This Sat morning, we are thankful for Jason and Irene, foster parents from the HFG community, share their fostering journey at our joint fostering intro session with Epworth Foster Care . Both of them literally glowed with joy as they shared about their fostering journey! Definitely not expecting this… if you know that they are parents/foster parents to 5 biological/foster children, including a few months old foster child. Here’s a few takeaways from their sharing. - Fostering has bonded their family closer together, including their extended family. Jason shared that his marriage is also stronger now, because of better communication with his wife and how fostering and his faith have changed his attitude/heart. Fostering requires team work! Irene shared that she has also come to know herself much better now, and that she needed help first in order to help others. - Fostering has blessed each of their biological child (e.g., extending grace to others) as well as their relatio...

  We love the HFG community, being there for one another You are not alone in your fostering journey. “Dear friends, I wanted to say thank you here for all the help, support and prayers I received when I reached out with this request (as well as subsequent ones)… The past couple of months have been quite difficult with us as we navigated many issues and this group has been a blessing. … Thank you again for everyone's generosity and help. I am sure I will be reaching out again in the future with more questions! “ Foster Parent, Ling (Permission obtained to share this message sent to the community earlier this month)

Heartfelt sharing and prayer by Jolene Ng, foster mother from the HFG community. “I decided to sketch this piece because my heart is broken. My heart is grieved and it hurts.  Read in the Straits Times yesterday of 2 cases of child abuse: 1 girl aged 5 and another aged 11 both abused to DEATH in their homes in Singapore. Children are vulnerable. They are weak, they are defenseless, they are trusting, they need to be protected. Children are given to us to LOVE.  Yet these children have been abused by their loved ones for months… to their DEATHS!!!  These children shouldn’t have had to suffer, to fear in their own homes.  I cry out to God for the injustice, for the sin that has been committed against them! I pray to God to use me, to use even me, to help, to give respite, to create awareness, in whatever small ways, use me and all that I am. Amen.”

3 foster children from HFG families received awards from MSF last weekend. Michael and Irene just shared with us what Nicole* (not her real name) did after the ceremony! Our hearts are so warm...Nicole, we are cheering you on! SHARING BY MICHAEL “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” - 2 Corinthians 9:7 NKJV Today I (Michael) really saw what this verse truly meant. Nicole* received the MSF Academic Achievement Award. Along with it she was awarded a prize voucher. During our journey back from church, Nicole was quietly discussing something with her younger foster sister. Nicole than came excitedly to me saying; "Daddy, Daddy, you can use part of the money and go enjoy a meal with Mummy!" I looked at Nicole surprised: "Why?". Nicole replied with glee; "I want to treat you & Mummy to your your favourite chilli dish." (She knew I like spicy food.) I decided to pull her leg ,...

It’s MSF Award Ceremony for Foster Children and Youth 2022! We are so happy to see that 3 HFG foster children got the MSF academic excellence awards from Minister for Social and Family Development, Mr Masagos Zulkifli! Today, we want to celebrate these children and wanted to find out their dreams! We were onsite and managed to collect some short snippets. MICHAEL, IRENE and NICOLE* (14 year-old foster girl). Nicole, got an award for her Sec 2 results. Michael and Irene shared that they felt so happy for Nicole because they saw her putting in a lot of effort. With the transition from primary school to Secondary school, Nicole had to juggle between her CCA, her studies, moving between the homes of her natural family and foster family. She rose above it all to focus and do well in her studies. Nicole was happy that she got an award as she didn’t expect to get it. She shared that her dream was to be a teacher when she grows up, one who is patient and will put in a lot of effort to help the...

  Just completed a support session for foster parents today! It was so good to see everyone. We wanted to keep the group small so it was easier to talk and share. One of the topics was on how to support foster children who struggled with motivation for academic areas and learning difficulties . Joyce shared how the love and acceptance of the children were so important and this made it easier for her to help her foster child to learn . Audrie & Chune Keat shared about how celebrating small successes and focusing on effort instead of results helped their foster children. Liz shared how she used colour to help her foster child to learn as he was motivated by colour.

29 Oct 2022 -  HFG partnered Epworth Foster Care for the ”Drop Box” movie event. The show was touching and a great reminder of how the life of every child is precious in God’s eyes. Epworth’s manager of fostering, Li Koon and HFG foster parent, Kuan Ying, welcomed everyone! HFG foster parents, Vivienne Ng and Audrie Siew/Chune Keat were on the panel together with Epworth’s Manager of fostering, Li Koon. Representing HFG, Vivienne shared how the Lord broke her heart with His love for vulnerable children that she saw through her work and led her to foster. She highlighted that research showed that a child can be on a positive path if there was just one stable and caring adult who believed in them! Audrie shared how her foster girl, Ellie (not her real name) came just 2 weeks before her final P2 exams, not knowing how to read even simple words like “CAT” or say A-Zs. It was heartbreaking when Ellie shared how she had never passed a single test or spelling before. Audrie could see how...

  Today, our P6 kids just completed their PSLE listening comprehension. Have you wondered what life is like for a foster parent during PSLE season? HFG foster parent, Audrie Siew, just told us an everyday fostering story that happened with her P6 foster child. Everyday Fostering : < “The House Ate Up My Glasses ” and “I have a MUM now!”> My foster child, Lilac* (not her name), is taking PSLE this year and on the way to being reunified with her natural family. As everyone with P6 children know, it’s a very stressful time for the children and their families. As part of her reunification plan, Lilac goes to her natural parents for overnight stays. It was all going well. With the many things to juggle however, she ended up leaving her spectacles in her mum’s place when she came back to me one week. She needed it urgently for school and I sent her back to find it. Her natural family was worried for her and searched high and low around the house. Somehow, the glasses had really...

  Birthdays are such special times for children. For foster children who come into the homes of our foster parents, it’s even more so. HFG parents contributed pics of birthday cakes for their foster kids. We also heard wonderful stories from our HFG foster parents: - Caroline shared that her foster child never had a birthday celebration before coming to their home so they decided to bless him with doughnuts and cakes at his preschool. - Celestine shared how they decided to do a toddler-friendly watermelon "cake" for their 1yo foster child. - Kuan Ying's foster son got a lovingly home baked cake and she could see how much he enjoyed it. - Esther Grace shared how she is so blessed to have known her 5 respite foster children. Jenny (not her real name), a 13yo foster girl in our community reflected to her foster parent, “Having a birthday cake and celebration shows the child that he/she is important to someone, and for many foster kids, this could be be something they have n...

From our intro sharing session on 16 April 2022 with Boys' Town Fostering Services . Doris has been fostering for 3+ years (since 2018). She has cared for 2 foster children and provided respite care for 2 children. Doris first had a calling to help vulnerable children in 2013 when she came across information about fostering on her Church’s magazine. She was interested to find out more and attended an info-sharing session organised by MSF.. After the session, she shared the information with her husband but he expressed his concern about the timing as their children were still young. Nevertheless, fostering continued to remain at the back of Doris’s mind. In 2018, Doris felt a very strong stirring in her heart. She experienced several signs from God that that she was going to work with children. Doris felt that God was telling her that she was ready to foster and was very convicted. Doris broached the topic with her husband and was pleasantly surprised that he agreed and attended the...

From a joint tea session organized by HFG and Boys' Town Fostering Services  on  13th November 2021 Annie came from Hong Kong and she used to volunteer with children with autism in dormitories back in Hong Kong. She spent six hours to play with these children and had to leave after her volunteering work ended. This left her a desire to do more in-depth work as she realized the impact she had on them was limited as she had to leave shortly after the children became familiar with her and started to bond with her. When she was based in Singapore, she felt that God gave her a desire to help children. God spoke to her in a loud voice one morning “there is a girl that I want you to take care”. Annie knew intuitively that God was asking her to care for a foster child. She shared the idea with her husband and her husband voiced his concerns of the foster child not getting along well with their own child. Annie prayed to God to soften her husband’s heart. A few months later, she broach...

  16 Oct 2021 - HFG intro tea, in partnership with The Salvation Army Singapore . HFG foster parents Audrie Siew and Khor Chune Keat shared about their journey in fostering and how they saw how God used their family as a channel of healing and restoration. <Audrie and Chune Keat’s sharing> Audrie and Chune Keat shared that their family was a normal and imperfect one with teens. Audrie first had a calling to help vulnerable children. She worked in the out of home care area, before finally starting the foster when she went for her further studies. Her family had already heard a lot about fostering so they were open. Audrie shared that the current theme of fostering for them was “Healing and Restoration”. Through fostering, her family had over time learnt to become the “green pasture” and “still water” where the children could be restored. She shared how foster children often had traumatic histories. When her foster children, Jodie and Vicki (not their real names) arrived, the...

  "This is our 5th year into fostering and we are currently fostering our 4th foster son. Yesterday, our 3rd foster son visited us. We also have a boy whom we are helping with respite care for a few days. We did respite care for him last year too. Good to see that he is doing well. . (HFG's response: haha no time or money). They have several WhatsApp chatgroups that provide support for foster parents and those interested in fostering. I have benefitted much from the chatgroup. It took me sometime to consider if I should upload this posting, but I thought it may help those who may be considering taking up fostering. Our fostering journey has seen many ups and downs - physically, mentally and emotionally. Our first 2 fostering did not go well and broke down prematurely. It was a terrible feeling. We tried our best to provide care for them but it didn’t turn out as we had planned. Sometime I even questioned God why such things have to happen. We received a lot of support from MSF...