1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,560 Hi, this is Dave Olson. I'm the senior leader of 2 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:04,600 Heartland Church located in Ankeny, IA. 3 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:08,039 I hope the following message challenges, encourages and 4 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,120 ultimately changes you. Thanks for joining us. 5 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:13,080 All right. This morning we have a real 6 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:16,720 treat. We are going to have Dave and 7 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:19,520 Ashley Van de Zander sculpt, is that right? 8 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:22,800 Got it. Affectionately known as Dave and 9 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:27,280 Ashley V because it's hard to pronounce that name, but they 10 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:31,080 are elders here and we just love them and they are involved in 11 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,560 foster care. And so I wanted them to talk. 12 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:38,080 We, you know, usually we do a missions emphasis around this 13 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:41,240 time of year and we do missions work all over the world. 14 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:45,080 We send out teams, we support missionaries, support projects 15 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:49,760 around the world. But one of the most needy 16 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:56,240 projects in the United States and in this generation is Foster 17 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:59,160 and adoptive care. You know, my wife and I were 18 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:01,840 talking the other day, you know, we worked for Teen Challenge for 19 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:04,560 many years. And she was just, she said it 20 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:06,040 this way. She said, you know, it's so 21 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:09,880 often these guys that were coming into Teen Challenge, 22 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,320 they, it was like they were born without one of their legs. 23 00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:16,080 And everybody expected them to keep up with everyone else. 24 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:20,880 They they were, they started off behind the herd because they 25 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:23,360 were born into a family that was already struggling. 26 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:28,280 And there is such a thing as generational sin, iniquity, 27 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:33,520 generational righteousness, that when kids are born into a home 28 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:37,520 where there's not that Christian witness, where they're, you 29 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,280 know, a mom or a dad is traumatized and wounded. 30 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:42,920 And you see that play out generationally. 31 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:46,200 And it just, it's snowballs. And the kids that are born into 32 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,600 that often they, they, they're lagging behind, they're 33 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:51,440 struggling. And we need to have tremendous 34 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:54,040 compassion and realize that we are the answer. 35 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,400 But here's the awesome thing. You know, some of you saw the 36 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:02,640 podcast I did with my dad recently and my dad, we were, 37 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,440 our family was the poster child of dysfunction and woundedness, 38 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:11,720 just devastation. But my mom and my dad met Jesus. 39 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:16,320 My dad as a 15 year old kid got saved, radically saved. 40 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,680 His wild stepmother got on religious kick for a couple of 41 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:23,200 weeks and said, you're going to Bible school. 15 years old, 42 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:26,920 dropped him off and it changed the trajectory of our lives. 43 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:31,560 So it just takes one generation. And my, well, I was interviewing 44 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:34,120 my dad, My dad, he's 83 years old. 45 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:36,240 And all of a sudden he cracked up. 46 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,240 He, he, he started to cry because he remembered when he 47 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:42,720 was about 6 years old, there was a family that was near him out 48 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:45,120 in the country, up in northern Minnesota that would drive out 49 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:48,400 of their way in the winter weather to pick up my dad and 50 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:50,560 his siblings and take him to church. 51 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:57,800 That family never knew the impact it had on the generations 52 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:02,920 of my family. I'm the recipient of their 53 00:03:02,920 --> 00:03:07,520 intervention. And the fact is that Psalm, 54 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,400 Psalm 68, it says this God sets the lonely in families. 55 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:15,640 That's how the NIV says it. The ESV says God settles the 56 00:03:15,640 --> 00:03:19,360 isolated into households that beautiful. 57 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:25,240 When God does that, he needs a family to volunteer. 58 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:31,080 And there is such a need in our nation right now for these kids, 59 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:35,680 these displaced children, even if it's just for a few nights, a 60 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:40,200 few weeks, a few months to experience what a godly 61 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:44,680 functional family is like and to be placed in there. 62 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:47,920 You know, as the pastor, I'll know different times where 63 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,560 there's foster families in the congregation that perhaps they, 64 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:53,120 you know, there's confidentiality. 65 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:55,520 Other people don't know. But I'll know that little child 66 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:59,040 in those arms is a foster child. And I tell you, every time I see 67 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,880 a mom up here or a dad up here worshiping with one of those 68 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:03,800 little ones, it breaks me. I start boohoo. 69 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:08,360 And because I know the impact it can make on that child's life, 70 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:12,200 that they'll never be the same because they encountered 71 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:16,040 godliness, they encountered love, they encountered healthy 72 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,560 emotional environment. And that's the opportunity that 73 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:22,520 we have. So I'm going to quit talking and 74 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:25,080 I'm going to ask Dave and Ashley V to come on up here. 75 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:26,920 Let's give them a hand. I love these guys. 76 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:33,680 They are elders in this house and we just love them. 77 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:49,920 Good morning. All right, the next 40 minutes 78 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:52,160 we're all going to learn how to say Van de Zandt sculpt 79 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:56,200 together. We we need more than 40 minutes 80 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:58,920 for that. Hey, thanks for having us this 81 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:00,600 morning. Ashley and I are really excited 82 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:04,560 to be here and just share what God has done in our lives. 83 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:08,280 You know, First Corinthians talks about order in the church 84 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,160 and there are songs, hymns and songs. 85 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:14,160 There's times of sharing and this is one of those mornings 86 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:15,880 where we're going to share. It's going to feel a little bit 87 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:20,160 unconventional. And so we're excited to share 88 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:21,960 with you what God has done in our lives. 89 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:26,440 But before we do that, I joke there's the right pre Trib, post 90 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:28,120 Trib. There's the pre COVID church and 91 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:31,480 the post COVID church. We've been coming to Heartland 92 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:33,800 for a long time. So we started coming here in 93 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:38,040 20/10/2011 and Ashley and I got married in 2010. 94 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,240 So we've been married 15 years. And so if you, oh, thank you, 95 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,640 thank you. I showed this picture to start 96 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:50,560 us off because if you're thinking that these guys look so 97 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,480 young up here, this is the definition of babies behind us. 98 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,400 So Ash has got a few more. We didn't get married in high 99 00:05:58,400 --> 00:05:59,440 school. We did get married. 100 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,520 We were 21. So quick story. 101 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:04,600 The first time we came to Heartland was around this time 102 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:07,400 frame. And on entering in the door, 103 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:12,080 someone invited me to youth group because they thought I 104 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:13,920 look like I should be in the high school crowd. 105 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:15,840 So I said, can Ashley come to you? 106 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:17,240 And then they never asked me that again. 107 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:22,320 But anyways, we're excited to share with you all so you may 108 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:24,680 see us around. We helping Kingdom kids and 109 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:26,040 usher and lots of different things. 110 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:28,400 If we don't know you, come say hi to us. 111 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:30,800 We'd love to meet you. So come talk to us afterwards. 112 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:34,440 But we've got three things that we would love for you to walk 113 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:37,880 away with this morning. I've got a clicker, so I'm going 114 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:42,240 to be clicking along here. As Pastor Dave said, October was 115 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,320 missions month when you're a believer, every month's missions 116 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:46,520 month. So we're going to carry that 117 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:50,040 forward into November here and talk about unconventional 118 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,440 missions, living missionally through foster care and 119 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:55,920 adoption. And so the three things that I 120 00:06:55,920 --> 00:07:02,680 would love all of you to walk away with, there we go. 121 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:06,400 We like to do acronyms and have things organized here. 122 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:10,480 So the three ES, we'd love for you to be encouraged, educated 123 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:13,400 and empowered. Thank you, Kara. 124 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:25,370 I promise I've done this before. Oh, too fast. 125 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:28,480 We'll just pretend that it's on the right side here. 126 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:30,880 So there we go. Encourage and educate and 127 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:32,600 empower. We want you to be encouraged. 128 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:34,200 So we're going to start with sharing a little bit of our 129 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:36,720 testimony. We would love for you to be 130 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,000 educated. So part of today is we are going 131 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:42,240 to share some statistics. What are the needs within the 132 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:44,400 state of Iowa and across the United States? 133 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:46,880 And most importantly, we want you to feel empowered. 134 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:52,440 What is your role and how can the Holy Spirit help you walk 135 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:55,800 within that? And so to start us off, I 136 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,400 believe some of the most powerful truths in Scripture 137 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:00,880 start with simplicity of the Kingdom of God. 138 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,400 And so this whole setup for today, I just want to start with 139 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:06,720 two. And Ashley and I are going to 140 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:11,120 talk really fast the next 35 minutes, so bear with us, but we 141 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:13,000 want to dive in, in two passages. 142 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:17,440 God's mission, Formula 1 + 1. Here God speaks. 143 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:22,840 We know here in John 1027 that His sheep know His voice. 144 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:25,760 OK? He knowing his voice implies 145 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:28,640 that God speaks. Anybody believe that God speaks? 146 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:31,520 All right, you guys are in the right church this morning, so 147 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:34,520 we're glad that you're here. But there's another part to play 148 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:36,880 in that. When God speaks, it's for a 149 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:39,559 purpose. He wants to bring his Kingdom of 150 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:45,560 heaven into earth. And so we have John 1415, which 151 00:08:45,560 --> 00:08:50,120 talks about love and obedience. If you love me, you'll obey my 152 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:53,840 commands. And the Lord doesn't just speak 153 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:57,560 for things to feel nice, even though his voice is nice, but 154 00:08:57,560 --> 00:09:02,240 it's ultimately to call us into action, into love and obedience. 155 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:05,120 And so we'll revisit this a little bit throughout the next 156 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:08,280 several minutes here. But hold on to those truths for 157 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:11,000 just a second. And Ashley's going to talk about 158 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:13,720 what God has done in our lives this last six years. 159 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:18,880 Good morning, heartland. You weren't expecting this duo, 160 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:21,280 but this is what you get. So blessings. 161 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:24,800 So I get to share a little bit about our journey of foster care 162 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:28,960 and adoption. Very strangely, I knew as young 163 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:31,600 as 10-12 years old that I wanted to adopt. 164 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:35,560 We didn't have a lot of foster families or stories of adoption 165 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:37,280 around us, but I just had a knowing. 166 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:39,360 I kind of had to know when I was going to be a teacher and that 167 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:42,120 panned out. And so Fast forward, I go to 168 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,440 Iowa State, find me a good Christian boyfriend here. 169 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:48,720 And I flat out told the boyfriend that I was going to 170 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:50,520 adopt. And because he was a nice 171 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:52,480 Christian boy, he said that's nice. 172 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:55,520 And this is, this is not dating advice. 173 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:56,600 Don't tell your boyfriend's this. 174 00:09:57,600 --> 00:09:59,960 But you know what, I married him anyway because you need the 175 00:09:59,960 --> 00:10:03,640 mortgage paid for. And so we got married, which you 176 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:07,520 saw before, I think we met on a mission trip too. 177 00:10:07,560 --> 00:10:09,400 Also, don't date on a mission trip. 178 00:10:09,560 --> 00:10:12,520 This is not advice. So you see us there as babies. 179 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:16,320 And so we graduated college, worked for three years, and then 180 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:20,080 we had our first son, River. And then we two years later we 181 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:21,880 had Raya. And two years later we had 182 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:24,120 Raleigh. And our Christmas card was 183 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:25,920 really cute. You know, our whole family. 184 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:28,760 But I still had in the back of my mind adoption. 185 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:32,760 And so a couple years go by and Dave comes home from work and he 186 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:35,680 walks in the door and he said, the Lord told me we were 187 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:39,000 supposed to adopt. And my jaw dropped and I looked 188 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:43,240 to Jesus and I'm like, what? You know, like I didn't have to 189 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:45,120 nag. I didn't have to beg or anything 190 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:47,440 like that. And we were on the same page. 191 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:51,800 And so in 2020, keep that in mind, we signed up to take 192 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:54,720 foster care classes. We had had foster families 193 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:56,840 around us. We knew that the goal of foster 194 00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:00,680 care is not adoption, but we were OK with loving little ones 195 00:11:00,680 --> 00:11:03,080 for a small season if they were supposed to move back to their 196 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,680 family or somewhere else. And so January through March, we 197 00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:09,720 took classes. It's for 8 weeks, 3 hours, one 198 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:12,840 night a week. And by March 2020, we had our 199 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:16,720 foster care license in the mail. Well, what happened in 2020? 200 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,600 COVID, COVID happened. And so my husband's company 201 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:24,400 furloughed half of their employees, including Dave. 202 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:27,680 And all of a sudden, we were not financial financially stable 203 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:31,480 enough to do foster care. And so there was some confusion 204 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:33,840 with that. Lord, why is this happening? 205 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:37,840 Meanwhile, we have been praying and the words North Carolina 206 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:39,840 kept coming up for the last two years. 207 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:43,720 And so as a Dave is applying all over the country, Colorado, 208 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:48,280 Texas, some in North Carolina, we kept praying into it and 209 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:51,040 strange things would happen. Strange as in the Holy Spirit, 210 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:54,440 I'd be praying about it. And then a country song with 211 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:57,640 Carolinas would come on. Or I was driving one day and 212 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:01,800 praying, and right in front of me in Ankeny, IA is a motorcycle 213 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:04,520 with North Carolina plates. Like, that's weird. 214 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:07,240 And then I was talking to a stranger about foster care. 215 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:09,360 And on the phone, she's like, Oh, yeah, we moved here from 216 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:12,040 North Carolina. And this was happening to Dave 217 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:14,520 in different ways. I mean, commercials were coming 218 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:16,360 on that would talk about North Carolina. 219 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:19,800 So we were sure that God was moving us to North Carolina. 220 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:23,840 And the only job offer Dave got was from a company in Raleigh, 221 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:26,560 NC. And so we have this faith, this 222 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:28,240 surety that we're supposed to move there. 223 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:31,160 And we thought in our heads, because we're a little fleshly 224 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,240 and want to figure out the why that maybe it was for adoption. 225 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:37,680 And so we moved in faith and you have to live there six months 226 00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:40,760 because before you start applying to be foster parents or 227 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:44,280 adoptive parents. We decided to only do adopt 228 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:47,280 because our support system was all back in Iowa. 229 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:48,640 We didn't have friends or families. 230 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:51,480 We, we didn't have a single babysitter for our kid, for our 231 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:53,360 biological kids in North Carolina. 232 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:57,480 So we applied to these agencies for adopt only, but the doors 233 00:12:57,480 --> 00:12:59,280 kept shutting. Nope, we only need foster 234 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:00,520 parents. Nope, Nope, Nope. 235 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:04,120 So we're like, why are we here? What are we doing? 236 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:08,080 And so couple months later, Dave got a new job and he could work 237 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:10,840 anywhere in the US. And so we thought, hey, we're 238 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:12,400 missing our family, let's move back. 239 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:17,760 So it felt like the Lord moving back as much as it felt like the 240 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:20,640 Lord told us to go there, but I have no why for you. 241 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:24,280 And so things would happen. Like we called the private 242 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,160 school my kids went to in Des Moines and we called in July. 243 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:29,880 And if you know anything about private schools, they're full by 244 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:31,760 March. And I said, could you get my 245 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:33,120 kids in? And they're like, Yep. 246 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,200 And then they called me a week later and said, can you teach? 247 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:39,800 And I said, ha, my teaching license is expired, can't teach. 248 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:42,240 But at that time there was a teacher shortage. 249 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:45,440 And so I called the Iowa Department of Education and they 250 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:47,960 said, sure, if you show us a contract, you can teach and 251 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:51,440 we'll give you an extension. So we got 2 new jobs, We got a 252 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:54,240 school. And then on EU Haul drive back, 253 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:57,160 the buyer of our North Carolina house backed out. 254 00:13:57,400 --> 00:13:59,080 I was like, God, what are you doing? 255 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:03,280 Then two weeks later, a week later, I don't know how long it 256 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:06,760 was, the Lord sold the house for infinitely more than the first 257 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:09,640 buyer. And I did a lot of repenting at 258 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:14,000 that moment. And so at the time we lived in 259 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,080 North Carolina, my sister and brother-in-law were taking 260 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:20,120 foster care classes and had begun their foster care journey. 261 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,360 So it was not uncommon for us to go to holiday parties or 262 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:25,440 birthday parties. And there's a new little one 263 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:27,560 there with them. And we just knew to love on them 264 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:29,000 for as long as they were with us. 265 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:33,360 So about a year after we moved back to Iowa, my sister walks in 266 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:35,680 the kitchen with a little little 5 month old. 267 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,720 And I said, how's her case going, What's going to happen? 268 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:43,120 And she says I don't know. And without any preconceived 269 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:45,480 thinking out came my mouth. We'll take her. 270 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:49,960 She looked at me strange and I panicked and I'm like I should 271 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:55,640 talk to Dave. And so I went to talk to my 272 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:59,680 husband and my husband very coldly says, give me a week to 273 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:01,600 pray about it. I don't want you talking to me 274 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,080 about it. And my spirit sank and I'm like, 275 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:06,160 how do you not know there's a little girl? 276 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:07,600 She needs a home. We have a home. 277 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:09,440 Like how can you not know this is over? 278 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:11,680 In my head, I just lost, lost it all. 279 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:16,280 A week later, my husband comes back and says, I can't ever 280 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:18,960 imagine not loving this little girl no matter what happens. 281 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:21,760 And we move on with becoming foster parents again. 282 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:23,920 And so the Lord put me in my place. 283 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:29,000 So because we had previously taken the foster care class, we 284 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:30,880 just had to do a home study at that time. 285 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:34,200 So we zoomed through paperwork, had people in our house 286 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:37,320 interviewed us, and we were licensed foster parents. 287 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:40,680 Now there are different rules and regulations to become a 288 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:43,720 foster parent. And so for a couple weeks, they 289 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,400 told us we would not be able to take this little girl due to our 290 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:50,280 medical status. And I, Pastor David, didn't say 291 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:52,880 this, but I did hang up on someone in that fight to get 292 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:55,200 this little girl. I'm not proud of it, but 293 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:58,520 probably do it again. And so they kept telling us no, 294 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:01,600 no, no, no. And I kept saying yes, yes, yes. 295 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:05,800 And I got the opportunity to talk to the head of Health and 296 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:09,280 Human services, Kelly Garcia. She's doing great things right 297 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:11,480 now and really supporting churches and Christians 298 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:13,200 involved. And I got to talk to her about 299 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:16,440 the struggles that are going on for people becoming licensed as 300 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:19,000 foster parents. And so anyway, the Lord worked 301 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:22,560 it all out. And so in November 2023, this 302 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:23,880 little girl came and lived with us. 303 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,840 And so my daughter, she's back back there. 304 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,400 She was 7 at the time. She had been praying for her 305 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,320 sister for about 5 years. The Lord gave her two brothers, 306 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:36,000 which she was not pleased about. And so she was praying for 307 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:39,400 praying for her sister. And so the day we got to tell 308 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:42,120 our three biological children that we were headed on the route 309 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:47,040 for adoption, I watched my 7 year old girl weep with joy and 310 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:50,040 deep, heartfelt love that God was answering her prayers. 311 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:51,760 And it was one of the most beautiful things. 312 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:54,800 There was some, you know, trial along the road. 313 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:58,840 I remember that season, we were the sickest we've ever been. 314 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,440 I was sick. I had to have a CAT scan during 315 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:04,680 that time and just headaches and migraines were coming. 316 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:09,000 And I, I look back now and think Satan doesn't like adoption. 317 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:11,680 He doesn't like foster care and he's going to try to throw 318 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:14,960 everything at you. So Dave and I are deciding on 319 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:17,240 what to name her. And instantly I'm like, we're 320 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:19,079 going to name her Rosie. It was just a knowing. 321 00:17:19,079 --> 00:17:23,040 And he's like, I don't know. And so I had remembered this 322 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:25,280 dream that I had five years before this. 323 00:17:25,319 --> 00:17:28,480 And in the dream I got this word that said biracial. 324 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:31,600 And you know, at Heartland here, we have pretty words when we get 325 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:35,440 dreams, you know, like doves and cherubim and and gold. 326 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:38,320 You know, this was a weird word, like biracial. 327 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:41,760 So for three days, I couldn't forget this word. 328 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:44,400 And so finally, because the Holy Spirit was nagging me, I just 329 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:46,600 wrote it down, wrote down everything I saw in the stream. 330 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:50,120 So I had remembered this. And so I went downstairs to my 331 00:17:50,120 --> 00:17:52,520 journals to find where I'd written this down. 332 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:56,960 And when I found it, I screamed Dave thought there was a fire 333 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:01,720 because in this journal entry it said biracial, one years old. 334 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:04,280 And Rosie and I hadn't remembered. 335 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:06,120 She is one. She was one. 336 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,080 We decided to name her Rosie without remembering the stream. 337 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:11,920 And yes, she is biracial. And it was. 338 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,120 It was a surety in my spirit that come what may, I was going 339 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:17,120 to fight because this little girl was supposed to be in our 340 00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:22,440 family. And so in June June 1st 2024, we 341 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:26,040 adopted little Rosie and it has been such a joy. 342 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:29,720 Let's see if we can find her. Maybe not Clicker. 343 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:33,120 Clicker's not working today, but that's our little girl. 344 00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:36,800 And Dave's gonna share what the word of God has to say about 345 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:38,960 foster care and adoption because it's so clear. 346 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:40,360 So take it away. Yeah. 347 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:45,040 Praise the Lord, this picture right here when you go go to the 348 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:48,040 judge for adoption, they basically let you give testimony 349 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:50,760 and I had written out 2 pages worth of what I wanted to share. 350 00:18:51,120 --> 00:18:54,200 I got the first word out and I bawled for the next 10 minutes 351 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:55,920 and the judge is just listening to me. 352 00:18:55,920 --> 00:19:00,440 You know, nobody could hear me. But then all my kids were in a 353 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:02,320 row crying with me and it was like, all right, this is 354 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:06,520 perfect. So, but we overcome by the blood 355 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:08,840 of the Lamb and the power of the testimony, right? 356 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:12,240 And so let this be an encouragement to you as well. 357 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:15,840 But I do want to shift gears and talk a lot about the heart of 358 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:18,160 God in this right? There could be needs in the 359 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:22,200 world, and it's not that every need isn't part of God's heart, 360 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:27,320 but when we capture his heart, it changes the way we interact 361 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:29,840 and intercede on behalf of those needs. 362 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:32,880 And so I want to spend a few minutes, you know, there's a lot 363 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:35,760 of us that have been in church a long time and you may have 364 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:39,160 subliminally, you know, heard different Bible verses or things 365 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:43,360 about children that are just back there, nice truths. 366 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,680 But this morning we want to talk about the power of God in those 367 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:49,120 truths. And so I want to share a few of 368 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:51,160 them to set us up. And then I'm we're going to lean 369 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:53,440 into one of these here for just a few minutes. 370 00:19:57,200 --> 00:19:58,880 I heard the buzz, so I think it's coming. 371 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:08,600 There it is, all right, catching God's heart as intercessors. 372 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,840 So just read these for a minute. The Bible is so powerful, we 373 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:14,400 don't have to interpret it right away. 374 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:17,360 Sometimes we just have to lean into what does it actually say. 375 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:20,920 So let's read these. Matthew 1914. 376 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:23,920 Let the little children come to me, for the Kingdom of heaven 377 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:29,240 belongs to such as these. Mark 936, whoever welcomes one 378 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,040 of these little children in my name welcomes me. 379 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:36,360 Matthew 1042 Whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup 380 00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:40,720 of cold water, he is a disciple. And then we have Psalm 68. 381 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:43,080 Pastor Dave was talking about earlier this morning, right? 382 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:45,800 Talks about the concept of being a father to the fatherless. 383 00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:48,400 So we know these passages, right? 384 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:51,720 God loves children. But when you read the 385 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:54,760 second-half of these verses, there's some power packed into 386 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:57,720 these. When you love little children, 387 00:20:58,200 --> 00:20:59,880 the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them. 388 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:05,280 When you love them, you are my disciples, right? 389 00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:07,960 That's a powerful statement. When you welcome them, you 390 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:13,800 welcome me, King Jesus. And so I don't want to rush past 391 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:15,400 that. Well, we just take a universal 392 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,520 truth that God loves children. Let's park on this a little bit 393 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:20,680 more. And I want to take us to James 394 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:29,720 one verse 27 here, James 127 religion that God our Father 395 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:34,560 accepts as pure and undefiled as this to look after orphans and 396 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:39,320 widows in their distress. I've read this verse so many 397 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:42,720 times over the years. And if I'm being honest, that 398 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:46,560 first word threw me off for so many years, right. 399 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:48,280 Especially in in a spirit filled church. 400 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:53,720 We understand this concept of a religious spirit and when we 401 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:57,040 hear that word religion, sometimes it means something to 402 00:21:57,040 --> 00:21:58,720 us or maybe it means a negative thing. 403 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:03,240 Religious spirit being traditions and actions and 404 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,200 things that you're doing just for the sake of doing them. 405 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:09,480 But there's no real connection to a living, breathing God, 406 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:11,720 right? Just tradition. 407 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:14,680 That's not what this this word is saying. 408 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:19,640 This word religion carries special meaning. 409 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,120 And so in in my pursuit of God, what is this? 410 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,440 I had to look this up, pretend with me that I have a Greek 411 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:27,880 accent. I think this is going to sound 412 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:34,720 Russian, but the word religion here, it's pronounced Threscia 413 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:44,800 and it's literal meaning is to worship, to give glory to God. 414 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,800 And so when we replace that language with what's written up 415 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:54,200 here, to worship our God and Father is to accept as pure and 416 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:56,920 undefiled as to look after orphans and widows. 417 00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:01,720 One of the highest forms of stewardship, worship, glorifying 418 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:04,280 him is taking care of his little ones. 419 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:08,680 But even in that I'm asking God, why children, why doesn't this 420 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:14,160 say, you know, to to look after my church, to look after, you 421 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:15,440 know, to look after my disciples? 422 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,320 He could have said anything here, but he said children and 423 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,440 orphans and so as I'm seeking the Lord on this. 424 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:23,920 He brought me to Hebrews chapter 4. 425 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:27,040 So I want to read this one for you as well. 426 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:30,920 For we do not have a high priest we we worshiped on that this 427 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:34,720 morning who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, 428 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:38,760 but one in who every respect has been tempted as we are yet 429 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:42,560 without sin. How are these related? 430 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:46,720 As I was asking God and asking the Holy Spirit God, what is 431 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:48,160 this? What is this about? 432 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:54,840 Why orphans, why widows? He reminded me it was King Herod 433 00:23:55,720 --> 00:24:01,560 that sent out a decree to kill all of the male babies in the 434 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:03,840 Bethlehem area and the surrounding regions. 435 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:12,600 Jesus experienced what we're talking about here. 436 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:18,640 We need to love the least of these because Jesus literally 437 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:22,480 was the least of these. He was in a vulnerable time in 438 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:26,320 human history is when he entered in and the government was 439 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:31,080 seeking his life. The truth here is there is no 440 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:35,400 one that understands what these little babies and children's and 441 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:38,120 teenagers are going through. There's no one that understands 442 00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:43,640 it better than Jesus. And so he sympathizes with our 443 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:46,920 weaknesses because he's gone through it and church, he 444 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:49,520 overcame. And so as we look ahead and 445 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:52,600 continue to dive into Scripture, right, it's not just that Jesus 446 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:54,880 has the sympathy, but he also has a victory. 447 00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:00,000 And so we want to talk a little bit more about what are some 448 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,160 practical ways, What does this look like in the state of Iowa? 449 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:06,560 And so Ashley's going to share some information for what this 450 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:08,160 looks like on our front doorsteps. 451 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:13,200 So I share some stats up here about what's happening in our 452 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:16,720 society. You have alcoholism, drug abuse. 453 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:21,960 You have 11% of Iowa below the poverty line, about 8000 people 454 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:25,240 in our prison systems. You have a high divorce rate, 455 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:28,200 single parents rate. And this causes some brokenness 456 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:32,320 in our society that makes makes it so kids have to be removed 457 00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:35,080 from the home at times. So when you think about foster 458 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:38,120 care, most of you assume the number one reason that kids come 459 00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:40,200 into foster care is because of abuse. 460 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:44,200 And that would be untrue. The number one reason kids come 461 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:47,680 out of foster care or come into foster care is because of 462 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:50,800 neglect. You do have some smaller reasons 463 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:52,600 there. You have drug abuse, physical 464 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:55,600 abuse, maybe the parent is in jail or they've lost a parent 465 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:57,520 and don't have family or friends to go to. 466 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:00,040 But the number one reason is neglect. 467 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:05,240 And so in many of these cases, I have my notes up here, I'm not 468 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:10,120 texting well, well-being up here, but so let's go, let's go 469 00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:13,160 to Iowa next. So in Iowa, there's 4000 kids in 470 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,800 foster care and 1000 of those kids are here in Polk County. 471 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:21,360 Now, if you're really good at math, there is only 200 licensed 472 00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:25,720 foster families in Polk County to these 1000 and thousand kids 473 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:27,760 in need. So you realize that the gap is 474 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:31,240 much bigger than what is being fulfilled right now. 475 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:36,520 The largest need for kids are teens needing placement, large 476 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:40,360 family, so 3 kids or more. You can imagine that the day 477 00:26:40,360 --> 00:26:43,080 that you're taken from your family is the most traumatic day 478 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:45,520 of your life. And then to be separated from 479 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,040 your siblings is a secondary trauma. 480 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:50,760 And then kids with special needs, it's hard to find 481 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:53,480 placement for them. And I've also shared the largest 482 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:56,800 demographic of foster kids or foster parents up there who are 483 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:01,640 stepping up to this call. And then after the journey with 484 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:05,600 foster care, about 70% of these kids go back to their biological 485 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:07,800 families. This is really hard for 486 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,440 Christians who are wanting to support this because it's 487 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:12,640 heartbreaking, it's hard, it's filled with grief. 488 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:16,560 But I would argue that God's design for this family was that 489 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:18,360 kids are with their biological parents. 490 00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:21,080 If they are healthy, you know, some of these parents go through 491 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,240 treatment, they go through some parenting classes, get some 492 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:26,280 help, and children can be reunited. 493 00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:29,240 And it's, it's part of God's restoration of that family. 494 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:33,720 And then 30% of foster kids are adopted by another family 495 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:37,320 member, by family friend, or by a foster family. 496 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:40,040 So the church is kind of answering that call in some 497 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:41,880 ways. They're three times more likely 498 00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:44,600 to be foster parents and they're two times more likely to adopt. 499 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:47,800 So there is some positive trending here for how the church 500 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:50,960 is showing up. But like I said, 200 families 501 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:54,640 for 1000 kids, There's still a great need here in Iowa 502 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:59,560 specifically. Thank you, Ashley. 503 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:01,800 So Ashley shared some of those needs, right? 504 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:05,120 Right here in the state of Iowa. We're talking about God's heart. 505 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:09,360 We're talking about the need, putting those things together, 506 00:28:09,360 --> 00:28:11,600 right? All of a sudden we have a call 507 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:14,560 of action. How can we be involved? 508 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:18,040 God, what is my role? What do you want me to do in 509 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:20,600 these situations? And so we're going to have some 510 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:23,080 word or pictures up here for you, right? 511 00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:25,600 We've got a gap. What does it mean to stand in 512 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:29,520 the gap on behalf of foster care children and parents or children 513 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:32,520 in need of adoption? I want to make sure I'm in the 514 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:34,600 right church again. Has anyone read Reese Howell's 515 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:37,520 book Intercessor? All right, I thought I was in 516 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:43,000 the right place. So he has 2 verses that he hangs 517 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:45,520 his banner on related to intercession. 518 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:48,240 And I just, again, I want us to just let the word speak for 519 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:49,560 itself. We're going to meditate on these 520 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:56,160 for just a second here, standing in the gap, we have Isaiah 5916. 521 00:28:56,320 --> 00:29:00,920 The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no 522 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:05,120 justice in the land. He saw that there was no man and 523 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:07,440 wondered that there would be someone to intercede. 524 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:11,240 You have the exact same concept in Ezekiel 2230. 525 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:14,720 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the 526 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:18,240 wall and stand in the breach before me before the land, that 527 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:20,360 I shouldn't destroy it. But I found none. 528 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:26,360 This is sobering verses, but I think we can gather from this 529 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:31,200 God is sovereign in heaven. Romans 828, He's going to find a 530 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:33,200 way to accomplish his purposes, right? 531 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:40,440 But his design here is for man. He's seeking men, He's seeking 532 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,800 women. He wants us to fill that gap, us 533 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:47,600 to intercede and to intervene. That's his original design is to 534 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:51,000 hand it to us. And we as followers of him are 535 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:53,760 ultimately the ones who are standing in this gap. 536 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:57,960 I also want to argue this morning we'll go back to this 537 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:02,280 first image. There are different size gaps in 538 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:07,960 society and culture. Now, if this gap was real, 539 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:11,040 right, maybe a Van de Zandt sculpt skinny child could fit 540 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:12,680 into that and stand in the gap, right? 541 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:17,640 But as the gap gets bigger, sometimes it takes more than one 542 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:20,960 person. And so I want to present this 543 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:26,360 second image that I believe to be pretty historically accurate. 544 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,120 And so you can kind of see the concept of this castle wall in 545 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:34,560 the background and when enemies would fight each other, there 546 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:36,560 was only one entry point in and out. 547 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:40,200 You can kind of see to scale here these little humans in that 548 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:43,160 bottom rut there. It would take more than one 549 00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:49,400 person to defend this castle. And I would argue that in this 550 00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:52,880 age in human history, God is looking for a man. 551 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:57,560 But this particular battle, it's not just one man standing in the 552 00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:01,400 gap. There are church sized gaps 553 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:03,560 waiting for churches to step into. 554 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:08,520 You're not meant to do it alone. OK. 555 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,560 And that principle, we could sit on that all day. 556 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:14,240 That's true for foster care and adoption. 557 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:16,120 It's true of so many things in the Christian realm. 558 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:19,080 You're not meant to do it alone. We're meant to be unified and 559 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:23,920 support each other. Every one out of two families 560 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:26,600 that enters foster care leaves within their first year because 561 00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:31,880 they don't feel supported. It's so sobering, but Church, 562 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:36,360 God is awakening us. He is awakening us to answer the 563 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:42,640 call and to stand in the gap. And so I want us to to get this 564 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:44,600 verse right. Sometimes this verse is preached 565 00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:47,800 related to to marriage, but it's Ecclesiastes 412. 566 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:51,720 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, 2 will 567 00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:54,240 withstand him. But a three fold cord is not 568 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,680 quickly broken. We are stronger when we are 569 00:31:57,680 --> 00:31:59,720 together, right? Amen, Church. 570 00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:10,080 We are in the middle of a cultural war and God is putting 571 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:13,480 his fingerprints all over this topic of taking care of 572 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:15,600 children, right? We saw the overturn of Roe 573 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:19,520 versus Wade. The White House just this week 574 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:25,080 decreed a new initiative to take care of foster care children in 575 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:27,760 the teenage years. There's no funding going towards 576 00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:29,840 this. His heart is putting it into 577 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:31,520 into law. He's putting it into the White 578 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:35,200 House. And so for us to answer this 579 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:39,000 call and to stand in the gap as a church, there's some real lies 580 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:40,680 and challenges that we need to overcome. 581 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:43,000 And so I want to park on that for just a few minutes here. 582 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:47,160 We just talked about the first one, fighting alone, right? 583 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:49,440 You don't have to do it and we shouldn't do it. 584 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:53,240 As we stand in together, we're going to overcome these things. 585 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:58,120 Ashley talked about some of the, you know, some of the neglect 586 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:00,880 and the, the prison system and things that these these parents 587 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:05,600 are struggling with. The concept of reconciliation, 588 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:11,160 reunification, restoration, those don't come from the 589 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:13,760 Department of Human Services or Health and Human Services. 590 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:20,840 Those are heaven concepts. And us as his children, his sons 591 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:24,280 and daughters, we are the most equipped to carry those things. 592 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:29,000 And so if we want to see change in this system, he is calling us 593 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:32,360 as sons and daughters, the church as a whole, not to fight 594 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:35,080 alone and to be Jesus in this situation. 595 00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:38,480 We're not meant to do it alone. The second challenge I want to 596 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:41,800 call out here, fear of attachment and disappointment. 597 00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:50,000 There's a very realness to people that enter into this 598 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:53,480 battle. I know stories you guys have 599 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:55,440 maybe experienced or know someone. 600 00:33:55,640 --> 00:34:01,080 There's real hurt involved. There can be, but when we lean 601 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:06,120 that, that is the expectation. It's counter intuitive to the 602 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:11,159 the Kingdom, right? God's design is that we carry 603 00:34:11,159 --> 00:34:13,520 that restoration, the reconciliation with us. 604 00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:16,080 We're going into these situations expecting the Kingdom 605 00:34:16,080 --> 00:34:20,760 to come, but he's a God. Even if, even if it doesn't, 606 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:25,120 even if there's hurt, I'm telling you, God is able to walk 607 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:28,520 through the grief with you. And one way or another, his 608 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:34,159 Kingdom will come and we will overcome challenge #3 government 609 00:34:34,159 --> 00:34:37,840 regulations conflicting with personal belief systems. 610 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:42,040 Is there anybody who has ever had beef with the law that was 611 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:44,239 established here in the United States or anyone else? 612 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:47,239 Raise your hand real quick. All right, nobody riot this 613 00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:48,679 morning. Just want to make sure I'm in 614 00:34:48,679 --> 00:34:51,080 the right place. No, there's lots of truths like 615 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:53,360 this that we like. We don't perfectly agree. 616 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:56,159 The Kingdom of the US is not perfectly in line with the 617 00:34:56,159 --> 00:35:00,760 Kingdom of heaven yet. But it doesn't stop missionaries 618 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:02,200 from going to the Middle East, right? 619 00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:04,360 You show up in the Middle East, they don't stop the call to 620 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:09,160 prayer because you go, if you go to communist countries, they're 621 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:11,440 not all of a sudden going to change their laws because you're 622 00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:13,880 there. So we can't use this as an 623 00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:17,680 excuse to not engage. In fact, it's the opposite, 624 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:20,480 right? We carry the Kingdom, and this 625 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:24,920 should be the exact reason that we engage even more because you 626 00:35:25,720 --> 00:35:30,440 are God's chosen people to carry that Kingdom into this problem, 627 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:35,960 this gap in human history. This 4th 1 is our last one here. 628 00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:40,800 Comfort. I got a call, a phone call in 629 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:45,120 March of 2025, this year and it rocked Ashley and I's world a 630 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:48,680 little bit. We had adopted Rosie two years 631 00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:52,320 ago and for all intents and purposes, we kind of felt like 632 00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:54,880 that chapter of our journey was closed. 633 00:35:54,880 --> 00:36:00,960 And we got a phone call that morning that there was someone 634 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:06,760 that we knew who now had a newborn that was in need of 635 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:10,840 foster care, wasn't thinking about it, wasn't ready for it. 636 00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:14,120 Let me just let a few fleshly thoughts out for a second. 637 00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:18,600 Older, mid 30s, right? I was thinking, I thought I was 638 00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:21,560 going to be an empty nester in, I don't know, eight years, 10 639 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:24,200 years, whatever that number is. This is going to cost me. 640 00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:27,520 I'm going to have to count the cost. 641 00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:32,160 What's going to go into this? And I had these perspectives of 642 00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:35,280 what comfort looked like. And over the next couple of 643 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:39,720 months, the Holy Spirit just continued to pull back those 644 00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:42,560 things. And I remember Ashley sent me a 645 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:45,120 YouTube video one night. I was home alone, sitting in 646 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:47,440 bed. I pushed play, and it was about 647 00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:50,920 foster care and adoption. I was one second in and I'm 648 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:53,360 bawling my eyes out. I'm crying. 649 00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:56,200 And I know that instant. I'm like, Lord, you're asking me 650 00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:59,120 to do this. I need to stand in the gap. 651 00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:03,600 I need to lay down my life. I know this call is for me. 652 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:08,720 And so in June of 2025 here, we invited another little girl into 653 00:37:08,720 --> 00:37:13,760 our home and she's been with us the last five or six months and 654 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:18,160 it has been absolute joy. Remember those opening verses, 655 00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:20,680 right? Holy Spirit speaks, God speaks, 656 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:24,520 that's his mission formula. All I needed to do was obey. 657 00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:28,080 And in return that provides worship and love to Him. 658 00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:33,320 Sometimes it's hard to come to the realization of what is it 659 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:36,120 going to cost me to obey. I'm telling you so far that 660 00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:37,640 every minute of it has been worth it. 661 00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:40,200 And we are so grateful that we said yes to God again. 662 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:44,680 And so we want to talk a little bit more about what is it 663 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:47,480 practically look like to get involved here. 664 00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:51,200 You understand God's heart. You understand the need. 665 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:55,440 True intercession starts in prayer and ends in action. 666 00:37:56,640 --> 00:37:59,600 And So what are those tangible things we can be doing as a 667 00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:04,640 church to fill the gap? All right, so there's a lot of 668 00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:08,000 great things happening, new organizations coming to the Des 669 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:10,600 Moines metro that are answering this call. 670 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:13,080 And one of them is the Isaiah 117 House. 671 00:38:13,720 --> 00:38:17,400 If you go to YouTube and search micro and Isaiah 117, there's a 672 00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:20,400 video of him visiting the starting place, which was in 673 00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:22,960 Tennessee. And this is a transitional home. 674 00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:26,320 When kids are taken out of foster care, it might take a lot 675 00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:28,680 of phone calls to find a placement for them, a safe place 676 00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:31,400 for them to go. And so in the past, kids have 677 00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:34,440 come and waited at the Health and Human service office, but 678 00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:36,840 they don't have all the needs for those kids depending on how 679 00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:39,280 long they wait. And so this is a house they're 680 00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:42,440 currently fundraising for Polk County where kids come and stay 681 00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:44,480 while they're waiting for their foster placement. 682 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:48,880 So they have showers and beds and clothes, and maybe you need 683 00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:51,600 to distract them with a slime kit or whatever it takes, but a 684 00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:54,600 safe, kid friendly place on that worst day of their life. 685 00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:57,160 And so they're currently fundraising to come to Polk 686 00:38:57,160 --> 00:38:58,600 County. And it's just a great 687 00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:02,040 organization that is working with Health and Human Services 688 00:39:02,040 --> 00:39:05,000 to provide this care for kids as they move out of their home and 689 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:08,280 into foster placement. A couple other organization, you 690 00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:10,720 have Foster Squad, they provide support groups. 691 00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:14,440 You can imagine inviting trauma in your house is going to rattle 692 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:17,360 a marriage at point or your biological children. 693 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:19,480 And you might need a support group to talk through how to 694 00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:21,880 handle the different things that you're facing at home. 695 00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:26,680 They also do a lot of legal advocacy down at the court 696 00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:30,880 downtown to make sure the laws are good for foster families and 697 00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:34,160 good for foster kids. We have Beauty Amidst the Ashes 698 00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:38,880 that shares about adoption. They also have adoption grants. 699 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:40,640 And then we have Wildwood Collective. 700 00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:43,800 They are a newer agency that will come in and do training for 701 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:47,840 churches so that they create these things called care care 702 00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:51,120 groups for foster families. So you have a team of church 703 00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:53,400 people around you as you journey through foster care. 704 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:56,000 If you're a foster parent that help you with meals and 705 00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:59,240 babysitting and just teach, teach them how to love on foster 706 00:39:59,240 --> 00:40:04,240 parents and foster kids. Practically here for Heartland, 707 00:40:04,240 --> 00:40:08,440 there are many ways you can give a meal is I'm grateful for a 708 00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:11,160 meal any day, you know, And so whether it's their first 709 00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:13,480 placement, meaning they picked up the kid an hour ago and they 710 00:40:13,480 --> 00:40:16,320 need dinner that night or two months later, you know, there's 711 00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:18,000 a lot of appointments for foster kids. 712 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:21,760 They might have counseling, some therapies, visits with their 713 00:40:21,760 --> 00:40:23,720 biological parents or court dates. 714 00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:27,800 And it can be a hectic schedule. And so providing a meal even 715 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:30,120 throughout their foster care journey is really helpful. 716 00:40:30,880 --> 00:40:34,400 You can give diapers in formula. There are stipends that are 717 00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:37,320 given to foster parents, but sometimes it doesn't cover the 718 00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:39,640 whole month. In our experience, formula was 719 00:40:39,640 --> 00:40:43,080 covered for about 3 weeks and then we would pay for for the 720 00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:45,280 last, which is totally fine. God, God provides. 721 00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:48,760 But it is a way you could give to families specifically with 722 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:50,440 little ones because those are who need it for that. 723 00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:53,920 But clothes talk about teens, you know, who are removed from 724 00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:55,280 their home. They might not have a lot. 725 00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:58,240 And it's doubly embarrassing to go to school the next day with 726 00:40:58,240 --> 00:41:01,160 Walmart sweatpants and oversized T-shirt from a free box. 727 00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:04,040 You know what I mean? So providing a, a decent 728 00:41:04,040 --> 00:41:07,400 wardrobe for these kids is a way that you can love, love on these 729 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:09,520 foster families and love on these foster kids. 730 00:41:09,880 --> 00:41:12,600 And then gas cards, like I said, there's tons of appointments and 731 00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:15,000 it becomes a hectic schedule. And so that's just a practical 732 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:17,840 way that you can give to foster families. 733 00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:20,880 You can babysit for foster families. 734 00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:24,200 It used to be that you had to be a foster parent to babysit, but 735 00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:28,120 now you can babysit for them and their biological kids to give 736 00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:30,200 those parents a break. You know, there's a lot of 737 00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:33,560 things coming into a marriage if you're a foster parents and to 738 00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:36,400 give them a 2 hour dinner break might be really healing for 739 00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:40,360 them. Friday, Friday we were in court 740 00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:44,400 with our little one and we expected it to be a very clean 741 00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:49,400 cut court hearing and someone came in with no knowledge of the 742 00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:51,960 case and kind of disrupted everything we thought was going 743 00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:54,080 to happen. And if it wasn't for a good 744 00:41:54,080 --> 00:41:57,200 judge on Friday, it could have ended very differently. 745 00:41:57,200 --> 00:42:00,920 We need good judges to take care of these little ones and there 746 00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:03,440 are really good judges and we need to keep voting good ones 747 00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:05,080 in. And so this is the most 748 00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:07,760 practical way that you can support foster families is 749 00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:09,480 because we need good judges and good laws. 750 00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:14,440 So getting to kind of the big kicker, if I was a missionary 751 00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:16,760 peer inviting you all to the Middle East, that would be 752 00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:18,520 unreasonable. We know the Holy Spirit's not 753 00:42:18,520 --> 00:42:20,920 asking all of you to go, but some of you. 754 00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:24,120 He is asking you to invite this mission field into your home. 755 00:42:24,520 --> 00:42:27,280 And so to be a foster parent, you have to take 8 weeks 756 00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:31,280 classes, CPR, first aid, have a home study where they come in 757 00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:33,880 and interview you on different safety checks. 758 00:42:34,120 --> 00:42:37,280 And one of the things you can do if you know someone going 759 00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:39,400 through foster care classes, babysit them while they have 760 00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:42,120 those classes, babysit for their biological kids or their other 761 00:42:42,120 --> 00:42:45,280 kids in their home. And then if you, if you don't 762 00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:47,640 want to be a full time foster parent, you can also take the 763 00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:50,640 classes to do respite. Respite is when you might have a 764 00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:52,600 kid overnight. You know, a family needs a break 765 00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:55,400 and they say, can you take him Friday into Saturday and and you 766 00:42:55,400 --> 00:42:58,600 take him to a movie or do some fun things and then they go back 767 00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:01,480 to their foster family. You can also do respite when 768 00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:04,280 they go on vacation. A lot of times these foster kids 769 00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:06,520 can't leave the state. And so when families go on 770 00:43:06,520 --> 00:43:08,880 vacation, they need safe people to watch them. 771 00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:11,760 And so these are the practical ways that you can help. 772 00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:15,800 Because if we don't step into trauma knowing the healer, who 773 00:43:15,800 --> 00:43:18,360 else is going to do it? We have to be the answer. 774 00:43:18,360 --> 00:43:20,800 We can't be afraid. If we're going to be pro-life, 775 00:43:20,800 --> 00:43:24,080 we're going to be pro kids and pro reunification for these 776 00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:27,960 families. You know one more that relates 777 00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:30,200 to judges. We talk about the Seven Mountain 778 00:43:30,200 --> 00:43:34,520 Mandate. It's not just judges, but your 779 00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:36,920 occupation can impact the Kingdom here. 780 00:43:37,560 --> 00:43:39,840 Maybe you work for one of these organizations. 781 00:43:39,960 --> 00:43:43,000 Maybe you're a social worker and you work for the government, but 782 00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:47,280 that same concept of you carrying the Kingdom, the only 783 00:43:47,280 --> 00:43:50,080 way that this is going to be transformed and his Kingdom will 784 00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:53,640 come is through the church standing in the gap. 785 00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:58,960 So as we close today, you know, Ashley said, we don't expect 786 00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:02,120 everybody to jump up and, and be, you know, foster parents. 787 00:44:02,120 --> 00:44:04,280 But I want to revisit what we talked about at the beginning, 788 00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:10,120 God's plan for missions, His plan of action. 789 00:44:11,240 --> 00:44:14,680 We trust the Holy Spirit this morning to guide you. 790 00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:18,480 That's really the only thing that we want coming away from 791 00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:20,360 this is we should do this every Sunday, right? 792 00:44:20,600 --> 00:44:23,040 You go home and it's Lord, What is my role in this? 793 00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:26,040 What do you want me to do? And you're, you're visiting him 794 00:44:26,040 --> 00:44:29,320 and allowing him to speak. We know that it's going to look 795 00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:32,080 different for all of us. So let me just say, you can't do 796 00:44:32,080 --> 00:44:34,960 everything, OK? We don't have to because we've 797 00:44:34,960 --> 00:44:39,200 got God. But he does offer us a role and 798 00:44:39,200 --> 00:44:42,760 a way to participate. I also think, right, we had Mike 799 00:44:42,760 --> 00:44:48,280 Hutchins in last week. God speaks in waves and the 800 00:44:48,280 --> 00:44:51,200 current wave that we're talking about this morning, right? 801 00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:54,200 Dealing with trauma, but overcoming it through King 802 00:44:54,240 --> 00:44:57,000 Jesus. It's through you and it's 803 00:44:57,000 --> 00:44:59,360 through us as a church where these children are truly going 804 00:44:59,360 --> 00:45:01,800 to feel the love of God. And so I ask that you would 805 00:45:01,800 --> 00:45:03,280 listen to his spirit this morning. 806 00:45:04,440 --> 00:45:08,480 And the only thing that you're required to do it is to love him 807 00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:10,920 to return by obeying whatever he asks you to do. 808 00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:14,560 And so I think we can, we can go home on that. 809 00:45:14,920 --> 00:45:18,280 But we just want to say thank you guys for allowing us to give 810 00:45:18,280 --> 00:45:21,920 this unconventional missions talk this morning. 811 00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:27,280 And if you are interested in helping in any way, come talk to 812 00:45:27,280 --> 00:45:30,160 Ashley and I and we'll help connect you with the church and 813 00:45:30,160 --> 00:45:34,160 how we together as one unit can stand in the gap on behalf of 814 00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:35,240 these children. Amen. 815 00:45:36,160 --> 00:45:37,880 Thanks for listening to our podcast. 816 00:45:37,880 --> 00:45:40,400 If you'd like to help more people hear this message, you 817 00:45:40,400 --> 00:45:43,000 can get the word out by subscribing and sharing it on 818 00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:45,320 social media. If you'd like to support the 819 00:45:45,320 --> 00:45:48,160 ministries of Heartland Church, you can do so at Heartland 820 00:45:48,160 --> 00:45:50,400 Church online.com/give.