By Anna Keller
Correspondent, The Alabama Baptist
Many Alabama Baptist associations support the Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes (ABCH) & Family Ministries. Leaders from three associations — Bethel, Lookout Mountain and East Cullman — share what motivates their churches’ giving and how they have helped ABCH through various outreach efforts.
ABCH, which has locations throughout the state, exists to “protect, nurture and restore children and families through Christ-centered services.” Their key priorities include providing homes for children, educational services, family assistance, professional counseling and administration to help maximize resources.
“We support the Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes because Paul Miller [former ABCH executive director] once said, ‘Alabama Baptists will give if they know there is a need,’” said Bobby Hopper, director of missions for Bethel Baptist Association. “And there is a great need.”
According to Hopper, 100 percent of Bethel Association churches help support ABCH through efforts including using Mother’s Day as a time to receive offerings specifically for ABCH.
The association also gets an “overwhelming response” to support ABCH’s Camp of Champions, an annual event for the children in ABCH’s care that is held at Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center in Talladega.
Assist the needy
Lookout Mountain Baptist Association prioritizes support of ABCH because they feel called to assist the needy, said Director of Missions Lloyd Borden.
“We trust Children’s Homes personnel to be good stewards of our time and money, and the people of our churches are personally acquainted with Children’s Homes staff and management, as they have visited in many of our churches on numerous occasions and are always part of our annual meeting,” he said.
“We have Sunday School teachers who receive offerings on a regular basis from their boys and girls, many of whom are from needy circumstances themselves, to be sent to the Children’s Homes. We have grandmothers who pace the aisles of grocery stores during the food drive, searching for just the right items for ‘those little children’ down at Children’s Homes. They do it because they have the love of God in their hearts.”
Lookout Mountain Association’s efforts to support ABCH are extensive, including an annual food drive, an annual benefit concert and work days at ABCH where volunteers build and repair structures at the facility, help with landscaping, etc. The food drive helps gather approximately 1,000 staple goods for ABCH each year, and the 2016 benefit concert garnered an $8,000 donation toward the organization, Borden noted.
“Most of what we’re doing for Children’s Homes has been done regularly for the past 15 years … but the faces and needs of those involved are constantly changing,” Borden said. “This cooperative effort works so well for our association because we are kept abreast of the needs of the ABCH and there is a mutual trust between us and them. We talk, we pray together, we learn about each other, we listen.”
East Cullman Baptist Association also has been supporting ABCH for many years.
Support through prayer
“ABCH is very near and dear to our hearts, and we are aware of the many needs — financial, physical and emotional — that affect those that serve at the ABCH,” said Debbie Keaton, ministry associate for East Cullman Association. “Not only do we as an association support them through financial and material needs but we also support them by praying for them on a regular basis.”
The association’s ongoing ministry for ABCH includes acting as a collection site for supplies for the Decatur campus, taking up a love offering at the association’s annual meeting each October (in 2016, $4,407 was raised during this effort) and using the association’s office one day a week to provide space for ABCH counselors to meet with patients. One of the East Cullman Association churches — First Baptist Church, Fairview — also sponsors an annual golf tournament to raise money for ABCH. First, Fairview, under the leadership of Pastor David Chambers has raised more than $100,000 for ABCH since the tournaments began.
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