Building Stability

Foster care, aging out, and adoption support

At MinistryWatch, our mission is to help Christians become more faithful, generous, and effective stewards of the resources God has entrusted to them. It’s why we advocate for transparency, accountability, and efficiency in Christian ministries. Because of that, we cover a lot of stories we’d rather not have to—stories of waste, fraud, and abuse.

But that’s not the whole picture. This column exists to amplify ministries doing excellent work—to spotlight ministries making a difference in their own communities and around the world.

Foster Care and Adoption Month is a reminder that across the U.S., Christian children’s home ministries step in where the foster-care system is strained—serving families in places like Arizona, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia, among many others.

But this month also highlights the wider ecosystem that makes stability possible: agencies that recruit and support foster and adoptive parents, ministries that strengthen birth families and help prevent unnecessary removals, and a growing number of programs walking with teens as they age out and face adulthood. And for some families, the story extends beyond state lines through international adoption agencies that help parents navigate cross-border placements.

With that, here’s this week’s roundup of ministries making a difference:

FaithBridge Foster Care

Photo, Faith Bridge facebook page

FaithBridge Foster Care co-founders Wayne Stolz and Bill Hancock knew the difference a loving, Christian family could make in the lives of Georgia’s foster children when they sketched their “big idea” on a napkin at a breakfast meeting. The “idea” was to build a ministry that helps local churches recruit, train, and sustain foster parents, supported by a church-based “Community of Care.” The organization says it has since become Georgia’s largest Christ-centered private child-placing agency, serving 2,000+ children since 2007 (including 1,500+ reunifications and 400+ adoptions).

FaithBridge’s Youth Opportunities program collaborates with young people who have aged out of Georgia’s foster care system to support them in achieving successful independent lives. FaithBridge has a 5 Star Financial Efficiency Rating and a C Transparency Grade in the MinistryWatch database, and a Donor Confidence Score of 95.

Immerse Arkansas

Photo, Immerse facebook page

When Arkansas houseparents Eric and Kara Gilmore had to drop off one of the children in their care at a bus station with little more than a bag of clothes the day after she turned 18, they knew the church had to respond.

They founded Immerse Arkansas in 2010, which provides supportive housing and a LifeBASE program (typically 18–24 months) to help teens and young adults move from crisis to stability through holistic well-being, adult connection, safe/stable housing, and earning potential.

Direction 62:3

Photo, Direction 61:3 facebook page

One year after discovering flooding under its century-old Farmhouse headquarters—and gutting and rebuilding much of the downstairs—Direction 61:3 just completed an open house to view the remodel. The Texas ministry walks alongside teens and young adults aging out of foster care (ages 15–24), providing stable housing, life-skills training, education and career support, mentoring, and practical help, such as its car program—while pointing participants toward a personal relationship with Jesus.

“The Farm” will provide 3 acres for a foster/aged-out community of homes and programming facilities, and has the potential to house up to 60 youth aging out of foster care in Texas.

International Christian Adoptions

Photo, ICA facebook page

International Christian Adoptions (ICA) is thanking its supporters and says that in 2025, its resource families adopted over 200 foster children through the agency. ICA is a Christian, licensed adoption and foster-care agency, founded in 1990, and serves the full “adoption triad” (birth parents, adoptive parents, and children). ICA also operates as a counseling/support and family training center, offering classes and ongoing support for adoptive and foster families, including pre- and post-placement help. ICA has a 5 Star Financial Efficiency Rating and a C Transparency Grade in the MinistryWatch database, and a Donor Confidence Score of 95.

World Orphans

Photo, World Orphans instagram

World Orphans is pushing for “more hope for more families” through its church-partnership model, which exists to keep children in families by equipping local churches to come alongside vulnerable parents and caregivers through home-based care and “wholistic” support. World Orphans works in countries including Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Iraq, Kenya, and South Africa, and reports that 9,587 orphans, widows, refugees, and vulnerable families were impacted last year through its programs. Alongside family support, it highlights economic empowerment efforts—such as savings programs, microloans, and skills training—that help families move toward stability and independence. World Orphans has a 5 Star Financial Efficiency Rating and a C Transparency Grade in the MinistryWatch database, and a Donor Confidence Score of 98.

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