Nebraska
All in the family: baseball and Jesus
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Patrick and Katie Beth McCarthy’s oldest son, Miller,…
Foster care is ‘a full-time ministry’
How a Nebraska family found a need for ministry because of their children.
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Jeff and Jennifer Delgado found a ministry within the walls of their house — a foster home.
The Delgados, who attend the Southwest Church of Christ in Omaha, Neb., fostered nearly 30 children from 2006 to 2017.
They have 10 children of their own — two biological sons and eight legally adopted children. Their oldest son is 30, and their youngest is 8.
Related: All in the family: baseball and Jesus
“Pretty early on in our marriage, we had a child right away, and then we had another one four years later,” Jennifer said. “I had some health issues so I wasn’t able to have any more.”
A few years later, the couple felt called to add one more child to their family, this time through adoption.
Little did they know that one would turn into eight.
Jeff and Jennifer Delgado, top middle, with their children.
“It was never our intention to have 10 children and never our intention to adopt eight,” Jennifer said. “There’s a bigger picture, and God has a plan.”
The eldest five children have graduated high school, and two of them have university degrees, with two more still in college. Carol Copeland, a family friend and fellow member of the Southwest church, said the Delgados’ parenting is evident in their kids’ successes.
“(The Delgados) are looked at by the people in our congregation with just great admiration for what they’ve done for these kids,” Copeland said.
One door closes, another opens
The Delgados met at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Jennifer planned to study engineering but graduated with a nursing degree. Her decision to switch majors is one way the couple see God’s plan in their lives.
“That nursing background has helped us care for a lot of kids that would’ve been hard to place in another home,” Jennifer said.
Some children the Delgados fostered had increased medical needs. That meant medical appointments in addition to court dates. Jennifer, formerly a nurse, decided to stay at home 15 years ago, and Jeff continued his career in information technology.
“It became a lot less about fulfilling something we had planned and turned much more into just being an instrument for God. What can we do? Where is he leading us? Where does he need us?”
“For us, it’s a full-time ministry,” she said.
Jennifer said they also saw God’s plan when an adoption fell through.
“That closed door was hard, but taught us that we are not in control of any of this,” Jennifer said. “It became a lot less about fulfilling something we had planned and turned much more into just being an instrument for God. What can we do? Where is he leading us? Where does he need us?”
Jeff Delgado plays miniature golf with some of his children.
The Delgados believe their family was needed for other children in the foster care system — including those whom they would later adopt. The couple did respite care for a mother of two and later adopted both children. When a third and fourth sibling were born, Jeff and Jennifer adopted them, too.
“Fast forward over a year, and the mother got pregnant again,” Jennifer said. “The medical needs were very high at the time for the two youngest ones we had just taken, and so we could not take that next one.”
Jennifer thought of a couple at the Southwest church who had their foster license but no placements. The fifth child was placed with that couple, and the children now regularly spend “sibling time” together.
Increasing support at Southwest
Some of the Delgado children have conditions including autism, fetal alcohol syndrome, anxiety, PTSD and cognitive impairment.
Fostering raised Jennifer’s awareness of the need to accommodate these diagnoses at church services. She said parents of children with disabilities worry about being disruptive during worship, even if church members don’t complain.
“Where do parents go when you have a kid that’s too old for nursery?” Jennifer asked. “The way normal church is set up, it’s not conducive to that community.”
Jennifer Delgado helped create a sensory room for children at the Southwest Church of Christ.
The solution? Creating a sensory room at Southwest.
Jennifer said her father, Southwest elder Dean Hamilton, encouraged her to propose the idea to the elders. When Hamilton passed away last year, the church received a donation in his name. Jennifer and her mother, Kathy, asked to use the funds to create a sensory room.
“We met with the elders and talked about the need to have a space for families to go during services and class time with their special needs children,” Jennifer said. “They listened, gave us the green flag to move forward and helped find the available space.”
Southwest children’s minister Shayna Franson helped Jennifer create Bible lessons and sensory activities for families in the room. There is also a speaker system for parents to hear the sermon.
“Eventually what we would like to do is be able to have trained staff, that are trauma informed and trained, that could regularly staff a Sunday school in the sensory room during service so that parents could actually participate in class and in services,” Jennifer said.
Franson, who is also a foster and adoptive parent, teaches the congregation each month about different medical conditions, like fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. She instructs church members how to best teach kids with these conditions and support their families.
“This is something that a part of our church family is experiencing. How can we support them? How can we … let them know that they are so loved and we want them to be a part of our congregation no matter what that looks like?”
“It’s just brought awareness to people who don’t experience this at all,” Franson said. “This is something that a part of our church family is experiencing. How can we support them? How can we … let them know that they are so loved and we want them to be a part of our congregation no matter what that looks like?”
Southwest members have supported the Delgado family with meals, cards and texts of encouragement.
“When we were going through tough times, the church was there to support us,” Jennifer said. “We had people praying with us, we had people showing up to the courthouse, sitting in the lobby so we’re not alone.”
Related: A winner, on and off the field
Jennifer wants to expand that support at Southwest for other foster families and families with disabled children.
“We’re looking forward to, as these kids get a little older, putting a lot more time and effort into, as a ministry, being there for foster families, adoptive families and any families with special needs children,” Jennifer said.
KENZIE JAMES, a senior multimedia journalism major at Harding University in Searcy, Ark., is a Christian Chronicle intern working in the main office in Oklahoma City. James grew up in Tallahassee, Fla., where she attended the Timberlane Church of Christ.
