Weathering the Storm
"This is the room that kept us safe. This is the room where I held onto my wife and kids for dear life. This is the room we prayed for safety. This is the room we walked out of without a scratch. This is the room that God kept a protective cover over." ~Connected Foster & Adoptive Dad whose family of 8 lost their home in Wynne
by Heather Noel, Director of Communications
As you are aware, communities across Arkansas were ravaged by storms this past Friday. Included in the path of destruction was the community of Wynne, where 30 of our Connected families and staff are located. While we are grateful to report that no injuries occurred to any of our staff, their families, our foster families, or children in our care, 4 Connected families and 1 Connected staff member did experience total or near total loss of their homes.
As we heard these families recount their stories of those moments hunkered down to protect the children in their care as the tornado passed, it became a vivid picture of the work they do day in and day out to care for children from hard places. Children with trauma history daily live with the reality of internal storms and foster families are a shelter in the midst of their chaos. “A very real and literal storm struck our families Friday and they held babies with everything they had to keep them safe from the storm. Through God’s grace, all were safe. This became a very real picture of what they do every day through the internal storms of trauma. Holding children close for safety is nothing new for these families who selflessly give so much of their lives to make sure children and families are safe, loved, and deeply known.” ~Ryan Ropp, Director of Foster Care and Adoptions
The beauty of Connected’s FAM church model is that our foster families experience a complete circle of support. They attend a church that has said yes to walking alongside them with wrap-around support and they attend church with the Connected Caseworker who is providing their case management. Through the tragedy of these events, we saw the impact of foster families having this kind of support and the significance of sharing life together. The Sunday following the storms, our Foster Care Coordinator for the Area who lives in Wynne shared, “Our three foster families and adoptive family in Wynne who lost their homes, were all at church this morning. I got to watch them raise hands in worship and sing, ‘All my life you have been faithful, all my life you have been so so good.’ If that doesn’t honor God and strengthen the Body, what does? Our church elders washed their feet and it was beautiful to watch them humbly allow such vulnerability. I am thanking God for The Bridge Church this morning and how God went before us and established these families in a strong church family. I’m thankful we get to serve God and serve the families and kids. All week before the storm, leading up to Easter, my Bible readings and devotions were about suffering with Christ. Watching it displayed after studying it all week is something I can’t put into words.”
It is this level of support, faithfulness, and obedience that has resulted in not a single family who lost their home asking for a placement change, not even a request for respite. “These families do not want to disrupt the children in their care. They have witnessed a community truly respond selflessly to help them care for the children in their home while they pick up their lives from the debris.” ~Ryan Ropp
Join us in praying for our families and staff impacted and for the daily work they do of providing shelter to children living in their own storms.