Friday, October 12, 2012

Irving, Texas Adoption and Foster Care Conference

Michael and Amy Monroe are doing wonderful work providing resources for families and this conference is at their home church where they lead Tapestry. I'll be stopping by on Friday on my way to the Chosen Marathon near Austin, TX!
 The 2012 Tapestry Adoption & Foster Care Conference is only two weeks away, but there is still room for more -- so make plans to attend on Saturday, October 27, 2012, at Irving Bible Church.
This year’s Tapestry Conference offers several unique opportunities!  In fact, the conference actually consists of three separate events — and you are invited to attend any or all of them.
On Friday, October 26, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Tapestry will host an Attachment Workshop led by Dr. Curt Thompson, author of Anatomy of the Soul.  The workshop is ideal for adoptive and foster parents, professionals, ministry leaders, and others who desire to pursue lasting change in how they relate to the children they love and serve.  Training credits for foster and adoptive parents will be available, as well as CEUs for Texas licensed social workers and counselors.  Due to the tremendous response, only 20 spaces are still available for the workshop -- so register today!
On Friday evening, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, Tapestry will host Listen To Our Hearts.  This unique presentation will focus on the experiences, stories, and perspectives of adopted persons, and will feature Carissa Woodwyk, speaker and author of Before You Were Mine.
And last but not least, on Saturday, October 27, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Tapestry will host the 2012 Tapestry Adoption & Foster Care Conference, featuring Dr. Curt Thompson as the general session speaker. 
The 2012 Tapestry Conference will feature 18 new breakout sessions covering a wide range of topics relevant to adoptive and foster parents, those considering adoption, adopted persons, professionals, and ministry leaders.
As in year's past, the Tapestry Conference is completely free, and includes a light breakfast, lunch, conference materials, and training credits for adoptive and foster parents.
You won't want to miss the 2012 Tapestry Conference and pre-conference events.  Visit http://tapestryconference.org/register to register online.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Columbia, South Carolina Adoption Conference

Please join ABBA Fund at the Finding Families Adoption and Foster Care Conference. Learn more about how you and your church can have an impact in the lives of families and children. 
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012
8:30 AM - 5:00 PM
CHRISTIAN LIFE CHURCH
2700 Bush River Road, Columbia, South Carolina
Hosted by
U.S. Senator Jim DeMint



Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Empowered To Connect Conference coming to Nashville, TN

Brentwood Baptist Church and Show Hope will be hosting the Empowered To Connect Conference September 14-15, 2012 in Brentwood, TN, just south of Nashville. Register by July 15th and save $10.

Dr. Karyn Purvis, Michael and Amy Monroe, and Dan and Terri Coley will equip families, churches, and professionals to bring hope and healing to children from hard places. This conference has changed many lives over the years and I've hear families say that they wish they had know this stuff before they dealt with sensory and attachment issues and didn't know what to do. If you are involved in any way with orphan care, adoption and caring for the least of these, then this is much needed information. Show Hope is passionate about sharing this training with you and has made the conference very affordable (only $50 per couple through July 15th and $60 after July 15th).

I would try to say more but I'll let Michael and Amy do it. They have written this letter to ministry leaders:
Dear Church Ministry Leader,

We want to invite you and others from your church ministry team to join us for an upcoming Empowered To Connect Conference hosted by Show Hope. You can find out more about the upcoming conference dates and locations at www.etcconference.org.

As leaders of a church adoption and foster care ministry for the past eight years, we’ve had the privilege to walk alongside hundreds of families as they travel the adoption and foster care journey. During this time we have learned so much and have witnessed more blessings than we can count. At the same time, however, we’ve come face to face with many of the challenging realities that adoptive and foster parents encounter. As adoptive parents ourselves, we have dealt with many of these same challenges, and we know just how difficult, and even painful, they can be. But we also know that although the adoption and foster care journey is not easy, it is worth it – and we also know there is hope and help for every child and every family!

This is why we are excited to be part of the Empowered To Connect Conference. The conference is ideal for anyone interested in adoption or foster care, and will be especially valuable for those involved as church adoption, foster care or global orphan care ministry leaders, whether volunteer or staff.

The Empowered To Connect Conference features the insights, experience and wisdom of Dr. Karyn Purvis, who is the Director of the TCU Institute of Child Development and co-author of the best-selling adoption book, The Connected Child. For more than a decade, she and her colleagues have been developing a more complete understanding of the unique challenges that adopted, foster and orphaned children face, as well as a wide array of tools and strategies to help parents and caregivers form lasting and healing connections with their children.

Over the years the families in our church ministry have benefited greatly from Dr. Purvis. The Empowered To Connect Conference provides us with a great way to share this same help and hope with you so that your families can benefit as well. During the conference, Dr. Purvis offers helpful presentations on a wide range of topics that are highly relevant to all adoptive and foster families. In addition, Amy and I share how our ministry has incorporated these principles and resources into the way we educate, support and equip parents. And throughout the conference we highlight the biblical principles that serve as the foundation for the approach and interventions that Dr. Purvis advocates.

We hope that you will make plans to join us for an Empowered To Connect Conference, and we pray that God will continue to bless you and your efforts to serve children and families in Jesus’ name.

In Him,

Michael & Amy Monroe

Monday, April 2, 2012

April and May 2012 Conferences


April 20-21, 2012
Empowered to Connect
Denver, Colorado
Mission Hills Church in Littleton
Future ETC Conference dates - September 14-15, 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee
A two-day conference designed to help adoptive and foster parents, ministry leaders and professionals better understand how to connect with “children from hard places” in order to help them heal and become all that God desires for them to be.

April 28, 2012
Together For Adoption Regional Conference
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Calvary Baptist Church - West Campus
A one day conference that will focus on God’s work of adoption within the story of redemption and its implications for adoption, foster care, and global orphan care.

May 3-4, 2012
Summit VIII - Christian Alliance For Orphans
Lake Forest, California (Southern California)
Saddleback Church
The Christian Alliance for Orphans’ annual Summit has become the national hub for what Christianity Today recently called, “the burgeoning Christian orphan care movement.” Summit VIII on May 3-4, 2012 at Saddleback Church in Southern California is expected to draw 1,800 to 2,000 pastors, grassroots advocates, organizational leaders and church ministry heads. Alongside more than eighty workshops, the unforgettable plenary sessions will include Francis Chan, Rick and Kay Warren, Crawford Lorritts, Dennis Rainey, Steven Curtis Chapman, and other global leaders. Summit inspires, equips and connects for adoption, foster care and global orphan ministry.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Shepherd's Field Children's Village

Tim Baker and his family have been doing amazing orphan care work in China for two decades. This video shares some of the work at Shepherd's Village. I've been there at least four times and both of our girls have their hand prints on the Hands of Hope wall that you will see in the video. Thankful for the impact over the years in the lives of special needs orphans and the families that have adopted them.