The Isaiah 1:17 Project: A beautiful community service

Image via The Isaiah 1:17 website

Imagine being taken from your home, without warning, by strangers. Let’s also imagine it’s nighttime, you're tired, wearing jammies, and it’s cold outside. The strangers put you in an unfamiliar vehicle and take you away. At the end of the ride, you're left at an unfamiliar house, with people you don't know.  

This process would be frightening for an adult. Imagine how much more so it must be for children.

As of 2022, there are nearly half-a-million kids in foster care--407, 000. 

Understanding the challenges of being taken from home, then left in the care of strangers (most often it's strangers) is exactly what birthed the Isaiah 1:17 Project.

The project came about in 2017. It was a dream come to life, for Cameron and Marcia Lambert, foster parents since 2012. They were well-acquainted with the struggles of children entering foster care, as well as the importance of having everything they needed when they arrived.

As stated on their website, children often arrive with nothing but what they’re wearing and in many cases, those clothes aren’t even useable.

Initially, the project team provided Blessing Bags, containing clothing, snacks and comfort items for the children. As time went by, the project gained ground and developed into so much more!

Currently, the it provides the following to the foster care families of Southwestern Indiana...

• Bags of Hope
• Dream Cycles
• Fortifying Foster Families
• Family Advocacy Ministries
• Care Communities
• Foster Success
• Beauty for Ashes
• Christmas Hopes & Dreams
• Resources

Not long ago I was privileged to attend a meeting with several of the project team members. There, I learned so much about this amazing program and the help it’s providing to my own community.

Right here, I want to thank the team for welcoming me and allowing me to get acquainted with the project. Also, a big thanks to Port Side Coffee for hosting us. Port Side Coffee is locally owned and operated, and there'll be more info coming up about them in a few weeks. 

I would also like to thank Kathleen Elliot, Program Manager Fortifying Foster Families, for welcoming me to the meeting and after, providing me with a tour of their facility in beautiful, downtown Princeton, Indiana.

​Everyone I met was kind and enthusiastic in their support of the program and the families it serves. Their office and storage areas were well maintained and organized, even though it was the Christmas season.

The amount of work that must have gone into the holiday prep had to have been enormous!

I was sincerely moved by all aspects of the Isaiah 1:17 Project and plan to continue to be involved in its endeavors, as much as possible. 

Images via The Isaiah 1:17 Project website

I encourage you to please get familiar with them, even if they’re not serving your area. The mechanics of the project could be built into nearly any community, where there’s a desire to improve and be a blessing to the families in your area's foster care system.

For more information, please reach out to them. They’d love to hear from you!

You can call them at (812) 386-0117 or email info@theisaiah117project.org. 

If you belong to a church or social group, inviting one of the project’s team members to speak at one of your meetings would be a wonderful way of getting acquainted with the program.

At the very least, please lift the project in prayer. Prayer launched from a burden and love is one of the best helps you can provide. 

Image via AnnieSpratt of Pixabay

Learn to do well.
Seek justice.
Relieve the oppressed.
Defend the fatherless.
Plead for the widow.

​Isaiah 1:17
​World Messianic Bible Translation

​Thank you for your visit and your interaction with the independent blogging community is always appreciated! 

‘Til next time,

Shalom!

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