In my family’s daily lives, we aren’t surrounded by many other foster families. In fact, we are almost the only ones I know in real life. While we have developed wonderful friendships with people online who “get it,” the journey can feel a bit isolated on a Tuesday afternoon when things get tough.
We didn’t step into this because it was popular; we did it because we felt a calling from God and a ministry of our hearts.
Because of the isolation, it was both surprising where help came from and surprising where it didn’t. Our church stood with us in ways that truly changed our experience.
They brought us dinners for a few weeks while we adjusted. Honestly, the food is always better than what I would have made. The meal train that comes with a new placement is something our older kids have learned to look forward to.
At different times the church nursery let us borrow infant equipment like bouncy seats and swings. During the beginning of COVID-19, when we had a medically fragile infant and couldn’t find hand sanitizer anywhere, someone showed up with a giant jug for us.
Our biological children have always been active in the youth ministry. When times were busy and we had our hands full with appointments, our church friends made sure we didn’t forget about the next youth retreat or pool party for the kids.
Our church opened a place for each of our foster children in the nursery every Sunday and offered extra care to give us peace of mind. They stood with us, prayed, and simply walked the journey alongside us.
Foster Care as a Mission Field
When our church family brought us food or gear, they weren’t just being nice—they were acting as the support system for local missionaries–us! No, we aren’t technically missionaries, but I have come to view foster care as its own local mission field.
While the foreign missionary crosses an ocean to find the “stranger,” the foster parent finds the “stranger” at their own front door. Both roles require a high degree of cultural humility, a willingness to be uncomfortable, and a commitment to serving someone whose life experience is vastly different from their own.
The Mission Parallels
| The Foreign Missionary | Local Foster Parenting |
| Crossing Borders: Traveling thousands of miles to reach a “mission field.” | Crossing Thresholds: Inviting the mission field into your most private sanctuary—your home. |
| Foreign Language: Learning a literal new language (Spanish, Swahili, etc.) to communicate. | Trauma Language: Learning the “language” of survival, non-verbal cues, and behavioral expressions of a child’s history. |
| Cultural Adaptation: Adjusting to different food, hygiene standards, and social norms. | Socio-Economic Bridging: Navigating the different social norms, family traditions, and lifestyles of the child’s family of origin. |
| Government Bureaucracy: Dealing with visas, passports, and foreign officials. | The Legal System: Dealing with court dates, social workers, case plans, and state mandates. |
| Sacrifice of Comfort: Giving up the luxuries of home to serve in a developing area. | Sacrifice of Privacy: Allowing the state, biological parents, and therapists constant access to your private life and schedule. |
| Returning Home: Coming back changed, having seen things others haven’t. | The Permanent Change: You look like the same neighbor, but your eyes now see the suffering in your own zip code that everyone else walks past. |
Entering a Foreign World
Both missionaries and foster parents choose to leave their comfort zones to enter spaces that are often entirely unfamiliar. While a traditional missionary might move to a different country, a foster parent chooses to navigate a complex state system and the darkness of abuse and neglect to model stability and love.
“Like missionaries, foster parents have a willingness to go where the light of Christ is needed and live it out. They are choosing to enter into a world foreign to them—one that is largely secular—and learn how to model Christ for the children, birth families, and systems involved” (Lowe, 2020).
Lowe, J. (2020, May 28). Seeing foster parents as local missionaries. Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation.
A Calling
The willingness to serve God by loving children and youth through foster parenting is a calling. The desire to step into the darkness of abuse and neglect and do so because of faith is remarkable. Foster parents do this. They step out of their comfort zone and right into darkness.
Barrentoblessed. (2018, August 21). Foster parenting is a mission field.
Cultural Competence
Success in both fields requires cultural competence, which involves recognizing that our own “middle-class lens” or standard of living is not the only “correct” way to exist.
“Cultural Competence: The ability of individuals and systems to respond respectfully and effectively to people of all cultures, classes, races, ethnic backgrounds, and faiths or religions—in a manner that recognizes, affirms, and values the worth of individuals, families, tribes, and communities, and protects and preserves the dignity of each” (Haskins, 2024).
Haskins, C. E. (2024). Fostering collaborative partnerships through clear communication strategies: A foster care model (Doctoral dissertation, George Fox University).
Both must adopt a posture of humility, respecting the child’s right to their own family, culture, and identity.
God is present in every culture, already working, already preparing hearts. There is something of His ways in every culture, and no single culture epitomizes all of His ways”
International Mission Board. (Accessed April 23, 2026.). Crossing cultures. imb.org/goimpact
Personal Sacrifice
Foster parents regularly give away pieces of their hearts and sacrifice their own comfort to walk through the “muck and mud” of the child welfare system.
“Sure, foster families do not necessarily give up the luxuries of first-world living that most missionaries do. But they give up privacy, control and that part of them that once thought child abuse and neglect is not as bad as it really is. They are giving up their own family time and sleep-filled nights”
Lowe, J. (2020, May 28). Seeing foster parents as local missionaries. Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation.
The “Fishbowl” of Outside Scrutiny
Like traditional missionaries, foster parents must go through significant preparation—hours of training, home study evaluations, and constant background checks. Foster families also are subject to constant evaluation by state agencies and various professionals.
“A traditional nuclear family is defined by clear, closed boundaries. A foster family has permeable boundaries where non-related children are welcomed and there is a regular ‘stream of visitors [including the foster child’s] biological family members, agency and county social workers, correction officers, school personnel, and child advocates'”
Tulberg, T. L. (2023). Supporting foster parents in order to prevent burnout (Doctoral thesis, Bethel University).
Yes, foster care is a ministry, and it isn’t one meant to be done alone. The church is the perfect place to build a team around a foster family.
How Your Church Can Support Foster Families
You don’t have to be a foster parent to be part of the mission. Here’s how you can help.
- Offer Validation and Encouragement: Foster families often face judgment or misunderstanding from the outside world. Simply telling them that what they are doing is worthwhile helps them through the difficult times.
- Provide Focused Prayer: Fostering involves navigating complex relationships with birth families and managing challenging behaviors. Intentional prayer strengthens families for these tasks.
- Respite Care: One of the biggest needs is a break. People in the church can obtain the proper background clearances to serve as respite providers or babysitters, allowing foster parents time to rest or run errands.
- Support the Biological Children: The biological children in a foster home are also missionaries. They may need extra attention, mentors, or special outings to help them adjust to sharing their home and parents.
What is one small, practical way your community could support a family in the “mission field” of their own living room? Whether it’s a better-than-home-cooked meal or a jug of hand sanitizer, these small acts of support are what make the mission possible.
References
Haskins, C. E. (2024). Fostering collaborative partnerships through clear communication strategies: A foster care model. Doctoral dissertation, George Fox University. https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/dmin/634/
This dissertation explores how strategic partnerships between faith-based organizations (FBOs), governmental agencies, and community stakeholders can improve outcomes for children and families in the foster care system.
International Mission Board. (Accessed April 27, 2026). Crossing cultures. https://www.imb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/go-impact-crossing-cultures.pdf
This training document serves as a guide for individuals preparing for cross-cultural ministry, emphasizing that the Gospel is not tied to any single culture. It outlines core principles, such as accepting that different is okay and recognizing that crossing cultures requires a posture of humility and patience as a learner.
Tulberg, T. L. (2023). Supporting foster parents in order to prevent burnout (Doctoral thesis, Bethel University). https://spark.bethel.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1946&context=etd
This research explores why so many foster parents stop providing care and looks for practical ways to keep them from getting overwhelmed. Foster families face pressures that other parents do not, such as navigating a child’s history of trauma, living under the constant oversight of the state—often described as “living in a fishbowl”—and the heavy grief that comes when a child leaves their home. Churches can show support by hosting support groups, training volunteers to understand trauma, and providing tangible help like meals and babysitting within trusted relationships. Ultimately, these intentional acts of service help foster parents feel seen and supported, making it more likely they will continue their vital work
Lowe, J. (2020, May 28). Seeing foster parents as local missionaries. Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation. https://www.ccef.org/seeing-foster-parents-as-local-missionaries/
This article frames foster parenting as a missional calling that requires a unique willingness to enter “foreign” secular worlds to model Christ-like love.
Barrentoblessed. (2018, August 21). Foster parenting is a mission field. Barren to Blessed. https://barrentoblessed.com/2018/08/21/foster-parenting-is-a-mission-field/
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