When I tell people about this ministry and wanting to help young women aging out of foster care, they always ask me- Were you in the foster care system? No. Did you have foster kids? Nope. Then they ask some version of this question- So… why you? Why would you want to do this? The short story is- God asked and I said yes. But I want to share some of the details in my story: About five years ago, there was a time when everything I read, and everything I saw- on TV, in movies- everywhere, had to do with foster kids. So I said, “OK, God, I hear you, I’m just not sure what you want me to do.” God used all these things to put foster kids on my heart.

 

During that time, I read a book called CinderGirl by Christina Meredith, a young woman who had been in foster care and then aged out. Near the end of the book she has two pages of statistics about what happens to young adults after they age out of foster care, which was something I never knew about. It’s heartbreaking what these girls endure, and I felt that God was telling me “This is where I want you to work,” and I said “This is really big God. I don’t know what ‘this’ looks like.” So God started revealing to me this vision of opening a home for young women who have aged out of the foster care system. These young women get stuck in a cycle they can’t get out of because they only have the energy to focus on their immediate basic needs, so they can’t set goals or work for the future. Sadly, many of these young women end up having to give up parental rights to their own children because they can’t care for themselves or their children and the cycle continues on to the next generation. I want to help them be able to break that cycle.

 

My dream is to open a home for young women who have aged out of foster care. This will give them a place to live, the chance to heal and the opportunity to set goals for their futures and reach them, knowing that they aren’t alone, but that they are cared about and supported. While I’m working on fundraising to be able to lease/ purchase a home, I will be offering mentoring to these young ladies in area churches each week so that I can give them some practical help as well as emotional and spiritual guidance.

 

God told me several years ago, “when Rachael is done school, you’re done school.” So, my lovely daughter graduated in June, and I “retired” from teaching in June and began on the path to starting this ministry. I started with a dream and very little knowledge, and it’s been amazing to watch God work through this process and drop the right people into my life right when I needed them. He’s sent me people to listen and encourage me, He sent me an accountant who helped me start my paperwork; He sent me others who run nonprofits and were willing to share their experiences and 501(c)3 paperwork, which helped me with mine; He sent me supportive board members and people who have connected me with others I needed/ will need soon. There’s not enough space here to tell you all the stories, but it’s been amazing watching how God provides exactly everyone and everything we need right when we need it. God has been blessing this ministry and our family and taken care of all our needs. This was a huge leap of faith and God has shown me time and again that His fingerprints are all over this ministry, bringing everything together and taking care of everything and I’m so grateful He chose me and gave me a front row seat to watch Him work. It has been awesome!

 

So, God asked me and I said yes- that was my short answer to why I’m doing this. God has shown me over the past years that He is so good, that He loves me and that He loves these young ladies and that He only wants what is best for me and for them. They need help, healing and hope. I have found this hope in Jesus and I want to share that with them. I have two invitations for you- the first invitation is to partner with me in this ministry. If you believe these young ladies are worth helping and giving them hope and healing, I invite you to jump in and say yes with me. There are several ways you can do that- first, sign up for our newsletter so you can keep up with what’s going on. You’ll be able to read stories about how God is working in the lives of these young women and how they are growing and reaching their goals, because I know they will. You can also join our prayer list- we need the power of God and His Spirit to make this all work. If you are able, you can also volunteer- while I’m offering mentoring to these young ladies in area churches, if you can help with providing meals, making toiletry kits and possibly providing transportation, that would be much appreciated.

 

I completely believe that God will continue to supply all our needs and you can be a part of that and changing these young ladies’ lives and their children’s lives forever, when you say yes to supporting this ministry financially. We have some start-up costs coming up including insurance and training, and once mentoring starts in January, I’ll offer meals and essential needs at each mentoring session. Then of course, is the lease/ purchase/ furnishing of the home. If you can give a one- time gift to support our start- up costs today, that would be great. If you would like to give a monthly gift to help cover meals or essential needs or to start saving towards the home, that would be awesome. Regardless of what amount and how often you can give, I appreciate all of you immensely! And to help reach our goals, we will need lots of partners, so if you can share our website- www.thenextwaveministries.org and visit my Facebook page- the Next Wave Ministries, it would be much appreciated! Like it, share it, follow it- all that good stuff, so we can spread the message so we can help these girls!

 

So that’s my first invitation- to partner with me and support this ministry to help these girls. My second invitation is for you. If you find yourself in a season of life where you’re feeling like you could use some help, hope or healing, I invite you to ask Jesus into your life and your heart. Your need may look different than what these young ladies are experiencing- homelessness, food insecurity, a hopeless future, but maybe you’re still feeling like your life is lacking the peace, joy and love you wish you had. Maybe you’re feeling disconnected, lonely or stressed, maybe you need freedom from past decisions- you can invite Jesus into your chaos and craziness, and He can replace that chaos with moments of peace and He can replace your loneliness with love and your regret with redemption. Jesus wants to love us, to have a relationship with us and wants us to be forever connected to the God who created us and wants the very best for us. If you’ve never experienced that kind of relationship for yourself, He wants to meet you right where you are. You can invite Him into your heart today and God’s Holy Spirit will fill you with hope, joy and peace and you can experience freedom like never before. If you would like to find out more about having a relationship with God like that, contact me- I would love to share that joy with you!