Grace Community Church in Richhill, Northern Ireland is a Home for Good Church. Home for Good has been part of the church leaders’ story for many years. Fostering, adoption and supported lodgings matters deeply at Grace Community - it’s part of the culture of the church. The church has caught the vision about actively engaging in this space. They saw the need and have responded by playing their part. In fact, a large proportion of the church community is now made up of care experienced children and young people along with their carers, hosts and adoptive parents.

Recently, the church wanted to extend its impact in the wider community by bringing encouragement and practical support not just for children, but also for social workers within the Southern Trust (local authority) area. They were aware of the ever-growing stretch and expectation placed upon social workers, including the regular stop-offs at local supermarkets to buy emergency items for children who urgently need a safe place to stay. In partnership with Drop Inn ministries (a charity that is closely connected with Grace Community), the church has developed a project to provide emergency supply packs for children coming into foster care. This is kingdom collaboration. This is the Church at its best!

It’s still early stages for this hope-filled initiative but come Autumn, a facility will be made available for professionals to access. The emergency packs will include new underwear and age-appropriate toiletries. There will also be new clothing available in various ages and sizes that can be included with the packs to match the confidential requests made.

Please pray for the leaders and church family at Grace Community as they develop this project and for God to bless the strong relationships with the Southern Trust.

Do let us know if you have your own stories of wider community impact. Or, as part of your roadmap planning – you may want to think about developing some sort community initiative in Year 3 of your Home for Good Church journey.

Tash McBride

Northern Ireland Coordinator