introducing... abc homes

i thought i'd spend a few postings talking about the links over there... no, over THERE, on the sidebar... -->
these organizations, charities and churches are all near and dear to me, and i'd like to introduce you to each of them and tell you why they're so special...
abchomes is the arkansas baptist children's homes and family ministries. remember that guy victor kiam?... he used to be the head of remington shavers. for awhile, he appeared in their commercials, and his famous tagline was "i liked the shaver so much, I bought the company." well, i liked the ministry at abchomes so much, i went to work for them! like my profile says, i was a youth minister for 13 years. actually, i still am. but in the traditional sense of being on staff at a local church, i did that for 13 years. i felt like God wasnt calling me out of youth ministry, but there had to be a more effective way to impact a kid's life besides having a series of hour-long encounters with him ... and 30 of his closest friends. so when the opportunity presented itself (or more accurately, when God dropped the opportunity into our laps) to see what a children's home ministry was all about, we jumped on it... and we loved what we saw.

but this isnt supposed to be about me and what i do... i want to introduce you to the ministry that happens here at the children's home. the website is chock-full of history and info, but in a nutshell, we take kids age 4-17 that for whatever reason cannot live at home. some come from abusive or neglectful backgrounds, and some are placed with us because, for a variety of reasons, they arent able to get along in the home. they may have truancy issues, or defiance issues, or just cant get along with a sibling or parent. for whatever reason, they need a change of environment, and so do their families. referrals are made to us through the courts, dept. of human services, pastors, family friends... a few kids even take it upon themselves to seek out services. in the case of children too young to make decisions for themselves, the guardians and our staff will decide whether or not we will admit that child, but by and large our older children must agree to be admitted to the program. after they come and visit our campus and have interviews with our case managers and houseparents, they have to decide for themselves if they want to take advantage of what we have to offer. and we have plenty to offer!

on our campus, we have a swimming pool, a gym, an outdoor basketball court, a softball field, horses and livestock. our kids attend monticello public schools, and have all the same opportunities to participate in extra-curricular activities as the community kids do. we have kids in the school band, the flag line, track team, basketball team, yearbook staff and gymnastics. our kids are also very active in the youth ministries of their churches. we have an active 4-H chapter on campus, the "lucky clovers," and their booth at the drew county fair earned a blue ribbon this year.

aside from all the activity, our main focus is on bringing love, structure and stability into the lives of the children in our care, and most important of all, to expose them to the unconditional, saving love of Jesus. its an absolute honor and privilege to be part of something like that, and a responsibility we do not take lightly. but we cant do it alone. we depend on so many people within our community and across our state for support. countless professionals, from doctors & dentists, to teachers, to hair stylists, help us to care for and nurture our kids on a daily basis. many individuals and groups (including a couple of motorcycle clubs) come from across the state (and beyond!) to minister to our kids and our staff with backyard bible club activities, game days, crafts, cookouts and work groups.

of course it takes a lot to sustain such a ministry to the hundreds of kids that will pass through these gates in the coming years. many churches, organizations and individuals support us through donations of food, clothing, furnishings, tools and money. but the most valuable thing anyone can offer is prayer. there are many ways to get involved with the work we do. to find out how you can get involved in this amazing ministry to these children we serve, feel free to click the abchomes link and find out how. thanks for taking a little bit of time out of your day to stop by and take a ride. see ya on down the road....