LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - Christian music artist Chris Tomlin took the stage at Verizon Arena on Saturday, May 12th, and before the show he led a much smaller gathering for a cause dear to his heart.
“I thought ‘how could I use my microphone? How can I use my platform?’” Tomlin said.
Along every stop of his 25-city “Worship Night in America” tour, Tomlin hosted meetings to spotlight America's Kids Belong -- a non-profit working to make sure every child has a loving home.
“I love the vision for this group, America’s Kids Belong, is we want to change who waits. It's no longer kids waiting for families but families waiting for kids,” Tomlin said.
Of the more than 400,000 U.S. kids and teens in foster care, more than 100,000 are waiting to be adopted.
“We believe this is incredibly solvable if everybody came together to work on this,” America’s Kids Belong President Brian Mavis said.
Saturday’s meeting brought government, church, and business leaders together, along with creative professionals and others, to discuss possible solutions to the foster care and adoption crisis in Arkansas.
“The most important thing is to consider opening up your heart and home to a child -- whether it's a baby or a teen,” Mavis said. “But one of our messages is ‘you don't have to change your vocation to be part of the solution. Your vocation is the solution.’”
One of America’s Kids Belong’s programs is the “I Belong Project,” which uses which uses video to give foster children a face and a voice. These videos serve as individual recruitment videos for foster children who are looking for their forever family.
The organization also uses partnership and training of faith communities to help recruit foster and adoptive parents.
“The beautiful thing is the church is the answer to this and it’s beautiful when the church and state work together with the issue of foster care and adoption,” Tomlin said.
“We come in and really want to work well with the leaders and assets that are in the state,” Mavis said. “We aren’t trying to come in and step on anyone’s toes. We want to create a real receptive spirit so that we create a tailwind and a culture of care and of recruitment.”
If you would like to get involved in foster care and adoption, here are some resources to help you get started: