Encouraging more people in your church to get involved in foster care can feel daunting. The opportunities are endless, the need is massive and sometimes it feels like the response from those around you is less than enthusiastic. So, how do you as a church leader help motivate people with a sense of calling and purpose? What processes can you put in place that help shepherd them along their journey as they take steps forward in what God is calling them to do? Are there differences between “recruiting” people to meet a need and “discipling” them to obey whatever God has asked them to do? Questions like these, among others, are important ones for us as church leaders to consider as we take steps towards becoming more actively engaged in foster care.
In Episode 2 of The Fostering Church Podcast, the Jasons talk with Gabe Forsyth, the Mission Pastor at Mosaic Church, a dynamic church in Orlando, FL. Gabe gets to lead a team of staff and volunteers committed to equipping and mobilizing their church to live on mission and making the gospel known through acts of justice and mercy with a significant emphasis on addressing the needs of the foster care community in their city.
Gabe joins us to help provide a framework of recruitment and discipleship they have found to be foundational in their work at Mosaic and we believe you will find to be helpful in your church as well.
Key Quote
“He calls us to follow Him… to take on hard things, to be willing to step into hard stories and hard realities in our world, to be a part of partnering with Him in rescuing, redeeming and restoring people and their stories. Foster care is one way we get to live that out as a church.”
Resources and Guests
He and his wife Tiffany met at Mosaic and have been married since 2008. They are adoptive parents to two awesome boys, Adonias and Judah. Gabe appreciates a good cup of coffee, used bookstores, exploring new places, experiencing new cultures, and spending time with family and friends as they enjoy one another and stir each other up towards love and good deeds.
Gabe is the Mission Pastor at MOSAIC Church: https://thisismosaic.org
In 2008, alongside a core team of people in the North Houston area, Jason had the privilege of planting and leading a church with the Acts29 Network through which we founded a non-profit committed to serving, supporting and equipping foster and adoptive families in the city of Houston. In 2013, combined with 14 years of church-based ministry and leadership experience and his family’s foster and adoptive journey, Jason began working for an organization helping church leaders implement structures and strategies of ministry within their churches and developing resources to encourage and support foster and adoptive parents along their journeys. This ultimately led him to his current role as the Director of Church Ministry Initiatives with Christian Alliance for Orphans.
