For many, the new year is a fresh start.

A clean slate. A perfect time to realign your priorities and cultivate healthy habits. But in this season of personal improvement, we often neglect to appropriately consider others in our New Year’s Resolutions.

If you’re in the midst of jotting down resolutions, consider committing to use your hands, home, and/or heart to advocate for the fatherless this new year.

Your hands

Organize a fundraiser.  Whether you know of a family who is pursuing adoption or you want to raise funds for a particular orphan care program–money is necessary to take the love of Christ to children in need. You could have a major impact on the life of a child (or children) by hosting a lemonade stand, silent auction, or any number of creative ideas whose chief end is to put children into safe and loving homes. (Check out these 22 Adoption Fundraising Ideas).

Go on a mission or vision trip.  Have you been looking to invest in and build relationships with children and caregivers overseas? We offer short-term mission and vision trips that allow you to experience life in one of our orphan care locations around the world. Whether interacting with children and caregivers or practicing outreach in the community, you’ll be serving the fatherless in a deeply personal way. Start planning here.

Your home

Take a foster care class.  For many of us, our hearts have been stirred for the foster care community, but we don’t know where to begin. The scariest part of fostering is the unknown–which is essentially all of it before taking the first step. But consider this: taking foster care classes doesn’t commit you to anything. Make 2018 the year you add “Take a class!” to your resolutions and decide whether or not it’s right for you. Go online and research local foster care licensing classes (free of charge!) and sign up for one in your area. Learn more from The Forgotten Initiative, our foster care ministry.

Begin the adoption process.  Does it seem like this jumped from 0 to 100 really quick? There’s no doubt about it–adoption is intimidating, and we aren’t all called to adopt. But if God is nudging your family toward adoption, this new year is the perfect time to take the first step. Start here for more information.

Your heart

Sponsor a child.  Christian-based child sponsorship has incredible potential to change a child’s entire life and eternal future. By sponsoring a child, you have the opportunity to help someone overcome poverty–which in turn can save future generations the heartache of family disruption and other devastating loss. Better still, with Christian programs, children are taught the truth about God and the fact that Jesus loves them. Many monthly sponsorship programs cost the equivalent of one trip out to dinner with the family, yet the long-term benefits are enormous. Share a piece of your heart with a child in poverty. Learn more.

Commit to pray daily.  Prayer is sometimes looked at as a passive response, but the Bible clearly communicates that it’s one of the most imporant things we can do. When we make the conscious decision to commit to pray for the fatherless, amazing things will happen. Praying daily is a practical resolution to add to your list! We invite you to join us on our Facebook group as we post daily prayer requests for the orphaned and vulnerable around the world. We look forward to bringing these needs before the Father with you!

And as we all venture into 2019, this is our prayer for you:

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Corinthians 13:14

Get a head start on your resolutions.