The Sword and the Trowel

Let me get to the point. Rome/Floyd County has a deep need. That need is manifested in children having to enter state care for a multitude of reasons, leave their homes, their schools, their city, and their friends in order for biological families to get things in order so they can return.

We have more children in care than we have homes to care for them. As a result, 70% of our children are taken to homes and group homes as far away as Savannah to be housed and cared for until reunited with their families. Due to overload in our system, the amount of time get a child reunited or adopted is way beyond the standard. It’s not DFCS’ fault. The Division of Family and Children Services works hard to be the best they can be. As the Board Chair for DFCS for Rome/Floyd County, and having served on this board for 11 years, I defend our team’s work and effort. It’s a hard job with little financial reward. Our team serves our city because they care. These gals and guys work way more hours than many work, and they do it to care for the kids and help families get well, and they do a great job while being misunderstood and misrepresented often.

The challenges to this deep need extend beyond more foster homes in our city. We need those. But the need is systemic, legal and financial. Those of us who have waded into the waters to foster and adopt in our city have experienced this challenge.

We must flip the numbers. We want to see more homes available and services available than children in care. This is where Restoration Rome comes in.

God gave us a vision of what it would look like if agencies and ministries both public and private could work together to provide all that is needed to help biological parents get healthy and help foster parents to do a hard job just a little bit easier. The manifestation of that vision is Restoration Rome.

The Restoration Rome Comprehensive Care Center for Foster Care Services is a single-site hub for the following services:

This vision is coming to fruition, and we need the community’s help.

We need $300,000 to complete Phase 1 of our 4 phases of work. Please come by to see it for yourself, and also take a look at phase 1 right here:

244 volunteers came out Saturday to help us get work done in demolition, construction and clean up to make the way for Phase 1. This event was huge, and thank you for coming out to help!

Also…

Would you consider giving to help us get over this $300,000 mark? You can go here Donate to Restoration Rome to donate. We also would be glad to receive stock if you are so inclined. This is a great way to give for those who wish to do that and receive the tax benefit. For those who may like to give other larger gifts, please contact me at mitch@threeriversc.org and I’d love to meet up and talk about this work and how you can help us reach this goal.

If you can’t give, would you send this blog post to someone you know who may give? Would you also please pray that the Lord would put it into hearts to give from his abundance for this work?

We would love to see this $300,000 raised by the end of May.

Thank you for reading and your consideration.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Rev. Charlie Dates was one of my favorite preachers at MLK50 Conference. This sermon stirred my soul like few have ever.

I’ve shared with you our TRC family and those who read this blog from around the world some of our little and small experiences being a multi-ethnic family and how we’ve come to see things with a new set of eyes due to our experiences.

Now, I want you to see things from the perspective of our brothers and sisters in Christ who share our doctrinal distinctives but are part of a different cultural manifestation of those doctrinal distinctives.

This sermon made me laugh, cry, rejoice and mourn. I trust it will do the same for you.

I’ve never met Pastor Dates, but I was in the room for this sermon, and I’d love for him to know the Spirit used him with might in my own soul, and I trust he will in yours.

For those who are not in Rome, GA but read this blog from afar, I say, just listen and learn, unless you already know and in that case, just give the ole holy grunt and amen.

For us TRC people, I want you to listen, learn and lets begin to take our orthodoxy to orthopraxy. I know only a little from our experiences, and I know there is more on the horizon with teenage boys who are multi-ethnic. In some ways I don’t even know what I don’t know yet, but our brother’s and sister’s experiences are real. We need to listen, learn, and act for their sake and for our own sake.

For those who just want to argue, I’d say don’t waste your time. I don’t have time for foolishness. I’m only interested in dwelling in the light and dealing a death blow to darkness.

The Most Segregated Hour in America_ Overcoming Divisions to Pursue MLK’s Vision of Racial Harmony from Mitchell Jolly on Vimeo.