Six months ago we were certain of our direction - knowing it was God directed and therefore must be long term in essence of time. (The more I learn the more I realize how much I don't know!) The door to Honduras has closed.........and finally after 90 days of checking on many, many doors of opportunity, we found one Divinely opened. (Another one of those "God things"!)
We are now Houseparents for up to eight young boys at a Christian Children's home near Houston, Texas.We were so tied up in the organized church when we raised our own children.......to the point of ignoring some of their needs in lieu of supporting church programming and traditions. That has left some guilt scars and regrets that cannot be erased. However, we are hearing God say - "I still believe in you........you are not expected to be perfect........just love them as I love you - now take this second chance and have fun with it!"
And that is exactly what we are planning to do! It helps being part of a group of like-minded Believers who are also Houseparents along side of us. There are a total of eleven cottages on campus; so there are ten other sets of houseparents who have the same heart and desire for God and His children. We are looking forward to learning and loving so much!!!!
Boys and Girls Country (BGC) is a working ranch that houses up to 88 children plus support staff, houseparents, horses, cows, pigs, goats, sheep and rabbits - but no chickens! :-) Education is the key focus at BGC. The children attend area public schools and can earn priviliges to participate in various extra curricular activities such as 4-H, athletics, band, etc....... Privileges are based on scholastic and attitude grade averages. If the child remains with BGC and graduates from High School, they are gifted a college education at a Texas university of their choice.
High School Grads also qualify to move to a second campus that focuses assistance to college and vocational living. This gives a "home" to return to during semester breaks or when home on leave from the armed forces; or some needed structure when begining their first job of a new career.
This is a picture of the fishing pond located on the second campus. This gentleman is one of the other House-Dads from our campus. That is his baby in his arms, as many of the other House parents have their own children living with them.
By the way, there are currently two House parent couples who are from Central America! How does God do that? I know He loves to smile and laugh with us!!!!
Personal Disciplines and Spiritual Life are also major points of focus at BGC; which are the primary roles of the Houseparent team. Each cottage has a houseparent team that consists of a married couple and a single adult. We all live in the cottage with separate living quarters - just think of the Walton family on the old TV series "The Waltons" - several generations sharing one large home. Terry & I work eight days on and then have four days off - during which time the Single parent (Aunt Victoria in our case) is at "home" and keeping things running smoothly.
We hope to learn much from Victoria, as she already knows the boys and has great relationships in place with them and their birth families. What a blessing she will be for us! We hope we can be the same for her.
This is a poor picture of the swimming pool on campus - two years old......and in the background the new community life building that should be completed early summer. (The old one was a casualty of Hurricane Ike last November.) We are told summer is like twelve straight weeks of Vacation Bible School - 12 hour days of programming in every area you can imagine. Houseparents are strategically involved and extremely glad when school starts back up in the fall. Pray for endurance for these old bodies of ours!!!
I will get back on a regular schedule for posting updates ........ no less than monthly. We hope to eventually introduce you to our new family (first names only) so you can be in a better position to pray and make suggestions as we continue along this path of the journey.
Thanks for your interest and support! Let us know how we can best remain involved in your life!
Loving God and loving You,
Henry & Terry
