Bayside families celebrate Ugandan adoptions

EAST COUNTY — Danny Jones says the first 18 years of his life earned him a doctorate in child misery.

Raised in a home full of abuse and neglect, Jones was a troubled youth without any set direction for his life.
“I never understood why (God) allowed that to happen (to me),” he said. “I felt like it was robbed of what I consider a normal American childhood.”

But at 18 years old, Jones found himself in jail in Kansas City, Mo. And, there, he found God.

At the time, Jones still didn’t know why he’d had to face such a tormented upbringing, but when he and his wife, Ann Marie, started the process to become foster parents in 2007, he suddenly understood.

“I realized this was God’s way of seeing value in those 18 years of my life,” Danny Jones said. “Everything fell into place.”

Today, he and his wife head up a ministry at Bayside Community Church called Bridge a Life. The program exists to “ensure abused, abandoned, neglected or otherwise orphaned children thrive in Christ-centered families.”

The ministry hosted a day of fun for families who recently adopted children from Uganda, as well as those waiting for their Ugandan children, June 4, at Greenbrook Adventure Park.

Although the Joneses act as foster parents and now have adopted two children of their own — Owen and Lilly — they recognize foster care and adopting is not for everyone. That’s where Bridge a Life comes in, Danny said.

As a ministry, Bridge a Life educates the public about the needs of children who are in foster care or awaiting adoption and provides support for the parents who take those children under their care through meals, childcare and help with housework.

The Bridge a Life “Stew Crew” coordinates and provides meals for parents who have just adopted so they can better focus on bonding with their new child. The “Hammer Time” crew, also known as the “Drill Team,” devotes a workday to aid older, single, overloaded foster/adoptive parents with general upkeep around the home.

And finally, the “Stop, Drop and Roll” team provides childcare by a licensed and background-screened team of volunteers, so foster/adoptive parents can have an occasional night out.

Sarah Ferguson, who with her husband, Ryan, recently adopted two children from Uganda, said the Bridge a Life ministry has been invaluable as they expanded their family in recent months.

“I didn’t even know how much I would need help,” Ferguson said. “With four (children) under 3 years old, it’s been a big help. Our church (family) actually watched our biological children while (we were in Uganda for three weeks).”

In the United States, there are 500,000 children in the foster-care system and another 120,000 awaiting adoption, Danny Jones said.

“If every church in the (United States) adopted one of those children, there would be no waiting children in foster care,” he said. “My wife and I can’t adopt every child. We feel like we’ve been positioned in such a way to break down fears.”

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].