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Snapshots of a Foster Child:

Past, Present and Future

Pastor Armstrong will personally

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Pastor Armstrong will personally

autograph your book(s).

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to indicate 'who' and 'from'.

The Baptist

Articles of Faith

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In Support of National

Adoption Awareness Month

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"Snapshots of a Foster Child"

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Message From The Pastor

****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE****

"PASTOR TO RUN 10 MILES FOR

ADOPTION AWARENESS MONTH"

Trenton Times Article

"Eat, Pray, Run..."

Printed Version

part 1 - part 2

November is National Adoption Awareness Month, and on Sunday, November 28th, the Rev. Darrell L. Armstrong will do something about it. After he finishes preaching his two morning services, Pastor Armstrong plans to run (from 2PM-4PM) the twelve mile stretch from Princeton to Trenton to raise awareness about the need for more adoptive families in general, but especially about the need for more black adoptive families.

"Every child deserves a loving, caring home in which they can thrive," said the Rev. Armstrong who is Pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church, a 130+ year old house of worship in Trenton.

"It pains me to know that children of all races and nationalities will languish and even grow-up in foster care or state placement, longing for a family with whom to spend Thanksgiving, Christmas or other holidays. The pain is even more acute when I look at the statistics and realize that the odds against black children, especially black males, being adopted are so much greater than any other racial grouping in America," says Armstrong.

"This is an epidemic, because it is highly probable that those same black male children who do not get adopted, will one day populate homeless shelters, get sucked into the vortex of crime, and feed America's military-industrial complex. We must change this trend!"

Armstrong, himself a product of Los Angeles County's child protective service system, is a ardent and vocal child advocate who is committed to raising awareness about the world's abused, abandoned, neglected and displaced children.

He is founder of the National Association of Foster Children, Inc. and Board Chair of the Shiloh Community Development Corporation (SCDC), both of which are 501(c)3 non-profits working to prevent child abuse by strengthening families.

 Armstrong will start his run on the steps of Miller Chapel, which is on the campus of Princeton Theological Seminary. He will conclude the run on the steps of the Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton. He'll wear an official Olympic jogging suit and carry an official Olympic Torch, both of which he received in 2001 when he was chosen to be an Olympic Torchbearer for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

He is seeking individual and corporate sponsors to sponsor a motivational book which will be given to foster children throughout the region. The book entitled, "Snapshots of a Foster Child" is an auto-biographical look at Armstrong's life growing up in foster-care and kinship-care in Los Angeles and how he and his three younger brothers were all displaced from their mother and never reunified nor adopted. He plans to do FREE workshops and seminars with youth in placement about the emotional and psycho-social issues they deal with by being in care!

Capital Health System and the Trenton Marriott are among several  organizations and individuals who have already sponsored dozens of books. Armstrong is asking individuals and corporations to sponsor a book per mile.

"This run is both about raising adoption awareness as well as building bridges between Princeton and Trenton. There is a divide between Princeton and Trenton and I want to help bridge it," said Armstrong.

Armstrong is well positioned to be a bridge-builder between the two communities. In March, 2010 he marked his tenth year of leading his Trenton congregation and in May, 2010, he was elected the first non-Presbyterian member to the Board of Trustees at Princeton Theological Seminary.

You can sponsor a book for a foster/pre-adoptive youth by purchasing on-line at www.VirGenice.

"November is Ntl. Adoption Awareness Month...www.VirGenice.org"