The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-12/07/2016 DISCLAIMER: Baptist Press should be credited for any reprinted stories that originate with BP. Suggested credit line: Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. Please note that Baptist Press periodically carries stories from other sources by permission. Individuals interested in reprinting non-BP stories should contact the entity where the story originated to seek reprint permission. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: Mission trip miscues by Shane Pruitt Date: December 07, 2016 - Wednesday GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP) -- The number of Christians in the United States participating in short-term mission trips -- those lasting a year or less -- has risen exponentially over the last 50 years, growing from 540 in 1965 to more than 1.5 million annually, with an estimated $2 billion per year spent on the travels, according to Missiology Journal. Sadly, in recent years, there has been some negative light shed upon short-term mission trips. Questions have arisen such as, Are the trips truly advancing the mission of God? Are the teams who go on these trips more of a help or a hindrance to the missionary who is living there? Are we really being good stewards of our resources? Would it more helpful to send the money directly to the missionary and the ministry instead of paying for plane tickets? These are all great questions and worthy of consideration. However, all of these concerns shouldn't discourage missions but rather make us better in our missions efforts. The act of going is important. Jesus left His home to be among the people and to bring them a message of hope, love and life. Plus, Jesus has commanded us to "go" in the Great Commission. However, we're not perfect; we're going to make mistakes. Be wary of making these mistakes on short-term mission trips: 1) Believing you're the Savior. We must remember that we are not the hope of the world -- Jesus is. What countries, cities and people need is Jesus, not me and my passport. At the very best, I can make a temporary impact; however, the Gospel will make an eternal impact. Give them Jesus. 2) Treating missionaries like travel agents. Now, don't get me wrong. Often, missionaries are the best people to help plan the details of the trip. However, we must realize that is not their primary reason for being there. Their calling is to minister to the community, share the Gospel and make disciples, not to be an on-call travel agent. 3) Going with our own agendas. Sometimes teams go on a mission trip with their own agendas, looking for the missionaries, cities and local ministries to meet their demands. Rather, missionaries, ministries and communities need long-term partners who will encourage, energize and invest in continuing the Kingdom work that has already begun there. Be a help, not a hindrance. Remember, if you make a mess and then leave, they are the ones who have to stay and clean it up. 4) Operating as though they are on your turf. Once, while on a mission trip, one of our team members said, "Wow. There are a lot of foreigners here!" What? Seriously? Yes, there are a few foreigners here. It's us! Remember, you're on their land, their streets and in their homes. Be sure to respect their culture, context and history. Once again, cultures need the Gospel, not a Western mindset or even the "American church." People will sing and do church differently than what you're used to. Praise God for that. There is a lot we can learn from people in different contexts. 5) Doing things for people that they can do for themselves. We must ask ourselves, "Why are we flying halfway across the world and paying thousands of dollars just to paint a wall all by ourselves?" Are we doing jobs for people that they can do for themselves? If painting a wall or handing out food is really a need in a place, then invite people in those villages to do it with you. Or, if our teams are going to do these projects alone, then we must make sure that we're doing them with Gospel intentionality. For example, sometimes, handing out food opens the door for Gospel conversations in closed countries. Likewise, painting or light construction can accomplish needed work that would be impossible for one or two missionaries to accomplish on their own, so it serves a critical need. Empowering people with the Gospel for change should always be our driving force. 6) Impressing people instead of empowering them. It's so easy to impress people with a certain skill set that the Lord has blessed you with. However, what if you spent that time teaching people to continue doing the same things once you left? That would be true long-term community impact. For example, if you have a dental hygienist, instead of them cleaning teeth the whole time, have them utilize their time teaching others in-country how to clean teeth properly. The work done in those few days will have more long-term impact than simply one person performing a handful of cleanings. 7) Participating in poverty tourism. If the biggest lasting impact on you from a mission trip is that it made you more thankful for your stuff back at home, then you've missed the point of missions. You must search your heart and intentions. Our motivation for missions cannot be to have a great experience or to take photos of hurting people. You are part of something much larger than yourself. You're a part of the story of God and of fulfilling the Great Commandment and the Great Commission -- love God, love people, make disciples. 8) Not asking before clicking. Pictures can be a great -- they help you remember what God has taught you, they remind you of the relationships that were made, and they tell a story to others who were not there for the glory of God. Just be sure to ask first and be wise. Don't turn your camera into a weapon. How would you feel if strangers were taking pictures of you, your children and your home? So, yes mistakes are often made, but God is sovereign and His grace is sufficient. However, we can be aware of the mistakes, learn from them and make the changes necessary for healthy Kingdom expansion. We have an incredible opportunity to go in wisdom and with excellence because our King deserves our best. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Study: Most Americans say assisted suicide morally OK by Bob Smietana Date: December 07, 2016 - Wednesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- The American Medical Association has described physician-assisted suicide as a serious risk to society and "fundamentally incompatible with a physician's role as healer." But Millions of Americans disagree, according to a new study released Tuesday (Dec. 6) by LifeWay Research. Two-thirds say it is morally acceptable for terminally ill patients to ask their doctors for help in ending their lives, according to a new survey from Nashville-based LifeWay Research. A similar number says doctors should be able to help terminally ill patients die. Americans want more say over how they die, noted Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. That's especially true if facing a painful, terminal illness, he said. "Many believe that asking for help in dying is a moral option," he said. "They don't believe that suffering until they die of natural causes is the only way out." Widespread support Physician-assisted suicide first became legal in the U.S. in 1997 under Oregon's "Death with Dignity" law. Since then, 991 patients in Oregon have ended their lives using medications prescribed by a doctor under the law, according to that state's reports. Today six states allow physician-assisted suicide. The latest is Colorado, where voters approved Proposition 106, which allows a terminally ill patient to request a fatal dose of sleeping medication, by a two-to-one margin in November. Washington, California, Vermont, and Montana also allow physician-assisted suicide. The city council in the District of Columbia recently approved a measure allowing the practice -- a decision that must be reviewed by Congress. In LifeWay Research's survey, 67 percent of Americans agree with the statement, "When a person is facing a painful terminal disease, it is morally acceptable to ask for a physician's aid in taking his or her own life." Thirty-three percent disagree. While there are differences among demographic groups, most still agree. For example, Americans age 18 to 24 (77 percent) and those 35 to 44 (63 percent) and 55 to 64 (64 percent) agree. So do white Americans (71 percent) and Hispanic Americans (69 percent). Those with some college education (71 percent) or with graduate degrees (73 percent) and those with high school diplomas or less (61 percent) also agree. Among faith groups, more than half of all Christians (59 percent), Catholics (70 percent), Protestants (53 percent), Nones (84 percent) and those of other religions (70 percent) agree. Most of those who attend religious services less than once a month (76 percent) also agree. A few demographic groups are skeptical. Fewer than half of those with evangelical beliefs (38 percent), African-Americans (47 percent) or those who attend religious services at least once a month (49 percent) say physician-assisted suicide is morally acceptable. "Traditional Christian teaching says God holds the keys to life and death," McConnell said. "Those who go to church or hold more traditional beliefs are less likely to see assisted suicide as morally acceptable. Still, a surprising number do." Few want restrictions on doctors Researchers also found widespread support for removing restrictions on physician-assisted suicide. Many Americans (69 percent) say physicians should be allowed to assist terminally ill patients in ending their lives. Thirty-one percent disagree. Those in the Northeast (73 percent), Catholics (70 percent), white Americans (73 percent), those with graduate degrees (77 percent), Nones (88 percent) and those who skip religious services (78 percent) are among those most likely to agree. More than half of Southerners (64 percent), African-Americans (53 percent), Protestants (53 percent), those with a high school diploma or less (64 percent) and those who attend services at least once a month (52 percent) also agree. Again, those with evangelical beliefs (42 percent) do not. LifeWay Research's findings echo those of other studies. A 2015 Gallup survey found 68 percent of Americans said physician-assisted suicide should be legal, up from 53 percent in 2013. Gallup also found that support for legalized physician-assisted suicide has wavered over the past 20 years. It previously peaked at 68 percent in 2001 before declining to 53 percent. The debate over physician-assisted suicide is unlikely to go away, said McConnell, and it raises troublesome questions. "Such requests are asking doctors to betray one of their most sacred oaths -- which admits, 'It may also be within my power to take a life,' but concludes, 'I must not play at God,'" McConnell said. "To ask physicians to turn from their task of healing is not a decision to make lightly." Methodology LifeWay Research conducted the study Sept. 27 to Oct. 1, 2016. The survey was conducted using the web-enabled KnowledgePanel, a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. population. Initially, participants are chosen scientifically by a random selection of telephone numbers and residential addresses. Persons in selected households are then invited by telephone or by mail to participate in the web-enabled KnowledgePanel. For those who agree to participate, but do not already have Internet access, GfK provides at no cost a laptop and ISP connection. Sample stratification and weights were used for gender by age, race/ethnicity, region, metro/non-metro, education, and income to reflect the most recent US Census data. The completed sample is 1,000 surveys. The sample provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.1 percent. Margins of error are higher in subgroups. For more information on the survey, visit LifeWayResearch.com or download the full report PDF. LifeWay Research is a Nashville-based, evangelical research firm that specializes in surveys about faith in culture and matters that affect churches. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Crackdown on Christians in Nepal hits snag by Morning Star News Date: December 07, 2016 - Wednesday NEPAL (BP) -- A court in Nepal Tuesday (Dec. 6) acquitted eight Christians accused of attempting to convert children by means of a comic book, according to advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). The seven men and one woman were arrested in Charikot, Dolakha District, in June as part of a crackdown on Christian activities in the fledgling democracy. They were reportedly mistreated in jail before being released on bail for charges that can carry prison terms. Evangelizing is prohibited under Nepal's new constitution, passed in September 2015, as it was under the previous constitution. While the new constitution establishes Nepal as a secular and democratic republic, its definition of "secular" appears to protect Hinduism and allows others only to worship in their own faiths. Article 26 forbids anyone to "convert a person of one religion to another religion, or disturb the religion of other people." While evangelizing has long been illegal in Nepal, advocacy groups have recently detected increased enforcement and other anti-Christian efforts as officials seek to placate Hindus incensed that the new constitution did not re-establish a more prominent place for Hinduism. Earlier this year advocacy group Jubilee Campaign, citing an anonymous source, said Nepal's Social Welfare Council had stopped approving foreign grants for Christian activities. The council must approve all foreign aid for social welfare programs. "The most plausible reason for this anti-Christian policy is that the already fragile Nepali government wishes to create goodwill amongst its Hindu majority," Jubilee Campaign reported. "Until 2008, Nepal was the only official Hindu state in the world. The Nepali government is currently constructing Hindu temples, and there are plans to build an enormous Buddhist statue in Damak (in Nepal, Hinduism and Buddhism are closely connected)." The eight Christians arrested in June were verbally acquitted on Tuesday (Dec. 6), with a written verdict expected within a month. They were charged with trying to convert children to Christianity after they were found distributing pamphlets about Christ in a Christian school. The small books were used as part of a counseling program for children traumatized by earthquakes on April 25, 2015 and May 12, 2015. The Christians were arrested after Teach Nepal, Kathmandu-based non-governmental organization, organized two trauma counseling sessions at two schools in Charikot. The earthquake trauma sessions took place on June 8 and 9 at Modern Nepal School and Mount Valley Academy in Charikot, with children receiving a small gift pack that included the 23-page Christian comic book. Arrested on June 9 were Prakash Pradhan, principal of Mount Valley Academy; Bimal Shahi, principal of Modern Nepal School; Banita Dangol, of Teach Nepal; Balkrishna Rai of Teach Nepal; Philip Tamang of Teach Nepal; Kiran Dahal of Teach Nepal; and Bhimsen Tiwari of Teach Nepal. Arrested on June 14 was Shakti Pakhrin, pastor of Charikot Christian Church. The final hearing in the case had been postponed four times before the verbal verdict yesterday. "We welcome this acquittal of the eight Christians in Charikot," CSW Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said in a statement. "However, we join our voices with civil society in Nepal in urging the government of Nepal to amend Section 26 of the new constitution and ensure that it -- along with the draft penal code -- guarantees full freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression. The right to freedom of religion or belief is of particular importance in Nepal, as the country recently made the transition from a Hindu monarchy to a secular democratic republic." -------------------------------------------------------------------- WEEK OF PRAYER: 'Days of sweat' spread Gospel in Ghana by Elaine Gaston Date: December 07, 2016 - Wednesday EDITOR'S NOTE: This year's Week of Prayer for International Missions in the Southern Baptist Convention is Dec. 4-11 with the theme of "The Gospel Resounds." The theme undergirds the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. The offering, in tandem with Cooperative Program gifts from Southern Baptist churches, supports international workers in seeking to fulfill the Great Commission. Gifts to the Lottie Moon offering are received through local Southern Baptist churches or online at IMB.org, where there are resources to promote the offering. This year's goal is $155 million. Haun family.txt NALERIGU, Ghana (BP) -- After 10 years of medical school, residency and training, surgeon Heidi Haun spent a May morning in a West African courtyard pounding gravel into dirt with dozens of ladies who chanted traditional songs as a drummer beat time. It was a joyous scene with laughter and jokes as the women pounded smooth the courtyard dirt. Heidi, 34 weeks pregnant, pounded alongside them with a sampanni, a wooden tool resembling a baseball bat. "The courtyard is the thing in which all women take pride," said Talata James, a woman from the Mamprusi ethnic group in Northern Ghana. "A house without a courtyard gives a woman no joy. Her children won't have a place to play." Family members eat, work, visit with friends, and spread grains to dry in their courtyard. Community Pounding a courtyard is not in Heidi's job description as general surgeon at the Baptist Medical Centre in Nalerigu. She and her husband William are International Mission Board missionaries there, but making connections and living in community are important in gaining opportunities to share the Gospel. That's the same reason William, a media specialist, might spend a day digging weeds out of a friend's field. Working alongside a friend last year allowed William to share God's story one-on-one for the first time entirely in Mampruli, the language he and Heidi are learning as they live among the Mamprusi people. As William planted seeds of Gospel truth, he helped sow three acres of corn. Balancing act It's not that the Hauns don't have enough to do. Every single day is tough with the never-ending demands of patients' critical needs and living in a remote area. They have two children, Trey, 10, whom they homeschool, and Karen Jane, or KJ, now 17 months, who was born in Nalerigu. Heidi performed surgeries up to two weeks before she gave birth; to the point that, belly against the operating table, Heidi could often feel KJ's in utero kicks against her surgery patients. Life in Ghana takes time and requires planning, extreme effort, and teamwork. William home-schools Trey to allow Heidi more time for language study and surgery. When William travels for media assignments, Heidi manages the home front in addition to her medical responsibilities. Yet they have planted their lives there and work hard to become a part of the community with the foremost goal of sharing the Gospel. Days of sweat On a really hot Sunday -- 109 degrees and no fans -- William preached in their little village church. The dry season is known in the local language as the "days of sweat," and sweat he did as he preached from the Old Testament. "I love going through the Old Testament," William said. "We live in an oral culture [here] and people really connect with stories. I love how I can share these Old Testament stories and show how these stories point forward to Christ." William sees value in living in a place long term. "It's just nice to be a part of the culture and the community. It allows me to take scripture and apply it to their lives in a way that I wouldn't be able to do if I hadn't made the effort to learn the language and the culture." On another occasion near midnight, Heidi had just finished a surgery and returned home. The patient was a woman who sells cabbages under a mango tree on market days in town. Heidi planned to perform surgery earlier in the day, but the operation was delayed by an emergency cesarean section. Still, with the surgery delayed until that night, the woman grasped Heidi's hand afterward and thanked her. "I think that's the neatest thing about having patients that live here in town … it leads to opportunities for relationship and Gospel sharing," Heidi said. "I look forward to the opportunity to share Christ with her -- more than just a patient-doctor relationship." Pray Pray for the Hauns as they balance life, family, homeschooling, language and cultural acquisition, and ministry. Their respective jobs in surgery and media can be very time-consuming. Pray that they will manage time wisely to avoid exhaustion and burnout. Pray for the wisdom and strength of the national medical staff and administration of the Baptist Medical Centre as they serve an overwhelming number of patients every day. Pray that doctors would have special insight in diagnosing and treating patients. The BMC has very limited labs and diagnostic tools. Pray BMC chaplains would have wonderful opportunities to witness and to counsel patients who sometimes travel great distances for medical attention and prayer. Watch more about the Hauns' ministry; -------------------------------------------------------------------- Pearl Harbor attack cited as evangelism catalyst by David Roach Date: December 07, 2016 - Wednesday HONOLULU (BP) -- As Americans commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, some Christians also are remembering a series of evangelistic harvests that emerged from the death and destruction. Among those to find a saving relationship with Jesus in the aftermath of Dec. 7, 1941, were the commander of the Japanese air fleet that carried out the attack, Japanese Buddhists in Hawaii and other Hawaii residents who heard the preaching of missionaries recalled from East Asia. 'Impressed & captivated' by Christ Capt. Mitsuo Fuchida of the Japanese Imperial Navy was perhaps the most high-profile participant in the Pearl Harbor attack to find salvation years later. Leader of the 360 planes that killed 2,403 Americans in a surprise attack, Fuchida survived six plane crashes in World War II before being handed a Gospel tract in 1950 at a Tokyo railroad station, according to a report by Fuchida published in 1951 by Kentucky Baptists' Western Recorder newsjournal. The tract told the testimony of American soldier Jacob DeShazer, who was captured by the Japanese during the war then came to faith in Christ in captivity through reading the Bible. "With a desire to read the Bible, I purchased one and started reading," Fuchida wrote. "Before covering the first thirty pages, my mind was strongly impressed and captivated." Fuchida "was convinced," he wrote, that he "should first of all become a good Christian." So he contacted the company that published the tract and was shown "from the Bible how to become a Christian. I then opened my heart and accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior on April 14, 1950." Within months of Fuchida's conversion, he found himself participating in an evangelistic campaign in Nagoya, Japan, with Southern Baptist missionary W.H. "Dub" Jackson, a former American fighter pilot. Jackson, 92, told Baptist Press he remembers standing atop a Chevrolet panel truck with Fuchida as both shared their testimonies, inviting onlookers to attend evangelistic meetings and calling them to faith in Christ. "I thought, 'How amazing. Here is a guy that was against us a few [years] before, and now both of us are witnessing for the Lord on top of this Chevrolet,'" said Jackson, who went on to lead Southern Baptists in partnership evangelism campaigns around the world. A decade later, Jackson encountered Fuchida again in Dallas at the Baptist General Convention of Texas' annual evangelism conference and learned the former Japanese commander had become a Presbyterian evangelist -- a capacity in which he served until his death in 1976, appearing alongside Billy Graham on at least one occasion. 'A great influx of Christians' In Hawaii, the evangelistic harvest following Pearl Harbor began within a year. The day following the bombing, martial law was declared on the islands. Buddhist temples and Japanese language schools were closed in an effort to limit gatherings of Japanese people that could be used to communicate intelligence information to the Japanese government. As a result, some Japanese Buddhist parents began sending their children to Christian churches in an effort to find an alternate source of spiritual instruction. Chris Martin, executive director of the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention, said the religious liberty of Buddhists was not seen as "of importance" at the time compared to the perceived threat to national security. He noted indignities committed against Japanese-Americans like imprisonment in internment camps. Still, Edith Gima, 87, a Japanese-American believer who has lived near Pearl Harbor since before the attack, told BP "many of the Buddhist kids came to the churches, and some of them became Christians." After the war, "some reverted back to Buddhism," said Gima, a member of First Baptist Church in Wahiawa, Hawaii. "But we did have people who were Buddhist that came to our churches." One Buddhist woman from the island of Molokai, Gima said, became a Christian at a Baptist congregation on Oahu while seeking medical treatment in the Honolulu area. When she went back to Molokai, she started a Sunday School in a Buddhist temple, and the group became Kaunakakai Baptist Church. Mori Hiratani, 88, also was among the Japanese-American Buddhists to receive Christ in the wake of Pearl Harbor. On Dec. 7, 1941, he was riding his bike to a Buddhist temple on Oahu when he saw Japanese planes attacking nearby Wheeler Army Airfield and was forced to return home. With Buddhist temple attendance eliminated from his routine, Hiratani began attending a Baptist congregation about a year later and was saved. Hiratani went on to serve 47 years as pastor of First Baptist Church in Pearl City, Hawaii, before retiring in 2002. "At least at Wahiawa Baptist Church [today First Baptist Wahiawa], there was a great influx of Christians" following the U.S. entry to World War II, Hiratani told BP. Of church members "my age, there were 17 people who surrendered to the Lord's ministry ... some Japanese. There were also Koreans and Chinese." A convention is born Among the fruit of the post-Pearl Harbor influx of believers to Hawaii Baptist churches was the establishment of the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention in 1943, Martin said. Southern Baptist missionaries had been fleeing Japanese aggression in East Asia since the late 1920s, Martin said, but the flow of missionaries increased after 1941, with those workers bolstering Baptist ministries in the islands. "Some of our historic leaders in the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention were born-again Buddhists, who as children during these times were led to Christ by the missionaries," Martin said. "The war had so many incredible negative aspects for Japanese residents here," Martin said. Yet it "really opened people to see and understand the Gospel because of the hardships." Martin added, "As far as the Kingdom work is concerned in Hawaii, all the results of war in our early days were very advantageous to the proclamation of the Gospel here." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Churches can serve foster children, Moore says by Tom Strode Date: December 07, 2016 - Wednesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- Tennessee's new foster care initiative offers churches in the state the opportunity to provide crisis ministry to vulnerable children and families, Southern Baptist ethicist Russell Moore says. Tennessee Fosters -- launched by Gov. Bill Haslam and his wife Crissy at a Dec. 5 event at a downtown Nashville church -- is a campaign to encourage government, churches, non-profit organizations and businesses in the effort to recruit more families for children in foster care and to support foster families. The state has more than 6,000 children in foster care and more than 4,000 foster parents. "I'm excited beyond description by Tennessee's leadership in this area," said Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. "Foster children and their families are among the most vulnerable people in our society. "The church is leading in remarkable and often unseen ways in this area," said Moore, who attended the launch event, in comments for Baptist Press. "If the church were fully mobilized, we would not see the sort of crisis we now have in our foster care system. I look forward to working in this effort and seeking to ignite similar efforts around the country." Tennessee is one of the first states to try such a collaboration on foster care with the help of America's Kids Belong (AKB), a national organization that has led similar campaigns in five other states. More than 400,000 children are in foster care in the United States, with 100,000 of those eligible for adoption, according to AKB. About 26,000 children age out of the foster-care system yearly at 18 or 21 years old, AKB reports. Research shows half of foster children are homeless within two years of aging out of the system, according to the organization. Speaking of the relationship between government and religious people, Haslam told the audience at the launch the state is "a lot better at fixing potholes than we are at fixing hearts. And until people of faith come alongside of these heart situations [such as foster care], we're handicapped if we don't have people that have some eternal sense of purpose beside us." The campaign will announce in the next few weeks new programs to assist congregations in providing help with foster care, Crissy Haslam said at the launch at Cross Point Church. "What we're asking people to do today is really hard," she acknowledged. "Taking a child or sibling group is not an easy task. It takes courage and time and patience, commitment and a huge heart." Individuals and organizations can serve foster families by helping care for children, providing financial assistance and mentoring, she said. Tennessee hopes to achieve three goals with the foster care system in the next year, said Bonnie Hommrich, commissioner of the state's Department of Children's Services: -- Recruit at least 100 "forever homes" during the next nine months to adopt children who are eligible; -- Enroll and license 10 percent more foster homes in 2017 than those that closed voluntarily this year; -- Initiate efforts in 2017 that result in at least five percent of the churches in a county participating in Tennessee Fosters. The Tennessee Alliance for Kids exists as the liaison between faith-based organizations and state government to help with foster care needs. Darren Whitehead, senior pastor of Church of the City in Nashville, said at the Dec. 5 event his church began taking seriously the James 1:27 admonition to minister to orphans earlier this year. It seems God is leading His church to "rally around orphans and vulnerable children," he said. "Our hope is that we would unite churches together in our state, and we would open our hearts and our homes to the children of Tennessee, our children, dreaming that God would not only use the church to care for these children but that God would use these children to unite the church," Whitehead said. Information on Tennessee Fosters is available at tnfosters.gov.