Page 101 - South Mississippi Living - December, 2017

GIVING BACK faith & fostering
story by Susan Ruddiman
photos courtesy of Michael Memorial Baptist Church
Two years ago, the Rev. Tony Karnes, senior pastor of Michael Memorial Baptist Church in Gulfport, was researching a sermon on James 1:27 — “Pure and faultless religion is to care for the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
Then he spoke to the Harrison County Youth Court and found out there was a dire need for foster care. Children were being kept
in the emergency shelter for weeks because there was a shortage of licensed families to take them. “I thought,
how can we live here and not know about this?” he said. “I asked if I found 100 families in Harrison County, would that solve the problem? They said yes, it would.”
From that seed, Rescue 100 was started. Local churches, judges, administrators and the Department of Human Services worked together
so the process of becoming a licensed foster parent was reduced to practically a weekend. Their first Rescue
100 training weekend was
in April 2016 at the church. Today, individuals at the church have accepted almost 50 foster children in the orphan care ministry they call J127.
“My sister and I lead the foster parent support group and the J127 Arsenal which is a building that contains
all the personal care items, clothing, toys, furniture
a foster family will need when they receive a new placement,” said Anna Schilling Griffin. “The retention rate of foster families is very high because we have such a good support system and wraparound care.”
The Rescue 100 program
is being adopted by other churches throughout the state, and has official endorsements from officials that include Gov. Phil Bryant.
“This program brings Christians together, and they can see how God can use them to make a difference
in the life of a child,” said Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Dawn Beam.
Attending the first Christian-based Rescue 100 training session were, Margaret Alfonso, Rev. Tony Karnes, and Dawn Beam.
The foster families
at Michael Memorial Baptist Church have the J127 Arsenal which contains the supplies and needs when a foster child is placed with a family.
15053 John Clark Road, Gulfport 228.832.1709 | www.michaelmemorial.org
SCHWARTZ, ORGLER, JORDAN
& WILLIAMS PLLC
Dedicated to serving the gulf coast community since 1996.
12206 HWY 49 • GULFPORT • 228-832-8550 | 2355 PASS RD • BILOXI • 228-388-7441 | WWW.SOJLAW.NET
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