Not having to wonder about what home is like

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John Howard Payne wrote the words to “Home! Sweet Home!” The songs lyrics are: Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.”

I was born between the Great Depression and WWII. My parents were good, godly people, but we did not have much in terms of this world’s goods. But our house was a home built on the foundation of faith, filled with grace and overflowing with love. The people I loved the most lived there. It was my place of retreat, of safety, of peace and joy.

Mother Teresa said, “Love begins by taking care of the closest one – the ones at home.”

I am thankful I have always had a place to call home. For the first 23 years of my life my parents provided that warm, safe, nurturing place. Now, my wife is the person who makes our house a home – a welcoming, loving, comfortable refuge.

I have sometimes wondered what it would be like to be homeless or to live in a house where love was in absentia – no welcome at the door, no inviting menus for dinner, no one to sympathize in time of need, no one to share life’s joys and sorrows.

That is precisely why Georgia Baptist Children’s Homes and Family Ministries, Inc. (GBCHFM) exists – to give to those in need “a place to call home.” No place can offer a more effective and loving array of services to abused, abandoned, or neglected children than Georgia Baptist Children’s Homes and Family Ministries.

There are many such caring ministries created to help hurting children, but GBCHFM promotes not only the physical and material well-being of children, youth, and families, but the spiritual and emotional needs as well.

Children growing up in troubled homes often run away from unbearable situations or are abandoned on the streets. These children and youth often become victims of a growing, illegal, and horrifying sex trafficking industry. No one does a better job of rescuing these precious perishing ones that Georgia Baptist Children’s Homes and Family Ministries.

This is a ministry that deserves our prayers and financial support. Jesus made children a priority. The Georgia Baptist Mission Board is going to make children and youth a priority in the months ahead. Why don’t you give children “a place to call home” by making a generous gift to GBCHFM this Mothers’ Day, May 14th?

children, family, Georgia Baptist Children’s Homes, home, Mother Teresa, parents