Twice it happened, and both times it left the children’s home administrator thanking God for the faithfulness of Baptist people. The first time involved several young people. The second, only one, but both experiences bordered on the miraculous.
A few years ago, several young people being cared for by the state Baptist children’s home neared graduation from high school. Each wanted to go to college, but money was a major obstacle. Obviously, the children did not have money for college, and the children’s home was financially strapped. Money simply was not available.
The administrator called a close friend who served as president of a nearby Baptist college to see if the college president knew of scholarship money that might be available for the young people. He did not, but the president and the administrator agreed to pray together for God to provide the opportunity for those young people to receive a college education.
The next day both men received a welcome phone call. The calls were from the president of the state Baptist foundation. He reported that some years earlier a faithful Baptist family had willed their estate to the foundation for the purpose of underwriting college expenses for children in the care of the state Baptist children’s home. Another stipulation was that the children attend the Baptist college served by the president who was the prayer partner of the administrator.
Some called the timing a miracle.
The result was that three young people that year and four the next entered college. Since that time, a series of young people from the children’s home have been offered the opportunity of receiving a college education.
The second episode involved a single young lady. She, too, had been in the care of the state children’s home. She went to see the president of the Baptist college she attended. Her request was that he join her in prayer. Her tuition had been paid. She was working to pay room and board. That left her with no money for personal items. She told the college president she was confident God would provide, because God had not brought her that far to fail.
The two prayed together, and the young woman left the president’s office. A few minutes later the president began looking through that day’s mail. The first letter was from a Baptist family. It said they wanted to help a child from the children’s home not with tuition but with living expenses and asked if the president would help identify such a person. Only minutes after leaving the president’s office, the young woman who was so confident had her positive answer. Some called that a miracle, too.
These stories from past days only highlight the continuing concern Baptists have for ministering to needy children. One current example is being worked out this month. On May 20, a 67-acre farm near Mentone will be auctioned off with the proceeds going to the Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes and Family Ministries. The farm was part of the estate of the late Charles Kelley (Ted) Mauney. Former Alabama Baptist executive director Troy Morrison is executor of the estate and played a role in securing the contribution for the Children’s Homes ministry.
What the funds will allow the Children’s Homes to accomplish is unknown. Perhaps they will help underwrite the continuing ministries. Perhaps they will make new ministries possible. Whatever the service, the children whose lives are changed will call the help a miracle.
Already the Children’s Homes ministry offers an array of services. Long-term custodial care of needy children is still a part of the ministry. Nine campus or group homes dot the state. Foster care is provided. An emergency shelter for children needing immediate care is available. A maternity home is offered. The Children’s Homes ministry provides one of the best child counseling services available anywhere in the state. A relatively new service is a counseling program for children who lost parents through death. It is called The Madison Project. The list of services goes on and on.
Funding for all of the ministries comes from Alabama Baptists. The Cooperative Program provides about 3 percent of the nearly $6 million budget, $187,000 last year. The primary source of support comes from churches and individuals still interested in making miracles happen in the lives of children. Individual churches contributed about $1.8 million last year to the Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes and Family Ministries. That was one-third of the annual budget. Another one third came from endowments, trusts, designated gifts and cash contributions, practically all from Alabama Baptists.
The ministry of the Children’s Homes is front line service. The work is demanding. It can be slow and painful. The work also can be some of the most rewarding God offers His children. What can be more satisfying than seeing a needy child grow into a responsible adult who loves the Lord and knowing you had a part in that miracle?
The Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes ministry needs the financial support, yes, deserves the financial support of Alabama Baptist churches and of individual Alabama Baptists. Consider how you and your church can be a part of helping the Children’s Homes be God’s instrument in making miracles happen in the lives of children.
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