CAFO Celebrates 20 Years Anniversary at Nashville Summit
The Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) celebrated 20 years of ministry at its annual summit, held from September 17 to 20 at Brentwood Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee. There, 2,400 supporters from 46 countries gathered.
The organisation (CAFO) was founded in 2004 during a meeting of 29 Christian leaders in Little Rock, Arkansas, who felt called by God to mobilise the Church in caring for orphans. Interest quickly grew, and just three years later, 500 leaders attended the same summit.
A report from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System indicates that approximately 369,000 children were in the U.S. child welfare system during the most recent data period in 2022.
President of CAFO Jedd Medefind kicked off the event by urging attendees to seek and follow God’s will.
He said “God’s great interest in your life is not in what we can accomplish for Him,” Medefind said in his opening remarks. “Not even the very good work we have been called to do. He could do those things just fine without us if He wished. His great interest in your life runs much deeper.”
He continued that God’s highest good is nothing less than “the person you are becoming.” “It is that you would be conformed to the likeness of his Son,” he added, “that Christ would be formed in you. It’s that every day, you and I would grow steadily more like Jesus Christ.”
The summit featured discussions on God’s transformative work in communities like Possum Trot, Texas. Rev. W.C. Martin and his wife, Donna, from this small community, were in attendance at the event.
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In 1996, Rev. W.C. Martin and his wife adopted four foster children, inspiring their congregation at Bennett Chapel Missionary Baptist Church. As a result, 22 families from the church went on to adopt 77 children—every child in need of a home within the county. Despite the children’s challenging backgrounds of abuse and neglect, God worked through the situation. Their story is featured in the film *Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot.
At the summit, three new worship songs were released: “Faithful to Me,” “Home in the Family,” and “What’s a Father Like,” according to Christian Daily International.
These songs, inspired by God’s heart for orphans and the vulnerable, were written by individuals with personal experiences in adoption, fostering, or ministry involvement.
Additionally, two new books were launched at the event to empower parents and carers in fostering resilience in children. *Overcoming: What Scripture and Science Say About Resilience,* by Drs. Nicole Wilke and Mandy Howard, and *Caleb Koala’s Comeback Ride: A Journey to Overcoming,* a bilingual picture book authored by Wilke and illustrated by Aixa de Lopez, were both released to provide valuable insights and support.
Content Credit| Igbakuma Rita Doom
Picture Credit | https://www.faithtoaction.org/faith-to-action-at-cafo-2015/
