the call to orphan care.

I always wanted to adopt or foster kids, though I didn't have much experience in or knowledge of that world growing up. So I guess you could say that long ago, God gave me a heart for this, though I'm not sure I ever understood what that would mean.

I started volunteering as a CASA because I wasn't ready to adopt or foster kids, especially single, but I wanted a way to be involved in that space.

Then I went to Africa and spent some time at Hope House, a home for abandoned children there. Adoption is practically impossible in Gabon, even for Gabonese nationals (there's just too much red tape involved). This is probably a good thing, or I think I would have struggled mightily with a desire to take one or more of those kids home.

All of this to say that sometimes, God places a call on your heart, but the reality of following that call looks very different than you expect.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be participating in a couple of different things related to this call, and wanted to take a few moments to introduce them.

This weekend I'll be in northwest Arkansas for Idea Camp: Orphan Care. My hope is that I'll learn more about all the issues that surrounds of this concept of orphan care, and get a better glimpse of where, specifically, God wants me to be involved.

Then in March, I'll be in Lancaster, PA, meeting with several others who want to be a part of the story that God is writing at Hope House. There are some amazing things that God is doing there, not just with Hope House but with the national Gabonese church. I'll write more about it later, but here are a few links to check out for more information:

• E4 Project - Tim Brokopp, one of our hosts while in Gabon, is the executive director of this organization. Their first project, PK27, is a campus that will eventually house not only a new facility for Hope House, but also serve as a base for all of the social outreach ministries of the local Gabonese church.
• Movers & Shakers Community - This website was set up by several interns who were in Gabon shortly before Kelli and I traveled there.