
that's you. Tell us a little bit about your story,
how you ended up in the foster care system.
S3 (01:19):
Yeah. Well, thank you for having me, Eric and Bridget,
it's such an honor to be with you this morning. Um, yeah.
So my family, um, like most children who go through
the foster care system or impacted by it, we grew
up in a lot of brokenness, a lot of poverty.
You know, the chaotic scenery of my childhood looked like
the inside of courtrooms, the back of cop cars, social workers,
(01:40):
runaway charges, siblings and juvie dad in and out of jail. Um,
before I was even a teenager, you know, the instability.
We moved more than 20 times. I went to eight
different schools, had a front row seat to three divorces. Um,
you know, we lived in government housing, food stamps, welfare,
the whole nine yards. But things kind of just culminated
with the instability when I turned 13, um, as a teenager,
(02:01):
my father was Released from jail, I was placed back
in his custody. He was caring for five children at
that time as a single parent. The issue is he
was a non-functioning alcoholic drug addict. We were dirt poor.
Two of my siblings were just one and two years
old at that time and with no childcare. My older sister,
who was 16, she dropped out of high school to
try and work a part time job, and I actually
(02:22):
never enrolled in what should have been my freshman year
of high school so I could stay home. My sister
worked that job, and we try to take care of
my younger siblings in the home. But the bills stacked up,
you know, the power got cut off to the point
where we try and light candles at times to heat
up water, even to get my siblings, you know, a
warm bath and, um, just an example of kind of
the nature of things. But my dad, you know, he
(02:43):
abused substances, more physical abuse. It increased as well, eventually
to the point where, you know, we couldn't hide it
or lie about it anymore. Um, and one day, my
sister took a bad beating, ran off, uh, and reported
my father, you know, and it wasn't the first time
he was reported, but it would be the last, because
within 24 hours, police came in the middle of the night,
kicked down the front door, arrested my dad for multiple
(03:06):
charges of child abuse and drug possession. And as a
result of this, my siblings and I, we were all
separated and placed into the foster care system. And so, yeah,
I was in the foster care system as a teenager,
just accepting this like harsh reality. The courts denied any
opportunity for reunification with my family because of the nature
of what was going on over the years. So that
(03:27):
meant as a teenager, I was accepting I would likely
be in the foster care system for the rest of
my childhood. Um, and, uh, and, you know, I was
super confused. Alone. I was moving to a second placement,
and then, yeah, one day the phone rang, to my surprise,
and it was a call from me at my foster home,
and a couple from a local church reached out and, um,
(03:47):
started a call, started to love on me and visit me.
And then through God's grace, a divine appointment. I would say, uh,
connection through that same local church, an organization named Winshape Homes. Um,
they heard that I needed a long term solution because,
you know, as a teenager in foster care system with
my parents rights terminated. So, you know, I needed to,
to end up somewhere for the last few years of
(04:10):
high school until I aged out and they heard that
I needed an opportunity in a home. And by the
grace of God, I got to move into a Christ
centered foster home, and it completely transformed my life. Um,
I mentioned that I missed that first year of of
of high school education, and Winshape worked on my behalf.
I was able to catch up, uh, graduate and, um,
(04:31):
go to college, which I never would have had, um,
an opportunity to do. And, you know, since graduating out
of foster care, I've been in ministry full time in
the past 12 years, a pastor for many of those
years now, Christian artist, songwriter, speaker, but in a crazy,
you know, way that only God could orchestrate. I've actually
joined the staff at Winshape Homes, um, helping us equip
(04:52):
churches to engage the foster care crisis. Now leveraging my story,
just sharing that the gospel really can transform lives, and
getting to brag on the local church because I feel like, um,
that's just such a unique opportunity. So just talking about
the good work of what God has done through his people.
S2 (05:08):
Yeah, it's so true that the church really is the
answer for this issue. And I want to go back
into your story a little bit. You talked about being
separated from your siblings, and I've heard that is like
that's like a secondary trauma, wasn't it?
S3 (05:24):
Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, that's that's, um, a
very common in the foster care system. Uh, you know,
it's not really the state's fault or anything of that nature.
It's just the reality that we we need more foster families.
And a lot of times, you know, we already don't
have enough foster families, but the foster families that we
do have in the US, a lot of times they
(05:45):
might want to take children from the age of, you know,
nine months to to seven years old, but you have
sibling groups that happen of 3 or 4 siblings that
end up and, and there may be a few teenagers,
there's age gaps, um, or just families can't take siblings groups.
So what happens is they end up getting separated. Oftentimes
they go to a different county, um, and they get removed,
(06:07):
you know. So, so absolutely. It's like you're you're experiencing
this traumatic, you know, you're already experiencing trauma if you're
if you end up in the foster care system, but
then you're experiencing this, this next level of that by
being separated from anybody that you have some form of
healthy attachment with.
S2 (06:23):
So then were you ever reunified with your siblings?
S3 (06:27):
Yeah. So that's a there's a complicated answer there. Yes
and no. Um, so, you know, in adult years, yes.
You know, later on in life, but, um, a handful
of my siblings, you know, uh, for, for a few
months went to, to group homes, state run group homes.
I was in a foster home. I was in one
of those foster homes with one of my siblings, and
(06:49):
then a few of my half siblings. They ended up
going to live with some of bio family on their side.
So kinship care, um, with some grandparents. And then my
older sister, she, she moved into, uh, winshape with me, um,
and uh, and then, you know, gosh, when she graduated, um, out.
You know, it was, you know, just me. All my
(07:10):
siblings separate places. So. But by the grace of God,
you know, I've been able to reconnect with most of
my siblings. Um, and everyone's had their own journey and
uphill battle towards healing and restoration, but, um, yeah, I mean,
even even in the midst of that, that season as,
as a, as a young man, as a teenager, um, I,
I wasn't able to be with my siblings just based
(07:31):
on the circumstances.
S1 (07:33):
I want to hear more about Winshape homes. But before
we get there, one of the major issues for a
child who's in the system, the foster care system, is
when they get too old to be within the system.
What happened to you when you could not be a
part of it anymore? Was there any way that you
had been prepared for what was next?
S3 (07:55):
Yeah. So I think I consider myself incredibly lucky because of,
of winshape, uh, and just the resources that they have,
the way that they do ministry. I had a really
incredible support system sending me into adulthood, you know? And
by the time I got to Winshape, I had had
(08:15):
two and a half years to make a dent in the,
in the, the roller coaster of my life that happened
and the trauma that I was carrying. So there's a
lot that I had to unpack later on. But, you know,
I mentioned I missed that that first year of high school.
So I was held back. So I was they helped
me take summer classes for the next three years to
catch up, graduate, go to college. And not only did
I have resources, but I had relationships that paralleled those
(08:38):
resources because oftentimes you see, um, a system, you see
government services where we're like, hey, we want to just,
you know, give children scholarships. We want to do all this,
but without actually relationship that's attached to those resources. We
see failure all the time. So I consider myself incredibly lucky.
I had a support system. I got plugged into a
local church when when I went into college, you know, 18,
(08:59):
19 years old when I moved to the Atlanta area.
But most foster alum, you know, I think it's about
20,000 children age out of the foster care system every year. Um, and,
you know, most of those kids, um, don't have the
support that they need. You know, statistically, they become the
most vulnerable in society. You know, there's a long list
(09:21):
that I could just read to you of, just like,
crazy statistics, but, uh, they experience, you know, a high
volume experience, homelessness. 71% of, uh, girls aging out, you know, experience, um,
pregnancy by the age of 21. Um, they're, you know,
3 to 4 times less likely to finish a college
degree or, sorry, a high school degree, ten times less
(09:43):
likely to get a four year degree in college. So
there's there's just, uh, an unfortunate reality with foster alum
who age out of the system, who don't have the support,
don't have the resources. And again, more than anything, the relationship,
the familial attachment and support that that is God's design
that we would have. A lot of times they don't
(10:04):
have that, which again, I think is the incredible opportunity
for local churches who we we're not just an institution.
We're always meant to be the family of God. We
are the ones who are equipped to step in and
be that, um, that family, even for for young adults
aging out of the system.
S2 (10:20):
We are talking with Austin Ludwig, who's with Winshape Homes,
about his personal story. But tell us about your ministry
with this organization, Winshape Homes.
S3 (10:30):
Yeah. So Winshape Homes is a part of a larger
nonprofit by the name of Winshape Winshape Foundation, which is
a Christ centered nonprofit founded, you know, nearly 40 years
ago by Truett and Jeanette Cathy. Um, and it was
initially formed as a way to invest in college students
to shape winners, ergo, the name Winshape. Um, and over time,
(10:50):
it's transformed into many different ministries focusing on summer camp,
foster care, college discipleship, marriage enrichment. But specifically, I serve
with Winshape homes and we are a ministry that focuses
on foster care. We're a foster care agency in the
state of Georgia, which means we license families, but we
(11:10):
also partner with local churches. We create foster care ministries
within those churches. And um, yeah, we activate people into
this incredible work of caring for vulnerable children and families,
and we develop resources for people and want to, um,
do things like this, raise awareness however we can, um,
on a national level as well.
S1 (11:31):
So what's the church's role in all of this? You've
mentioned Winshape and working with the churches. How can churches
actually be a part of that, helping that one child
who's in foster care right now?
S3 (11:44):
Yeah. Well, I think some practical ways I'm always going
to start by just saying, you know, asking the Lord,
you know, and praying, God, am I called to this?
I think a lot of us have heard, um, you know,
growing up in church, it's like, you know, you're not
always called to go, but you are called to ask, Lord,
are you calling me? And so I would say, just like, um,
(12:06):
there's an incredible invitation from the Lord into this work
to care for the orphan and the widow. We hear
that in James 127. Um, and it says pure and
undefiled religion is this to care for the orphan and
the widow, to visit them in their time of need. Um,
and obviously we know that Jesus says caring for the
least of these is, is, um, what we're called to.
(12:27):
And I even shared a little bit with you, by definition.
Children are touched by the system. They are the most vulnerable,
the least of these in society. So, um, I think
there's just a huge reason why we're called to this already.
That's apparent. But I think becoming foster parents is is
a great need. We have. You said it. Uh, we're
under right under about 400,000 children in the foster care
(12:48):
system in the US. Um, but the problem is we
have about half of that with foster parents. There's there's
half the foster parents. We really need about 190,000 to
200,000 foster parents. So there's just a practical need for
foster parents. But but we know that everybody can be
a foster parent, that everybody's not in that stage of life.
But we, um, especially in the state of Georgia, but
(13:09):
also across the nation. I get to go and partner
with ministries and churches and get to share my story
and talk about what God is doing. Um, there's church
communities who are creating care communities of support for foster families.
Studies show that families who are fostering, who have the
support of a community, they foster um, longer, they foster
stronger without that support. Studies show that they that within
(13:32):
the first year that they it's likely that they won't
make it to a second year. But with support they
can they usually foster for 4 to 5 years longer.
So we see that just having care, community support of
wraparound community of people who can do practical things, whether
it's cooking meals for them, praying for them, emotional needs,
spiritual needs, meeting all those, um, that's a huge part
(13:53):
of that. And so we in the state of Georgia,
we see people just, um, starting foster care ministries in
their churches saying, we want to own this. We want
this to be a ministry that we do to bless
our community, to bless our city. Um, and so we
know that not everyone, um, can become a foster parent,
but we believe everyone can do something. And then I
(14:15):
would just say to just advocacy being a voice, I
feel like there's a little bit of a glass ceiling
that's being broken right now around the conversation of foster
care in local church. Even the evangelical conversation across the
board of what God wants to do in the work
of justice and mercy, um, my heart's desire and my
belief is that, um, we're seeing churches awake to the
(14:38):
call and, and, um, and so I think just advocacy
as well, doing what you guys are doing, being so
kind to host me today, talking about this problem, we
want to see churches do that.
S2 (14:50):
Well, you know, I was sitting down with a local
foster care ministry, and one of the things the leader
said is, you know, there are these kids aren't bad
kids there, but they are in bad situations. And when
they're taken in and loved Austin as you were, their
lives can be completely transformed and you're just testimony of that.
So thank you for sharing your story. And we've got
(15:11):
a link to Winshape Homes at our website. Eric and brigitte.org.
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