Buckner Today Fall 2014.indd
Transcription
Buckner Today Fall 2014.indd
PAGE 16 R.C. Buckner founded his orphans home with the conviction that followers of Jesus should put their beliefs into action. Now, 135 years since the ministry started, that holistic approach to ministry is still very much alive. In this special section, we examine how God is working through Buckner ministries to change the lives of families and children around the globe. 18 Gone 24 Lost and found 41 Focused on faith, hope and love 32 Fostering through faith 42 Counting her blessings 2 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE 46 A family everywhere they go 50 Hearing the call 48 Walking by faith 56 On the road to faith 55 Lessons from the field 4 5 6 PERSPECTIVES ON BUCKNER ‘Doing the gospel’ President and CEO Albert L. Reyes IN OTHER WORDS Now faith Scott Collins BUCKNER JOURNAL What’s going on at Buckner International • Buckner shoes offer respite for weary immigrant children PRESIDENT & CEO, BUCKNER INTERNATIONAL Albert L. Reyes PRESIDENT, BUCKNER FOUNDATION; EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, BUCKNER INTERNATIONAL • Families create beautiful mosaic of culture through international adoption David M. Slover • Run for Life raises $40,000 for Buckner foster care, adoption Scott Collins VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNICATIONS • Sen. Cornyn visits Buckner Family Hope Center ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS • Church cherishes call to serve close to home Russ Dilday • Buckner Family Hope Center at Aldine announces new director • Buckner, LifeWay partnership helps vulnerable children • Buckner receives 25,000 sandals from Niagra University 60 A publication of Buckner International Volume 39, Number 3 • Fall 2014 EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR John Hall MANAGING EDITOR SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING SHOE Aimee Freston ART DIRECTOR Alan Paul GRAPHIC ARTIST 61 HOW TO BECOME A SHOE DRIVE COORDINATOR Luis Pérez ELECTRONIC EDITOR Lauren Hollon Sturdy CONTRIBUTORS Elizabeth Arnold Lauri Ann Hanson Jeff Jones Anita Morris Chelsea Quackenbush White Susan Williams NEWSMEDIA PRODUCTION TJ Maher WEB/MULTIMEDIA MANAGER Bradley Vinson www.buckner.org EMAIL bucknercommunications@buckner.org 62 63 PHONE BUCKNER SNAPSHOT: 214-758-8000 Diverna Abatte Buckner Today is published by the Public Relations Office of Buckner International. ©2014 Buckner LAST LOOK | PARTING SHOT: Postmaster: Send address changes to Buckner International Public Relations, 700 N. Pearl, Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas 75201 Margarita Gomez www.buckner.org ON THE COVER: Bartolo Díaz, from San José Pacayal in Eastern Guatemala, celebrates the return of his daughter Sara after a hospital mix-up placed the girl in an orphanage. Buckner staff reunited the family. FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 3 PERSPECTIVES ON BUCKNER | ALBERT L. REYES Doing the gospel By faith of spiritual development for Buckner. Jeff is uniquely qualified for this Siomara Osorio is honest as she talks about Clara. A victim of role, as a licensed professional counselor and someone whose per- sexual abuse, Clara*, shares her pain with Siomara, a psychologist sonal spiritual life informs everything he does. I felt it was important at the Buckner Child Advocacy Center in Guatemala City. to have someone who gets up every day thinking about the spiritual “She’s a very shy girl,” Siomara says, describing Clara. “She is very dedicated to God. She is respectful, and she is a loving girl. development of our clients. Like everything we do, it is imperative that we are intentional about this critical aspect of our work. She has a lot of goals and objectives for the future.” Like any good psychologist, Siomara uses a variety of tools and techniques to help Clara heal. But the most important facet of the recovery process is spiritual. “At the beginning, we don’t talk about God; we don’t talk about forgiveness because they come here with open wounds,” Siomara says. “As the therapy goes along, we talk about the importance of having a relationship with God and how He loves us.” A promise A couple of years ago, as we developed the brand promise of Buckner, we were asked to describe the personality of the organization. It’s a question that asks not only who you are, but how you want others to see you. The team sitting around the table didn’t even need to discuss the answer. Almost in unison, the group chose the term Christ-centered. “I had to base myself in God to be able to forgive, because He While we understand that defining Christ-centered may be open is the only one who is able to help me forgive others,” Clara adds. to broad interpretation, our clear motivation as a ministry is to do as Jesus did – to love the least of these in His name so that we bring Christ-centered healing and restoration – redemption to their lives. To be Christ- People ask me from time to time if Buckner is a “Christian” organi- centered is to follow His example. That is the gospel in action, not zation. The short answer is yes, of course. But because in parts of the in theory. It’s what leads a staff worker like Siomara to help Clara world the term “Christian” is as much cultural as spiritual, we prefer reach the point of forgiveness, knowing that we can’t fully forgive to describe Buckner as being Christ-centered. By that we mean Buckner others unless, and until, we are forgiven. seeks complete transformation of the people we serve, including spiritual regeneration. When He began his public ministry, Jesus set forth a very clear agenda – what I like to call “The Jesus Agenda.” You can find it At the time R.C. Buckner started this ministry in the latter part of the outlined in Luke 4:18-19, as Jesus stood up in His hometown of 19th century, there was a sharp division between evangelism and Nazareth to speak. “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has the social gospel. Many sincere believers saw these as incompatible anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to and for many churches and denominations, you couldn’t do both. proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, Then Father Buckner burst onto the scene as, of all things, a Baptist to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” preacher. Karen Bullock, our Buckner historian, has aptly described In this issue of Buckner Today, we are focusing on ways God is R.C. Buckner “as a practitioner rather than a theorist. Buckner’s working through Buckner International and the spiritual impact of our methodology accrued wide acclaim.” In other words, he spent more ministries. We chose this theme because frankly, too often we take time doing the gospel than talking about it. That is still the DNA this aspect of our work for granted. We are compelled by our faith embedded in Buckner today. The story of Clara and her Buckner to do what we do, so we tend not to talk about it. It’s time we do. psychologist Siomara illustrate that point. *Not her real name At the heart of Father Buckner’s approach was a commitment to “bring the social gospel to bear upon society,” Bullock writes. He “found no reason to shift theologically from the stance of individual regeneration as the key to societal change.” As a Christ-centered organization, Buckner believes the spiritual dimension of our work is as important as anything we do. That’s why we have renewed both our interest and our emphasis on the spiritual nature. Last year, I asked Jeff Jones to serve as the area vice president 4 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE Albert L. Reyes, President and CEO Buckner International Visit my blog at www.pandulce.typepad.com IN OTHER WORDS | SCOTT COLLINS buckner.org THE ONLY PLACE TO READ THE STORIES BEHIND THE STORIES. FEATURED VIDEO Now faith… Faith is not an opinion. The Bible states clearly in Hebrews 11:1 that faith is “the firm foundation of what we hope for.” Or as one translation puts it, “Now faith is being sure.” You hear the word faith used a lot these days. People talk about the “faith community” and “people of faith.” Organizations are defined as “faith-based.” So when we refer to Buckner as being faith-based, what do we mean? In the New Testament, the idea of faith and even the word itself are always used in direct connection to spiritual things. Add the idea that biblical faith is always defined as a sure thing. If you apply those thoughts to a ministry like Buckner, the conclusion is that all we do, we do for the glory of God, who assures our outcomes. I remember when we first started the Shoes for Orphan Souls® ministry. Someone asked me if you Foster parenting is a family legacy for Buckner foster parent Diverna Abatte. In 34 years in that role, she’s served as a steady presence in the lives of more than 120 children. It’s part of the inheritance of love and the generous spirit her parents left to her as she grew up surrounded by the children her parents fostered. Learn more at buckner.org/snapshots. had to be a Baptist to give shoes to Buckner. My only thought was, “You know, I’ve never had a kid ask me if the shoes she is getting are ‘Baptist’ shoes.” I grew up pretty Baptist. The Baptist Student Union at my college had a major impact on me, and when I graduated, I spent two years doing mission work in Africa with a Baptist mission board. I came back to the United States and headed off to a Baptist seminary, earning my master’s degree. I’ve never been a member of any other kind of church. When I started at Buckner, the organization was Buckner Baptist Benevolences. But over the past 15 years, God has opened my eyes and heart to the bigger world of fellow Christfollowers. Traveling on Buckner mission trips with a cross section of believers has shown me that faith is much bigger than a denominational title. Faith is the evidence of God’s grace in our lives and in the lives of those served by Buckner. Scott Collins is Vice President of Communications at Buckner International. FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 5 JOURNAL What’s going on at Buckner International zx Buckner shoes offer respite for weary immigrant children Orphan Souls®, available to the waves decision for her and the girls to travel the of children who pass through the center dangerous route to the United States to daily with their parents. join family in New York. MCALLEN, Texas – Daniela Cruz* is bone- The young mother made the journey with They paid smugglers known as coyotes daughters Lorena, 8, and Carmen, 6. The $3,500 to lead them past her country’s decision to go wasn’t easy, nor was it in- border, through Guatemala and Mexico expensive, but she said it had to be made. and finally to the U.S. border, where they tired. After a harrowing month on the road “First, it wasn’t safe for my children, from her home in El Salvador, she crossed and then there was no employment,” she the Rio Grande River this week, was picked said. “There is nothing you can do in El up by Border Patrol agents and processed Salvador now for employment, and I can’t as an undocumented immigrant. even be sure my kids will be safe because She is looking forward to a shower – of Mara Salvatrucha (a prominent Salva- the first she’s had in a month – clothing doran drug gang, also known as MS-13). and some food provided at the Catholic “One of my nieces was being harassed Charities Refugee Center at Sacred Heart by the gangs, and I didn’t want to have Catholic Church. Among the clothing are my daughters endure the same treatment.” shoes collected through Buckner Shoes for So she and her husband made the 6 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE swam across the Rio Grande. The family “traveled by bus mainly at donations and volunteers. does a lot for someone, plus two or three night, and stayed in warehouses, sleep- “All of these families need new shoes, changes of clothes they can take with ing on the floor for three to five days at and our goal is to involve churches in them on the bus. These kids getting shoes a time while we waited to go from one responding to these situations,” Liebrum means everything. This will be a huge country to another.” Along the way, her said. “They can give things like shoes blessing for them.” daughter became ill, but the family did through organizations like Buckner,” he Nancy Wagner, a Catholic Charities not have access to medical attention. said, an d added there will be a need volunteer from the Diocese of Camden, The coyotes in EL Salvador, she said, were for volunteers soon. “All indications we’re N.J., echoed that message. “somewhat kind, but after that, they treated getting is that there is going to be the us … those guys were not nice people.” need for ongoing work in this area.” “It (shoes) is a desperately needed commodity for them,” she said. “Many of them The Cruz family was issued an Aug. 4 He also noted that groups like Texas come in with their feet hurting. They’ve court date for an immigration hearing Baptists and Buckner all face a similar been walking, their shoes are muddy, in New York. She is planning to attend. challenge as the government ramps up they’re torn and their shoelaces have been She also will wait for her husband, who is its response to the crises of immigrant taken away by whatever government en- planning to make the journey soon. families and unaccompanied children. tity was holding them. This is a really big Javier Perez, manager of missions and “One of the challenges of working with humanitarian aid for Buckner International the federal government, as well as state Like many of the volunteers who have in the Rio Grande Valley, said the Cruzes and local governments, is their timing, given aid to the families at the center, are among a surge of refugee families that rules and policies, but there will be plenty Wagner said she prays “that they find has crossed the border recently in the area. of opportunities for Texas Baptists to get hope and a new way of safety for their involved in the future.” families, and they make a living here and “The people are coming from Mexico, blessing to have these shoes to give them.” Honduras, Guatemala and other Central The Cruz girls were each fitted with American countries,” he said. “Many of a brand new pair of sneakers. Taking them have paid thousands of dollars to advantage of a lull in the line, volunteer In addition to working with agencies coyotes to have them guided here. Most Chad Mason, pastor of mobilization and along the border, Buckner officials also haven’t had baths in a while, so they global impact for Calvary Baptist Church are aggressively pursuing other ways to throw their clothes away when they come in McAllen, let Lorena pick out a favorite help the government deal with the surge to the refugee center here. The children’s pair before placing them on her feet. of migrants. Officials at Buckner are in have a normal life, not having to live in fear and extreme poverty.” shoes are hanging off their feet because “Calvary has been working with the daily contact with government leaders, they have walked so much. That’s why the refugee center since the third day it went monitoring developments. But Randy shoes are so important.” into operation here.” he said. “We’ve Daniels, who is coordinating Buckner’s Buckner shipped 8,000 extra pairs of been providing volunteers, about 10 per efforts, cautioned that the process is slow shoes to the Valley in mid-July to help in day at the center and an additional 10 and at this point, Buckner is waiting on the relief effort. Matt Asato, Buckner senior doing laundry.” decisions from the U.S. government. director of ministry engagement, said the ministry’s hope “is that shoes provide the The Cruz family is typical of many being served at the center. In the meantime, Buckner is looking for volunteers willing to work at its Center for hope and love of Jesus to them. By meeting “These families are typically one mother Humanitarian Aid to prepare shoes and their physical needs, we hope they will feel and two or three small children,” Mason other items for shipment to the Rio Grande that love, despite any political situation. said. “The families take an average of Valley. Volunteers are being sought to work That they will know that people will serve 10-12 days on their journey here, plus on Thursdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to them for who they are: children of God.” three to four days in processing by Border noon. Anyone interested in helping can Among partners Buckner is working Patrol. So by the time they get here, they contact Megan Horton at (214) 939-7179. with during the effort is Texas Baptist haven’t had a shower or time to them- Disaster Recovery, an initiative of Texas selves or any rest. We’ve had stories (of Baptists. Chris Liebrum, director of di- trips) that went up to 40 days.” saster recovery, said the shoes fit into a He said the center and its volunteers larger plan of relief that will involve both “first try to give them dignity. So a shower Visit www.buckner.org/childcrisis for information about how you can help. –Russ Dilday *Not their real names. FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 7 JOURNAL zx Families create beautiful mosaic of culture through international adoption their heritage is a wonderful thing,” said nect with their roots and remember their Debbie Wynne, senior director for Buckner personal history. Adoption and Maternity Services. For Kris and Keith Kittle and their two Since 1995, Buckner has placed 369 daughters adopted from China, the Mo- children with families through international saic of Culture is a significant event. To adoption. After each placement, Buckner keep their children’s birth culture present continues serving the parents and children in the girls’ lives, the Kittles try to prepare for three years. Chinese food, celebrate Chinese New DALLAS – The smell of traditional meals Natasha Potts and her older brother from across the globe wafted through the Pasha, who volunteered at the event, ex- “Buckner gave us great support dur- air, and a variety of languages dotted the perienced significant cultural shock when ing the entire process,” Keith Kittle said. room as families and volunteers gathered they were adopted from Russia at the ages “Even after the adoption, they were there to create a mosaic of culture on the Buckner of 12 and 13, respectively, by an American for us, called us, came to check on us and campus in East Dallas. family. Buckner support through the years were always available for questions.” Year and go to cultural events. Families who have adopted internation- inspired Natasha to give back and help oth- Wynne is overjoyed to see families ally came together June 14 to celebrate the er children have the same chance she did. gather each year for the event. It provides uniqueness of their children’s respective cul- “I want to stay involved with Buckner another opportunity for her to connect tures. Young people participated in crafts because they gave me and my brother the and learned about their countries of origin. opportunity to be adopted,” she said. “I “Seeing the evolution of the relationship “This event is a way to encourage wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for them.” between the parents and the children is families to create a family tradition, to cel- Volunteers from different communities very rewarding,” she said. “It’s like a ebrate the heritage of how their family was came to support and celebrate with the dance. You have to learn it, and it takes built and to remind the kids that embracing families. The food and activities provided time to build the trust, but at the end it’s an avenue for adopted children to con- just beautiful.” 8 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE with them and see how they’re doing. –Anita Morris Celebrating culture Families who have adopted internationally came together to celebrate the uniqueness of their children’s respective cultures, participating in crafts and presentations to learn about their countries of origin. FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 9 JOURNAL zx Run for Life raises $40,000 for Buckner foster care, adoption Redmon, who have been foster parents to MISSION, Texas – Council for Life and Young 11 children through Buckner. Council for Life empowers women, men and youth to make life-affirming choices. Sharing their experiences, the couple Motivated by Christ-like love and respon- said they have spent time in the hospital sive compassion, Council For Life is com- with seven of the 11 children they fostered. mitted to raising awareness of the complex They understand the high and low points issues that surround unplanned pregnan- of being foster parents. cies and to providing financial support to Leaders for Life raised $40,000 for Buckner “Foster care isn’t about meeting kids’ agencies that share their mission. Young Children and Family Services through the needs,” Jeralee said. “It’s about caring Leaders for Life is a Dallas-based group of 2014 Run for Life 5K and Easter Egg Hunt for them and truly changing their lives.” young professionals who are passionate at Southern Methodist University. They hope sharing their experiences in- about supporting life in all its stages. The funds will provide children with spired other couples to be foster parents. “Partnering with Buckner Children families through Buckner foster care and “I like to tell the story of each child who and Family Services has made Run for adoption programs in the Dallas-Fort has come through our house,” Joshua said. Life and Easter Egg Hunt a favorite event This is the second year that Buckner of Council for Life and meaningful to so has been named a beneficiary of the many people, including myself,” said Run for Life 5K. Paula Burford, Run for Life chair-elect. Worth area. “We support the mission of Buckner in building strong families through the gift of adoption,” said Ann Carruth, Council “We are blessed to have the support “As an adoptive mother, I know firsthand for Life founder emeritus. “We can all do and backing of Council for Life,” said the gift of adoption. My daughter, Mary our part to help children and their adop- Buckner Foundation President David Slover. Catherine, will be co-chairing the run on tive families with the support they need to “It is because of generous gifts like theirs April 4, 2015. We are so proud to be thrive. We stand together with Buckner for that we are able to continue our service working together with the Buckner orga- the run and we stand together for life.” in helping local children find hope and nization to champion life and celebrate security in the homes of forever families.” adoption.” The event featured Joshua and Jeralee “Foster care isn’t about meeting kids’ needs. It’s about caring for them and truly changing their lives.” 10 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE –Elizabeth Arnold zx Sen. Cornyn visits Family Hope Center Thank you Buckner supporters Buckner wishes to thank the following corporations, foundations and other organizations for their charitable contributions of $1,000 or more during the second quarter of 2014. (As of June 30, 2014) PEÑITAS – U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas visited the Buckner Family Hope Center here in June, seeing firsthand the impact the ministry has on vulnerable families in the Rio Grande Valley. During a trip to examine the recent surge of undocumented children and families crossing the Texas-Mexico border from Latin America, Cornyn spent part of the day with Buckner officials and families in the area, including Buckner President and CEO Albert Reyes. Cornyn toured the Family Hope Center, learning more about Buckner programs and how they strengthen families throughout the area. He then met two families served by the Hope Center and listened as they shared how the ministry has transformed their lives. “We’re honored that Sen. Cornyn would take time to visit the Buckner Family Hope Center,” Reyes said. “Legislators make critical decisions that affect millions of people. By visiting with Buckner families, Sen. Cornyn was able to gather additional information about their situations, see how Buckner is helping and learn how he can work to make life better for all Texas families.” –John Hall Allstate Insurance Company, Beaumont Bailes and Company, P.C. Harry W. Bass, Jr. Foundation Betenbough Homes Byrd Operating Company Capital One, Beaumont Christ Is Our Salvation Foundation CoBank Convergint Technologies Council for Life, Dallas Critical Thinking for Life Darr Dentistry Dollie and Ruth Neal Education Fund East Aldine Management District Entergy Texas, Inc. Esping Family Foundation Estes Family Educational and Charitable Foundation Farmers Cooperative Compress The Fasken Foundation J.C. Ferguson Foundation, Inc. J. Robert Jones Charitable Trust First Financial Bank, San Angelo Foundation for Southeast Texas Gage Family Gift Fund The Bettye and Murphy George Foundation Give with Liberty Greengate Grove Property Owners Association, Mission Halliburton Hoglund Foundation Houston Endowment, Inc. Mrs. J.L. “Ruth Ray” Hunt Memorial Fund at the Dallas Women’s Foundation James Avery Charitable Foundation Junior League of North Harris and South Montgomery Counties Kohl’s Kott Charitable Fund The Looper Foundation Lubbock Area Foundation, Inc. Lubbock Ex-Coaches Association Ray H. Marr Foundation The James and Eva Mayer Foundation MERCK Partnership for Giving Midland College Monty Miller Living Legacy Foundation The Ned and Linda G. Miller Charitable Trust Wayne and Jo Ann Moore Charitable Foundation Morgan Stanley William O. and Louise H. Mullins Foundation Odessa College Students in Philanthropy PBLA, Inc. The Plaehn Family Living Trust Ed Rachal Foundation Rotary Club of Cincinnati Rotary Club of Eastern Independence Frances C. And William P. Smallwood Foundation Dr. Bob and Jean Smith Foundation South Plains Foundation, Inc. The Ed Stedman Foundation Strake Foundation T5 Interests LLC T.L.L. Temple Foundation Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger The University of Texas of the Permian Basin U.S. Operating, Inc. United Way of Amarillo and Canyon United Way of Tyler/Smith County Luda Belle Walker Foundation Xcel Energy Foundation FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 11 JOURNAL zx Church cherishes call to serve close to home they don’t see little, poor, low-income chil- “At home, there are things you think dren from South Dallas that need to be you’re good at, so you don’t really ask saved,” said Cheryl Williams, director of God for help,” Blocker said. “But here, DALLAS – Watermark Community Church Wynnewood Family Hope Center. “They things are completely out of your control, knows people don’t have to travel across just see children. And the fact that these and you have to rely on God.” the globe to serve others. People need kids came out of their comfort zones to be Christ everywhere, including close to home. here makes a huge impact on our kids.” “When these Watermark kids come, beamed when she talked about service. By the end of the week, Wynnewood residents were teaching Watermark students Thirty Watermark junior step routines, braiding their high students recently led hair and playing competi- a Vacation Bible School at tive games of football. The the Buckner Wynnewood two groups bonded. Each Family Hope Center in South knew each other’s names Dallas. The VBS is one of and shared visible trust. mission Soon-to-be Hebron High trips Watermark youth took School freshman Hayden this summer. Ward said he especially five Dallas-area loved “We want the students making the kids to be built up and rooted smile. “Now I want to in Christ so they might be serve whenever I get the rooted to serve in their own chance,” Ward said. The Wynnewood Com- community,” said Rebe Long, Watermark’s junior high ad- munity Center currently ministrator and small group cares for more than 120 coordinator. vulnerable children in Watermark began part- Dallas through afterschool nering with Buckner last sum- and summer day camp mer. This year Watermark services. The goal of the served at Wynnewood two program is to address weeks, each week with a each child’s unique needs different set of 30 youth. with love and compas- “What’s so wonderful sion. Throughout summer, about coming to Wyn- the center hosts a series newood is that long after of Vacation Bible Schools, we’re gone, Buckner will each recruiting up to 70 still be here,” Long said. kids from the surrounding Watermark youth directors community. encourage their students to continue in- The VBS was entirely student-led. They “This is three hours of heaven for these volvement with Buckner even after the sum- created biblical dramas, lessons and kids,” said Williams. “They’re not sup- mer week of service is complete. musical programs for the week. One girl posed to be 9 years old dealing with even brought her guitar to lead worship adult problems, but they are. When they for the group. come here, they can color, play and just Local children of all ages flocked to the Family Hope Center for VBS. They came for games, crafts and free lunch. More than anything, they came to be loved. 12 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE Kate Blocker, 13, came to Wynnewood because she loves missions. Her face be kids.” –Elizabeth Arnold zx Buckner Family Hope Center at Aldine announces new director order to continue to deliver transformative continues to provide the Aldine commu- programming to the families we serve,” nity with resources for improving the lives DeAlejandro said. “My hope is that the of local families. community sees a smooth transition in “Alma’s knowledge and experience in leadership and recognizes that our genu- the field of community outreach, combined ineness and mission have not changed.” with her compassion and heart for the ALDINE – Buckner Children and Family individuals we serve, make her the ideal Services announced Alma DeAlejandro candidate to take on this role,” said Sylvia as the new director for the Buckner Family Bolling, community liaison for Buckner in Hope Center at Aldine. Houston and founder of the Aldine center. DeAlejandro brings to Buckner a wealth Bolling began the ministry at Aldine of experience in youth and community from the trunk of her car in 1990, and in outreach. She has trained students in 2012 the program joined Buckner Inter- community leadership, academic success national. Today, the Family Hope center and personal growth as an advisor in serves about 5,000 households in an area encompassing a two-mile radius of U.S. the Lone Star College System and as an assistant for the student outreach and re- As director, DeAlejandro will cast a Highway 59 North and Aldine Mail Route. vision for the center’s operations, includ- DeAlejandro earned a Bachelor of “I want to provide a strong sense of sup- ing directing staff, managing budgets Science degree in Human Services from port and structure for the staff and empow- and conducting trainings. Her efforts will Springfield College in Houston. er them with the resources they need in help grow the Family Hope Center as it cruitment department. –Elizabeth Arnold one volunteer • one life changed • one place one life-changing place to VOLUNTEER buckner.org/volunteer Some people wonder if their life makes an impact on others. I see the impact I have. FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 13 JOURNAL zx Buckner, LifeWay partnership helps vulnerable children DALLAS – LifeWay Christian Stores in Florida, Houston area, College Station, Longview Christian Stores to bring awareness to the Texas, Tennessee and Georgia empowered and Tyler. Stores beyond Texas serving as needs of vulnerable children served by people to help vulnerable children this August donation locations included the Atlanta Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls,” said through Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls . area, Chattanooga, Tenn. region and Ashley Williamson, Shoes for Orphan Souls Sarasota, Fla. manager. “By working together, we can ® At each of the 25 participating Christian bookstores, groups and individuals donated The partnership between the two organi- broaden our reach to serve more children new shoes and socks for children served by zations provided an opportunity for many in the United States and around the world Buckner in the United States around the globe. people to learn about and participate in a with the tangible gift of new shoes, as well shoe collection for the first time. as the love of Christ.” –Anita Morris Participating Texas stores were located in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Greater 14 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE “We are excited to partner with LifeWay zx Buckner receives 25,000 sandals from Niagara University DALLAS – Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls received more than 25,000 “The Sandal Falls project starts an essential conversation about the sandals Aug. 1 from the Sandal Falls Project at Niagara University in Lew- importance of footwear to the health and education of children around iston, N.Y. The shoes will be sent to the Rio Grande Valley as part of the the world,” said Dr. David B. Taylor, institute director at Rev. Joseph L. Buckner initiative to care for migrant children crossing the Texas border. Levesque, C.M. Institute for Civic Engagement. “Through the simple “The timing of this donation is an answer to prayer for our team and will service project of sorting, packaging and redistributing sandals, we raise allow us to serve even more children who are crossing the Texas-Mexico students’ awareness about such complex issues as poverty, globalization, border seeking refuge in the United States,” said Ashley Williamson, environment and social inequity.” Shoes for Orphan Souls manager. “We pray that the sandals will remind B.O.L.D. partners with organizations around the world that have these children of the Lord’s love and provision for them in the midst of so humanitarian aid efforts to distribute the sandals locally and abroad. much uncertainty.” Business students and members of the club volunteer their time to sanitize, Buckner will send the sandals to the Rio Grande Valley along with nearly 500 other pairs of shoes collected at the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid in Dallas. This is the first donation of a long-term partnership between Buckner and the Sandal Falls Project. sort and bag the shoes donated by Cave of the Winds, where tourists wear the shoes for a few hours during their tour of Niagara Falls. “The students are passionate about this project and work hard during the school year to organize student work groups that make this possible,” The Sandal Falls Project is a service venture of B.O.L.D. (Business said Yvette Suarez, institute coordinator at Rev. Joseph L. Levesque, C.M. Organizational Leadership Development), a student-led business club Institute for Civic Engagement. “It has been our prayer that we would find at Niagara University. B.O.L.D. annually collects sturdy, waterproof a partnership that helps us reach the less fortunate and now the students sandals purchased by tourists for admission to the Cave of the Winds can focus more effectively at continuing the process. This relationship with Tour attraction at Niagara Falls. They work in conjunction with the Rev. Buckner gives them an outlet to do what they set out to do because Buckner Joseph L. Levesque, C.M. Institute for Civic Engagement, a community is a tangible organization meeting a tangible need.” outreach branch of the university. –Elizabeth Arnold FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 15 16 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 17 M argarita Gomez* slowly stirs in a dark room. The aches of yesterday’s childbirth reverberate through her body. Her hands glide up and down the bed around her, but she doesn’t find what she wants. Sitting up, she calls to those who have been taking care of her and asks for her newborn child. You have no child, they respond. It’s a lie, Gomez knows, but her life is threatened if she ever professes otherwise. Her baby is gone. Later that day, Gomez and her two young children are loaded on a bus that returns her to her quiet Guatemalan village. Throughout the next few days, she relives what happened. Elvia and Mario Sosa** promised to help her. They arranged for a doctor to deliver her child. Yet, shortly after she arrived at their home, she and her children were locked up. The birth of her son was a blur. She never held, never even saw her boy, Samuel. {Continued on page 20} 18 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE Kidnapped Margarita Gomez holds her infant son Samuel after a harrowing kidnapping of the boy at birth. Samuel was reunited with his mother after months of investigation and casework by Buckner. FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 19 {Continued from page 18} Three days after the birth of her son, Gomez reports the situation to the police, launching a nationwide search for Samuel. It begins with legal authorities taking Gomez back to Cantel, where she awoke after childbirth. “The only thing I remember is that there was a store right in front of the house,” Gomez says. “They took me to one street, and it wasn’t there. Then to another one, and it wasn’t there, and so on. I told them that all I remember were some railings on a little hill. That’s when we found the house.” Inside the home, they discover the Sosas. And baby Samuel. “They rescued my baby, and I saw them when they rescued him,” Gomez says. “To be honest, they wouldn’t let me see him that day. I was a little upset. I really wanted to meet my baby and I couldn’t do it that same day. But I was happy, too, because he was safe and away from the people who stole him from me.” Authorities arrest the Sosas and place Samuel into care at Casa Alegria, a children’s center “without the love and care of her mother, brothers and family,” said Buckner Guatemala Caseworker Jenifer Montes. Montes is notified of Gomez’s situation by Guatemala’s national judicial court. She is part of Semillas de Esperanza, a Buckner collaborative effort between Guatemala’s child welfare department and Buckner Guatemala. Her assignment: Perform the investigation and legal casework necessary to determine if Gomez is the mother and, if so, reunite her with her baby. The Semillas project is the outcome of a nearly $1 million grant awarded in 2013 to Buckner by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to develop programs in Guatemala that will provide permanent family solutions for orphans and vulnerable children. In English, the project is dubbed Fostering Hope Guatemala. In Spanish, the name gets a slight twist: It is called Semillas de Esperanza or, literally, “Seeds of Hope.” Carlos Colon, manager of strategic initiatives for Buckner, says the USAID/Guatemala/Buckner collaboration is a “great example of what happens when governmental resources are joined with expertise in child casework. In the time Buckner has been active in the Semillas project, we have dramatically increased the number of children who have been taken from dangerous situations and placed into safe care.” Among the project’s goals are finding ways to locate or provide {Continued on page 22} 20 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE Reunited Margarita Gomez (at upper left) says Buckner “did a really great job” to reunite her with her baby. The family, including her mother and two older children, live in a remote village near Rio Bravo. FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 21 {Continued from page 20} After interviewing Gomez, Montes orders a DNA test to determine safe care for children ages birth-3, including placing them in foster whether she is Samuel’s mother. She arranges court hearings for Go- care or reuniting with their families. It’s a charge that seems to be a mez and Samuel. Seventy-five days after he was placed into state perfect fit for cases like Samuel’s. care, a judge grants Gomez provisional care of Samuel. “When I learned it was a kidnapping, a child ripped out of his On a cloudless morning in a quiet village, Samuel is home with his mother’s arms and that she didn’t even get to meet him, I felt three times mother, siblings, uncles and grandmother. Montes smiles at the sight. as committed to her and the baby,” Montes says. “It seemed so unfair She helps Gomez fill out the last of the custody forms that will signify and I felt so powerless. I didn’t have the power to fix it immediately.” the end to her long six-month ordeal. When the DNA tests come back Montes turns to her expertise – and to a higher power – to tackle the case. “When I heard about the case, I asked God to enlighten my mind and to guide me on the right path -- which people to talk to, and what it was that he demanded of me for me to be able to serve this family.” The case is the first of its kind for Montes with Semillas de Esper- positive, Montes says Samuel’s “right to have an identity will be restored. Margarita and her children will continue living their lives.” Gomez looks up at Montes with a mother’s smile as she hoists baby Samuel into her arms. “I really appreciate [Buckner] a lot because they did a really good job. My baby is with me now. I am very happy.” anza. Similar cases often lead to dead ends. “In Guatemala, there Montes says that joy is mutual. are hundreds, even thousands of kidnapped children and the mothers When she found out that Samuel had been reunited with his mother, -- out of fear or because of a threat or ignorance or not knowing what she “felt a joy that I can’t even express with words. It was an over- they can do -- stay quiet and the whelming emotion. I rejoiced. I cried. I must confess that it was children get lost. In irregular adop- very gratifying to know that the effort, the time, the work and tions, they get sold. everything that gets done coordinating efforts with other “In this case, we have to give institutions and going over to her home to interview credit to Margarita,” Montes says. her, learning about her story, and having all “She was brave and had the cour- those little actions add up.” age to come to the authorities and file a report.” As Montes works on the case, Gomez fights her own demons while Samuel is away from her. “I was feeling sad because he wasn’t around,” she says. “I would Montes ends the case like she began it: with prayer. “When I found out Samuel had been reunited with his cry sometimes, because I didn’t have him. When people asked me, I mother, I was just thanking didn’t know what to say. I thought I had lost him.” God and glorifying Him for Because of the way information is transferred between courts, Mon- His greatness and mercy, because tes largely starts from scratch. As she searches for people and inter- this is one solved case out of the many views them, she documents her efforts with law enforcement officials. kidnapped children. So now, I pray to God to give “It was really difficult. As the kidnapping happened in Quetzaltenango, wisdom to Ms. Margarita.” n the process gets started in a division, a court. And because Margarita lives in another division, the case gets transferred, so in that period of *Her name has been changed to time of approximately one month, there is no information about the protect her identity. family, their address or why is the child in custody. So, during that whole month it is very difficult to get information,” Montes said. “Even if we had the address, it is very difficult to go in and walk around. Generally, we have to search for one person at a time and ask them, or store-by-store and say, ‘Do you know Ms. Margarita?’ or ‘Do you know where she lives? How can I find her?’” 22 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE **Their names have been changed pending legal action against them. The end of her nightmare Buckner Guatemala caseworker Jenifer Montes helps Margarita Gomez fill out the last of the custody forms that will ensure Samuel remains in her care. FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 23 A s a caseworker for Semillas de Esperanza, Dina Tomás logs a lot of hours the old-fashioned way: on foot. Due to incomplete files, a backlog of cases and a rural setting, Tomás’ casework in Guatemala involves a lot of face-to-face investigation. Many of her cases involve the large populations of indigenous groups in remote villages with no vehicular access in the Coban District of Guatemala. She points to her hiking boots, noting, “These are my car.” Semillas de Esperanza (“Seeds of Hope”) is a project of Buckner International in collaboration 24 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE with Guatemala’s child welfare department and Buckner Guatemala. It’s the outcome of a nearly $1 million grant awarded in 2013 to Buckner by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to develop programs in Guatemala that will provide permanent family solutions for orphans and vulnerable children. {Continued on page 27} Planting seeds of hope in remote locations Buckner caseworker Dina Tomás (inset, at left) often treks to remote locations as part of her casework for the “Seeds of Hope” project. She and Buckner co-worker Abdy Meoño (left) deliver food and a water purifier to a family Buckner recently reunited with their missing children. FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 25 26 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE {Continued from page 24} “When he found out that his daughter had been Caseworkers like Tomás are tasked with a myriad of referred to the (third hospital), he visited several times,” options to provide permanency solutions for children ages Tomás said. “He brought diapers, baby powder and birth-3, including reuniting children with their families, placing clothes for his daughter. However, they wouldn’t let him them in foster care, or making other permanency plans. see her. He returned and later he called, but still they Today, she is in the Kekchi Maya village of San José Pa- didn’t let him see her. After that, he kept calling because cayal checking up on 2-year-old Sara*, who she helped he had the number of the hospital and they didn’t give reunite with her parents following a bizarre story involving him any information on the child.” a hospital mix-up, a cover-up and a search for her family. To get to the village, Tomás had to drive on a national Tomás explained the couple couldn’t visit the hospital often because of the family’s remote location. highway for six hours before turning off on a dirt road “The hospital was six hours away and there is no that would take her to a pedestrian suspension bridge transportation,” she said. “So it was difficult for them. and lead her to the trail to take her to the mountainside They rarely went to Cóban, but they kept calling and Celebration Juana Pap and her husband Bartolo Díaz celebrate the return of their daughter Sara after a hospital mix-up placed the girl in an orphanage. The couple are Kekchi Maya, a group indigenous to Guatemala. village where Sara lives. Sara was born in April 2012 to Juana Pap* and her husband, Bartolo Díaz*, at a health center in Chahal. they still did not give them any information.” Díaz recalls the despair he felt at the time: “The doctor wouldn’t show me Sara. I went back, sad.” Díaz is an agricultural worker. Pap is a homemaker Díaz, who works at a palm farm, said he finally gave who is often found in the kitchen. Sara was born under- up because he couldn’t afford to continue the search in weight – 3 lbs. -- and diagnosed with malnutrition while Cóban. “I was working at La Palmera. If I missed one her mother was diagnosed with anemia at the hospital. day, I would be fired.” Both were taken to another hospital for treatment, but Tomás said the last time the family called the hospital while Pap was discharged, baby Sara remained for in Chahal, officials there told them “that the child had further treatment. Needing specialized care, Sara was passed away. So, they gave up and stopped calling transferred to a third hospital, this time in Cóban. the hospital because, according to them, she had died.” Word got back to Díaz that his daughter had been With no family visiting the infant in the hospital and transferred, but then the story took a bizarre hairpin turn. very little information available on her, the child was {Continued on page 30} FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 27 The Fostering Hope Guatemala project fact sheet F ostering Hope Guatemala is a project of Buckner International and Buckner Guatemala and designed to provide long-term permanency solutions for vulnerable children ages birth-3 in the country. What you need to know about Fostering Hope Guatemala: The project is known in Guatemala by its Spanish name, Semillas de Esperanza, which is translated “Seeds of Hope.” The project launched in August 2013. It has been funded for two years by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in collaboration with several Guatemalan agencies, including: •Organismo Judicial (Justice Department) •Consejo Nacional de Adopciones (National Adoption Agency) •Procuraduría General de la Nación de Guatemala (Attorney General) •Secretaria de Bienestar Social de la Presidencia de Gautemala (SBS) Among the goals of the project are: •Placement of all children ages 0-3 in Hogar Seguro orphanage into quality, family-based care. •Provide quality, family-based care to at least 50 children ages 0-3 who have been referred to the project by Guatemalan courts. •Help train government personnel who are responsible for child placement and care and authorities involved in policy-making, judicial decisions, oversight and management regarding child placement. •Create an integrated tracking system that enables the process of moving children toward permanency. Who’s doing the work: Buckner has assembled a team of indigenous experts in the field of social services, including a permanency team of social workers and physiologists authorized by the Secretaria de Bienestar Social to execute investigations of every child 0-3 in SBS custody. 28 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE Found alive Juana Pap (foreground cooking) says she felt a sense of “calm” when Buckner caseworker Dina Tomás told the family her daughter, presumed dead, had been located alive. FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 29 {Continued from page 27} when she told him his daughter was alive “Ah yes, I felt so calm when declared adoptable, Tomás said. Seeds of Hope intervened in you came and told me.” November 2013, to determine Sara’s identity and family connections. Tomás investigated at all three hospitals, working backwards to determine her identity. For Tomás, the successful, though difficult, search, was a labor of love for God. “That’s what I love about my job, is that I’m serving God,” she By April 2014, Tomás and Seeds of Hope continued the investiga- said. “God is my partner. He is my boss. He sends me to work for the tion, finally working their way to the initial birth hospital in Chahal. people who need it. I am just an instrument and I have weaknesses, “We were able to locate the address or the possible address of the but I want to strengthen them and keep supporting these people.” mother. We shared this information on Radio Bendición in Chahal, to try to reach the girl’s family.” Following leads they’d gotten from the hospital, Tomás tracked down the parents at San José Pacayal, “asking one neighbor after It’s a sentiment Díaz emphasized to her. “Many thanks to God. God’s blessings on you.” n *Their names have been changed to protect their identity. another if they knew Mr. Bartolo and Ms. Juana.” They did, guiding her to the couple and their large extended family, who were stunned and overjoyed when Tomás brought them the news their youngest daughter was alive. The visits continued with home studies, hearings and, finally, a reuniting with Sara’s large extended family. Díaz recalled his and his wife’s feelings with Tomás the moment 30 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE Lost and found Baby Sara, once thought dead at birth, has been reunited with her extended family in a remote village in Eastern Guatemala. FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 31 32 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 33 He caught her eye DeeAn Davis met Jeff Thompson at a party on the basement level of “He wasn’t a very good singer,” DeeAn says, laughing at the memory. the Martin Hall dormitory in 1982 when they were both freshmen at He asked for her hand on Dec. 16, 1983 at Lake Waco, seven Baylor University. Jeff and his hall mates invited every cute girl pictured days after DeeAn’s birthday. Jeff gave her a package, telling her, “It’s in the freshman annual. DeeAn and her roommate figured “why not?” a birthday gift.” Inside was a sweatshirt that said ‘Merry me?’ It didn’t and took a break from studying to check the party out. register at first – DeeAn didn’t read it carefully and thought it was a She says Jeff caught her eye because he was the only guy there who Christmas sweatshirt until Jeff told her to lift it out of the box. Beneath the owned a computer. They played Pac-Man and met up in the Penland words was a ribbon attached to the shirt with the engagement ring tied Hall cafeteria the next morning for a breakfast date. She was stressed to it. On the back of the shirt he had written ‘The future Mrs. Thompson.’ out and miserable because she was afraid she’d bombed her chemistry exam. He embarrassed her in front of the whole cafeteria by belting out, “Gray skies are gonna clear up. Put on a happy face…” DeeAn says it was creative, sweet gestures like that proposal that made her sure Jeff was “the one.” “I thought, ‘I don’t think I’ll ever find this in anyone else,’” she says. “He was just very romantic. He was very good at thinking of things. He would write poems. He would make a lot of things. When we were at Baylor, he would send things like flowers and balloons, and sometimes a pizza would just show up at our dorm room. So he was really thoughtful and sweet about those things.” They married at First Assembly of God in Dallas in May 1985. They were 21 years old. DeeAn left Baylor, and Jeff worked and went to school part time at the University of Texas at Arlington to finish his degree. DeeAn’s mission in life is to take care of children. It’s fulfilling and comfortable. She always knew she wanted a big family. When she thought about her future, six kids sounded like the right number. Jeff agreed, although DeeAn says with a wink that she thinks “he just said that because he wanted to marry me.” In the early years of their marriage DeeAn worked as a teacher’s aide in a special education class and there, she fell in love with an adorable 18-month-old baby girl named Ashley. All the teachers loved her, and often squabbled over whose turn it was to take care of her in school for the day. Ashley became severely disabled as a newborn. Born prematurely, doctors suspect she contracted encephalitis at the hospital and suffered serious brain damage because of it. She could hear, but couldn’t see, speak, process language or walk. She would require as much care as an infant for her entire life. Overwhelmed by Ashley’s needs, her Jeff proposed to DeeAn in December 1983 with a personalized sweatshirt that said, “Merry Me.” They married in May 1985 in Dallas. 34 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE biological mother abandoned her. Her father relied on his own mother – Ashley’s biological grandmother – for much of Ashley’s caretaking. DeeAn experienced a miscarriage while working as a classroom aide and “was lonely for a baby.” She daydreamed about adopting Ashley but dismissed it as a silly idea. “I’d have to marry Ashley’s dad,” she thought to herself, “And I already have a husband.” She wrote a note to Ashley’s grandmother offering to babysit on weekends, thinking, ‘What could it hurt?’ Ashley’s grandmother immediately accepted the offer. Without knowing anything about DeeAn’s thoughts of adoption, Jeff remarked during that first weekend with Ashley, “What if we could be Ashley’s parents and her grandmother could just be her grandmother instead of being like her mother?” On Sunday evening, they dropped Ashley off at her grandmother’s place. The next morning, the school received a call from Ashley’s grandmother. One of the teachers relayed a message to DeeAn: “She “I think it was the part where it says, ‘What energizes you?’ and was calling to find out if you would be interested in adopting Ashley.” I thought, ‘Really, taking care of my kids is what energizes me.’ You DeeAn’s jaw dropped. She couldn’t believe it. After several months know, I might be exhausted, but somewhere I’m going to find the of weekend visits and then a year of living with the Thompsons full energy to keep doing whatever I need to do. So I thought, ‘That’s time, Ashley’s adoption was finalized when she was 4 years old. On really what energizes me and this is what I need to do.’” the date of their finalization, DeeAn also had her hands full with her firstborn biological child, Jenny, who was 3 weeks old. Jeff was on board with the idea of fostering and together in the early 2000s they made an inquiry about the process of becoming The year after Ashley’s adoption was finalized and Jenny was born, certified. They learned that their own kids were too young for them to twins Jeffrey Jr. and Katy arrived. Then came Christy, and, finally Amy, their take additional children into their home, so they took it to mean God last biological child. DeeAn’s dream of being a mom to six came true. was telling them, ‘Not yet.’ Expanding family again began the process of foster care certification. In 2009 when Ashley was 24 and Jenny was 19, the Thompsons The years passed. Their kids grew up, and DeeAn started thinking “They weren’t looking to adopt, so their motivation was totally different and talking about something she’d been interested in for as long as she from what we typically see,” said Sheree Scott, the Thompsons’ foster could remember: foster care. What brought it to the forefront of her mind care home developer with Buckner. “Most families come wanting to was a passage from the book “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren. expand or begin their family, but with the {Continued on page 38} FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 35 Limitless compassion Charlie Brown, pastor at The Crossing Baptist Church in Mesquite, Texas, describes DeeAn as having “limitless compassion.” Sheree Scott, foster home developer supervisor for Buckner, agrees. “What makes DeeAn a great foster parent is her commitment to what she and her husband started in 2009,” Scott said. “Even if a home is found for the two children she is fostering now, she still plans to foster. She has not said, ‘I’m done.’ “I think her strong Christian faith best describes her, because that’s the only thing I can think of that keeps her going. I don’t think anybody could say they’ve done it on their own strength. It’s God walking beside her and carrying her through these difficult times. She’s so sweet and loving. You can’t help but love her. She’s just dedicated and committed to the kids and foster care.” 36 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 37 {Continued from page 35} Thompsons, fostering was what they were come to the dinner table for hours, and his fit only worsened when called to do: to be servants. They felt like they were just called to be he heard Jeff say the blessing before eating. He wanted to be the foster parents, and that there was a need for foster families. one to do it. “When I first met them I could tell they were very warm, very friendly. She also looks back with pride to think of how far some of the I remember thinking they were a very close family and a very strong foster kids came in their time living with her and Jeff. She thinks of a Christian family. DeeAn relies heavily on her faith.” 16-year-old boy who she still sees occasionally when extended family DeeAn acknowledges that she and Jeff were “pretty green going invites her to birthday parties or other events. She says she sometimes in.” Some foster kids were easy to care for and others presented more worries about him and the choices he makes, but he’s always sweet challenges. Sometimes when a child would leave their home to be and polite when he sees the Thompson family again. reunited with family or go to a different placement, the Thompson kids would breathe a sigh of relief and DeeAn would tell them, “I know. It’s OK. It was hard.” Life screeches to a halt Sheree learned about the tractor accident the day after it happened. She can look back today and laugh at the dramatic, several-hours- After recounting the details over the phone, DeeAn told her it would be long tantrum an 8-year-old foster child threw after Jeff reprimanded him best for the two girls they were fostering to be placed in another home for pestering his baby brother, but in the midst of it as they listened to while her family grieved and figured out what to do next. him cry and cry, she says it was pretty stressful. The boy refused to 38 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE It was a hard time for everyone. The older of the two foster girls was afraid of men due to a trauma in her past and had never let Jeff hold her or pick her up until just a week before the accident. “We had been at a graduation party at our church, and that was the first time she had ever let him hold her, because we were dancing,” DeeAn recalls. “There is a really cute picture of the two of them. He was so happy that this little girl had finally let him hold her while they were dancing.” Healing love Four months after Jeff’s death, DeeAn took in 5-month-old Bella, and one year later, Bella’s sister Chloe was also placed with DeeAn at just 2 days old. Loving the girls and wanting to ensure they had a good home, she adopted them. Charlie Brown, pastor of The Crossing Baptist Church in Mesquite, Texas, was one of the first people to arrive at the scene after the police and emergency crews. He stayed there with DeeAn while she waited for hours in the dark for a wrecker to come and pull the tractor and Jeff out of the water. In the wake of Jeff’s death, the church screeched to a halt. The entire congregation was in shock when they heard the news. “Jeff was the outgoing one,” Charlie said. “He was an amazing, amazing man. He had a real passion to minister to men, to make sure men had a real strong walk with the Lord and that men were caring for their wives and their families in a Christ-like way. “He wrote the name of every man in the church in the back of his Bible, names and phone numbers. Every week he would call some man and say, ‘How about going to lunch?’ And he’d ask them two questions: ‘How’s your walk with the Lord?’ and ‘How’s your relationship with your wife?’” It’s been three years since the accident, and for many of Jeff’s friends, the wound is still fresh. “To this day, a man will sometimes come up to me and say, ‘I miss Jeff Thompson.’” Charlie said. “It kind of rocked their world, and they would say, ‘I really haven’t gotten back to what I consider even-keel.’ It’s just kind of an ongoing grief that he is gone.” Starting again DeeAn took a break from fostering to mourn and find her footing as the sole manager of her home and her late husband’s architecture firm. Her head was spinning, but her mother-in-law, Joan Adamski, was there to keep her grounded. Joan had set up the books for Jeff’s company from the start and helped get them updated several times a year when she came up to visit from her home near Houston. She was a patient teacher when DeeAn was gripped with uncertainty and insecurity. The business had always been Jeff’s thing and children had always been DeeAn’s thing. Being forced into this new role of businesswoman stretched DeeAn FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 39 beyond comfort and also opened her eyes to some of the stress Jeff must have experienced. After three months of getting affairs in order, filing paperwork and learning payroll and billing systems, DeeAn called voice and recently learned to walk; she does things in her own timing. When it was clear to DeeAn that both kids weren’t going anywhere and had become adjusted to life with her, she knew adoption was a possibility. Sheree and said she was ready to take in foster Charlie remembers when DeeAn told him she wanted to be kids again. Bella and Chloe’s forever family. “She said she still just felt that was what “We were all like, ‘Are you crazy? You’ve got kids she was led to do. She still felt called that coming out of college, your baby is coming out of high this was what God had asked her and school and you’re adopting two little girls that are about her family to do,” Sheree said. 3 years old?’ She was just unflappable,” he says. “We all thought, ‘That is quick,’ and wondered, ‘Has she really “‘Yep,’ she said, ‘I love these girls, and I really need to make sure they have a good home, and so I’m grieved or does she just need to going to try to adopt them.’ And she did. It was keep going?’ There are some people official two or three months ago.” who just need to continue on the jour- There has been more loss and upheaval in their family ney God has put them on. Some of us this year. Ashley died peacefully on April 16, 2014 thought it was quick, but who am I to say following an illness and brief hospital stay. In a text how someone is to grieve? I think her faith message to Charlie, DeeAn’s faith and hope shined in God and belief is so strong that she was through despite the sadness. She wrote, “Ashley can able to grieve the way she needed to, and now walk, run, see and talk for the first time ever, and have a lot of understanding and acceptance that what happened was God’s will. She knew that even though we don’t understand it, we have to accept it.” The family settled into a “new normal.” DeeAn woke up before sunrise to get Ashley ready for all her firsts are with Jesus.” DeeAn has continued to foster since the adoption. Right now she takes care of a 2-and-a-half year old and her 15-month-old brother. Toting around four kids under 4 years old, DeeAn can be quite a spectacle. the day. At 6:30 every weekday morning, she put “She’s just dedicated and committed to the Ashley on a city bus for the elderly and disabled to kids and foster care,” Sheree said. “Even when send her to The Achievement Center of Texas. She her daughter died, we were looking for respite came home by bus at about 6 p.m. In the hours in for her, but she said, ‘I don’t want them to go between, DeeAn would take care of her foster children, to respite. They are still uncomfortable being run errands and manage the architecture business. On Oct. 26, 2011, just four months after Jeff’s death, around strangers.’ She felt they’d be happier and more comfortable at home. She’s very DeeAn took in a 5-month-old girl named Isabella. Bella, selfless. The foster kids’ needs come first. as DeeAn calls her, is a girly-girl with big, olive eyes and She’s thinking of them at a time when dark, straight hair. She’s curious, smart, strong-willed and people would be thinking about them- rambunctious. She loves to dance and twirl through the house and works on her curtsy like a princess. Her curly-haired, blue-eyed baby sister Chloe was placed with DeeAn a year later at just 2 days old. She clings to DeeAn and has been attached from the start. Sheree says Chloe is starting to find her 40 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE selves and their own families. “I think it’s very obvious that she’s committed to what God has called her to do, to be a servant and take care of ‘the least of these,’” Sheree continued. “She’s never wavered from that.” n S P I R I T U A L D E V E L O P M E N T Focused on faith, hope and love By Jeff Jones, Area Vice President for Spiritual Development D • An overwhelming desire – a prayer – that God would use us as people who offer the hope, faith and love uring the past two years, Buckner has experienced found in 1 Corinthians 13:13. a rebirth of its focus on incorporating spiritual development into our ministry. We further defined our desire to implement a spiritual development plan into our ministry strategy, coming to a few strong conclusions: I know what some of you may be thinking, “…but We are oriented to a Judeo-Christian worldview; we want our clients Buckner has always had a strong sense of its Christian to have the opportunity to develop their spiritual identity; we want our roots in its ministry.” That’s certainly true, but the resur- services geared toward linking the potential of every client to God’s gence we’re experiencing and implementing now is a redemptive plan for their lives; and we want to provide opportunities deeper, more systematic, more intentional inclusion of spiritual develop- for our clients to grow in their individual potential. ment in our operations: To not only serve the physical needs of our clients, but to equally serve their spiritual needs. It’s a spiritual/physical connection true to the roots of our founding To accomplish these desires, we’ve begun to implement a set of best practices to insure they are being met. Right now, we have begun to implement four best practices. Through them, we are insuring: by R.C. Buckner in 1879. As Baptist historian Karen Bullock wrote in her history of Buckner, Homeward Bound: The Heart and Heritage of our history and heritage. Buckner, “R.C. Buckner’s work to alleviate the suffering of humanity, to champion justice and dignity for all persons, and to engage suc- available to everyone who wants them. ceeding generations in this work remains his legacy, linking Christians • Intentional prayer permeates our locations. and non-Christians, Jews and Baptists and Catholics, and people of all • We promote worship opportunities and local church other denominations to this most critical work of Christ – the healing of engagement. the whole person.” • Clients understand Buckner’s Christian identity through • Bible study and discipleship training opportunities are But the one message we want everyone we serve to come away Likewise, Buckner President Albert Reyes has focused on the redemptive with after connecting with us can be experienced in the kind of “faith, aspect of our ministry, emphasizing to Buckner staff that “we are working hope and love” found in 1 Corinthians 13:13. With a little re-ordering with God to take what was intended for harm and making it into good.” of the list, we want clients to know there is a redemptive plan for their When we began to implement a means of spiritual development into lives by first knowing that “I have a sense of hope in a future that looks our programs, we looked to both our historic motives and the hearts of different than the one I’m experiencing, and answer to the pain I feel.” our current staff to help form future directions for our ministry. What we We then want them to understand that faith in a Savior who will not found made it easy to forge that direction: Our history and our present fail them or leave them behind is possible. And last in the hierarchical direction have really never deviated. list, we want everyone to experience a “love different than any other, Among our strongest findings were that Buckner staff members have (and have always had) three key motives for what we do: • A heart for the least of these, especially the orphan from a God who offers unconditional love, and with this foundational love, I can love others the same way.” Please pray for – and with – us at Buckner as we seek to permeate and widow highlighted in James 1:27. our ministries with the love of Christ. Pray for our clients as they both seek and experience that love. And pray for ways you can be a part • A passion to be ministers of reconciliation and a desire to point everything to God as found in Micah 6:8. of that redemptive message as a volunteer or supporter of our work. n FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 41 T ara Adesanya is used to hosting visitors. As soon as anyone crosses the threshold of her home, she becomes the ultimate hostess, buzzing around the room. “Would you like some water? Or coffee?” she offers. Hospitality has always been one of her strengths, cooking one of her passions. It’s a perfect combination. 42 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE “Cooking is my way of decompressing, relaxing, just maintaining sanity,” she says. “I notice when I don’t get a chance to, I truly get nervous. I get anxious.” It’s not unusual for Tara to share her meals with her neighbors, and if you are lucky enough to catch Tara on a baking day, she might even send you home with a parchment paper bag filled with chewy chocolate chip cookies. But when she’s not cooking delicious treats in the kitchen, she’s studying. A lot. Her living room is furnished with big, black, squishy couches covered in pink, black and white swirled throw pillows. Perched on the end of one sofa is a two-foot tall stack of nursing textbooks, notebooks and manuals. Her kitchen table doubles as a desk, holding her laptop and class notes. Tara apologizes for the mess, but there’s no need. When them with, so instead, she stuffed them deep inside and developed a hard you’re a single mom and a full-time student, life happens – and a lot outer shell. She decided she could keep herself safe if she kept others out. of life is happening here. After graduating high school, she started working toward a home She’s in school working through the Licensed Vocational Nurse-to-Regis- economics degree, but discovered she hated it. She began training as tered Nurse program at Houston Community College. She’ll finish in May a certified nursing aide instead. She liked how practical it seemed – 2015 and not planning to stop there. After that, she’ll start her Bachelor she’d always be able to find a job. of Science in Nursing degree and hopes to get a master’s degree As she gained experience at different hospitals – mainly focusing on eventually. At 45 years old, this string of achievements has been a long cardiology – she realized that she had a natural skill for nursing. She time coming, and Tara has had to overcome many obstacles to get here. was a Certified Nursing Assistant for many years and reached a point ••••• in her career where she had hit her ceiling and learned what she could. She realized she had lots of potential to grow her career – she’d just Tara was only 6 years old when her family got the news: Her dad have to return to school first. But going back to school wasn’t as simple had leukemia. He went into remission for seven years, but even as a as registering for classes. Tara is a single mom, which wasn’t her plan. young child, Tara knew it was likely to come back. “I had no intentions of being a single mom,” she says. “I didn’t wait She was 15 years old when her father died. The youngest of five until 35 to get married to be a single parent. No one does that. No daughters and the only one still living at home with her mother, Tara one goes into their marriage to do that.” She married in the spring of and her mother both went through their days in a fog. 2004 and a year later she talked to her doctor about starting a family. “I watched a depressed woman,” she says of her mother. “It was {Continued on page 45} like I couldn’t talk to her.” Tara had other painful experiences and no one she trusted to share Unshakable faith Tara Adesanya and her daughter Adara share a strong faith in God which has sustained them through some difficult times. FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 43 Recipe for success Houston/Conroe Buckner Family Place Program Director Cari Latimer (left) describes Tara Adesanya as resiliant and strong. She was confident Tara would succeed if given the opportunity. 44 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE {Continued from page 43} Idea, and when I first met her, I understood why,” Cari said. “Tara Her chances were slim due to medical issues, but the doctor told her struck me as a very bright and determined woman. She was clear to discontinue birth control and try for a year before coming back to about her goals for herself and her daughter, which always impresses discuss fertility treatment options. me when interviewing potential clients. As she told her story about “I left and I got on my knees and I said, ‘Lord, if it’s your will, I’m struggling through abuse and homelessness, I also quickly realized going to get this baby. And it ain’t gonna be no year.’ But I didn’t think how resilient and strong she was. For me, choosing Tara as a Buckner it was going to be one month, either,” Tara admits. Family Place resident was an easy choice; I had no doubts she would Tara says her daughter Adara is God’s child, a blessing and a gift given to her to be a steward here on Earth. be successful if given the opportunity.” “I was biting my nails wondering if I had gotten selected,” Tara says. “I’m blessed that he allowed me to have her and to be a part of her “Cari finally called me and said, ‘Yeah, you’ve been selected to come in life, and I’m always asking him to please teach me and guide me in to Buckner’s program.’ I was like, ‘This is just like the blessing that I need.’” guiding her. Even when I feel like I’m going to lose my mind. I always know from where my blessings come, and I’m really strong in that.” Adara’s faith is strong, too, and their faith has carried them through some hard times together. When Adara was less than a year old, Tara separated from her husband due to verbal and emotional abuse. Faith sustained them when Tara and Adara became homeless and spent several years living at different transitional shelters and residential centers in Houston. Tara recalls having to sleep on a shelter floor with her 18-month-old baby after moving to Houston with just a few possessions and her car. Adara remembers a mean boy at one of the shelters who chased her around and threw wood chips at her. ••••• In early 2010, after months of desperately job searching, Tara in- Living at Family Place has made all the difference. Even at 8 years old, Adara can feel it. “A lot has changed,” she says quietly and matter-of-factly. At Family Place, Tara is able to focus on parenting and studying. “Even when I feel like I’m going to lose my mind. I always know from where my blessings come, and I’m really strong in that.” –Tara Adesanya terviewed at Thomas Street Health Center, a clinic exclusively serving HIV positive patients. She was offered a job in the psych ward. The combination of HIV and mental illness was far outside Tara’s comfort She started her Licensed Vocational Nurse program in January 2013 zone of cardiology, but she decided to give it a shot and fell in love and finished within a year. She passed her boards in March on the first with the work and the patient population. try. In May, she participated in her graduation ceremony. She didn’t “I’d only had my hands in cardiology, so to go to infectious disease – and psych on top of that – was just a little off-putting,” she says. “But then when I got there, I was just amazed, and once I was educated about HIV psych patients, it just blew me away. want to attend at first, but Adara insisted. “I told her to do it because you’re not going to get to do it again,” Adara says. “You’re going to want your degree.” “When I got pinned for my LVN, Adara was so happy and so “It took me right here,” she says, pointing to her heart. “And I loved proud, and I hadn’t even realized how happy and proud she was until it. That experience was one that I always cherish, and I always go I saw her at the end of the pinning ceremony,” Tara says. “She was back to it and remember how much I learned.” just all over the place.” Though she had the support of a professional mentor, Tara struggled Being at Buckner Family Place has changed her outlook. as she worked full time at the Thomas Street Health Center and went to “I don’t feel like there are limits on me. It’s amazing to me. I see a school part time in the evenings and on weekends. She had some fi- different me. There are things that I tolerated in a broken marriage that nancial support for her tuition and textbooks through a nonprofit called I no longer tolerate,” Tara says. “It’s given me strength.” It’s given me Capital Idea, but she still wasn’t able to make ends meet. That’s when the tools that I need to concentrate on what’s best for me and my child, she was referred to Buckner Family Place and met Cari Latimer. to achieve what I want to achieve for me and my child. It’s a comfort. “Tara came to us with high recommendations from the staff at Capital It’s a family.” n FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 45 Story by Aimee Freston • Photography by John Hall D oug and Theresa Lovett like to say they entered foster care Doug says. “It’s simple. Give them a room and then let everything happen through the back door. Their first placement was unconven- and allow them to be in the right environment to grow. For us, it’s more tional and without formal training, as they quite suddenly chose unnatural not to have kids than to have them.” to offer their home to a few children in need. The experience allowed At the time, the Lovetts did not have much extra space in their house. Doug and Theresa to bless a family, but in the end, it was they who They shifted office furniture into the bedroom to allow the kids from the received the blessing; they found their calling through foster care. bus ministry to have their own room. Doug, a pastor for Faith Independent Baptist Church in an east “It was a no-brainer for us, and we didn’t hesitate much,” Doug Texas town of Waskom, runs a bus ministry for the congregation. says. However, foster care was a family affair. “Our three daughters Through that ministry, the Lovetts met five siblings who were being re- were teenagers already at this time,” Theresa says. “They agreed with moved from their mother’s care. Not wanting them to go to a stranger’s us that we needed to help them.” home, they offered to take in a few of the children while another couple in their church fostered the rest. “We don’t understand the complexity of providing children homes,” 46 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE Four years later, the Lovetts continue to be foster parents. Two of their daughters are attending college, and the couple has built a home in the country with the intention of fostering children. Today, they have a total of four foster children -- one from their original placement and three others placed through Buckner. functions. They also take an active part in serving and worship. Usually, when the children first come, they have never uttered a For Doug and Theresa, fostering is more than providing a home and prayer. Theresa teaches them small, one-line prayers to begin with, but caring for children. It’s providing an example of how to be a family she says it isn’t long before they are rambling extremely long prayers. and allowing children the opportunity to just be kids. Often, foster “They know now that their prayers will be answered, and that God children have come from difficult situations and may have been forced listens to children. They’re so sweet, and they pray for everything,” to act as adults and fend for themselves. Theresa says. “They need stability, and they need to know there is someone they can come to if they need something,” Theresa says. Sometimes, the children pray for each other and for each other’s families as well. That includes letting them have a little bit of fun. Living on 20 acres “They care about each other. They’re praying that their parents of land, the kids love to play on the farm. They run around, dig holes, get well and get out of jail, so you know something is clicking,” chase the dogs and chickens and even jump Doug says. “Their perspective is right, and into mud holes from time to time. During it all, their priorities are in line because they know Doug and Theresa -- or “Brother Doug” and “Mama T” as their foster children call them -- are there, enjoying their laughter and encouraging them to act like kids. “This is not an everyday thing,” Theresa says about jumping in the mud hole. “It’s fun stuff. They don’t get screamed and yelled at. They just want to play in the mud. Just be kids and do things. They don’t have to worry about getting into trouble.” The children appreciate the influence of Doug and Theresa. Currently, they have a 6-year-old boy who follows Doug around the farm and wears the same hats and clothes as he does. “I know it’s a mimicking thing, but I think there is something else too,” Theresa says. “I think he just wants to know he belongs.” “They need stability, and they need to know there is someone they can come to if they need something.” –Theresa Lovett The Lovetts are intentional about making sure there are some people that are taking care of them, but their parents still need help, so they pray for them.” The Lovetts hope the lessons stay with the children no matter where they go after they leave the Lovett home. “I know that just hearing the Bible stories stayed with me,” Doug says. “A lot of that I forgot, but a lot I never forgot, so we hope we give them something they will never forget.” Being foster parents has influenced many aspects of the Lovetts’ lives, including their daughters. Two of their daughters have expressed interest in pursing careers that involve social work or child advocacy. “One of the things we should have calculated, and didn’t, but really enjoyed seeing was how our daughters have received this they are involved in their children’s lives. Doug drops the kids off at school and how it has affected them,” Doug says. “They love the children and Theresa picks them up. They both try to attend the afterschool and want to be better parents because they have seen what these activities as well. kids go through.” “Anything they have going on, I like to be involved in, whether it’s The Lovetts admit that with having three grown daughters, their fa- graduation or other school activities,” Theresa says. “I want to be there vorite thing about foster care is having the ability to be parents all over because most of the time, their moms weren’t there for them, and now again and having young children’s antics in their home. The Lovetts they expect it of me.” embrace the meaning of family, and whether they are going to the Most importantly, the Lovetts teach the children about Jesus. Doug movies, the park or church, they enjoy just being together. admits that they spend a lot of time at church. There are a lot of “We’re a family everywhere we go,” Doug says. “As long as we children at their church, so they fit right in. They not only attend church have an empty bed, there’s a spot for another one, whenever another on Sunday, but also during the week at prayer meetings and other one comes our way.” n FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 47 M auvirine Sorrell walks around Buckner Parkway Place in Houston Mauvirine still went to Bible study and Sunday school together. He for exercise. Due to some medical issues, she’s limited to moving died in December 2010. around inside. She’s accepted that and cherishes it. Each stride is a “We have such support here because this is a faith-based place. You’ve step in faith – a manner of journeying with which she’s well acquainted. got friends who are prayer warriors; you have friends who are caregivers The Parkway Place resident’s faith has taught her lessons and carried who help you. Everybody is willing to serve in their special way.” her through tough times throughout her life. Her daughter Nancy was The next April, doctors discovered Mauvirine had ovarian cancer. 23 years old when she was diagnosed with one of 300 cases of a Mauvirine took it in stride. She knew there was a purpose behind each rare type of cancer. Eleven years later, Nancy died. of her trials. “Nancy left me a legacy,” the Houston native says. “You never expect For a year, Mauvirine underwent chemotherapy – 12 shots every your daughter to have cancer or to go first. When Nancy had it, she 28 days. It took its toll on her body, but she persevered. At her most told [a reporter] one time, ‘Take advantage of everything cancer has to recent check-up, the doctor told her there was no new disease. Mau- offer you. It will give you a chance to challenge yourself and find the virine asked if she would need more chemotherapy. The doctor told limits of your strength and your faith. And you will have an opportunity her she didn’t even need to be on medication. to get to know a whole new group of people whose lives are filled with At that moment, she knew God again walked her through the trial trauma, sadness, and then you can bring hope and joy to them, by sharing and gave her “another chance. I just look to him and say I know he your Christian faith and giving them a chance to fight this disease. You has a purpose for me each day.” can find out just how special each moment and person can be.’” Mauvirine’s route around Parkway Place enables her to connect Mauvirine honored her daughter’s life by volunteering at the South with others. She has discovered a faithful community of support, and Main Baptist Church apartments for cancer patients. She answered the they have discovered her. They encourage and inspire each other. phone, helped people move in and helped refurbish the apartments. They care for each other. Later, her husband Sam was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease She feels it’s a part of her Christian ministry to help her neighbors as and then prostate cancer. For three months, the Sorrells became residents well. Mauvirine finds she tends to cross paths with people who have of the apartments where Mauvirine volunteered. been where she’s been. She has a friend at Parkway Place who re- Through it all, the couple leaned on each other and God. “You cently found out her daughter’s cancer reappeared. As a mother who know, many couples when they go through a child having difficulty, lost her daughter to cancer, she can relate and encourage her friend. they divorce or have problems or something. But truly, it brought us “I think it’s in 1 Corinthians where it talks about how we suffer closer together. And it brought us closer to the Lord, through all of that.” because God leads us to know how to comfort others,” she says. The Sorrells moved to Parkway Place in 2007, something they felt “He comforts us. We can learn how to comfort others as we go God orchestrated as well. Once there, Mauvirine says they found a through this. And we also learn that we can’t do it, we have to trust “wonderful Christian community.” in God and lean on him, all the way. And then thirdly, that we can As Sam’s health declined, he moved into skilled nursing. He and 48 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE give thanks to him, which is so wonderful.” n FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 49 Joyful service Tammy Creason of Community Fellowship Baptist Church in Hickory, Ky., greets the children in Bungoma, a Kenyan village where a new water well purchased by the church was installed. 50 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE ach person is a handiwork of God, fashioned Kenya - Pastor Rusty Wirt learned that a majority of the day in with features, a personality and talents spe- a Kenyan village was spent gathering water. When Rusty asked cially tailored for that individual. With that what the impact of a water well would be for his village, a student individuality comes a calling, a passion for some service, mission or ministry. responded, “It would be like gold coming out of the ground.” Community Fellowship Baptist Church vowed to help a village Likewise, God calls churches to tasks and ef- in Kenya receive a water well. Realizing it would require more work forts based on their gifts and talents. For many than just buying materials and sending it to the village, they began congregations big and small, that calling is realized searching for an organization to partner with, but found that most through Buckner International. Following the need Community Fellowship Baptist Church in Hickory, Ky. never lets a thing like numbers get in its way. When the church first partnered with Buckner, membership was about 150 people, yet it raised over $75,000 for materials to build a water well and to take a team of 10 to Bungoma, Kenya to minister to the village. Community Fellowship Baptist Church’s desire to serve in Kenya began with a ministry for international students at their local college. In getting to know the students - many of whom came from organizations wanted them to join an already established mission. Expanding community In 2013, Community Fellowship Baptist Church took a second team to Bungoma to continue ministering to the village. “They basically didn’t want us to come up with our own ideas. They three years. “There was nothing but pipes sticking out of the ground wanted us to join in on their own vision, but it wasn’t going to fill that on the first trip, and now we’re looking at this massive establishment. void we were feeling as a church. It didn’t fit what we felt God was It was the most overwhelming moment of my life. I couldn’t imagine leading us to do,” Missions Coordinator Sherri Wirt said. how this would pull together so amazingly. It started with the desire to Working with Buckner proved to be a different experience. Buckner have water. It started with just a well. We didn’t even have to sacrifice already had mission work established in Kenya and wanted to expand terribly, but we did have to work hard, and it touched so many lives.” it to other villages. One of the first needs was a water well. The church’s desire to build and maintain a well fit in with Buckner’s desire to expand ministry in Kenya. In 2010, Rusty led a team of 10 from their church to the undeveloped hills of Bungoma to build a well house and dedicate the well that was previously installed with the materials purchased by the church. Community Fellowship Baptist Church never wanted to build a well and leave. They wanted to keep ministering to the village throughout the years. Three years later, Sherri returned with a group of 26 to bring supplies and minister to 186 children in the community. “I’m not a personally over emotional person, and I could not stop crying,” Sherri said when describing the progress Bungoma made in Tender embrace Sherri Wirt is greeted by a local pastor’s mother. As she hugged Sherri, she repeated the words, “thank you” in Sherri’s ear. Bonding over work For the last four years, Chalk Bluff Baptist Church in Waco, Texas has been taking a team to the Rio Grande Valley for a weeklong mission trip, working with local churches doing large construction projects, VBS and even salon services such has haircuts and nail care. To pull off such an extensive venture, Chalk Bluff Baptist Church partners with Buckner. “You have to have partners to do mission work well,” said Pastor Chris Johnson. “We can’t do it on our own and to have that partnership makes a huge difference.” For the congregation, it is important to spread the love of Christ. “I think we need to be doing as a church everything we possibly can to go out and make sure that we aren’t inwardly focused, but doing work for God’s kingdom,” Chris said. “It’s not just about us, but affecting the community around us and taking the love of Christ elsewhere.” The church’s proximity to the Rio Grande Valley allowed more members to attend and having a close relationship with the {Continued on page 54} 52 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE Ministering together Trey McMurtray and Lawrence Bright from Chalk Bluff Baptist Church work on installing a new floor and ramp to a home during a mission trip to the Rio Grande Valley. Jonathan Pinto (top left, page 52) bonds with a child during a block party where the church gave out school supplies, backpacks and food. Kathy Foit (top right, page 52), a salon owner, gives free haircuts and hair supplies to families in the Rio Grande Valley. FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 53 {Continued from page 52} “We had a lot of families that just had a heart for that. A lot of Latino culture, Chalk Bluff Baptist Church felt that it was the congre- people were excited about Ethiopia, but we didn’t necessarily know gation’s calling to go to the Rio Grande Valley. Its partnership with how to resource that,” Global Missions Pastor Bill Hampton said. Buckner helped members minister in sustainable and concrete ways. Christ Chapel Bible Church learned about Buckner’s involvement in Buckner helps identify people who need aid and then works with establishing a Family Hope Center and school in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia the church to organize the materials needed for the construction projects, and felt it fit in with their mission principle of helping orphans and provide translators and handle other logistical planning as needed. vulnerable children. “Without Buckner’s help, we wouldn’t know who to help or what to A Family Hope Center builds stability for the community through edu- help with,” Chris said. “To do effective ministry you need people there cation and resources for vulnerable children and is usually partnered year-round that know the needs.” with a local church so that the children’s physical and spiritual needs According to Chris, the best part about the trip is seeing the bond are met. In addition to attending the school, the children also are that happens between the construction crew and the family whose assigned a social worker who goes to the family’s home and helps home is being built. The family helps as much as they can and even them through life skills training. with a language barrier, there is a loving bond that develops within a day or two of working together. Giving hearts Christ Chapel Bible Church in Fort Worth, Texas recognizes not every “As a church, our primary responsibility in missions is to preach the gospel, so I never want to get sidetracked from that because there’s always a need. We want to be involved in orphan care. We want to be involved with children. I think it’s a calling of ours, but we want to make sure it’s done with a church and with a church in mind,” Bill said. need is a calling so they crafted a specific plan for mission work, gear- Because Christ Chapel Bible Church wanted to work in Ethiopia, ing its resources toward the ministries it felt called to as a congregation. but also wanted a ministry that was evangelical, supporting the Debre One of those mission principles is to help orphans and vulnerable chil- Zeit Family Hope Center fit in perfectly with their calling and have been dren locally and around the world. providing funds for the operational costs of the school since 2011. n On a global scale, Christ Chapel Bible Church felt called to help children in Ethiopia because several families in the church have ad- Below, left: Moges Feleke, Buckner Ethiopian director, Bill Hampton, opted Ethiopian children. global missions pastor at Christ Chapel Bible Church, and Bill Egner, executive pastor at Christ Chapel Bible Church, stand in front of the Family Hope Center in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. Christ Chapel Bible Church has been providing operational costs for the school there since 2011. Below, right: As a way to create stability for the community, the Family Hope Center provides education and resources for vulnerable children. Here, Egner and Hampton pose with children and staff of the Debre Zeit Family Hope Center. 54 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE T en years ago, a church friend told me about a trip to Guatemala with During that trip, I learned knowledge is the greatest gift to a commu- Buckner International. He described an orphanage full of neglected nity without clean water, sanitation or medical care. I know we were and abused babies, toddlers and girls in overcrowded and understaffed able to offer some hope and relief of suffering while we were there, living conditions. Then he invited me on the next mission trip there. but teaching the tribal leader and the pastor, who will continue to offer Nothing stirs my heart more than a child in need. But I never imagined the desire to help transform children’s lives in Guatemala would launch a decade-long relationship with a ministry that has changed my life through experiences in Guatemala, Kenya and Peru. Sandra was an older girl with special needs who lived in the Man- this knowledge to their communities, will truly bring lasting health and healing to the people of Kenya. I recently returned from a trip to Peru where I saw how powerfully Buckner works to bring hope, healing and transformation to vulnerable children and families. chen orphanage in Antigua, Guatemala. She We traveled one day to the slums of Lima. stayed on the periphery of most team activities Winding up a single-lane, bumpy road to the that week. On the last day of our trip, the young top of a hill, I saw poverty and darkness in girl began wailing inconsolably while watch- every direction. At the summit, we came to the ing the Jesus movie with the other girls. “Don’t Buckner Family Hope Center. kill him, please don’t kill him!” she screamed. Stepping through the door was like stepping “Those are the hands that feed me.” from darkness into light. Inside were children In that moment, I realized God is so much learning about God’s word, adults attending bigger than I ever knew, and he loves and computer classes and mothers with their children feeds his children in ways I have no human waiting to receive new shoes. We heard capacity to understand. Sandra had a much greater capacity to see testimonies from mothers who had received help in starting small busi- God’s hand in her life and Jesus as the source of that life than I had. nesses and counseling services from Buckner staff members. They, in A few years ago, I participated in a medical clinic in Kenya with Buckner. Hundreds of people traveled days to see a doctor and were turn, were helping others in their community connect with the Buckner Family Hope Center. waiting when we arrived each day. It was overwhelming to know we I have seen firsthand how Buckner ministries bring light, hope and could not possibly meet the needs of all these people who were suffering. true transformation to the people of Guatemala, Kenya and Peru. Yet, we could make a difference. We offered limited medication, What a life-changing encouragement to see healing for families and prayer, encouragement and health education. Many of the people hope for vulnerable children everywhere Buckner serves. Indeed, lived in communities that were drinking water from a nearby river. We hope shines here. taught that drinking contaminated water could lead to the spread of “For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has disease. A pastor and an elderly man who appeared to be a tribal no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives leader attended each day, listening carefully and asking questions. By of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life…” the final day, one community had decided to begin boiling its water Psalm 72:12-14a n every day so its water would be safe. The pastor had taken notes on all the health education topics we taught and planned to teach his Susan Williams is a Buckner volunteer as well as a member of the congregation all the information. Buckner Foundation board and All Saints Dallas. FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 55 Story by Aimee Freston • Photography by Anita Morris A my Aguirre has experienced her fair ship with my mother, and I loved her very share of trials. She had an unstable much.” Amy was alone. Her brothers childhood, was forced to live on her own were sent to different homes, and she was at a young age and suffered through an left to fend for herself. abusive relationship. In the midst of it all, She turned to God and experienced his she discovered God’s love and restoration love. “Since I had a background of faith, I and clings to her faith even during the storms. knew to turn to the Lord, so I turned to him “I hit my point of brokenness early,” Amy in brokenness, pain and desperation,” says. “I’ve experienced healing in the most Amy says. “I cried out to God, and he profound ways, and I want to honor Jesus reached out to me and let me know that because he has been my healer.” he loved me. He was there for me, and it Amy’s childhood was chaotic. Her was amazing.” mother suffered from schizophrenia, often Later in life, Amy would need that having delusional episodes and nervous strong foundation of faith to help her go breakdowns. To cope, Amy turned to through another traumatic experience. drugs, alcohol and parties. At 14 years After trying extensive counseling to heal old, Amy dropped out of school. an abusive marriage, Amy decided “I didn’t really have that encourage- to find a domestic violence shelter. ment to persist in school,” Amy says. “My With four young children, mother dropped out of high school as Amy did not want them well, and I remember her so poignantly exposed to the abuse she explaining to me that she understood if I was receiving. wanted to drop out. It was just the op- “The cycle of abuse posite of what you would want to hear was continuing to take from a parent.” place and it gradually When Amy was 17 years old, her became worse to the mother had a nervous breakdown and point where I was kept disappeared. “That was devastating for as a hostage in my own me,” Amy shares. “I had a close relation- {Continued on page 59} 56 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE Family ties Amy Aguirre and her family, (from left to right) Hosanna, 9, Yeshua, 4, Judah, 3, and Noah, 11, live at Buckner Family Pathways in Dallas. FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 57 Safe haven Buckner Family Pathways provides a safe and peaceful environment for the Aguirres, empowering Amy, Yeshua (below), Noah (left, page 59), and Hosanna (right, page 59) to thrive. 58 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE {Continued from page 56} life, and we can continue that cycle of generational blessings instead home. I didn’t want that kind of life for my children. I believe I had to flee of generational curses.” for my life,” Amy says. Amy’s faith also continues to grow, and she has healed from the Amy and her children lived at the shelter for about three months. “There pain of abandonment and abuse. “Now that I’m here, I’m capable were times when I wondered if my life was worth living,” Amy admits. “I and able to be who God has created me to be. I can be self- wondered if my children would be better off with someone else raising sufficient and self-reliant, knowing who I am in Christ. When you them, but I know those were lies from the enemy. It was just a plan to receive healing and wholeness, the memories are still there, but it destroy my life, but God rescued me out of that situation. I would always doesn’t hurt anymore,” Amy says. remember God’s promises and rely on them to guide me through.” Amy is enrolled in full-time study and is a straight-A student. She Amy’s rescue came in the form of Buckner Family Pathways in Dallas. earned her Master of Arts in Theology in August and is planning to fin- Family Pathways provides housing, child care assistance and counseling ish her Master of Arts in Counseling in about three years. She hopes to in an effort to support single parents who are currently completing spearhead humanitarian programs for women and provide Christian their education and trying to create better lives for their families. She counsel for those who are hurting. has been a welcome addition to the program. Cynthia Rentie, Family Pathways manager, calls Amy a humble servant. “Amy is genuine and has such a humble spirit,” Cynthia says. “I love “I have a genuine love for people. I have a heart to see the body of Christ made whole, to see people healed emotionally because God has done so much healing in me,” Amy shares. her walk with the Lord. God gives her energy, and her walk is what Above all else, Amy wants God to use her life in a meaningful way. gets her through.” “I am a testimony of God’s grace and His restoration,” she says. The moment Amy and her family moved into their new home, she felt “God has shown me his love, and I want to be able to show other what had been missing from her life for a long time — peace. At Family people that same love. Being here enables me to refine and hone in Pathways, Amy is able to focus on her studies and has the opportunity to on what God has called me to do and to build myself up so that I can spend quality time with her children in a peaceful and safe environment. be that blessing to other people, encouraging them that they have a “I have seen God’s supernatural provision through Buckner,” she purpose and are called to make an impact on the earth.” n says. “I can have a better life so that my children can have a better FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 59 Something old, something new, something borrowed, something shoe By Lauri Ann Hanson F or many engaged couples, love takes shape in the form of giving without wanting anything in return. I’ve never met anyone with extravagant wedding plans or exotic honeymoons, but for one such a big heart for people in need.” Reading, Mass., couple it’s all about shoes. Jessie Queior and Tim Synan were married Sept. 7. Instead of asking for gifts at their wedding, they asked for new shoes to help orphans around the world. Jessie initially learned about Shoes for Orphan Souls while listening to K-LOVE Radio during a nationwide shoe drive. “Hearing that I could help provide hope to an orphan seemed so overwhelming, but once I heard it broken down to how a simple The shoes collected will be distributed through Buckner Shoes for Or- pair of shoes could help change a child’s future it all of a sudden phan Souls® to aid orphans and vulnerable children around the globe. clicked,” Jessie said. “By donating a pair of shoes, we are hoping “We want our wedding to be a celebration and what better way to our wedding guests will be able to identify with a cause beyond just signing a check. Each pair of shoes we collect will be hand-placed on a child’s feet as the love of God is shared – there is no greater gift than that.” When the couple first announced their plan to collect shoes instead of wedding gifts, they were met with a host of questions and disbelief. “I’m pretty sure everyone thought we were crazy when they first found out about our plan,” Tim said, “but as we’ve had a chance to explain the purpose of the shoe drive we have seen our friends and family get really excited about it.” They aimed to collect 150 pairs of shoes. From social networking to word of mouth, Jessie and Tim were creative with the ways they spread the news of their shoe drive. Their friends and family even jumped on board as they hosted a “shoe shower” in place of a wedding shower. do that than invite our guests to invest in something that both our hearts “No matter what position he is put in, Tim continually blows me are drawn toward,” Jessie said. “At the end of the day, I get the amazing away by constantly thinking outside the box as to how he can do gift of marrying my best friend, and because we are so blessed, we more to impact the lives of the less fortunate,” Jessie said. “He is such want nothing more than for the money people would have spent on us a passionate person in all he does – always searching for a way to to go toward a bigger cause.” make a difference.” Giving back to the less fortunate is a natural overflow of the couple’s love, Tim said. Tim said he couldn’t describe how, but he “just knew” Jessie was the one. “Jessie is the one who first found out about Shoes for Orphan Souls, “I think that seeing our priorities line up in the area of service is really and it was her excitement that drew me in to want to learn more,” he what drew us together and what continues to increase our love for said. “That is just how she lives her life – always caring and always each other,” he added. n 60 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE How to become a shoe drive coordinator C hildren across the United States and around the world are exposed daily to health risks due to poverty, malnutrition, illness, lack of shelter, clothing and shoes. Through Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls®, you can provide the gift of health, education and hope to vulnerable children through the gift of a new pair of shoes. Register online at buckner.org/shoes to coordinate a shoe drive in your area, helping friends, families and acquaintances collect shoes for children in need. When you register, a Shoes for Orphan Souls project coordinator will contact you, providing a variety of promotional and practical tools to make sure your drive is the best it can be. Here are some tips for first-time and veteran shoe coordinators: Set a goal and dates. Celebrate the results of your People are motivated by concrete goals, so give them shoe drive. something to achieve. The desire to collect a particular number of shoes in a designated time span will push you to work harder for your drive. No matter how many shoes are collected, each pair will radically improve the life of a child. You have made a difference. Find a special way to celebrate. Network, network, network. After the shoe drive ends, mail or deliver collected shoes to the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid, located at 5405 Shoe Drive, Mesquite, Texas 75149, where every Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday volunteers sort the shoes by gender, size and type. From there, the shoes are shipped all over the world. About 30 percent of the shoes stay in the United States to help children in need. To learn more about how to become a shoe drive coordinator visit buckner.org/shoes. Keep volunteers, family and friends engaged in the process. Empower them to tell others about the need to collect shoes for vulnerable children. Share about the shoe drive on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Place posters in area shops. Ask your church to be involved. Give people the option to make a financial donation. Some people prefer to give money rather than shoes. A financial donation can be used to purchase shoes or help pay the shipping costs of the shoes. Ask questions. Throughout the entire process you can count on your Shoes for Orphan Souls project coordinator to help. They are ready to share new ideas and strategies and answer any questions or concerns. FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 61 BUCKNER SNAPSHOT Diverna Abatte D iverna Abatte is one of many devoted Buckner foster parents in Southeast Texas. She has cared for more than 120 children. We recently caught up with her and asked why she serves so faithfully. Life. When Diverna was 12, she simply wanted to have more children around the house. Her siblings were older, and she wanted friends. Even at an early age, she knew life is better when done with other people. She persistently asked her mother if their family could be a foster family. Her parents agreed. Love. Diverna cares about children. Each child needs a safe, loving place to grow and develop. Her home has been and continues to be just that. Many of the children have taught her life lessons, and she believes she’s taught them a few as well. With each young person who comes to her house, Diverna finds herself loving others just a bit more. Legacy. Diverna’s parents weren’t financially well off, but they were blessed with love and the ability to love others. Her father taught her how to serve others as he made the rounds in his produce truck, where he often helped people in need. Her mom was a foster parent for years, modeling a life of loving others. She’s proud to carry on their legacy. n 62 Buckner Today • FALL 2014 ISSUE Home After spending his first 75 days of life away from his family, Samuel is now where he belongs — in his mother’s arms. “I really appreciate (Buckner) a lot because they did a really good job,” says Margarita. “My baby is with me now. I am very happy.” FALL 2014 ISSUE • Buckner Today 63 Buckner International 700 N. Pearl, Suite 1200, Dallas, TX 75201 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Non-Profit Org. 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