By Dr. Derek Brown

Arkansas Baptist Children & Family Ministries Executive Director

Picture the typical American family in 1966: A couple married in their early twenties could buy a starter home on one income and have their first child well before their 30^th birthdays. Grandparents were a short drive across town and church involvement was a given. Fast forward sixty years and that same family looks much different. The wedding comes eight years later, the starter home costs five times more relative to income, and the cost of raising a child has taken a steep climb, particularly in recent years. The increase of these pressures alongside a decrease in church and extended family involvement has created a vulnerable foundation for family preservation. This is the reality for the families in your community, on your street, and in the pews behind you on Sunday morning. This is the mission field your church is perfectly positioned to engage.

This overlooked mission field includes the single parents raising one fourth of the next generation, the one in six households navigating the challenges of a blended family, and the rising number of adolescents with a mental health diagnosis, currently one in five. Need I mention the overwhelming percentage of couples contemplating, experiencing, or in the aftermath of divorce? Each of these families need a place to discover practical solutions, loving support, and wise counsel. The price of doing nothing about this epidemic is being paid by our most vulnerable population. One in ten of our precious children will have a confirmed case of abuse, neglect, or maltreatment and one in twenty is likely to spend time in foster care before entering adulthood. Right now, a family in your community is at a breaking point; where will they turn for hope?

Will you lead your church to be a beacon of hope for families in the mission field where God has positioned you? You don’t have to do this work alone. Arkansas Baptist Children & Family Ministries (ABCFM) exists to equip and extend the ministry of your church in your community as you serve children and families in crisis. Here’s what this partnership looks like in practice:

• Open your home for foster care or adoption with Connected Families. Our team will walk alongside you every step of the way. This may be the best practical demonstration of the Gospel we can offer a child today.
• Get acquainted with the Living Well Counseling team closest to you. If we don’t have a location convenient to your church, reach out about a potential partnership. Let’s work together to make sure quality Christian counseling is available for your family and the families you serve.
• Host a Way of Grace marriage enrichment event at your church to help couples in your church and community approach their relationship according to God’s design.
• Sponsor a marriage or family focused retreat for a couple or family in crisis. These personalized counseling-integrated retreats at The Arkansas Baptist Ranch are truly lifechanging.
• Host a toy drive or pack kits for kids to provide immediate tangible support for children in foster care right here in Arkansas. We will provide all the support needed to make these events successful and even pick up the collected items in our Toy Bus. This is a great way to get children involved in this mission field.
• Become a monthly financial partner to advance this ministry to families across Arkansas.

However you choose to get involved, I challenge you to view the family as your local mission field. Let the ministries of ABCFM support your family and equip you to serve other families within your reach. If you don’t know where to start, I would be honored if you would put the ministries of ABCFM on your prayer list. Pray that children are protected, families are preserved, the Gospel is shared, and God is glorified. Check our website and social media often for updates and to connect about how we can partner together on this mission: www.abcfm.org