Fostering intro sharing, co-organised with Epworth Community Services , on 29 August 2020. Sandy first heard about fostering through newspaper articles. Learning about how vulnerable children came into care moved her heart to want to do something for them. Despite knowing the stringent criteria and tough application process, she and her family still decided to go through with it. Upon being approved, Sandy was excited to begin her fostering journey as her heart was soft for the children. Initially, each time MSF called to ask her to take a child, she rejected every request as the timing was just not right. Eventually God moved her heart to be less choosy, convicting her that these precious children were not commodities. Soon after, she received her first placement, followed by a second placement and is currently caring for her third foster child. What moved listeners was Sandy's authentic sharing about her struggles and failure in her second placement. Fostering a child is not a be...

  By Joyce (HFG Foster parent, in partnership with The Salvation Army) We started to have foster children since 2016, post cancer remission after hearing of the alarming number of children in need. Over the years, we’ve had 4 foster children, and currently having 2 foster children both with special needs. My husband and I wake up every morning feeling very blessed with these wonderful children, their love and respect for us is so pure and beautiful. Of course, that was not the case initially - each child’s trauma manifested in their behaviours in different ways and I consider it a miracle to see how much they have grown and overcame. I would say the youngest member of our family is the most amazing miracle yet. Our foster daughter has been with us for 3 years. When we finally agreed to take her in, we had to accept that it will take a long while to see changes, given the very tough and seemingly unchangeable bad behaviour. We knew the need to persevere and just love her uncondition...

  HFG-SG recently partnered with churches and SSAs in the Safe and Sound Sleeping Places (S3P), to bless the rough sleepers. A coordinator was urgently needed. We thank God that Sandy, a HFG foster parent stepped up to volunteer! Below is her reflection. We thank God for those who volunteered and donated generously! <How we started> During the circuit breaker period, rough sleepers needed to get off the streets for their own safety. Many members of HFG and friends stepped forward to offer donations. <Dare to say “Yes”> Indeed, if you’re only looking for God in the spectacular, you’ll miss the supernatural every time. If God sent you to a mission, we need to trust that He will put all the necessary help in place for you. You only need to be still and trust! <Shops closed but God provides> Shops were closed during the circuit breaker period but the effort to source for the supplies were surprisingly smooth anyway. We even have suppliers approaching us to sell us a...

Joint sharing with Epworth Foster Care We started our fostering journey since 2017 and have fostered 3 children since then. I was 48 years old, my husband was 52 years old, and we have 4 adult children of our own. My second son and his wife, then fiancée, helped in various ways like playing and reading to Adam* (name has been changed to protect the child’s identity), our first foster child. They are the best form of support in our fostering journey. Whenever we brought Adam out together, people on the street would ask if he is my grandchild! There are both memorable moments and challenges encountered as foster parents. For example, when our second foster child, Billy*, first came to us, he struggled with managing his emotions and attitudes would often change suddenly. Due to their background, some of the foster children may display such behaviours because they feel alone, and there is no one they can trust especially when living in a stranger’s home. There needs to be constant reassura...

  Amy’s online sharing at the fostering intro with Boys Town on 18 July 2020. In her capacity as the Head of a legal department, Amy was not originally directly involved with fostering. Her first encounter with fostering was at a dinner where she had the opportunity to interact with foster parents. She saw a special needs child strapped into his wheelchair being fed lovingly by his foster parents. She was very moved by their actions. Another foster father told her that while his home was not big, “if you find room in your heart, you will find space to foster.” His words were seared into Amy's mind. The next year at the same event, she met an Indian foster father receiving a long service award. He had brought his biological daughter, and his Chinese foster son whom he had fostered for 19 years. The boy spoke fluent Tamil. The foster father was grieving over his wife's recent passing and this was the first time he had attended without her at his side. The boy recalled his late fo...

On 30 May 2020, HFG-SG organised our first ever "Online" fostering intro session, together with Epworth Foster Care The Filipino couple (Land and Joyce Palmero) came to know about fostering 6 yrs ago through a church mate. Having pictured Singapore as a perfect country before coming over, they were shocked to hear that there were children in Singapore who did not have safe homes and that there was such a pressing need for more foster parents. They struggled in deciding whether to foster as both were v busy at work. However, they were inspired by something one of the foster parents mentioned in a fostering tea session, "What you can give, you give”. Upon reflection, they were convicted by God to give these vulnerable children a safe and loving home just as much as they had been blessed abundantly in their lives by Him. The couple have fostered 4 children so far, with some of them having special needs such as Global Development Delay (GDD) and ADHD. There were challenges a...

  Hi all. Vi here. Merry Christmas from our family of 11!!! Last night, we had the first reunion of ALL 5 foster kids + 1 sibling (Audrie Siew 's ex foster dg who has also stayed over before), except for the 2 babies we previously fostered. It was a riot! But a delight to catch up and to pray a blessing over them at Christmas. Having lived 5 decades; believed in Jesus for 4 of those decades; been a psychologist for 3 decades, a parent for 2 & a foster parent for 1...... I am still awestruck & moved by the profundity of the Christmas Story & Message. It answers all the psychological, existential, relational questions I have had in my life, not just from my own childhood search for truth & meaning, but as a mental health professional and parent. - As a psychologist, I know that there is something inside of us that yearns for absolute goodness/perfection as well as deep connection (unconditional love), but in my experience, we are not inherently good, despite humanist...

Inspirational sharing by Robin Lim & Linda Foo who have fostered a total of 20 kids (from 5 days old to 14 years), caring for them for periods ranging from a month to 13 years!!!! In 2003, their then-16 yo son brought home a friend who had family problems and needed a place to stay. Instead of turning their son's friend away, the couple stepped out in faith and in obedience to God, and allowed him to stayed with them for several months. After that God led them to help a church friend who was going through marital and financial problems to care for 2 young children for 6 months. This served as preparation and started them on their journey to fostering. They felt God lead them to open up their home to children who needed a place to stay temporarily, and signed up with MSF. Robin stressed that, in the ministry of fostering, the "heart"-ware was most important aspect. He highlighted the following 7 attributes we should work towards: 1) Have largeness of heart and a reser...

  Session on "The Voice of the Local Church in the WWO (World without Orphans) Movement" in the Global Forum for the WWO: 1) Vivienne Ng sharing about what churches & HFG-SG are doing in SG to provide foster families to kids who needs family care. 2) Shelton Taguma & Remmy Hamapande sharing about the work of Forgotten Voices in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, where a total of 5126 orphans have been impacted through the provision of family-based care via 59 partners. 3) Jodi Jackson-Tucker from Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) sharing about the reach of Orphan Sunday into 101 countries, as a mean to promote awareness of the orphan crisis and to galvanize the churches to action.

  It’s a fan girl moment with Elli Oswald from Faith To Action Initiative at the Global Forum for World Without Orphans! We have been so blessed by their high quality, research based and sensitive materials to educate the Christian community on the need to support families instead in perpetuating orphanage care for vulnerable children in mission fields! We use their materials for churches and Christians in Singapore who approach us on how to best help vulnerable children in mission fields! Do you know that UNICEF research shows that 70-90% of kids in orphanages have at least one living family member? Outcomes for kids in family based care such as foster care and kinship care are better too! You can find out more in Faith To Action's link! https://www.faithtoaction.org/start-here/ If you are a church or Christian supporter looking to transition from orphanage to family based care in the mission field, they even developed a guidance manual for this! https://www.faithtoaction.org...