Catalyst 2009

Catalyst Conference 2009 was held in Atlanta, GA on October 7 - 9 with over 13,000 Christian leaders attending. Coach Tony Dungy (first African American to coach a winning Super Bowl team) was interviewed and was asked about his adoption experience. He said something like this: I really wasn't for it since we had 3 kids already but my wife wanted to do it. I went with her to meet with the social worker. At one point I leaned over and said "IF we proceed with this, how long would it take to get a child in our home?" The social worker looked at me and said, "sir, if you are willing to accept an African American child or a child of mixed race, as soon as we get you approved." That statement pierced my heart and we now have 4 adopted children.

Later, a Kenyan man (named Jimmy) who was sponsored for most of his life through Compassion International, was interviewed. It was awesome to hear him talk about how his life

changed as a young boy when he started receiving this help. Jimmy is now a student at Moody Bible College. You can only imagine the response from crowd. After things

died down a little, he was asked if he had ever met his sponsor and he said no. The interviewer then

said, "Well, I would like to introduce him to you right now." The place went CRAZY! Jimmy held his sponsor for at least 5

minutes and sobbed uncontrollably. When they finally loosened their embrace, Jimmy's knees literally buckled and he fell to the ground

sobbing.

Right after that, the crowd was asked to consider "what's next" (that was a theme

running through the conference.) Would individuals in this crowd of 13,000 Christian leaders consider moving from sponsoring a child to adopting a child. Mac Powell (lead singer of Third Day) was then introduced as the surprise guest. Mac shared his family’s adoption story. He and Amy adopted through Bethany Christian Services of Georgia. Half way through his interview, Amy brought their baby up on stage. The place was in tears. Mac then sang with the African children's choir. It was an unbelievable moment.

Catalyst released their new website www.143million.org during the conference. It has been so great to partner with this organization and to see how God has moved on their leader’s hearts for orphan care and adoption. Catalyst and Bethany Christian Services also partnered to produce a 3 minute video for churches to use to ask their members if they would consider adoption. It can be viewed in the Bethany Christian Services window of www.143million.org.