Thank you for your letter, and I’m grateful for people like you who are willing to reach out to children who need special love and guidance. I hope others will follow your example, both through foster care and by helping children in other ways, such as adoption.

As you know, children in foster care often have experienced great hardship and emotional trauma, and they need an extra measure of care and compassion. Who is better equipped to give it to them than those who see them through the eyes of Jesus, and want to help others in His name? God loves them and is just as concerned about them as He is our own children, and He is able to help them overcome their fears and hostilities. The Bible says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27).

Not every child is going to turn out the way you hoped; after all, not everyone responded to Jesus or decided to become His follower. But don’t be discouraged. Even when you think you’ve failed, you may have planted a seed in a child’s heart and mind that will grow and bear fruit later on.

In addition, I hope you’ll make prayer a priority in your life. Pray daily, both for yourself and for those God has entrusted to you.