Placed

How Christians and Churches Can Create a Place of Belonging for Children through Foster Care and Adoption

Children deserve more than a placement; they deserve a place to belong.

Thousands of children enter foster care each year carrying not only their possessions but also wounds of loss, rejection, and fear. Many arrive with everything they own stuffed into a black trash bag—a silent message that says, "You’re temporary. You don’t belong."

In these pages, Pastor Dave Delaney shares a biblical, personal, and practical vision for how Christians and churches can respond to this need. Drawing from his own family’s journey as well as Scripture’s call to care for the fatherless, he shows how the body of Christ can transform foster care from a lonely struggle into a shared mission. Along the way, he provides insights on these foundational themes: 

• A biblical perspective on how foster care and adoption reflect the love of Christ and the message of the gospel.
• An honest look at the challenges foster families face.
• Practical ways churches can support and sustain foster parents.
• A hopeful vision of what happens when the love of Christ shapes how we care for vulnerable children.

Whether you are a foster parent, considering fostering, supporting a family who fosters, or leading a church that wants to make a difference, Placed is a resource and an invitation. You may not be called to foster or adopt, but you are called to care. And when Christians and churches embrace this calling, children discover more than temporary housing; they discover the love and belonging that flow from the heart of Christ.

Dave Delaney is the husband of Amanda and dad to six children, including two through foster care and adoption. Their family’s experiences have shaped his passion to help churches see foster care as a mission field. Dave serves as the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Long Beach in Southern California.