Over 143 million orphans exist in the world today and in the United States alone there are 520,000 children in foster care of which 120,000 are adoptable. In Tennessee, over 500 kids age-out per year without ever finding their “forever family.” We, the Church, must address this crisis.
The Adoption, Foster & Orphan Care ministry of Fellowship Bible Church is a collection of families who have embraced God's passionate heart for orphans. Our homes and hearts are being opened and shaped to receive the incredible blessing that comes by way of adoption, foster care, and global humanitarian orphan care.
Helpful Resources:
Join Us
If you are thinking about adopting/fostering or have already adopted/fostered, we want to help. We desire to support you through the process, mentor those who have already fostered/adopted or connect you with other families in our community.
Donate
We have created a giving fund for the Adoption, Foster, & Orphan Care Ministry, called the I Choose You fund. We would be honored if you partnered with us in this way.
Staff
Marty comes from Dayton, Ohio and was raised by hard-working, blue-collar parents. He attended church regularly but had no personal faith of his own. In his senior year of college, two roommates relentlessly shared Christ with him and on October 17, 1981 Marty came to faith in Christ. He was truly born again and has never been the same.
While in college, Marty met and fell in love with his future wife, Lora, at the University of Dayton. Lora became a nurse and Marty became a systems engineer working on all kinds of Air Force weapon systems at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. They married in 1984 with babies arriving shortly thereafter.
Fast forward a few years and through their passion for evangelism at their local church, they became convinced that God was calling them to full-time ministry, willing to “go anywhere and do anything for Christ.” They quit jobs, pulled up roots, raised support and moved away to focus on serving families through FamilyLife, a marriage and parenting ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. While there, Marty served as executive director touching hundreds of thousands of lives. Marty and Lora served with FamilyLife until 1998 when they felt led to help a new church get off the ground in Franklin, Tennessee. It was Fellowship Bible Church.
Today, Marty serves as the Pastor of Family Ministry, or as he likes to say “the Pastor of All Things Wonderful.” He leads a wide range of ministries including Fellowship Kids, Fellowship Student Ministry, Marriage Ministry, Family Ministry, Promiseland/Childcare, and specialized ministries, including Adoption, Foster and Orphan Care, and Special Needs Ministry. Together, he and Lora have four grown children and two grandchildren.
Every week you will see Marty and Lora serving with big grins in the Learning Center, expressing their love and care to all. And behind every interaction is their passion for proclaiming Christ and growing children, students and families in their faith.
