306 | Revolutionizing Orphan Care, Modeling Sacrifice, and Running Close to Your Kids (Mike Gallagher)

DadAwesome

Mike Gallagher’s life changed forever when he and his wife adopted a child. Already the parents of three biological children, they stepped out in faith to meet a need that many people try to ignore. Now, Mike shares how every dad can get involved in reaching the 100+ million children globally without a permanent place to call home.

Key Takeaways

• Help your children build dependency on Jesus by modeling sacrifice and adventurous faith.
• To reverse the orphan crisis, we must focus on reunification when possible and adoption when necessary.
• Children who have experienced trauma need true safety as well as felt safety.
• If you’re overcommitted, you won’t have the capacity to be there for your children.
• Make praying with your children a core aspect of your relationship.

Mike Gallagher

Mike Gallagher and his wife, Mandy, co-founded The Chosen & Dearly Loved Foundation in 2014. Their campaign, 1MILLIONHOME, focuses on shifting the model of orphan care to prioritize family support and reunification. Mike and Mandy have six children: three biological, one adopted domestically, and two adopted internationally.

Key Quotes

• 8:16 - "We really believe the Lord was leading us to do specific things like adopt children or move or start things and they were glorious, but they required a lot of suffering and and a lot of cost. Honestly, we knew there was cost, but we didn't know the full costs going into a lot of these things. In that cost, it costs the children as well. It costs everybody in the family, these are family decisions, and yet that's the bad news. The good and greater news is it forged such a dependance on Jesus and dependance on guidance from the Lord where we were in situations so desperately needing His wisdom, His protection, His confirmed will, that they witnessed that over so long. That was one just key part of it that that they wanted that and needed that themselves. The other thing was, even though we were involved with pressing things, far reaching things, they were always number one. And they knew that."
• 12:57 - "[Our children] need to be legitimately safe, welcomed, comforted, supported with whatever they're bringing. And so it's, number one, that sense of felt safety and we can kind of take inventory of how safe are they really with us."

Links from Today’s Conversation

• 305 | What an Awesome Ride. What a Wild Opportunity. (Jeff Zaugg)
• 1MILLIONHOME Homepage
• The Story of 1MILLIONHOME
• How 1MILLIONHOME Works
• Everyday Church - The Future Is Family Event

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