Jon & Dawn Stone

Featured on Focus on the Family

It happens every Christmas season all over the country, all over the world. Businesses put large signs in their windows and on their doors with words to this effect: “Now hiring seasonal employees.” We all know what that means, right? If you get that job, you won’t be obligated forever. It is just a short-term gig to help out through a busy season of life. No one applies for that kind of a job thinking that they are going to be employed or obligated forever; that’s not what seasonal employees do. Wait for it . . . 

That’s the idea behind this book. That is the big picture of missional fostering. Seasonal parenting. Temporary help, as a parent, during a critical time in a child’s life. Fostering as a service. Fostering on purpose. Fostering as a calling, a “special ops mission” of sorts with the objective of giving children a place to call home for a short period of their life. 

Missional foster parents know that they are just standing in the gap, holding down the fort so that the biological parents can heal and get some much-needed help. Missional fostering can be short term or long term, but the idea is that “We are getting into this space because there are kids who need our help.” Missional fostering is about the kids, the cause, and what is it that they need first and foremost.

Recommendations

God is calling His people to action. He is calling us to meet the most vulnerable at their place of greatest need. Through Missional Fostering, Jon and Dawn show us the tremendous impact that can be made when people of faith understand this reality, answer God’s call, and step into opportunities to reflect God’s grace to a watching world. Through the use of humor, emotional stories, and biblical perspective, Jon shares how God has used him and his family to bring gospel hope to many young people in seasons of distress. Oh, that many others would step up and allow God to use them to do the same!

The Christian church in America has an opportunity in front of her. This new possibility presents itself in a way that is certainly inconspicuous but obviously needed. Missional Fostering is a chance to save the world, one child at a time, by represent-ing the love and compassion of Jesus Christ to the most innocent and vulnerable. Jon and Dawn masterfully lay out their case to the Christian community, encouraging the family of God to open our arms and welcome “the least of these” into our homes and our hearts. I highly recommend this book.

Josh Teis

Senior Pastor, Southern Hills Church, Las Vegas,

and Cofounder of Idea Network

In a world melting down over politics, social justice, and personal rights, Jon and Dawn Stone and their family provide a refreshing example and difference-making voice! If you are a believer seeking to be a part of the solution, Jon gives a clear path into a powerful and transformational opportunity. I dare you to read this book and to begin giving your life on mission with Him, one life at a time.

Cary Schmidt

Senior Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church,

Newington, Connecticut

Something special happens when a person says, "I’m willing to be 'your really good temporary' if it helps you find 'your even better forever.'" This is foster care, and it’s the compelling message you’ll feel resonating from every page of Missional Fostering.

Jason Johnson

National Director of Church Ministry Initiatives,

The Christian Alliance for Orphans Author,

ReFraming Foster Care

What greater gift can a family offer than to be the hands, words, and love of Christ to vulnerable children in their time of greatest need? It takes the heart of a servant to step into the spiritual, emotional, and relational void that children in foster care have experienced due to chronic and severe abuse. Missional Fostering provides invaluable insight to Christ followers, demonstrating how we can help bring hurting children the hope and healing they need to thrive in the years ahead. Thank you, Jon and Dawn, for practicing what you preach and for encouraging others to serve children in such a personal and impactful way.

Sam Beals

Chief Executive Officer,

Samaritas, Michigan

Jon and Dawn Stone’s perspective on love and sacrifice are crucial when tackling the complexities of the child welfare system. Missional Fostering challenges readers to confront an uncomfortable question. As we read, we are forced to ask ourselves, "Should I take responsibility to help youth without families?" As a couple who have grown up in foster care and have learned to thrive because of people like the Stones, we strongly support the message of this book for each of our hearts.

Justin and Alexis Black

Authors of Redefining Normal,

re-definingnormal.com