Respite carers are an important part in our fostering system. We thank God for these wonderful angels who come in to help when foster parents need help for a few hours or days! Here is our 3rd installment of Everyday Fostering from the eyes of our HFG respite carer,  Lee Hwa , who has been such a blessing to foster parents and children! We do pray for more great respite carers like Lee Hwa! < Everyday fostering : Respite Wonders > ""Auntie Lee Hwa, I will be a good boy!” This was one of the sentences little Chris said to me when I first helped  Vivienne Ng  for respite care. Chris was Vivienne’s foster child and was a very playful 4yo boy with ADHD. His behaviours had led to him being “kicked out” of a few childcare centres for some serious mischief. But you see, Chris was a broken child… he was deeply traumatised by his removal from his mother whom he loves deeply. When the day came for me to take him out, I gave him my attention, we played & talked about anyth...

  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...

30 October 2018 - Incredible turnout of 500 people from 80 churches for “Our Father’s Heart for the Homeless” symposium at St Andrew's Cathedral, Singapore! God is certainly calling out His people for this important ministry!! So blessed for Vivienne Ng to have the opportunity share about Fostering & HFG-SG, alongside folks from The Last Resort, Homeless Hearts of Singapore, The Salvation Army Singapore, ACS Oldham Hall and Elijah 7000! This is what Vivienne Ng feels God is leading Christians in Singapore to do in terms of radical hospitality and fostering .

God reveals His heart through the little things in fostering. Some of you may remember that HFG foster parent,  Audrie Siew  shared in one of our Intro teas before. Here is another snippet from her home with little Ellie! < Everyday Fostering> Sharing from HFG foster parents *Title : "Auntie, I Won't Buy Toys!"* My 9yo foster child, Ellie has a dream - She wants to be a nurse when she grows up! Last week, I gave her some stickers (we have a reward system to encourage her to study... A tough one for most foster kids) for a great achievement in her spelling test. She stuck them triumphantly on the book. In our reward system, she can "exchange" one page of stickers for a present costing about $10. I asked her, "You have worked hard and got a few pages of stickers already! What would you like to get?" She thought for a while and said, "Auntie, I know!!! I won't buy toys! I will buy p4 assessment books for next year!" I was taken aback a...

  Fostering Tea Session on 29 Sept 2018 HFG foster parent, Hope, shared how she was convicted by James 1:27 . She had been helping to run a monthly children’s programme for orphans. She and her husband David began to pray for God's leading for something they would do together. They attended a Focus on the Family Singapore screening of the Dropbox and talk on fostering. This time David felt a strong conviction and they began to explore the possibility of fostering. They understood that they needed to talk to their whole household because this must be a family decision, a commitment needing everyone’s buy-in . When they began, Hope was homeschooling both of her two daughters, now 13 and 10. David travels 50% of the time which would mean Hope would be the primary caregiver. She also had her longtime helper attend fostering training, which also helped them all understand trauma better and how it affects these children in various ways . There were challenges as they took on their firs...

9 September 2018 - Vi sharing about fostering at The Salvation Army Singapore , MSF’s newest Fostering Agency!! She quoted the urgent entreaty by their founder, William Booth: “While women weep, as they do now, I’ll fight While little children go hungry, as they do now, I’ll fight While men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I’lll fight While there is a drunkard left, While there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, While there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight-I'll fight to the very end!” & “ God loves with a great love the man whose heart is bursting with a passion for the impossible ." This was followed by Marcus Moo’s sermon on Joseph who was asked by God to “foster” Jesus (Matt 1:19-25). Joseph was given authority from God, he showed tenacity, he recognized Jesus’ destiny and he did his duty . Likewise, we are also given a Divine Care and Protection Order by God to nurture the destinies of children who need care, and we...

25 Aug 2018 - Joint Fostering Tea Session with MCYC. Anne & George previously spent a month volunteering in an orphanage in Philippines when their own adopted daughter was about 2 years old . But they had never considered fostering seriously until someone challenged them to look within Singapore as a mission field instead. The couple also feels that the best place for kids to experience life is within a family, and not in an orphanage . Spurred on by their daughter who was 20 years old by then, they registered as foster parents with MSF and took in 4 year old Apple (not her real name) in 2015. During this process, Anne & George were grateful for the support (advice, clothes & useful items) of HFG-SG members . While Apple came willingly with them and had no problems sleeping that first night, Anne cried to herself when putting her to bed, feeling a deep sadness that such a young child had gone through so much, and now had to be placed with strangers. Having been blessed w...

Some of us from HFG visited Hagar Singapore yesterday! Hagar is an international organisation dedicated to the recovery of women and children who have endured extreme abuses. They are working to see communities free and healed from the trauma of human slavery, trafficking and abuse. We heard such good stories of their work in Singapore and in Asia! We were so touched by how they even closed down their institutions and moved to foster care in Cambodia! They are reaching out to churches for support! You can check them out at  https://hagar.org.sg.   Hagar Singapore if your church has a heart for vulnerable children and young people, working with a Christian organization like Hagar could impact lives more effectively and sustainably than setting up orphanages! 

14 July 2018 - Fostering Intro Tea Session with MCYC Our foster parents, Grace and Kelvin, showed how fostering was used by God to change a child's life! Grace and Kelvin gave a very heartfelt sharing of their fostering journey in caring for a 6 year old girl with health challenges and speech delay. They had many struggles with the child's tantrums, crying and vomiting. They cried out to God and were amazed that everything just fell into place ! They saw God's strong provision - MSF/fostering agency's support on medical fees and the occasional need for transport, childcare arrangements, overwhelming support from extended family and Home For Good (HFG) all just came together! Their own children rallied behind them as they cared for the child. In their loving care, their foster child improved and they rejoiced as she "won her own victories" - being able to finally pronounce words, and even volunteering to sing "twinkle twinkle little star" at her chi...

2 6 May 2018 -  So blessed to hear again Land and Joyce share about their Fostering journey... God has used their love and care to transform their foster son, who was initially frightened of everything (going down escalators, the dark, water etc) into a resilient and confident child! ! Although it was sometimes stressful to parent a child who is not your own, the couple’s marriage was actually strengthened through an effort to communicate more with each other and self-reflection on how each could improve . Through this process, they also saw their own son (who was 12 when they started fostering) mature and contribute as member of the family team to help these children in need of a loving home.

Had the pleasure of hearing about Project Kindle today! It is wonderful that the students from College of Alice and Peter Tan (CAPT) has been supporting fostering and working with fostering agencies! In Kindle, students from CAPT, NUS, aim to develop the socio-emotional competencies in foster children. The team worked with MCYC Fostering Agency to reach out to foster kids, incorporate elements of mentoring, group engagement, and classroom culture. With the training and guidance from MCYC, CAPTains plan and facilitate weekly sessions to promote these essential social-emotional skills to these children. Interweaving both theoretical and practical knowledge, the team incorporated the benefits and effectiveness of group engagement and models. The current team is presently working on a model to expand the reach of the programme and benefit more children. There are hopes that the model can be a replicable blueprint to be used by other individuals, groups and organisations in Singapore as we...

18 March 2018 - Thanks to everyone who joined us for a great sharing by Ruslan (International facilitator for World Without Orphans) and Alex (Regional Medical Director of Bless China and foster parent) today! Thank God for a wonderful crowd! Ruslan shared on the importance of families to care for a vulnerable child, instead of using orphanages. As Christians, we were spiritual orphans until we were adopted into God's family! God sets the lonely in families. Orphans are loosely defined as those who are not able to stay with their own families due to reasons such as war, child abduction, abuse, neglect or loss of parents. There are about 9 million children in the world who need temporary or permanent families. There is a similar number of churches in the world! Christians can transform nations by stepping forward to be the safe stable and nurturing family for the children. There is no need to be perfectly wise and healthy to transform the nation. Our God is able. He shared that the...

10 March 2018 - Joint Fostering Tea Session with MCYC “ Fatherless, Orphans, Destitute, Needy "... These were words which God relentlessly showed to Audrie. God struck her with His heart for vulnerable children and the darkness, grief and confusion they felt when they had to leave their own families and their need for a loving and caring family to heal. She had applied to be a foster parent some years back but had pulled out because of fear. With the fresh vision from God, she eventually obeyed and applied again. Now she is finally fostering. Six months ago, her family took in an 8 year old foster daughter, Ellie. When she went to KKH to pick her up, Audrie was informed to bring some clothes because the child had nothing on her back except her hospital gown! H er family had to adjust to a new member and it was back to basics (or worse) in many ways. For instance, the girl had never been taught to sit and eat at a table and dropped food all over the floor; she wasn’t able to read o...

16 Feb 2018 -  The “Boy with No Ears” has finally found a loving home!! What joy it was to see my friends Vong and Poh Lian walk into the arrival hall at Changi Airport with their adopted son Ke Yuan at 6.30 am last sat. Their Redemption Hill Church friends were there to receive them. PTL that he has finally found a forever family and PTL for the courage, obedience and love demonstrated by the Yap family. Pl continue to pray for this family in their journey as Ke Yuan (Lucas) settles in... it will be a period of adjustment for everyone. Truly, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James‬ ‭1:27‬ ‭ (Pics posted with permission from the family; will also post the original CNA Get Real Clip. From Vong : “ It’s our hope this raises awareness for fostering and adoption in S’pore .”) Pl also see - https://christiannews.net/2018/03/10/chinese-boy-without-...