The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
It began as a small coffeehouse concert and has grown six years later into an event with a national recording artist as headliner.
The event was the 6th annual “Into His Fields” benefit concert for Miriam’s Heart, a township-based organization that acts on behalf of orphaned and abandoned children. The concert was held April 29 at the Zarephath Ministry Center on Weston Canal Road.
Also appearing were speakers and other musical guests.
Miriam’s Heart was founded by township resident Elizabeth Occhipinti to create a support community for people who are going through the process of adopting a child.
The need for such a community was demonstrated to Occhipinti when she and her husband were adopting their child, she said.
“We felt like we were totally alone and didn’t know where to go,” she said. “There were almost so many resources that you didn’t know where the good resources were and you felt like no one really knew how to help you. So we created what we didn’t have when we were adopting.”
“Our vision is envisioning a world where children grasp their preciousness and families are restored, and our mission is we radically support families who take action on behalf of orphaned and abandoned children,” Occhipinti said. “We do that through classes and grants and mentoring families in an through the adoption process.”
“We also provide counseling and money toward post-placement planning, because all of our kiddos have gone through trauma and loss before being placed into families,” she said. “So we ground our families in the truth, and we add to that our love of a divine creator God who has poured out into our lives, we want to pour that out into the families that we work with.”
“Our desire is to get kids in families, equipping families to handle adoption and foster care, and to be connecting children with families,” said Jennifer Taylor, a board member and Occhipinti’s sister. “This benefit concert helps to support our efforts throughout the year.”
Miriam’s Heart began as a ministry of Zarephath, but later expanded its focus to encompass the northeast United States and became a non-profit organization on its own, Taylor said.
