KNOWN Update

As 2011 is winding down, we want to let you all know of the things that were done this year to care for orphans, as well as give you a glance of things we have planned for 2012.

First of all, thank you to all the people who have helped the KNOWN Ministry care for the orphans around us, to those of you who are praying for orphans, and those who have spent time and money to care for the fatherless. And a special thank you to NP Women's Ministry for your continued help and support!

2011 was an exciting first year for us. We started out the year with our clothing/item drive for foster and adoptive children in need. We received an overwhelming response to this drive and as a result, we have helped many families with items they need! We helped a family with flight tickets to bring their two adopted daughters home. 20 bikes were donated and fixed by NP Cycling Ministry then given to foster children. 3 laptop computers were donated to send to the children at the Children's Home in India we support. About 400 items were donated at Pampered And Give Back in August for foster children which included teddy bears, duffle bags, blankets, and bibles from our Recycling Ministry! We had an amazing weekend in November for Orphan Sunday where we had the Watoto African Orphans Choir sing and Elizabeth Styffe talk about adoption to a packed worship center. We have provided meals to two families; one was placed with 3 girls they are fostering and one adopted a newborn baby boy! We also had adoption information meetings and 5 families are now in the process to adopt! What a blessing, more children finding forever families!

Some things we have in store for 2012:
We will once again be doing our clothing drive next month, the last two weekends of January. Items that we found really popular needs were cribs, strollers, carseats, and infant clothing. Although these items were ones we often got asked about, we need any items for children 0-teen that you may have outgrown or don't use.
We are also working on starting a monthly adoption/foster support group to help families during the challenging times that come up. With all the new families starting the process to adopt, we feel this is something our ministry needs to do. If this is something you want to take part in, please contact us.
In May, for Foster Care Awareness Month, we are planning an outing for foster children (maybe ice skating, bowling, or something) to give them a day of fun. We are planning to do the same for adopted children in November for National Adoption Awareness Month.
We will continue providing meals for those placed with new children either fostering or adopting but would also like to add small things for them like mowing their lawns or doing some laundry. The time when you are placed with a child is a time of bonding and adjustment and so it's nice for them to not have to worry about these things. If you would like to help out with this, we are looking for those who like to cook, mow, or wash clothes, let us know!
We will also be continuing our adoption information meetings and pray many more families make the decision to adopt and bring more children to their forever families!

**We have decided, that due to lack of families interested, we will NOT be doing the Orphan Hosting Program for next summer. We will attempt to do this program for a summer in the future. Thank you to those who inquired and prayed about hosting an orphan.**

The KNOWN Ministry wishes you all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year, and we are looking forward to another successful year of caring for orphans!