Inaugural Newsletter

CCOCA Connections is a resource to educate, motivate, and equip all members of the Church to be champions for the orphans.  View this email in your browser A Word from Pastor Vince Smith   Welcome to the very first digital newsletter of the Centre County Orphan Care Alliance. We hope to send you a newsletter each month as a tool to help educate, motivate, and equip the CHURCH in Centre County to care for orphans both locally and globally. We believe there should be more waiting families than there are waiting children! We believe the church is the solution to the long list of children currently waiting for a champion both locally and globally! That is why we take caring for orphans seriously. Our definition of an orphan is any child who needs a champion. This includes children waiting for a mentor through the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program, foster children, adopted children, children waiting to be adopted, and children in worldwide sponsorship programs. Every child needs a champion! There are many ways for a Christ follower to care for orphans that don’t require being a full time foster or adoptive parent. Support teams are desperately needed for those who are committed to the full time care of foster and adoptive children. Champions are needed to cook meals, mow yards, provide child care, provide child support, to invite large families over for dinner, and so much more.  What’s your part? We believe Jesus is the hope of the world and that He gave His bride, the Church, the responsibility of caring for orphans.  In fact, the Bible tells us that real religion is to care for orphans and widows (James 1:27).  So we make it our mission to: • Ensure that every Christian in Centre County is aware of the plight of the fatherless locally and globally (Educate) • Motivate every believer in Centre County to engage in their responsibility to care for the fatherless.  (Motivate) • Provide the resources to help create well-equipped Christian homes for every fatherless child in Centre County (Equip) There are nearly 200 congregations in Centre County with more than 75 local children in the custody of Centre County Children and Youth Services.  Nearly half of these children had to be placed in homes outside of Centre County or group homes because we don’t have enough foster homes.  We are committed to the idea that there should be more waiting families than there are waiting children.  With nearly 200 congregations we believe this problem has an easy solution.   We hope you’ll find this e-newsletter a useful tool regardless of where you are in your journey of caring for orphans.   Because it Matters,   Vince Smith Director, Centre County Orphan Care Alliance   Big Brothers Big Sisters: No More Waiting List "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6 (NIV) Some of us may not be able to help the fatherless through foster care or adoption. However, one way to aid the fatherless is through the Centre County Youth Service Bureau's Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Bigs meet with their Littles once a week for about an hour. It has been shown that some of the children and teens that have a mentor through this program improve in many areas of life and experience more success. With about 200 churches in Centre County and 50 children and teenagers on the waiting list for a Big Brother or Big Sister, there should be more waiting adults/families than there are waiting children and teenagers. Let’s make sure that there is no waiting list! Please feel free to pass this information along to family, friends, church, work, or anyone who might be interested in mentoring and making a positive impact on the children and teenagers of Centre County. If you would like to learn more information, please click on the Centre County Youth Service Bureau logo above to visit their website. Below is a chart containing specific amounts and ages of boys and girls waiting for a mentor through the Centre County Big Brothers Big Sisters.   Area # of Boys Age of Boys # of Girls Age of Girls State College 12 6,7,8,8,9,10,10,10,11,13,13,14 4 8,9,10,11 Bellefonte 9 6,7,7,8,9,11,12,13,15 6 8,10,13,13,16,16 Philipsburg 2 9,12 3 14,14,16 Boalsburg 1 6 4 5,10,13,15 PA Furnace 1 11 1 15 Julian 2 11,16 0 ----- Fleming 0 ----- 1 7 Howard 1 13 0 ----- Milesburg 1 9 0 ----- Milheim 1 14 0 ----- Port Matilda 0 ----- 1 11 Spring Mills 0 ----- 1 14   Here is a video to encourage and motivate those who are caring for the Orphans locally and abroad. More videos on this sight will bring further encouragement and motivation. So please explore! Wait No More, created by Focus on the Family, is coming to State College! It's never too early to mark your calendar for this exciting event on Saturday September 10th, 2016. Keep on the lookout for information throughout the next year and a half. Eventually we will need a lot of help, but for now, just mark your calendars. More information to come! Donations to the Centre County Orphan Care Alliance are tax deductible. Please send donations to the address below: 403 South Allen Street Suite 112A State College, PA 16801 Ashley Saylor, Program Director with Arrow Child & Family Ministries, will be presenting "Created to Connect: A Christian's Guide to The Connected Child". This event is highly recommended for foster and adoptive families who desire to better connect with their children who are adopted or fostered. Mark this event in your calendar for July 31st at 6 pm located at the State College Assembly of God. If you are interested in attending or have any questions, please contact Betty Lou Morgan at cr.compassion.connect@gmail.com. If your church would like to become part of the Centre County Orphan Care Alliance by establishing an active representative, please email us and someone will contact you to discuss further details. Please email your name, phone number, and church name. Thank you for your interest! Copyright © 2015 Centre County Orphan Care Alliance, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 403 South Allen Street Suite 112A State College, PA 16801 USA http://www.ccoca.net/ unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences