Sunrise Children’s Services, formerly known as Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children, has been serving the same constituency since 1869 — children who need someone to step in the gap and provide food, shelter and love for them.
Since that time, Sunrise has cared for thousands of Kentucky’s most vulnerable children and today ministers to approximately 1,300 children each year through foster care and residential services. Sunrise is one of the largest providers of foster and adoption services in the state and, in my opinion, is the best option for Christian families who want to care for children.
Here are five reasons families who wish to foster or adopt should consider partnering with Sunrise Children’s Services:
1. Because of its Christian foundation: The website for Sunrise describes its ministry this way: “Sunrise Children’s Services provides care and hope for hurting families and children through Christ-centered ministries.” This work began on the heels of the Civil War as Christian women from Walnut Street Baptist Church in Louisville saw orphaned children in their city and felt compelled by Scripture to help them. Sunrise’s motivation for ministry then and today comes from James 1:27 which reminds believers, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” The organization exists out of obedience to God and His word to care for children.
2. Because of its adoption focus: Since 2009, Sunrise Children’s Services has helped 709 children move out of the foster care system into a permanent home through adoption. Sunrise’s President Dale Suttles believes every child deserves a home where they will be loved, protected, provided for — and where they can hear the good news of Jesus. The greatest need for every child is a relationship with God through faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Sunrise works with families who strive to serve children well at every level.
3. Because it is local church friendly: Sunrise recruits Christian families from local churches, giving children the best option to be in a home where they can flourish not only mentally, emotionally and physically, but also spiritually. There is no way to provide the very best for children without providing for their spiritual nourishment through a partnership with a local church. These families do not “force religion” on the children they care for, but they seek to live a Christian witness in front of them which is often a welcome change for children who have had some of the worst things imaginable happen to them.
4. Because of its compassion for children: According to the Sunrise website, “The Joint Commission has given Gold Seal accreditation to Sunrise, and the respected BHSO maintains other professional licenses and accreditation needed for comprehensive therapeutic childcare.” Sunrise does what it does because they love children and want to see them flourish. 1 John 3:18 reminds believers, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” The leadership at Sunrise does what they do because of a heart of compassion for children in need.
5. Because of its care for families: Sunrise knows that institutions do not raise children — families raise children. For that reason, Sunrise strives to provide the types of assistance and support that foster and adopting families need to be successful in welcoming children into their home and caring for those children on a temporary or permanent basis.
If you are prayerfully considering foster care or adoption, then do yourself a favor and reach out to Sunrise Children’s Services. You can go to its website — Sunrise.org/contact — to learn more.
Thank you, Kentucky Baptists, for caring for so many of Kentucky’s most vulnerable children through Sunrise Children’s Services and thank you to so many Kentucky Baptist families who have welcomed, or will soon welcome, children into your home through Sunrise.
Dr. Todd Gray 