Lifeprints Winter Edition 2015

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3I LIKE THIS HOUSE

5A PLACE TO CALL HOME

Winter Edition 2015

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WHAT IS HOME?

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HELP BUILD HOMES IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

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few years ago, I was in a Bible study group and the leader read Mark 2:1–12, the story of Jesus healing the paralytic. The leader asked us to contemplatively listen to the story and to see if any single word stuck out in our minds. The word that stuck for me was “home.”

This Bible study group came at a time when my life was in transition. My parents were aging. My mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and the disease was progressing rapidly. My own children were both in college. Though we still shared the same physical address, I only saw them on holidays and on occasional weekend visits. I was struck by the fact that Jesus, during his earthly ministry, needed to “go home.” I realized that I was really homesick that day.

Sometimes home is not a place. But, Mark 2 says that the people had heard that Jesus had “come home,” so that place must have held special meaning for Jesus. I wondered if Jesus ever got homesick. Do you ever find yourself feeling like you need to “go home?”

Our goal at your Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes is to do far more than give kids a warm, safe place to stay. While they are in our care, they are well fed. They are protected from exposure to the elements. They are expected to go to school and to do their homework.

They have lots of structure and chores that they complete every day.

But, beyond all of that, we do our best to give them a home.

At one of our recent Christmas Open House events, one of the kids proudly showed off the den where they sit every evening with their house parents and have family devotional time. Another child showed off her room and the new bedspread she had just received. A young boy showed off the Christmas ornament he had picked out to put on the tree and explained that every boy in the cottage got to pick out an ornament for the tree. I asked a young lady how many girls lived in the home and she quickly replied “9, if you count Mrs. Whitney.”

Mrs. Whitney is the housemother. We try to make sure the kids in our care feel at home. There are times we realize we could provide care with greater efficiency or at a lower cost. But, our goal is to become home to children, and sometimes home is not all about efficiency or cost effectiveness. We certainly strive to be good stewards, but our top

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priority is to make a home for children who come to us from hard places.

When I think about home, and especially our eternal home, I am reminded of one of my favorite hymns. Isaac Watts (1674–1748) is my very favorite hymn writer. The last verse of “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need” includes some of my favorite lines of any verse ever written, and I have a hard time singing it without getting choked up.

Watts is talking about our eternal homecoming and describes it as follows:

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“There shall I find a settled rest, While others go and come.

No more a stranger, nor a guest But like a child at home.”

The goal of your Children’s Homes is to protect, nurture, and restore children and families through Christ-centered services. One of the main ways we strive to accomplish that goal is to simply make a home for children. It’s not too complicated; in fact, it’s pretty simple.

We strive to make a place where they are neither visitors nor guests, but simply children who are at home. We believe children from hard places need to have a home to come to at the end of every day, where they are greeted with hugs and laughter. They need to smell home cooked meals and have someone make sure they eat their vegetables before they have their dessert. They need to be read to and have someone to sing with them and to laugh at their knock-knock jokes.

Maybe kids can best understand the word L O V E when they learn about and experience the word H O M E. What a privilege to serve God by providing homes for children who need homes. Thanks for joining us on this very important mission field!

Sincerely, Rod Marshall President/CEO

For privacy reasons, photos throughout may not be the images of those featured in the stories.

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By Dani-Ga Chester

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ost children come to us with very few personal possessions. With three trash bags full of clothes, a couple pairs of shoes, and a few toys, Thomas* made his way into our home one weekday evening. We had been told very little about his situation, but hearing some of his circumstances, I knew he was now in a safer place.

One night after dinner, after about a week of being with us, Thomas was sitting at the table drawing and coloring some pictures.

Shortly after that, he came up to me and handed me two pieces of paper. On one piece he had drawn what so many other boys draw . . . a racecar. But on the other piece were four little words, and after reading them, I felt my world pause for just a moment . . . “I like this house.�

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Looking up, I saw something beautiful: a little boy from a broken home with a smile stretched wide across his face. I immediately hugged him and said, “Yay, Thomas! I’m so glad!” With nothing else left to say, he ran off to play. At that moment he knew what I knew—that he was safe.

I sat there thankful; thankful that Jesus loves and cares so completely for us. “The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade . . . The LORD keeps watch over you as you come in and go out.” Psalm 121:5; 8 This is God in action. It’s not about us. It’s about Him being our protection—wherever we go.

Dani-Ga Chester and her husband, Bill, are house parents on our Mobile campus, and have been with us for the past 6 years.

At that moment he knew what I “knew—that he was safe. ”

*Name has been changed to protect identity.

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by: Nicole Walker

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or many children who enter our care, their first night away from home can be scary. Their future is unknown, they are separated from their family, and they are in the midst of tough situations.

That is why we go above and beyond to create a place for these children to call home, especially at the Friendship House located in Oxford, one of our two emergency shelters for children. (We operate one other emergency shelter on our campus in Decatur.)

Members of Gardendale First Baptist Church (GFBC) understood this need and responded. “I had actually been praying on behalf of our church, trying to find a big project we could do; an end-of-the-year type of thing,” shared Phil Cronin, Minister of New Members & Outreach at GFBC. Ricky and Debbie Thacker, houseparents at the Friendship House, reached out to Phil Cronin one day to share that the hallways at the Friendship House needed a new coat of paint. Phil and GFBC were immediately on board with painting the hallways and soon started planning and recruiting church members to help serve.

On the morning of November 22, three buses with over 40 people from GFBC showed up, ready to serve.

Its really the small Adults and young children alike found a place to serve, from cleaning the yard, touches, like fun painting the walls, and even playing baspaint colors, ketball with the kids at the Friendship decorations, wall House. hangings and What started as an idea to add a simsuch, that help ple, fresh coat of paint to the hallways of turn a place into the Friendship House expanded into a full home. And that’s makeover, with new bedding for all the what our members rooms, decorations to hang on the walls, really wanted to different paint colors for each room, a

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do for these children. –Phil

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newly pressure washed fence outside, and much more. The people from GFBC kept pitching in ideas. “It’s really the small touches, like fun paint colors, decorations, wall hangings and such, that help turn a place into home,” Phil shared. “And that’s what our members really wanted to do for these children.”

After finishing up the home makeover for the day, members of GFBC had one more trick up their sleeve. They came with Christmas gifts for the children at the Friendship House and had an early Christmas celebration with them!

Ted Embry, Area Director of Northeast Alabama at Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries (ABCH), is grateful for churches such as GFBC who take the time to serve the children at the Friendship House. “Working with volunteers is one of the greatest pleasures I have experienced while being a part of the Children’s Home,” shares Ted. “They walk away feeling good about being obedient to the call of Christ on their lives, and we are enriched by their labor of love!”

Thank you to the members of Gardendale First Baptist Church for the time and talents you provided to bless the children at the Friendship House.

Our church partnerships strongly enable us to care for children going through difficult situations. If you or your church is interested in partnering with and supporting ABCH, you can visit alabamachild.org/serve or call (888) 720-8805.

Check out special video footage from this makeover at alabamachild.org/homemakeover.

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PERMIT 2036 BIRMINGHAM, AL

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Help Build Homes in the Dominican Republic In 2014, ABCH began a partnership with Orphan’s Heart, an international ministry of Florida Baptist Children’s Homes. We took two mission trips to help build 10 homes as a part of their community development initiative. We have decided to commit to going on two more trips in 2015 to build more homes:

July 18–July 24 July 25–July 31

To learn more about our international mission trips, visit alabamachild.org/international or contact Bob Dewhurst at bdewhurst@alabamachild.org.

The cost of going on a trip is estimated to be $2000, which covers all expenses including airfare, in-country ground transportation, food, and lodging. We are limited to 17 participants on each trip. This is primarily a hands-on construction trip, although there could be opportunities to help lead Bible studies for local children.

Alabama Baptist Children's Homes & Family Ministries P.O. Box 361767 Birmingham, AL 35236-1767

We hope you might join some of our staff in helping to build homes for families in the Dominican Republic!