WinterEdition2015

WHAT ISHOME?1

HELP BUILD HOMES IN THEDOMINICAN REPUBLIC

3I LIKETHIS HOUSE

5A PLACE TOCALL HOME

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few years ago, I was in a Biblestudy group and the leader readMark 2:1–12, the story of Jesus

healing the paralytic. The leaderasked us to contemplatively listento the story and to see if any singleword stuck out in our minds. Theword that stuck for me was “home.”This Bible study group came at atime when my life was in transi-tion. My parents were aging. Mymother had been diagnosed withAlzheimer’s, and the disease wasprogressing rapidly. My own chil-dren were both in college. Thoughwe still shared the same physicaladdress, I only saw them on holi-days and on occasional weekendvisits. 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 peoplehad heard that Jesus had “come home,” so that place must have heldspecial meaning for Jesus. I wondered if Jesus ever got homesick. Doyou ever find yourself feeling like you need to “go home?”

Our goal at your Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes is to do farmore than give kids a warm, safe place to stay. While they are in ourcare, they are well fed. They are protected from exposure to the ele-ments. 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 kidsproudly showed off the den where they sit every evening with theirhouse parents and have family devotional time. Another child showedoff her room and the new bedspread she had just received. A young boyshowed off the Christmas ornament he had picked out to put on thetree and explained that every boy in the cottage got to pick out anornament for the tree. I asked a young lady how many girls lived in thehome and she quickly replied “9, if you count Mrs. Whitney.”

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

A

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2For privacy reasons, photos throughout may notbe the images of those featured in the stories.

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

When I think about home, and especially our eternal home, I amreminded of one of my favorite hymns. Isaac Watts (1674–1748) is myvery favorite hymn writer. The last verse of “My Shepherd Will SupplyMy Need” includes some of my favorite lines of any verse ever writ-ten, and I have a hard time singing it without getting choked up.Watts is talking about our eternal homecoming and describes it asfollows:

“There shall I find a settled rest,While others go and come.No more a stranger, nor a guestBut like a child at home.”

The goal of your Children’s Homes is to protect, nurture, andrestore children and families through Christ-centered services. One ofthe main ways we strive to accomplish that goal is to simply make ahome 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 hardplaces need to have a home to come to at the end of every day, wherethey are greeted with hugs and laughter. They need to smell homecooked meals and have someone make sure they eat their vegetablesbefore they have their dessert. They need to be read to and havesomeone to sing with them and to laugh at their knock-knock jokes.

Maybe kids can best understand the word L O V E when theylearn about and experience the word H O M E. What a privilege toserve God by providing homes forchildren who need homes. Thanksfor joining us on this veryimportant mission field!

Sincerely,Rod MarshallPresident/CEO

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ost children come to uswith very few personal

possessions. With three trashbags full of clothes, a couplepairs of shoes, and a few toys,

Thomas* made his way into ourhome one weekday evening. We

had been told very little about hissituation, but hearing some of his cir-

cumstances, I knew he was now in asafer place.

One night after dinner, after about a week of being withus, Thomas was sitting at the table drawing and coloring some pictures.Shortly after that, he came up to me and handed me two pieces ofpaper. On one piece he had drawn what so many other boys draw . . . aracecar. But on the other piece were four little words, and after readingthem, I felt my world pause for just a moment . . .

“I like this house.”

mBy Dani-Ga Chester

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Looking up, I saw something beautiful: a little boy from a broken homewith a smile stretched wide across his face. I immediately

hugged him and said, “Yay, Thomas! I’m so glad!” Withnothing else left to say, he ran off to play. At thatmoment he knew what I knew—that he was safe.

I sat there thankful; thankful that Jesus loves andcares so completely for us. “The LORD himself

watches over you! The LORD stands beside you asyour 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 protec-tion—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 Iknew—that he was safe.“

”

*Name has been changed to protect identity.

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or many children who enter our care, their first night away fromhome can be scary. Their future is unknown, they are separatedfrom 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 childrento call home, especially at the Friendship House located in Oxford, one ofour two emergency shelters for children. (We operate one other emer-gency shelter on our campus in Decatur.)

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

On the morning of November 22, three buses with over 40 peoplefrom GFBC showed up, ready to serve.Adults and young children alike found aplace to serve, from cleaning the yard,painting the walls, and even playing bas-ketball with the kids at the FriendshipHouse.

What started as an idea to add a sim-ple, fresh coat of paint to the hallways ofthe Friendship House expanded into a fullmakeover, with new bedding for all therooms, decorations to hang on the walls,different paint colors for each room, a

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Its really the smalltouches, like funpaint colors, decorations, wallhangings andsuch, that helpturn a place intohome. And that’swhat our membersreally wanted todo for these children. –Phil

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by: Nicole Walker

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newly pressure washedfence outside, and muchmore. The people fromGFBC kept pitching inideas. “It’s really the smalltouches, like fun paintcolors, decorations, wallhangings and such, thathelp turn a place into home,” Phil shared. “And that’s what our membersreally wanted to do for these children.”

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

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

Thank you to the members of Gardendale First Baptist Church for thetime and talents you provided to bless the children at the FriendshipHouse.

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

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

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NON-PROFIT ORG

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In 2014, ABCH began a partnership withOrphan’s Heart, an international ministry ofFlorida Baptist Children’s Homes. We tooktwo mission trips to help build 10 homes as apart of their community development initia-tive. We have decided to commit to going ontwo more trips in 2015 to build more homes:

July 18–July 24July 25–July 31

The cost of going on a trip is estimated to be$2000, which covers all expenses includingairfare, in-country ground transportation,food, and lodging. We are limited to 17 participants on each trip. This is primarily ahands-on construction trip, although therecould be opportunities to help lead Biblestudies for local children.

We hope you might join some of our staff inhelping to build homes for families in theDominican Republic!

Help Build Homes in the Dominican Republic

To learn more about our internationalmission trips, visitalabamachild.org/international orcontact Bob Dewhurst at bdewhurst@alabamachild.org.

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