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“Faith, for us, is about connection, sharing love, and showing up for others.” - Emma, Barnardo’s foster carer
Every 20 minutes, a child enters the care system in the UK.
But this is more than a statistic – behind every number is a child longing for safety, stability and love.
It can also be a call - a quiet but urgent invitation to step in with compassion, and provide a safe, secure and stable environment for children and young people who cannot live with their birth family.
In this article, we explore the calling of fostering - its joys, its challenges, and for some, its deep spiritual significance. You’ll hear stories of families who have taken the leap and insights into how you too can become part of Barnardo’s fostering family.
Fostering As an Act of Faith: Living Out Love and Compassion
Fostering a child is one of the most powerful acts of love a person or family can offer. For some, this is rooted in the heart of faith, in both a personal and practical way.
“The biggest thing to us is to provide a safe place for a child, we want to make sure that the love is there” - says Joanne, a Barnardo’s foster carer.
At Barnardo’s, a charity that has been supporting children for over 150 years, we believe in the power of love, hope, and community to transform lives. At the heart of our purpose is the belief that every child deserves love, safety, and a sense of belonging - not because they’ve earned it or because of their background, but simply because every life has inherent value.
We welcome foster carers of all faiths, and none. Our values have always guided us - and we hope they align with yours too. When you open your home - and more importantly, your heart - to children who need it, you reflect that same compassion. Through your actions, you send a powerful message: you are loved, you are seen, and you belong.
One young person told us:
“For someone like me, just being able to think about the future is a big achievement. I used to focus on surviving each day. Now I can dream.”
“We Prayed Our Way Through It.”
Emma and Marlon, foster carers with Barnardo’s, have been on their fostering journey for three years. For them, faith was the foundation.
“We agreed that we would simply start the fostering process and then pray our way through it,” says Emma.
“Faith, for us, is about connection, sharing love, and showing up for others. So many young people just need someone to believe in them - to say, ‘I’ve got your back.’ We all need that, don’t we?”
“The young person we care for will grow up and live his own life, but we hope we’ve helped him see what love looks like.”
“We have found it extremely rewarding.”
For Jonathan and Sarah, who’ve been fostering with Barnardo’s since 2022, the biggest challenge - and most rewarding milestone - came when they opened their home to three brothers and sisters. “We went into it knowing there would be hard times,” they recall, “but we have found it extremely rewarding.”
“We thought we have all this love to give and there are children out there through no fault of their own that need help, that need a loving family to protect them and look out for them.”
“And the more we thought about children needing help spurred us on to make that initial enquiry to find out more, and through that initial enquiry we started our fostering journey.”
Their church community became a vital source of strength. Strongly rooted in faith, Jonathan and Sarah found that their congregation became an extended village of support. Their foster children were welcomed into youth groups and Sunday services, giving them a deep sense of belonging and inclusion.
A Journey of Love, Patience and Resilience
“We’re so blessed with our four. We’re very close as a family and they are close to each other. And to bring someone in to experience that love that we have together as a family? Why not?!” adds another Barnardo’s carer.
Fostering can stretch you emotionally, and even spiritually. Many carers worry about the heartbreak of saying goodbye when a child moves on. But this kind of unconditional love has never been rooted in comfort — it is grounded in service and requires patience and resilience.
“The comment I hear most frequently is ‘I could never let them go’”.
“I just think if you knew what some of these children were dealing with on a day-to-day basis, you could love them and let them go because they need love more and you can cope with the heartache of them leaving.” explains Gillian, a Barnardo’s foster carer.
When you welcome a child into your home, you offer more than shelter. You offer hope, healing, and a glimpse of God’s love in action.
From the small everyday moments to life-changing milestones, fostering can bless a child’s life - and your own - in ways you never imagined.
There’s No Perfect Time - Only an Open Heart
If you’ve ever wondered about fostering - even for a moment - why not take the first step?
“We would urge you to not just think about it but act on your instinct and apply to foster as it is the most fulfilling and the most rewarding decision you will never regret you made,” add Jonathan and Sarah.
Barnardo’s will walk you every step of the way, offering guidance, encouragement, and community.
If you’re over 21 years and have a spare bedroom, why not arrange a no-commitment call with our friendly team to find out how you can change a childhood: visit Barnardo’s website and book a no-strings-attached call with your local fostering team.
