Fishermen of Souls: Inspired foster care parents recruit to ‘fill in the gaps’

Audry Womble’s experience as a foster care parent has been inspiring enough that she regularly praises its virtues - and need for it - from church pews, civic clubs and other community gathering places around the Delta.

The Clarksdale, Miss., native and her husband, Terry Womble Sr., were both retired from the city (fire and police departments, respectively), when they took in Major, a supposedly non-verbal 7-year-old about five years ago.

Terry and Audrey Womble are outspoken advocates for foster care throughout the Mississippi Delta.

The joy he’s given them has her shouting from “the mountaintops” - and online zoom calls, she insists, about foster care’s impact.

“I go to churches and speak, or I leave literature about foster care,” Womble said. “There are generally good people at churches, but wherever you are, you never know who is in the audience.”

The Wombles, who had raised their own son, Terry Jr., became acquaintances with a woman after both retired and were looking to assist the community.

Audrey raved about her foster care children, and the couple, curious, found Apelah’s website and inquired.

When they first met Major, he surprised them by asking, “Do you have pizza?” Audry recalled.

Conversations and other basic exchanges with Major had been missing, Audry said, because no adult, she suspected, had taken the time to help him one-on-one.

She observed that foster care providers, at minimum, help “fill in the gaps” for children, who otherwise easily can fall behind typical developments.

The couple’s relationship with Major blossomed and they formally adopted him.

They have since helped foster two teenage girls and taken in other kids temporarily in a respite situation.

Audry said the couple have proudly helped provide references for several foster care applicants, and their pursuit is ongoing.

One person, now in the middle of completing the foster care process, is Betty Bluitt, who lives in Southaven, Miss. The Wombles’ testimony inspired her to see if assuming the role would fit her.

Betty said Terry and Audry, who she has known for many years, provided a template for a “happy, healthy home” that she eyes emulating, potentially.

“This is the Lord’s work, and this makes a big difference because our kids are the future,” Audry said.

“The work is not a piece of cake, but more like a slice of a piece of cake,” she quipped.

She cites The Bible in her endeavors.

“We are fishermen of souls. The greatest commandment is to love one another – and this is it.”

Apelah connects adults interested in foster care to children in need across Mississippi and follows up by providing continual support services after foster care is secured. For more information visit apelah.org