“Rise up to be God’s hand of mercy”: Everyone can do something for a world without orphans

It started when this scene flashed across her mind. A young boy was being removed from his unsafe home, and she could suddenly see the situation from his point of view. Even though that was where he had been abused, it was the only place he had known all his life. When he had to […] The post “Rise up to be God’s hand of mercy”: Everyone can do something for a world without orphans appeared first on Salt&Light.

Religion Nov 21, 2025 0 6 Add to Reading List

“Rise up to be God’s hand of mercy”: Everyone can do something for a world without orphans

It started when this scene flashed across her mind.

A young boy was being removed from his unsafe home, and she could suddenly see the situation from his point of view.

Even though that was where he had been abused, it was the only place he had known all his life. When he had to leave his home, it hit her that the boy felt immense hopelessness and grief.

Recounting how this vivid image gave her a glimpse of what orphanhood meant, Audrie Siew, 51, shared that it came to her mind when she was in church one day.

“I could feel God’s grief for these children.”

“His whole floor, his whole foundation, had broken down and was gone. He would have felt as if he was falling through darkness and he didn’t know when the fall was going to end,” she described to Salt&Light.

“I could feel what the boy was feeling, and I thought ‘Wow, this is so horrible.’”

This was in 2012, a time when Audrie was also going through a transition at work.

Audrie with her younger child. She and her husband had two biological children of their own when they decided to foster children needing a safe family space.

“For about six months, every time I went to church, somewhere in the service suddenly the words ‘orphans’ and ‘fatherless’ would jump out at me.

“I would break down and cry because I could feel God’s grief for these children and could feel His heart breaking for them.”

While Audrie had previously been working with youths at risk, it seemed like God was putting a new burden on her heart.

“What do you want me to do with this?” she asked God.

Audrie’s family today: Back then, her two children were only in primary school. However, she and her husband felt led to open their home to kids who needed the safety and security of a family.

Deciding to do something about this conviction, Audrie applied to be a foster parent.

But even before her application to be a foster parent was approved, Audrie discovered that she was going to be posted to a role where it would not have been possible to foster due to a conflict of interest.

Finding homes for vulnerable children

In 2013, Audrie took on a role focused on the care of children who are unable to remain at home due to abuse or neglect.

Grateful that she could help vulnerable children, Audrie said that her role required looking at data and studying best practices.

“The research is so clear: Families are better for kids.”

Generally speaking, when there are child protection concerns in Singapore, an assessment will be done to see whether it is safe for a child to continue living with their biological family. An alternative caregiver would be the next of kin.

If that arrangement is not feasible, child protection officers would then look for a foster family so that there is still family-based care. Only after all these options have been considered to be unsuitable, would a child be placed in residential care provided by a children’s home.

Gracehaven (pictured) is an example of one of these residential homes. Source: The Salvation Army Singapore

Noting that there was a high reliance on residential care at that time, Audrie explained that this was because there were few foster families then.

“We thought if we could grow family-based care options, we could improve the outcomes for children and help them rebuild their lives after these tragedies that they have gone through.”

During her four years at the helm, Audrie was encouraged to witness a big shift in the landscape. For instance, the number of foster families grew by 88% from 2013 to 2017, rising to 456 families.

Even after Audrie stepped down from her role to pursue a Master’s degree in Social Work in 2017, she was heartened to see family-based care continuing to flourish.

“Families are better for kids.”

In 2013, there were more than 1,000 children who needed to be looked after outside their homes (out-of-home care). About 60% were in residential care and 40% were in family-based care (kinship care and foster care).

“The statistics have now flipped,” observed Audrie, sharing how there has been a reversal in the proportion of children in family-based care, which rose to 66% in 2023.

Over the decade, the number of foster families has also more than doubled, jumping from 243 in 2013 to 614 families in 2023.

In 2017, Audrie and her husband began their journey as foster parents. They have since taken in six children and one youth.

Gaps in care still exist

Despite these numbers boding well for family-based care, Audrie underscored that more foster families are needed.

Now the Executive Director of Children and Youth Group at The Salvation Army Singapore, she is keenly aware that it can still be difficult to find a suitable home for a child.

One of the departments that she oversees is Gracehaven Fostering, which is one of the five fostering agencies appointed to work with the Ministry of Social and Family Development to provide support to foster parents and foster children.

Sharing that the agency comes across children whose attachment needs are too great or who are too young to be placed in residential care, Audrie elaborated: “They need a foster family, but it’s not easy to find them a foster family, even today.

“Some foster families are resting because they have already taken in children. Some of them can only do respite care. So we still need more foster families that can take in children.”

Gracehaven Fostering regularly holds roadshows to raise awareness about fostering and to recruit more foster families. Source: The Salvation Army Singapore

Opening up about how she started working at The Salvation Army in 2023, Audrie said she felt a call to join the Christian charity as early as 2021.

Since completing her graduate studies, Audrie had been working in a related sector. While still involved in strengthening families, her job was no longer focused on out-of-home care for children.

However, this newly created role at The Salvation Army would allow her to oversee the continuum of services that a vulnerable child or youth would need.

Aside from a fostering agency, The Salvation Army runs a children’s home and an Interim Placement and Assessment Centre that allows those under child protection to be temporarily cared for while investigations are ongoing.

“This service actually enables a lot of kids to either go into kinship care, back to their families again or for the system to find foster care, so that they don’t have to prematurely go into longer-term residential care. It gives space for the system to work.”

Audrie speaking at a Children and Youth Group townhall meeting. She is grateful that, together with her staff, they have been able to develop therapeutic services that enable healing for vulnerable children and youth. Source: The Salvation Army Singapore

The organisation also does prevention and reunification work.

For example, Kids in Play strengthens the family bonds between children and parents to facilitate the reintegration of incarcerated persons, while Befrienders for Families (BFF) supports families who are reunifying, to ease the adjustment for both children and their caregivers.

It takes a village to raise a child

After taking on this job, Audrie has come to better understand the impact of these services.

As a foster parent herself, she has also experienced how powerful it can be when the community comes together to raise a child.

Having fostered one youth and six children since 2017, she shared that three of them are siblings who are now being supported by the BFF programme, a volunteer-led initiative.

Audrie on an outing to River Wonders with two of her foster children.

Although these three siblings have reunited with their family, they still require help to meet practical needs.

“One day, their mum was actually in hospital. She had a spinal injury and had to go for an operation. But she was about to be discharged the next day and had no money to buy the walking apparatus that she needed,” said Audrie.

When this request was sent out to befrienders, a walking apparatus was delivered to the family within hours. “They were so appreciative and grateful,” she added.

But it is not just the timely provision of resources that BFF’s volunteers help with (BFF Gives). Under the guidance of social workers, befrienders can also spend time with families and be a source of mental and emotional support (BFF Cares).

BFF volunteers at a Family Day event at Bird Paradise. Source: The Salvation Army Singapore

Recalling how one of the three siblings whom she fostered had challenging behaviours, Audrie later realised that this was because he missed his mother a lot and yearned to return to his family.

“He felt a sense of hopelessness because he had been in the fostering system for so long and still could not go home. He wasn’t sure where his life was going.”

“The mum is trying so hard, but she is a single mum and has many children. She loves her children deeply and her children love her.”

While the 11-year-old boy eventually settled down and stayed with her for less than a year, Audrie felt reassured that when it was time to reintegrate with his family, there were others in the community who could continue to journey with him.

“I felt that my heart could rest because it meant that my foster child could go back and have caring supporters ‘wrap around’ him and his family, and they could have help when they needed it,” she told Salt&Light.

Befrienders at a BFF volunteer appreciation event. Source: The Salvation Army Singapore

Sharing how BFF was launched in 2023 to alleviate parental stress, reduce isolation and provide family support so that children do not have to re-enter the fostering system, Audrie said that the first round of an independent evaluation found that the programme was moving towards these outcomes.

“The findings were promising. We were rejoicing because we were finally seeing that what we do works for families and children.”

For instance, through visits by BFF volunteers, parents have been able to get relief from caregiving and learn some parenting skills, while children look up to these befrienders as role models.

The preliminary evaluation report also highlighted that community-based support was perceived to be less intimidating than institutionalised support.

Time for Christians to rise up

Pointing out that a few churches are already participating in BFF, Audrie told Salt&Light: “I want churches to know that befriending works.”

Calling for more churches and Christians to look at how they can care for the vulnerable, she added: “The Christian community can be such a blessing to vulnerable children and families. We see that in BFF. We see that in fostering.”

“You can be practical conduits of God’s love.”

In her own personal journey, Audrie has also seen how vulnerable children can grow well in families.

“Of course you should foster. But if you can’t foster, don’t do nothing.

“It would be wonderful if we can see many more churches and Christians rising up to be God’s hand of mercy in practical ways.”

Highlighting that churches can start their own initiatives or choose any organisation to partner with, Audrie suggested that they can also approach World Without Orphans (WWO) Singapore to see how they can get involved in this area of work.

WWO-Singapore organised its first Learning Community earlier this year, which was held on the church premises of Solomon’s Porch Singapore. It featured a guest speaker who shared about trauma-informed care and needs in Nepal. Source: World Without Orphans Singapore

WWO is a global movement of Christ followers who are working to ensure that every child is cared for in a safe and loving family. In Southeast Asia, it also has a regional network of pastors and professionals from Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia.

Revealing how God gave her two impressions before she joined The Salvation Army, Audrie said one was the “healing and transformation of children and families” and the other was “nations”.

Two years on, God has brought to fulfilment these words that He had spoken to her.

“I’ve seen how powerful and amazing God is when we decide to give what we have. When we are willing agents and obedient servants, somehow God can work,” said Audrie, who was recently appointed as the Regional Ambassador of WWO Southeast Asia.

Audrie co-facilitating the Southeast Asia Regional Session at the WWO Global Forum in February 2024, which was held in Chiang Mai. Almost 100 people from the region were present. Source: World Without Orphans Singapore

Thanks to her mission-focused team at The Salvation Army, Audrie shared that they have been able to create therapeutic services that enable healing.

As for her nations calling, Audrie now engages with WWO’s national facilitators across South-east Asia and represents the region on issues related to orphan care.

Sharing how WWO focuses on prevention, intervention, collaboration and spiritual refreshment for those who are serving, Audrie invites anyone who feels God’s heart for vulnerable children to be a part of this growing movement.

“In World Without Orphans, we often ask, ‘What is in your hand?’ I suppose what is in the hand of churches and Christians is a lot.

“We have been blessed greatly by God in so many ways. So will we not open our hand and release some of this?

“Christians, you are the reflection of God’s love for these children. You can be practical conduits of God’s love.”

Do you have a heart for vulnerable children and families?

To commemorate this year’s Orphan Sunday (November 9, 2025), World Without Orphans – Singapore came together with various partners to organise a series of events.

These included: