Placed: How Christians and Churches Can Create a Place of Belonging for Children through Foster Care and Adoption

by Dave Delaney, Striving Together Publications

Placed - How Christians and Churches Can Create a Place of Belonging for Children through Foster Care and Adoption by Dave Delaney Children deserve more than a placement; they deserve a place to belong. Thousands of children enter foster care each year carrying not only their possessions but also wounds of loss, rejection, and fear. Many arrive with everything they own stuffed into a black trash bag—a silent message that says, "You’re temporary. You don’t belong." In these pages, Pastor Dave Delaney shares a biblical, personal, and practical vision for how Christians and churches can respond to this need. Drawing from his own family’s journey as well as Scripture’s call to care for the fatherless, he shows how the body of Christ can transform foster care from a lonely struggle into a shared mission. Along the way, he provides insights on these foundational A biblical perspective on how foster care and adoption reflect the love of Christ and the message of the gospel. An honest look at the challenges foster families face. Practical ways churches can support and sustain foster parents. A hopeful vision of what happens when the love of Christ shapes how we care for vulnerable children. Whether you are a foster parent, considering fostering, supporting a family who fosters, or leading a church that wants to make a difference, Placed is a resource and an invitation. You may not be called to foster or adopt, but you are called to care. And when Christians and churches embrace this calling, children discover more than temporary housing; they discover the love and belonging that flow from the heart of Christ.

224 pages

Published September 1, 2025

About the author

Dave Delaney is a recognized leader, consultant and speaker on digital marketing, social media strategy, and business networking. His book, New Business Networking, explores online and offline tools, tips and techniques to grow and nurture your professional network.

In July 2012, Delaney was selected by Billboard Magazine as a digital marketing expert to follow. In May 2012, Delaney was featured by the Nashville Business Journal as a Power Leader of Technology in Nashville, TN. In 2011, Dave was awarded the prestigious Digital Media Champion AIM Award by the American Marketing Association in Nashville. 

In 2009, he was nominated for Nashville’s blogger of the year by the Nashville Technology Council. Dave has appeared in technology stories in USA Today, Billboard Magazine, Globe & Mail, Nashville Business Journal, The Tennessean and Mashable.