Sara Becker, manager of Baptist Children’s Homes’ (BCH) Greater Vision Outreach Ministry, is comfortable in her new role. “Every thing I’ve done to this point has prepared me for this job –– most of that preparation has taken place right here.”
Forty-three-year-old Becker has been a part of BCH since 1990 when her parents, Beverly and Gary Fisher, became childcare workers at Mills Home in Thomasville. Becker says she began to fall in love with the ministry when she first served as a part-time helper in the campus library making $3.15 per hour when she was 15. Throughout the next 28 years, she has served in many roles.
Three years working at the library was followed by two years with Weekday Education after graduating high school in 1993.
Becker left BCH temporarily working for a grocery chain and climbing the management ladder. She met her future husband, Donald, when his parents came to Mills Home as houseparents. In 1997, the couple married. The Beckers have been married 21 years and have three sons.
A few years passed and in 1999, Becker’s dad became a middle school teacher and Sara became her mom’s partner serving as co-childcare workers in 2000. A year later, her mom left and in the spring of 2002, Becker was asked to serve as the Mills Home switchboard operator. She then served as an administrative assistant until leaving in 2005 to have her second child.
“I thought that would be the end,” Becker confesses. “I never intended on returning. Donald and I planned to be foster parents.”
But in 2008, Becker and her husband became childcare workers at BCH’s newly acquired Oak Ranch in Broadway. The duo served at Ben’s House caring for teen girls.
Becker returned to Mills Home as a floating childcare worker and then was promoted to a supervisor. In 2012, she moved into BCH’s new Family Care ministry –– the program which offers supportive group homes for hard-working single mothers and their children.
In 2017, Becker became part of the team to begin Greater Vision Outreach Ministry (GVOC) located on the Mills Home campus. Becker says, as manager of GVOC, all of her experiences, even those working for the grocery chain, are used in her new role.
“I’ve learned so many skills and gained so much knowledge for this very thing,” Becker asserts. “But my career education began by watching my parents. They modeled ‘others first’ and have always been accepting of everyone.”
The Bob and Carolyn Tucker Greater Vision Outreach Center opened its newly constructed facility to serve clients September 17, 2018. The Center serves families in the Triad area. The ministry helps meet the essential physical and spiritual needs of working families who are struggling financially as they work to achieve self-sufficiency.
Becker and her team assist these families by providing direct services as well as referrals to other community resources. GVOC also works to enhance the services of community non-profits by facilitating and distributing large donations, creating partnerships to improve communication and ministry efficiency, and supporting other community outreach efforts.
Today, the Center is on track to meet its goals for clients served. Becker says they continue to broaden the use of Charity Tracker, a computer-based system for tracking donations and disseminating donations into the hands of those most in need. Special attention is given to grow and strengthen partnerships with other organizations who serve the working poor.
“God has made Greater Vision what it is today,” Becker says. “It’s becoming much more than I could have imagined it could be. Through the Tucker’s generosity, lives are being touched, made better and changed.”
Becker says God is at the center of her life and the ministry she became a part of as a teen. “God has a hand in all of this –– in every area of BCH. I know –– because I have seen up-close many of the ministries. He’s in the driver’s seat. He’s working all of this out.”
Learn how you can volunteer or donate to the Greater Vision Outreach Ministry by contacting Sara Becker at sbecker@bchfamily.org or calling 1-866-904-0060.