23 Nov 2018 - First ever CBD fostering intro lunch in collaboration with Epworth Community Services for Foster Care Week! Joseph Gan, our HFG foster parent is also a co-founder and president of a cyber-security startup. We are excited to have a foster father sharing as they play such an important role. We have been amazed by the transformation of their foster child, Jason (not his real name)! Foster parents come from all walks of life and Joseph's sharing also shows how busy professionals can also step up to foster ! Joseph and Li Ping, his wife, started fostering 3 years ago. They have seen personally what research also showed - that children really do grow better in foster families than children’s homes ! Fostering allows vulnerable children to grow in many ways through having closer and more secure relationships in family settings . They saw Jason bloom over time. Jason came as very fearful 9yo boy. They patiently took a step by step approach in caring for him with realist...

On 17 Nov 2018, Alan & Eliz shared about their journey fostering a 6 month old baby who is now an energetic 2 yr 8 mth old. What made this placement special was that it made this couple both first-time foster parents and first-time parents as well, since they had no children of their own. Not only did they have to cope with caring for a baby for the first time, they also had to manage the medical issues that came with this child being a premature baby. Nonetheless, the couple shared that the first time they met their foster child, it felt right that they should care for this child. He was warmly welcomed by their extended family, including Elizabeth’s mother. In God’s perfect timing and provision, her mother had just asked Elizabeth for a new babysitting job, totally unaware that the couple has just decided to start fostering . Her mother now cares for the child when Elizabeth is at work. Despite the love they have for the child, Elizabeth and Alan are prepared for the possible eve...

  “When you have 3 foster girls, they will naturally fight with each other from time to time for all sorts of things. We always try to teach them to value people over things. In order to help them feel safe, we assure them there is enough of everything and there is no reason to fight with each other for things that God has blessed us with. Some nights back, we had one of these “tiffs”. Our 5 years old foster child, Dora saw her foster sister, Gina, use a fork she thought was hers. You could see the “temperature” shooting up as she burst out at Gina in a fit! Over time, we have that when such things happen, our calmness will also help her to regulate her emotions. We told her calmly, just like we did the many other times such a thing happened, “Dora, you shouldn’t have yelled at your foster sister over this fork. There are many other forks... “ Her 5 years old face scowled in defiance. When TV time came, Gina happily watched her favourite shows while Dora has to lose her privilege ...

A few days ago, HFG foster family Audrie Siew and her daughter, Gabrielle, did a mother and daughter sharing about fostering to teenagers at an event by Focus on the Family Singapore ! Although the event was a secular one, it reminded Audrie of God’s goodness to her family. Below is Audrie’s reflection, specially prepared for HFG : “It was our first mother-daughter-father(as photographer) sharing on fostering. It's heartening to see so many more teens aware of fostering as compared to the past. I was struck also by how fostering has grown our family. Y es the the vulnerable kids are helped when we foster but God also blesses the givers . As a Christian family, we always prayed for my own children to know God and walk closely with Him. My heart almost burst to see my daughter talk about how she struggled and grew and then reached her own conclusions about why we should continue to foster. I could just see how God has worked in my daughter’s heart. Fostering has helped our family t...