SALEM, Va. — Imagine that you are 10 years old when you finally find the courage to tell your teacher about some problems you have been having at home. Then your world falls completely apart. Samantha, who spent several years…
Pastor retires from church that was model for ‘The Waltons’
SCHUYLER, Va. (ABP) — Matthew Fordwick was the young pastor of the Baptist church in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia on The Waltons, a popular television show created by Earl Hamner Jr. Schuyler Baptist Church Fordwick came to Walton’s…
Fostering isn’t for everyone, but everyone can play a part
BEAUMONT, Texas (ABP) — With more than 400,000 children in foster care in the United States, it's an issue that's not going away. Hishia and Rickey Conner have cared for more than 70 children in the past five years at…
Single father sees adoption, foster care as part of God’s plan
MIDLAND, Texas (ABP) — The Ewing family does everything together. They wash dishes, go grocery shopping and spend hours playing electronic games in the living room. "We've got to do everything together. If we don't, we won't have time together,"…
Not called to foster? Here are other ways to help
BEAUMONT, Texas (ABP) — Here are some small ways to help a foster-care family that can have a big impact. Offer to babysit—Babysitting foster children requires some time spent in training and certification, but it is a huge help to…
Common myths about foster care
BEAUMONT, Texas (ABP) — Buckner International foster-care professionals David Chandler and Samela Macon dispell some common myths about foster care. Myth: All foster children are emotionally disturbed and damaged beyond repair. There's nothing I can do to help them. Fact:…
November New Baptist Covenant II gatherings taking shape
ATLANTA (ABP) – Dallas, Denver, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Seattle, St. Louis and Washington, D.C., have all been nailed down for satellite downloads of a Nov. 17-19 New Baptist Covenant II anchored in Atlanta. Los Angeles and Philadelphia remain as…
Early in children’s services, Baptists try to keep pace with change
THOMASVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — In the first decades following the Civil War when poverty shadowed widows and children of fallen soldiers in a dramatically disrupted South, Baptists and other Christian denominations started orphanages to care for them. Today, the South…
Advocates seek foster parents in churches
THOMASVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — Hundreds of thousands of families are needed to provide foster care for nearly a half-million children and teenagers who for their own safety cannot continue to live at home. Some of those families are found in…