Staff report
All pastors, lay leaders, and church members with a heart for foster care are invited and encouraged to attend a free luncheon on Tuesday, April 17, at New Life Community Church, 2020 N. Washington in Magnolia. The leadership team of The CALL in Columbia County is excited to share how their county has been blessed through the work of The CALL.
The CALL is an avenue to provide training and support for Christian foster and adoptive homes in Arkansas. The CALL co-sponsor, South Arkansas Children’s Coalition, will be on hand to tell more about the work they do to assure the safety, health and well-being of abused children in Columbia County.
Keynote speaker for the event will be nationally known foster care and adoption advocate, Bishop W. C. Martin. Bishop Martin is the author of “Small Town, Big Miracle: How Love Came to the Least of Them.” His book was published by Focus on the Family. He has been a special guest on The TODAY Show, The 700 Club, Oprah Winfrey, Family Life Today, and many more. Bishop Martin will encourage and empower churches and individuals to make a difference in the foster care crisis in Arkansas. He will tell the story of how his small congregation from Possum Trot, Texas, population 700, stepped up as foster parents and adopted 78 children from the foster system. Bishop Martin is a friend of The CALL and wants to see our vision of “no child waiting” to be achieved.
Bishop Martin will have copies of his book on hand at the event. Please plan to purchase your signed copy of “Small Town, Big Miracle: How Love Came to the Least of Them.” A movie based on Bishop Martin’s book and his experience with foster care and adoption is in production.
The CALL has one mission: to educate, equip, and encourage the Christian community to provide a future and a hope for children in foster care in Arkansas. The CALL is working toward having Christian families waiting to provide a home to every foster child in Arkansas. According to James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
South Arkansas Children’s Coalition is the umbrella organization that oversees and administers two child welfare programs: the 13th Judicial District South CASA and the Children’s Advocacy Center of South Arkansas. The 13th Judicial District South CASA recruits and trains community volunteers to advocate for foster children in the Juvenile Court System.
Admission is free to hear the challenge of this informative and compelling speaker, Bishop W. C. Martin. You will enjoy a complimentary meal and hear a plan for your church to engage in the solution to the foster care crisis in Arkansas. Please R.S.V.P. by Monday, April 16, by calling Natalie Hill at 870-904-1019 or emailing [email protected].
For more information about The CALL, visit www.TheCALLinArkansas.org.