The day I met Brooklyn was the day that changed the trajectory of my life forever. I couldn’t imagine all that God was going to do from a simple “yes.”
The Forgotten Initiative’s (TFI) ministries across the country help the local church see the many people in their community who need their help and support. These are beautiful, wonderful children of God that are desperate for the love of Jesus.
This is just one story of how we can work together to make Jesus known to every person in the foster care community.
“Everything is going to be okay.”
Brooklyn has a smile that lights up a room and dimples as deep as the ocean. On the day I met her, those dimples were hidden and her joy was simply not present. She was broken, dirty, and hurting. She had been living behind a 7-Eleven gas station dumpster for months with her beautiful 8-month-old baby boy.
I remember pulling up to the Salvation Army where she was meeting me. She was standing on the sidewalk, holding the most adorable dimple-faced little boy on her hip. As I introduced myself, she started to cry. Before she could even get out a word, the tears were streaming down her face.
I just hugged her and whispered, “I’m Mellissa, I promise you everything is going to be OK”.
Her tears became sobs, and I just hugged her tighter for a few moments. At that moment, I remember thinking: Wow, we are just two moms who love our children and are trying our best. I instantly knew that Brooklyn was someone special.
God wanted me to be here in this moment with her.
One thing I will never forget about our first meeting is how well cared for her sweet baby boy was. He was clean with a bottle in his hand. Brooklyn had a bag full of formula, food, and clean clothes for him. Whereas she had dirt on her face, her beautiful hair matted down, and was wearing an oversized black T-shirt with holes all over. It was obvious how much she loved her baby boy and had put him first above herself.
Turning Things Around
When I met Brooklyn, my husband and I were a host family for an organization that would help care for children temporarily in our home so their parents could work to get back on their feet. We agreed to care for her baby boy, Yeshua, for three months while she worked to find housing and a job.
She worked so diligently! She was able to get a job, set up a daycare, find an apartment, and she was truly turning her life around. We reunited mother and son after four months.
Even after she no longer needed us to care for Yeshua, we continued to stay in their life and build a relationship with Brooklyn. We would babysit Yeshua every weekend so that she could work extra hours at her job to afford her rent. She would come over on Sundays to attend church with us and have dinner with our family. Brooklyn truly became part of our family as much as Yeshua did.
The more we got to know Brooklyn, the more we understood all that she had endured in her short life.
“When you reach 18, nobody cares.”
Brooklyn aged out of foster care and was left feeling that no one ever cared or loved her. She had lived in several foster homes before being adopted at the age of four. But what was supposed to be a safe place for her to land with her new family turned into years of abuse and tragedies.
Her adopted mother put her back into the foster care system, where she landed in a group home as a teenager. She stayed in this group home until she aged out of foster care at 18 years old. She had built up so many walls to protect herself that there was little to no hope that we would ever be able to break through.
She trusted no one because every person that ever came into her life had either left her or abused her.
She once told me that I would not love Yeshua after he turned 18. I immediately shook my head in disbelief and asked her what she meant. Brooklyn quickly explained that the system and people only care about babies when they’re cute and young, but when they reach the age of 18 nobody cares.
I felt crushed hearing this and my heart still breaks to this day knowing this is how she felt for so long. The people who were supposed to love her and protect her had let her down. I told her that if she would allow us, we wanted her to let us love her.
We wanted to show her how deeply loved and cared for she was by Jesus.
Showing the Love of Jesus
We were determined to undo the pain of the past and to show Brooklyn who Jesus is through our unconditional love for her. There were a lot of ups and downs and a roller coaster of emotions, but we are still here five years later.
We recently adopted her sweet, dimple-faced boy and have a steady and meaningful relationship with Brooklyn.
In the past five years, we have been continually growing and learning how to love Brooklyn. This means showing her the grace and understanding Christ has commanded all of us to give.
When I consider what Brooklyn’s life would have looked like if only she would have had someone advocating for her when she was a child, her life could have turned out differently.
- Can you imagine if Brooklyn would have had a TFI Advocate in her foster care community when she was a child?
- Can you imagine if she would’ve had a consistent caseworker who felt loved by a TFI ministry in a local church?
- Can you imagine if Brooklyn would have been adopted into a home filled with love and faith?
I can! I can imagine it because I see it all the time. I see what our TFI Advocate ministries are doing in communities all across the country. Our TFI ministries across the country are helping the local church see the Brooklyns in their community. Beautiful children of God that are desperate for the love of Jesus.
While our relationship with Brooklyn is still a work in progress, much like we all are, I would have never guessed that our story with Brooklyn would bring us to where we are now. But I am so thankful and grateful that God saw fit for our family to step into her life to show her how loved and valued she is by Jesus.
True Restoration
We are so grateful that we get the blessing and honor to raise Brooklyn’s baby in our home as our son. We believe with our whole heart that Yeshua is going to continue to be the joy-filled incredible little boy who brings peace and restoration to his mama through his relationship with Jesus.
We believe God is a God who can restore; He can pull us from the ashes. I believe that if every community had a TFI ministry, we would see more stories of restoration through the power of Jesus every day in the foster care community. We can’t do everything, but we each can do something!
I may not have been looking for this opportunity, but I was praying for God to direct my path in a way that honors Him and brings light to Brooklyn and Yeshua. I am on a mission alongside The Forgotten Initiative to make Jesus known to ALL of the foster care community across the country and to help connect every church to caseworkers in their community!
Join Us for a Live Q&A: Discover How Your Church Can Support the Foster Care Community
Have you ever wondered how your church can make a meaningful difference in the lives of foster children, families, and the agency workers who serve them? The Forgotten Initiative is here to bridge that gap. Our mission is to connect churches with their local agencies to offer practical support, encouragement, and resources to those on the frontlines of foster care.
Whether you’re a pastor exploring ways to engage your church, a foster parent who’s seen the need firsthand, or simply someone with a heart for vulnerable families, we have a free event for you!
Choose the time that works best for you from our available Q&A sessions, and learn practical ways to wrap your church around the foster care community.
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