When we look around our church or sit in the comfort of our homes, it is easy to feel a profound sense of gratitude for the safety, warmth, and community we enjoy. As people of faith, our hearts naturally long to extend that security to the vulnerable—especially to the children in our own neighborhoods who desperately need a safe place to land. Yet, when we consider the world of foster care, it can easily feel overwhelming, complicated, and entangled in bureaucratic systems that seem entirely distant from our everyday lives. Before we can step into answering the call to care for these children, we must pause and look at the whole picture with fresh eyes, beginning with the individuals tasked with navigating these heavy spaces every single day.
In public discussions about foster care, the Department of Children’s Services is frequently cast as the villain. This stigma is so pervasive that when you visit a local DCS office, the caseworkers themselves are often deeply moved by simple expressions of kindness. It is not uncommon to hear them say, “Thanks for not hating us”, or “Thank you for acknowledging our work. Most people only notice us when they want to criticize.” Sadly, that heavy reputation weighs constantly on the people on the front lines.
It is remarkably easy to pass judgment from a distance, or to assume we could do a better job when we aren’t immersed in the daily complexities of the work. I am guilty of this myself when it comes to local road construction; part of me genuinely believes I could schedule those projects more efficiently, knowing full well I have never had to face the actual reality of doing so. A similar dynamic applies when outsiders judge how the Indiana Department of Children’s Services supports fragile families.
The closer I have become to the real people working in this field, the more my compassion has grown. The more caseworkers I get to know, the more I see individuals doing the very best they can with the limited resources they have. They hold an incredibly heavy burden. They witness heartbreaking situations, fully acknowledging that removing a child from a home inflicts profound trauma. They live and work within an agonizing tension: knowing that to halt a long-term cycle of abuse or neglect, they must make an immediate decision that causes temporary heartbreak. They feel that tension every single day.
The foster care system is broken. I do not believe anyone who works within or interacts with the system would say otherwise. But brokenness is a familiar ache on this earth; we are broken people living in a fractured world. As followers of Christ, however, we are not called to retreat from brokenness. We are called to engage it.
We have an open secret in the Church. Jesus explicitly told His people to copy His footsteps. He commanded us to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39) and to “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). The beautiful truth is that foster care is a vital mission field right here in our own backyard. You don’t need a passport or a plane ticket to step onto this mission trip. Through our ministries at Pathway Community Church, specifically, True Vine (adoption, foster care, family preservation), we are stepping into this space all the time.
We want to invite you into this journey with us. Whether you are called to open your home as a foster parent, wrap around a foster family with meals and prayers, or simply show up at a local DCS office with encouragement for a weary caseworker, there is a place for you. Let us stop looking at the system from a distance and start engaging it with the radical, transformative love of Jesus. Will you take this step onto the mission field with us?
Learn more about True Vine, Pathway's Adoption and Foster Care Ministry, HERE.
In public discussions about foster care, the Department of Children’s Services is frequently cast as the villain. This stigma is so pervasive that when you visit a local DCS office, the caseworkers themselves are often deeply moved by simple expressions of kindness. It is not uncommon to hear them say, “Thanks for not hating us”, or “Thank you for acknowledging our work. Most people only notice us when they want to criticize.” Sadly, that heavy reputation weighs constantly on the people on the front lines.
It is remarkably easy to pass judgment from a distance, or to assume we could do a better job when we aren’t immersed in the daily complexities of the work. I am guilty of this myself when it comes to local road construction; part of me genuinely believes I could schedule those projects more efficiently, knowing full well I have never had to face the actual reality of doing so. A similar dynamic applies when outsiders judge how the Indiana Department of Children’s Services supports fragile families.
The closer I have become to the real people working in this field, the more my compassion has grown. The more caseworkers I get to know, the more I see individuals doing the very best they can with the limited resources they have. They hold an incredibly heavy burden. They witness heartbreaking situations, fully acknowledging that removing a child from a home inflicts profound trauma. They live and work within an agonizing tension: knowing that to halt a long-term cycle of abuse or neglect, they must make an immediate decision that causes temporary heartbreak. They feel that tension every single day.
The foster care system is broken. I do not believe anyone who works within or interacts with the system would say otherwise. But brokenness is a familiar ache on this earth; we are broken people living in a fractured world. As followers of Christ, however, we are not called to retreat from brokenness. We are called to engage it.
We have an open secret in the Church. Jesus explicitly told His people to copy His footsteps. He commanded us to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39) and to “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). The beautiful truth is that foster care is a vital mission field right here in our own backyard. You don’t need a passport or a plane ticket to step onto this mission trip. Through our ministries at Pathway Community Church, specifically, True Vine (adoption, foster care, family preservation), we are stepping into this space all the time.
We want to invite you into this journey with us. Whether you are called to open your home as a foster parent, wrap around a foster family with meals and prayers, or simply show up at a local DCS office with encouragement for a weary caseworker, there is a place for you. Let us stop looking at the system from a distance and start engaging it with the radical, transformative love of Jesus. Will you take this step onto the mission field with us?
Learn more about True Vine, Pathway's Adoption and Foster Care Ministry, HERE.
Posted in True Vine Tuesdays