Across the United States
Blowing Wide Open
December 2023 marked a season of remarkable growth for our ministry in two key areas: relaunching a church network in Northeast Florida to serve foster families using a platform called CarePortal and expanding our national foster and adoption training via Zoom. These dual focuses fulfilled two critical needs: education and spiritual support, alongside tangible, practical aid. Both worked towards a shared goal—helping increase stability for children touched by the foster care system.
Overcommitted
However, as the month began, I felt a growing need to reevaluate my priorities. My family—my first ministry—needed me. With eight children still at home, they required my time and attention, and my wife, deeply involved in ministry at home and in the community, needed my support too.
In the midst of this, I planned a week away at my daughter’s home in West Virginia to make this a matter of focused prayer.
Reorganizing Priorities
During that week, I began to list every area of ministry I was involved in, beyond my two primary passions. The exercise quickly became overwhelming. Mapping out our missions work regionally—by our country, state, and county—and categorizing efforts in church engagement, caregiver support, and child stabilization revealed just how spread thin I’d become.
It was clear: change was necessary. I needed less time traveling and more time at home, all while continuing to stabilize children and strengthen families.
In prayer throughout December, I sought a plan. The answer was challenging but clear. God was leading me to further develop our national training platform, allowing me to focus on stabilizing children while reducing trips to Jacksonville for church engagement. After years of expertise in using CarePortal to connect businesses, churches, and case managers, this transition was no small task. I drafted a two-year plan, trusting God to guide the steps ahead.
Divine Actions
Unbeknownst to me, God was already at work. A significant piece of the puzzle was an online learning management system (LMS) to serve families beyond our live training opportunities. Yet, I lacked experience with LMS platforms, and the associated costs seemed daunting.
Then, in May 2024, a mix-up in travel plans led to an unexpected opportunity. Arriving at a conference a day early, we stumbled upon an invitation to a banquet for Bible distribution. There, we learned of available funding for digital outreach. When I shared our vision for the LMS, I was told to submit a proposal immediately. To our amazement, we were awarded the full request, though we didn’t know when funds would be accessible.
In June, our regional manager in Jacksonville announced her relocation to North Carolina, but she offered to work remotely until her replacement could be trained. Just two weeks later, I learned our government contract was being terminated, effectively ending our funding for that position within months. What initially felt like setbacks were clear signs of God’s orchestration.
We crafted a transition plan to sustain the ecosystem we had built, trusting God’s guidance. Remarkably, the two-year vision I had drawn up began to unfold far sooner than expected.
Project1Home Takes Shape
By mid-summer, we hired a developer to build the LMS, and funding began to flow. With our Jacksonville contract concluded, my full attention shifted to the platform. By November 2024, the first courses entered beta testing with volunteers, and we aimed to launch officially by January 1, 2025.
Meanwhile, November also brought record-breaking live training enrollments, with over 200 parents registered. More profoundly, we witnessed something unprecedented: within 30 days, 50 foster parents committed their lives to Christ, and dozens of Bibles were shipped to foster children nationwide.
God’s Perfect Plan
What I initially believed was my plan turned out to be God’s. The transition, now called Project1Home, became more than a strategy; it became a mission. Our goal is to bring not only the gospel to the foster and adoption community but also stability to children in foster care. With 35% of children in foster care moving homes 2-3 times annually, we began declaring: “1 home until they go home.”
This is our vision, our mission, and our passion.
Join Us
To learn how you can be part of Project1Home, visit Project1Home.org. Your efforts, prayers, and financial gifts can help us achieve a future where every child has a permanent home and a family to care for them.
