How does it work?
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The Basics
The Fort 4 The Fatherless campaign is really quite simple: The goal is to see many Fort Wayne churches make a public declaration that they will care for the world’s orphans. We want them to make this declaration on November 7, 2010, which is National Orphan Sunday. That’s it.
This public declaration will accomplish two critical objectives:
1. It will commit churches to pray for orphans, preach about God’s heart for orphans, and serve orphans. This will give Fort Wayne churches momentum to fulfill the important Kingdom-mandate to care for orphans.
2. It will be public, united testimony to a skeptical world that the Body of Christ is serious about caring for those forgotten by the world. Serving orphans is a “pure and undefiled” act of compassion that is above reproach.
**For those churches that have already committed to caring for the fatherless,we still encourage you to make this public declaration as a testimony to the community and an affirmation of what you’re already doing. Making this declaration will encourage other churches to make the declaration. It will also more deeply instill orphan care in the “DNA” of your church.**
What is a Public Declaration?
The public declaration is very straightforward: On November 7, 2010, we would like Executive/Senior Pastors to sign the Pledge to Orphans in front of their congregation, making a public declaration that the church will support the world’s orphans. We call November 7, “Signing Day” (for obvious reason!). We are also hopeful that churches will use Signing Day as an opportunity to preach about God’s heart for the fatherless – but the ultimate goal of The Fort 4 The Fatherless campaign is to have churches sign the Pledge to Orphans on November 7, 2010.
What Happens After Churches Sign the Pledge?
It’s really up to the church! The Fort 4 The Fatherless campaign encourages churches to prayerfully seek God’s direction about how to fulfill their pledge. Some ideas:
1. Churches may want to promote domestic and international adoption – and then equip their church members to adopt.
2. Churches may want to engage with the local foster care system.
3. Churches may want to get involved with international orphan care, where projects and programs are designed to help orphans within their own country.
In any case, The Fort 4 The Fatherless campaign is ready and eager to assist churches as they fulfill their Pledge to Orphans. We can connect you to organizations uniquely suited to help you answer God’s call. Contact us at info@fort4thefatherless.org.
How Will You Know If The Fort 4 The Fatherless Campaign Is Successful?
There are two ways by which to judge this campaign’s success:
1. Did Fort Wayne churches sign the Pledge to Orphans?
2. Are more orphans experiencing the love of Christ?
If no. 1 above is successful, we are convinced that no. 2 will happen – and that’s the ultimate success: For children locally and around the world to experience the love of Jesus Christ, to the glory of God!
