One of our foster parents, Pastor Chang Loong C L , preached at Ang Mo Kio Gospel Hall today and shared about fostering as an example of Christian obedience!! Wonderful HFG foster parents Teh Hsin Too / Joyce Too Yip and Kian Seng / Carol Wee were also shared as examples in his sermon. Main points in his 5 part sermon series on the significance of Micah 6:8: Sermon I) Structure of Ecclesiastes shows us that: Fear God, and keep His commandments (Moses Law) as the key to the meaningful life. Sermon II) The Great Commission of Jesus should not be seen in isolation but as part of a succession of Great Commissions that began in the OT and it definitely includes the social justice dimension that forms such a key part in Moses Law. Sermon III) The Early church in the NT modelled for us that the Great Commission life consist of both Evangelism work (Good News) as well as Social Justice work (Good Works). Sermon IV - today) Application: various avenues of Social Justice work that one c...

  Joint fostering tea session with  Epworth Community Services / Epworth Foster Care  on 27 April 2019. So blessed by having a foster father (for a change) share at our fostering tea on sat!! Edwin Lee started by sharing his Philosophy of Life which led to his wife and him fostering. 1) If God gives you a glimpse of something that might be on His Heart, check it out! 2) Live for the audience of ONE 3) Get your investment Time Horizon right. He cited Francis Chan's rope illustration that our life on earth is just a tiny fraction of eternal life. As such, we should prioritize working on what really matters for eternity. Some years ago, a song his 2 kids used to listen to kept playing in his head. Called "Two Shirts", it comprised verses from Luke 3:11, Mark 9:35 & Matt 6:19-21 (if we have 2 shirts, we should give one away to the person with none) sung to a simple melody. This song gave him pause to consider if he was really making use of what he had been given. With ...

Lin Junjie writes about how he and his wife, Cecile( Lov Clou ), responded to God's prompting and were blessed as they befriended "Adam" (not his real name). They have made a difference in helping social workers in Big Love Child Protection Specialist Centre keep Adam with his family! Thank you, JJ and Cecile ! There are times when HFG receives requests for help to take a child out for a day weekly, provide respite for a few days to support vulnerable families. If you are open to this or fostering, pl do consider coming to our intro tea to hear more! It's on 27/4, 10am near Farrer Road. PM us to RSVP! < Everyday Fostering - Respite magic !> By JJ Lin The journey started with our first HFG tea session at a foster parent’s home. We were not ready for fostering but we are amazed that God still opened the door for us to do our part in loving and caring for vulnerable kids. We were invited to join HFG support group. From there, we came to know about Adam, a 8 year...

Joint HFG Intro Tea on 23 March 2019 with The Salvation Army Singapore and Petra Church . Here is a summary of the sharing: “Fatherless, orphans, destitute, children…” These were the words that touched HFG foster parent, Audrie Siew as she felt God’s deep love and heart for vulnerable children. This led her to finally reapplying to be a foster parent, even though she had previously withdrawn her fostering application many years before out of fear. She now has 2 bouncy foster girls, Ellie and Kelly (not their real names), 10 and 12 years old respectively. Audrie shared more about her journey with Ellie, her 1st foster girl. She shared how Ellie had come illiterate at the end of P2 and her heart broke because Ellie’s future seemed so bleak. Her family committed themselves to helping Ellie and prayed fervently! Amazingly, Ellie not only learned to read within 2 months but went on to pass her exams for the 1st time in her life in less than 6 months. Audrie was amazed at how Ellie’s life w...

Hfg foster parent Audrie Siew and her 16 year old son, Timothy, did a sharing at College of Alice and Peter, National University of Singapore yesterday! Audrie shared about how it was so heartening that their normal family could make a difference to a foster child. Timothy shared on how he came to see the power of fostering himself even though he found it hard to adjust at first. Audrie shared stories of how her village helped “Ellie” her 8 year old foster girl to learn to overcome her fear of failure, discouragement and frustration to finally learn to read for the first time in her life. It was amazing to see how fostering can really change the future for Ellie! The sharing was a secular one. It was great to see so many young people being open make a difference to those in need! Thank you very much, CAPT for supporting the cause of fostering over the years! (Photo credit - Audrie and Sue)

HFG believes that children grow best in families and communities even in mission fields! We are happy to play a part in the World Vision Singapore event, Love Never Fails, earlier today! Audrie Siew , a member of our HFG core leadership, was on the panel in her personal capacity. World Vision moved away from orphanages a very long time ago and takes a far more effective and holistic community based approach when addressing the needs of vulnerable children in regions they serve. It was just amazing to hear the sharing from Archbishop Jackson (from Kenya) and @Merlyn Guillermo (from Philippines), who were World Vision sponsored children and how God worked in their lives! Audrie shared about the importance of attachment (relationship with a warm caring and consistent adult) to the growth of vulnerable children, the need to develop families and communities in order to help vulnerable children sustainably and the problems of children when taken away from their families/communities and pla...

6 families from HFG’s Central 1 Group finally met up at Gay Teck/ Sau Han Cheong ’s place. Kids had fun swimming & making chicken rice balls while we parents chatted. What joy & relief to share our burdens & to pray for one another!! It helps us realize we are not alone in our struggles. More than one reflected that this Fostering journey has helped us understand better the Father Heart of God. How difficult it is for us to show unconditional love given our human frailty. But how great is the Father’s love for us even in our weakness....

Joint intro session with Epworth Foster Care on 16 Feb 2019. Seow Kian Yong (SKY) and Yan Shan have no children and initially considered adoption. However, they had some apprehensions and later explored fostering. They took in their first foster child 3 years ago. Dan (not his real name) was in P4. At first SKY & Yan Shan didn’t want to foster him, given his behavioral issues. However, that Sunday Service, the message was focused on love and the couple changed their mind and decided to give it a go. Dan had been staying in KK hospital (KKH) for a few weeks due to his family situation. When Sky and Yan shan went to KKH to pick him up, he cried, threatened to run away, threw a fit and insisted on staying at KKH. It took the Child Protection Officer (CPO) some time to calm him down. They later found out that Dan thought he was being adopted and would never be able to see his family again. Eventually, he followed SKY & Yan Shan home. It turned out to be a very challenging first exp...

For our special Advent episode of Everyday Fostering, our HFG foster parent, Li Ping, shares how God used a respite care to bless her family and teach them the deeper meaning of advent and hospitality. Already with 3 active boys of their own and 1 foster child, they amazingly agreed to take in 2 other siblings for a few weeks! Blessed Christmas ! EVERYDAY FOSTERING - A Special Advent – Rediscovering God’s Heart for Hospitality In Nov, there was an urgent call out in our HFG group for help to care for John and Elizabeth, a pair of siblings aged 8 and 7 respectively, for a few weeks. Many families had already taken in other children and couldn’t help. I must say I initially hesitated offering our home. December was already hectic and noisy enough with four rambunctious boys (aged 7-16), including our own foster son. I was also looking to a bit of a breather after a busy semester in school. Yet, the thought of two precious children needing to spend their Christmas in an institution (i.e....

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...