Baptist Children’s Homes (BCH) staff, care-givers, foster families, and those the ministry serves celebrated being on mission together with NC Baptists at the 2023 Annual Meeting of
the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSC) on November 5 -7. The three-day event began with the Pastors Conference, where BCH served as a sponsor, and ended with its 20-minute presentation on Tuesday evening.
The response was overwhelmingly positive as NC Baptists displayed their support for the ministry to children, adults, and families throughout the annual event.
“The love and affirmation was humbling,” said Gayla Freeman, Chair of the BCH Board of Trustees. “From people taking the opportunity to spend time with our staff at the display booths to the phenomenal response we received from the audience during the presentation, we could not be more grateful to NC Baptists for continuing to stand alongside the ministry.”
During the presentation, applause and shouts of praise echoed throughout the room as approximately 200 children, special needs adults, foster and adopt families, and staff from BCH took the stage at the evening session on November 7.
The presentation placed the spotlight on God’s goodness across the BCH ministry and celebrated the more than 167,000 lives impacted last year through NC Baptists’ support.
“I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone here and the others who have been involved with BCH,” Ciara shared from the stage. Ciara, a college senior, and her sister were orphans
when they first came into care 10 years ago.
“You all have been with me and my sister throughout our journey,” she continued, “from when we first stepped into the cottage, when I accepted Christ on my 16th birthday, and when I was applying for colleges.”
Near the end of the program, foster and adopt families who are a part of the EVERY CHILD partnership between BCH and NC Baptists rose from their seats in the audience to come on stage.
“We decided what better way to demonstrate the theme of ‘on mission together’ than to show you,” BCH Chief Operating Officer Keith Henry said of the gathering families. “Through their obedience to God, we have served (nearly) 800 children in their homes where they have experienced the gospel lived out,” Henry shared.
Written by Blake Ragsdale, BCH Director of Communications
