Two weekends ago, our Chosen leaders celebrated our foster teens as we closed out our club year! Usually, we end the club year with a birthday celebration, complete with cake and ice cream, fun games, and a discussion/huddle group time to go over the Scripture shared. But due to the COVID-19 restrictions, this end of the year celebration looked different from the past six years.

We knew we wanted to bless our teens even though we couldn’t physically be together right now, so we had to get creative!

Postcards were sent to the teens explaining there would be a birthday celebration for them in the form of a donut party parade! As the teens drove past the leaders’ parked cars, they read encouraging words on posters, and heard joyful hooting, hollering and cheering!

At the end of the lineup of decorated vehicles, the teens were blessed with a donut and a word of encouragement from a few of our leaders.

Foster Care Ministry might look a little different these days, but one thing remains — our love and commitment to encouraging these brave youth by representing the love of Christ to them . . . even in the form of a donut and a smile beneath a mask.

Ana Fierro