Project Go is a summer missions program for college students and recent graduates who want to serve orphans and vulnerable children. They spend half or the whole of their summer serving children in seven countries or on the Texas-Mexico border.

These students will work with children in orphanages and community centers, put on Vacation Bible Schools, teach English classes, serve as mentors and much more. To serve effectively, they need supplies. 

That’s where you come in!

We need people to hold collections until May 15 for the following items:

• 500 8-pack boxes of crayons
• 13 bags of balloons (50 count or more)
• 300 small boxes of markers
• 30 inflatable beach balls
• 500 packages of construction paper
• 100 small bouncing balls
• 100 bottles of bubbles
• 13 large packages of sidewalk chalk
• 20 paint-by-numbers sets
• 13 air pumps for the beach balls
• 150 bottles of lice shampoo
• 13,000 pencils
• 100 large variety bags of non-melting candy

Deliver or mail your collected items to the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid:
5405 Shoe Drive
Mesquite, TX 75149

Questions? Please call 214-328-7463.

She turned around with a huge grin. “This is mine.”

It was hard for her to contain the emotion in her voice. Taking a deep breath, she let it all sink in. She was in a safe place. She had the support she needed. She was going to reach her goals.

A few doors down, Monica Martinez let out a sigh and an exclamation with each new household item she unwrapped.

“Can you believe this? All new towels!” she said. “We used to have just one that we shared. I had to wash it all the time.”

Admiring the washer and dryer, the remote-controlled living room ceiling fan and the soft new mattresses on the beds, she said, “I thought only Oprah did things like this!”

Margarita and Monica were homeless before they moved into two of the brand-new apartments at Buckner Family Pathways in Dallas Jan. 18. There was excitement, gratitude and hope in their voices. They were starting fresh. Their world was all possibilities now.

Margarita was referred by The Family Place shelter, the largest family violence service provider in the Dallas area. She stayed there for several months after fleeing a bad relationship in California.

She is studying youth counseling at El Centro College, and she hopes to work with kids and mothers who have been through domestic violence and drug issues. “Stuff I can relate to,” she said. She has the physical scars to prove it.

Monica’s homelessness couldn’t be attributed to one big problem. It was just life – a lot of smaller things that added up to a flood. Life was pulling her under, and she couldn’t keep her head above water without help.

She and her daughter had drifted from place to place. When a lady at church heard about their plight, she took Monica and her 5-year-old daughter in. They slept in her living room until Monica found Family Pathways.

Now she is studying mass communication and journalism. She dreams of using technology to take the word of God to people in remote areas of the world.

“That is my ultimate dream for now,” she said. “Who knows? God might give me a bigger one.”

The Winborns, a family whose financial gifts support Family Pathways, were there to help the women move in and to pray over them as they started their journey.

“I think that Family Pathways is a gorgeous program,” said Donna Winborn. “I truly believe it is exactly how God would have us to help and uplift these young mothers. I’m just impressed with the way this program is valuing these ladies’ lives.”

To support Buckner Family Pathways or other Buckner family transition programs in Texas, please call Buckner Foundation at 214-758-8050.

Watch the Video! A Moving Move-In for Two Dallas Family Pathways Residents

By Russ Dilday
Buckner News Service

DALLAS — Leaders of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas and Buckner International met Jan. 12 at the Buckner ministry offices to sign agreement that both groups say will help facilitate missions enrichment programs and services for the Hispanic Christian community. Jesse Rincones, president of the 1,100-congregation HBCT, co-signed the “Missions Covenant” document with Buckner President Albert L. Reyes.

In general, the covenant gives each group a higher profile in the other’s missions messaging, offers added opportunities for convention members to participate in volunteer missions service, and seeks to enhance the work of Buckner’s Shoes for Orphan Souls humanitarian aid drive.  

Reyes said the covenant will give Buckner “a more intentional and deliberate focus on the importance of the local church and on our mission,” adding, “This will connect us not just to churches, but churches with a common Hispanic background, language and culture. There are many things we’ll do to tap that background in countries and areas with similar cultures.”

Rincones, who also serves as pastor of Alliance Church in Lubbock, Texas, said the agreement is significant  to the convention because of “the rich experience and resources Buckner brings to our congregations.”

“For many years, Hispanic congregations have been the recipients of Baptist missions efforts,” he said. “Now we’re seeing a change in mindset and we’re looking at ourselves as collaborators and initiators of mission efforts. The training and the opportunities we’ll receive in this collaboration are going to allow our congregations to speed up the process in being missions initiators.”

Rolando Rodriguez, director of Hispanic work for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, agreed. “It’s a new day for Convención, a brand new opportunity. For many years, Hispanic churches have been considered a mission field – now they’ve become a missions force.”

–30–

Project Go is a summer missions program for college students and recent graduates who want to serve orphans and vulnerable children.

Students can serve in Peru, Kenya, Russia, the Rio Grande Valley, Guatemala, Honduras, the Dominican Republic or Mexico. Session One takes place from May 31 to July 1. Session Two is from July 9 to August 9. Volunteers can also serve for a full summer.

Country preferences are taken into consideration, but assignments are made on a first-come, first-served basis, and the deadline to apply is February 5.

“After these trips, their whole world view changes,” said Analiz Schremmer, volunteer recruitment and fulfillment coordinator. “I know Project Go has helped a lot of individuals find their calling and decide what they want to do with their lives professionally. Some people have come out knowing they want to adopt one day. Others decide they want to go into full-time ministry or social work.”

One volunteer who served in Kenya appreciated having time to get to know the children, build relationships and be immersed in the culture.

“We got to milks cows with them, help prepare the meals and even watch them play in a futbol game,” she said. “I never could have imagined falling so in love with 70 orphans, but for some reason, those are the faces that I can’t seem to get out of my head since I’ve been home… I will forever have a piece of Kitale, Kenya in my heart.”

Schremmer said volunteers aren’t just changed through their experience – they change the lives of others.

“The biggest differences they make are in the lives of individuals,” she said. “As the volunteers go about their service, they will have the opportunity to develop relationships and share the love of Christ. It’s a permanent impact. Some of the kids they will work with just need to be loved and they will have the opportunity to do that.”

To learn more about Project Go and to apply, please visit http://itsyourmission.com/interns/index.shtml. Or, you can contact Analiz Schremmer at aschremmer@buckner.org.

Stay connected with Project Go on Facebook! Find us at www.facebook.com/ServeWithProjectGo.

By Chelsea Quackenbush
Buckner International

BEAUMONT – Dave “Daddy Dave” Bleakley first met Amelia by chance at a Buckner Children’s Village reunion in Beaumont. Two-week-old Amelia was the youngest alumna and Daddy Dave was the oldest. Buckner staff thought it would make a cool photo, so they placed the tiny girl in his arms.

“What’s her name?” he asked.

“Amelia.”

His eyes welled with tears. His late wife, known fondly as “Mama Anne,” never let anyone call her by her real name – Amelia Anne Bleakley. At the time, no one knew that circumstances over the next few months would bring them back together.

Daddy Dave’s story

Daddy Dave is a Buckner alumnus and one of its greatest advocates. He lived at the Buckner Orphans Home in Dallas with his older brother and sister in the 1940s when he was just 4 years old.

Raised in a broken home in southeast Arkansas, and then shuffled between family members all over Texas, a pastor in Port Arthur found them a place at Buckner.

He vividly recalls wanting to break out of the fence that surrounded the campus. He knew it was the only thing separating him from happiness. So when Buckner staff asked him what they could do to get him to stop crying, he said he wanted to play outside. His plan was to escape when no one was looking.

Little did Daddy Dave know, the staff knew what he was up to. So they held him close the whole time until he calmed down.

“Nothing can fill the void like love, and that’s what they did,” Daddy Dave said. “We believed it was important to teach Jenn [his daughter] that message because that’s what Buckner taught us.”

According to Buckner staff, Daddy Dave puts a smile on everyone’s face when he walks through the door. He encourages Buckner children by sharing his story.

Parenting with grace

Daddy Dave’s daughter, Jennifer Guerra, and her husband Ricky, decided to become foster parents after their birth daughter, Avery Anne, passed away in 2008 at the age of 4 due to complications with complex congenital heart disease.

“We knew she was just the girl God decided her to be,” Jennifer said. “But we knew we couldn’t have more kids, so Buckner was our only option.”

The day they received their foster parent certification, the Guerras got the call about taking Amelia in for a 14-day respite period when she was 4 months old. Her previous foster mother was sick and couldn’t care for her. The emergency placement turned long-term, and soon after, Amelia became available for adoption. Everything else fell into place.

Jenn and Ricky had two other foster daughters, Elizabeth, who was 5 at the time, and Zoey, who was 2. They said Amelia was stiff and reserved at first. She startled at loud noises. But it didn’t take long to become part of the family, and soon she warmed up to the other girls.

“You just had this certainty in your heart that God is moving, which is unusual in this field because everything is so uncertain,” Beaumont director of foster care and adoption Samela Macon said. “Daddy Dave taught Jenn how to serve. He has a servant’s heart. The Guerras have made a tremendous difference in the lives of the children they fostered.”

Daddy’s girl

Now Amelia is a “daddy’s girl.” Her face lights up when Ricky gets home from work in the evening. Her first word was “Dada.” Everyone says they look alike.

“That’s the sweetest thing, seeing the Lord fill that void they had,” Daddy Dave said. “It was affirmation that it was the Lord, his hand in the beautiful tapestry he’s woven.

“The wonder of all wonder is that God would choose to bless our family through the life of another little girl with my late wife as her namesake. She favors little Avery Anne and acts like Mama Anne. And to think that our Lord would choose to perform such an act of mercy through the same Buckner ministry he used 67 years ago to rescue my life as a 4-year-old child. Only he can perform such miracles.”

The Guerras have postponed their position as foster parents because in December, they will have another unexpected addition to their family – Jennifer is pregnant with a little boy, Noah Blake.

Amelia bounces around the room, between her parents and Daddy Dave, smiling and showing them her baby dolls.

“She’s theirs now,” Daddy Dave said. “But I always tell them ‘I held her first.’”

This story originally appeared in the Fall 2011 Edition of Buckner Today.

“Bringing a child home through adoption is as joyful, if not more so, for the family as having biological children, and we want our friends and family to prepare with us and celebrate with us as they would for a biological child (shower, a card, etc.). My biological children have baby books full of cards that came when they arrived, along with many photos. My adopted child has two cards in his album. I worry that someday he will notice the difference and wonder why.”
- Lori Risinger Heinrich

“Be sensitive—if that family has had the child two years or two months or two days, the adoption day is still just as special.”
- Veronica Adkison Rountree

What you can do: Send a card, give a shower or hold a reception or small party. If you have a gift for photography, offer to take some family portraits.

2. Help around the house
When parents bring home a newborn from the hospital, they’re often met with lots of helping hands. Adoptive families need just as much help as parents of newborns! You can bless them by sharing some of your extra time and energy.

“We have friends that bring meals when we least expect it! They help so much when we are just trying to adjust with a new one!”
- Kara Guinn Curfman

What you can do: Bring over a home cooked meal, clean their bathrooms, do a load of laundry, mow their yard – anything that will give the family some relief from the pressures of daily life and more time to focus on bonding and adjusting.

3. Cut them some slack
Don’t expect a new adoptive family to be able to keep all the commitments they used to, no matter what age their new child is.

Mom and Dad are exhausted, and their child is learning how to live in a family, and even a new culture. Social situations can be overwhelming for everyone involved, and those obligations usually have to be put on hold until life at home settles down.

What you can do: Don’t be upset or hurt if calls or e-mails aren’t returned. Let it slide and know that life will return to normal eventually.

4. Listen, listen, listen
Adoptive families have unique challenges and struggles. Give them space to share frustrations and vent without feeling judged.

“I was thankful to have people who allowed me to pour out my heart without making me feel as if I had betrayed my child or didn’t appreciate the incredible gift and blessing I’d been given. They gave me an outlet, which gave me the strength to be what my child needed as he learned to trust me.”
- Lori Risinger Heinrich

What you can do: Cry with the new family in the heartaches and celebrate with them in the triumphs. You may get tired of hearing the same problems over and over again, but the family needs your support and love.

5. Give Mom and Dad a breather
Many adoptive parents will hardly have time to think straight or sometimes even take a shower, much less any quality alone time to enjoy each other’s company.

“[What blessed me was] giving me a break and taking him to park as I was adjusting to parenthood. Just being there and loving our family as our lives changed.”
- Kari Forrest Hunt

What you can do: Come over and babysit for the new parents. If it’s too soon for the kids to be alone with a sitter, offer to come over after the children are asleep so that parents can take a short walk or have a coffee date.

Four Things That Should Be Left Unsaid:

1. Don’t give unsolicited parenting advice.
This is particularly true for parents who have adopted older children or foster children. If you haven’t parented a child who has lived through trauma, you can’t know what’s best for that child. Don’t offer suggestions or advice unless they ask you for it.

2. Don’t ask about the child’s past.
“We are proud of [our son] and all he’s overcome. We long to tell you EVERYTHING about what a miracle he is, but the story is our child’s to tell, not ours. When the questions become prying and personal, it is very uncomfortable for us. We don’t want to hurt your feelings, but for our child, we have to find a nice way to tell you it’s none of your business.”
- Lori Risinger Heinrich

3. Don’t ask, “Which children are yours?”
Biological or adopted, it makes no difference. All of the children are theirs.

4. Don’t comment on a child’s appearance or ethnicity in front of him or her.
“If my child looks different than the rest of the family, chances are we’ve already noticed, and chances are he has too. Hearing constant comments about it does not help him to feel like he belongs.”
- Lori Risinger Heinrich
Do you have other suggestions for ways to bless new adoptive families? Leave them in the comments below!

Click on the first photo below to start the slideshow.

 

By Mercy Salinas
Activities Coordinator
Buckner Rio Grande Children’s Home

Jerry Maples beamed as he watched more than 50 participants work hard to plant over sixty frog-fruit, Turks cap, betony mistflower and white brush plants.

Maples is a volunteer at the Rio Grande Children’s Home, the designer of the Children’s Prayer Garden and a member of the McAllen-Mission Garden Club. More than two years ago, some residents of RGCH voiced their wish to have a place where they could retreat to spend time with God—a special place where they could seek God in the peaceful, natural surroundings of his beautiful creation.

When Maples got wind of the children’s desire, he immediately began working to make their wish come true.  He started planning a garden that would not only be a place of beauty, but a garden that would be simple, practical and filled with native plants and flowers that would attract birds, butterflies and other wildlife.  It would also be hardy and not easily affected by the harsh, extreme climate of South Texas. And keeping the wellbeing of the children and the environment in mind, it had to be organic. He shared his vision with others and eventually, the dream started to materialize as he recruited volunteers and donors.

The Children’s Prayer Garden will include an exotic fruit tree garden, a citrus garden, a grapevine garden and other trees and plants native to the area. In the midst of the garden, Maples plans to put a giant cross and three Italian Cypress Pine trees to represent the Trinity. The garden will also feature a pond with a waterfall.

Other volunteers at the Community Project Day included members of the McAllen-Mission Garden Club, the North McAllen Lions Club and First United Methodist Church of Harlingen, Texas.  After the work day, volunteers joined the staff and residents for a luncheon at the Rio Grande Children’s Home Activity Center.  After the luncheon, Maples and the volunteer groups were recognized and honored for their participation in the project.

The prayer garden has taken off, but there is still much to be done. Some of the needs are a vertical irrigation system, materials for the cross, material for benches, mulch, material for lighting and plants.

Help make a wish come true by prayerfully considering contributing to this special project by volunteering to work on the garden or by making a donation. For more information, call Monica Skrypinski or Mercy Lackey at 956-585-4847.

The first time Sarah and Kevin Dildine met their 4-year-old son Jasper in a Russian orphanage, he sat and played with a toy truck, not making any noises or sound effects like most kids. He rarely spoke.

Now, according to his mother, Jasper dances and bounces everywhere he goes.

“When I watch him, I think, ‘This neat little personality was in there all this time, but we are just now getting to see it. He is just now realizing that he can play and be a kid and be the person he is,’” Sarah Dildine said.

The Dildines, who live in Hughes Springs, Texas, brought Jasper home May 6. They started the process in June 2010 with case workers from Buckner Adoption and Maternity Services. Although for many families the adoption process can take years, Russian adoptions currently move faster than other international countries, said Debbie Wynne, director of Buckner Adoption and Maternity Services.

Overwhelming need for families

Russia first attempts to place children domestically before they can be adopted internationally. They must remain on the domestic adoption list for 12 months, which is why it’s difficult to adopt infants from Russia, according to Wynne.

“The need is so overwhelming in Russia,” Wynne said. “When you think international adoption is the last option, and they’re living in an institution, they’re already in a bad situation.”

Children as young as 11 to 12 months are available for adoption from Russia, which wasn’t always the case with Buckner adoptions. However, the need is still greatest for older children.

Russian children age out of the orphanage system at age 16 or 17, and unfortunately, many aren’t well-prepared for adulthood. About 10,000 children graduate from the system each year. Of that, 8,500 resort to a world of crime and prostitution. Five hundred commit suicide in the first year, said Irina Young, program director for Buckner Adoption and Maternity Services in Russia and Honduras.

Younger children available

The Dildines knew they wanted a younger child when they started the adoption process. At first, they wanted one under the age of two. But after attending informational meetings with Buckner representatives, they upped their age limit. They said they’re glad they did because just a few weeks later, Jasper turned three.

“We’ve had to turn some children away because we don’t have enough families,” Wynne said. “For families that are open to age and gender preferences and health risks, it’s amazing how quickly their process can go. You hope it’s a couple that’s prayerfully considering their heart.”

Buckner’s ‘Angels from Abroad’ program, where Russian orphans stayed with families in the U.S. for two weeks to learn about American culture and what it’s like to be in a family, was postponed in February 2011 due to recent changes in Russian law governing overseas hosting programs. The program resulted in many adoptions, but since it’s been postponed, there are fewer families in the process to adopt Russian orphans right now.

In 2011, Buckner placed 22 children with adoptive families, ranging from 12 months to 12 years, Young said.

Education is key

Buckner, along with the Dildines, encourages families thinking about adoption to do their research, especially when it comes to potential medical issues.

“They need to educate themselves and explore those medical issues they hear about. It might sound serious but could be something easily treatable in the U.S., however, not as easy to treat in a Russian orphanage,” Young said.

There are independent pediatricians in Russia that Buckner uses for secondary medical examinations and opinions when the family requests it.

A new bilateral agreement regarding adoptions between the United States and Russia will not change the adoption process, but allows both countries to come together on an agreement of “best practices,” Wynne said.

Under the agreement, only adoption agencies authorized by the Russian government, like Buckner, will be able to operate in Russia and provide services in adoptions covered by the agreement.

This will largely eliminate independent adoptions from Russia and create a better defined framework for intercountry adoptions between the United States and Russia.  The agreement also includes provisions designed to improve post-adoption reporting and monitoring and to ensure that prospective adoptive parents receive more complete information about adoptive children’s social and medical histories and anticipated needs.

Logistics are doable

Another concern for prospective adoptive parents is the cost of adoption and the travel involved. Russia requires two to three trips, in addition to the paperwork with three different government agencies. There are many funding options available for families, including Buckner scholarships and outside grants.

“I knew that this whole process was out of my control and would drive me crazy if I let it,” Dildine said. “However, I knew that the one thing I did have control over was how quickly I did my paperwork, so that is what I chose to focus on.

“Another hard part of the process is, once you get your referral, waiting to get your travel dates and then waiting on your court dates … You just have to remember that everything is happening according to God’s plan and try not to dwell on your own plans.”

Wynne said some families feel daunted with multiple trips to Russia, but that there’s a value in being able to meet the child and get acquainted before the adoption is finalized.

To learn more about Russian adoptions through Buckner Adoption and Maternity Services, visit www.beafamily.org or www.dillonadopt.com.

The Wilkins family adopted two older children from Russia, giving them a new start, an opportunity to thrive and a chance to lose the stigma of being an orphan in Russia. Click here to watch the video!

Reprinted from the Amarillo Globe-News, Oct. 4, 2011

It’s not that Tim and December Barcroft wouldn’t love to be in Washington, D.C., Wednesday. They would be among 150 others nationally to be honored at a gala as part of the Angels in Adoption awards through the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute.

It’s just they can’t.

Tim has a route to run delivering tortillas around the area for J&T Distributing. December, who not surprisingly, was born in December, can’t afford to miss class at West Texas A&M University, where she’s studying to be a teacher. Then there are the girls — Genie, Heavenly and Kelsey — what to do about them?

“It’s probably best we not go,” Tim said. “We’d like to, but just can’t. It’s disappointing, but money was also an issue as well.”

The Barcrofts are a common couple doing an extraordinarily uncommon thing. That’s what foster parents are. They’re like so many on the outside, but inside have an extra dose of love, unselfishness and sacrifice.

Life was peaceful and routine the first five years of their marriage. Maybe too peaceful.

“We were tired of our quiet house,” December said.

They talked of being foster parents for three years. Finally, they enrolled in the foster parents program through Buckner International, training that is intense and rigorous. They had a heart for children, had none of their own, and were eager to have some extra noise in their home.

“Foster parents have to be patient, flexible, giving, and obviously loving,” said Scott Collins, vice president of communications for Buckner. “I think for Tim and December, it was also part of a spiritual calling.”

In March 2009, they became foster parents of two boys, Aaron, 6, and Jason, 9. They were in their home until they returned to their mother the day after Christmas 2009.

“We still pick them up and take them to church every Sunday,” Tim said. “They may not live with us, but they’re still part of our family.”

It’s now a crowded drive to New Life FourSquare Church. A little more than a month after the two brothers left, the Barcrofts received two sisters, Genie, 14, and Heavenly, 6, in January 2010 from the Panhandle Assessment Center. In March of that year, their infant sister, Kelsey, 1, was taken from another foster home to join her sisters.

“It’s been mind-altering, a house full of girls,” said Tim. “I mean, sharing one bathroom, come on. There’s not a moment’s peace with that. It’s been rough, but we love them to death, absolutely love them to death.”

Imagine this challenge: A teenager, one in kindergarten, and one who is now 2 years old. Those are some different needs and priorities with no time for parents to grow into the challenge.

“Kelsey can entertain herself. She’s independent, but very loving,” Tim said. “Heavenly had some severe behavioral issues in the beginning, but she’s come a long way. Genie is Genie. She’s attached and then detached. She has her moments as I’m sure all 14-year-olds do.”

But few have had the baggage the two oldest had been saddled with. What was missing in their lives, as it is with virtually all foster children, is stability, a parental role model who will be there for them.

“We’ve provided them and showed them there are people out there who do love them for who they are,” December said.

The Barcrofts didn’t get to go to the nation’s capital Wednesday, but they did get to go to 108th District Court in Potter County last Thursday. There, before Judge Doug Woodburn, the Barcrofts legally adopted the three girls. No doubt which one meant more.

“Going to Washington would have been pretty cool,” said Tim, “but the real honor is the having these kids for a lifetime.”

But the Barcrofts hope this isn’t the final chapter. They would like to add more foster children and their own biological children one day.

“God’s not done with us yet,” Tim said, “but we’re going to need a bigger home.”

Jon Mark Beilue is a columnist for the Globe-News. He can be reached at jon.beilue@amarillo.com or 806-345-3318. His blog appears on amarillo.com.