Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Ready for Together For Adoption Conference?

Jason Kovacs and Dan Cruver have been planning and working with dozens of volunteers and the Austin, Texas T4A Conference begins this Thursday! There are over 850 registered so far to attend and hear speakers like JD Greear, Matt Carter, Bryan Loritts, Karyn Purvis and many more!

It has been a busy few weeks leading up to this conference. On September 10-11, there were 350 who attended the Show Hope Empowered to Connect conference in Nashville, TN. Dr. Karyn Purvis and Michael and Amy Monroe, along with Dan and Terri Coley from Show Hope, are being used tremendously to encourage and equip many, many families. There were people from over 19 states in attendance! More conferences are planned and this will continue to provide families with information they need going into adoption instead of in emergency, post adoption mode.

Yesterday, I returned from a 4 day event in Lexington, Kentucky. Ashland Avenue Baptist Church had Russell Moore speak three nights - listen online Johnny Cash (mention of course), Van Halen, m&ms and the good Samaritan. I had the privilege to speak three times about ABBA Fund and other financial solutions for adoption. It is great to have the opportunity to inform families about interest free loans and how they maximize the increased, $13,170 per child, refundable tax credit! More here too.

One more thought. I was able to attend the Verge Conference in Austin in February and hear Francis Chan along with many other speakers. It was my first exposure to the missional community movement and I was challenged to think about the early church and daily living out my faith. Jedd Medefind posted an article yesterday that addresses many of the "living out my faith, orphan care and adoption" questions that I have been thinking about! God is using our orphan care and adoption experiences to demonstrate His love to the world and to draw us closer to Him. Read Jedd's article here

Hope to see you in Austin this weekend. Come early and hear Dr. Purvis if you can make the pre conference!

Friday, September 3, 2010

Angel Rutledge advocates for Liberia's orphans

Angel is a wonderful friend from Charlotte, NC and she is doing an amazing job advocating for the fatherless. Check out her family photo, it is beautiful!

Also, a couple of her recent posts are very encouraging for anyone involved in the adoption process. We all need to be reminded of the "vertical" (used with permission from Dan Cruver :) ) and theological reasons that we are involved in adoption and caring for orphans. Angel also provides a wonderful list of available resources for adoption and foster care. I think you'll be encouraged by her heart and passion.