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

Líderes de la Convención Bautista Hispana de Texas y Buckner Internacional se reunieron el 12 de enero en las oficinas de Buckner para firmar un acuerdo que los dos grupos dicen que facilitará programas de misiones y servicios misioneros para la comunidad cristiana hispana. Entre los asistentes a la firma fueron (de izquierda a derecha): Sergio Ramos, director de la expansión y el desarrollo para Buckner; JoAnn Cole, vicepresidente de Buckner Children and Family Services (Servicios para Niños y Familias); presidente de Buckner Albert L. Reyes; presidente de CBHT Jesse Rincones; Rolando Rodríguez, director del trabajo hispano de la Convención Bautista General de Texas; y Felipe Garza, vicepresidente de expansión y desarrollo para Buckner. - Foto de Russ Dilday, Buckner International

Por Russ Dilday
Buckner News Service

DALLAS – Líderes de la Convención Bautista Hispana de Texas y Buckner Internacional se juntaron el 12 de enero en las oficinas de Buckner para firmar un acuerdo que los dos grupos dicen que facilitará programas de misiones y servicios misioneros para la comunidad cristiana hispana. Jesse Rincones, presidente de la CBHT, co-firmó el “Pacto Misionero” con el presidente de Buckner, Albert L. Reyes.

En general, el pacto le da a cada grupo un perfil más alto en la promoción de misiones, ofrece más oportunidades para que los miembros de la Convención participen en misiones de servicio voluntario, y tiene por objeto mejorar el trabajo de Shoes for Orphan Souls (Zapatos para Húerfanos), el proyecto de Buckner de ayuda humanitaria.

Reyes dijo que la alianza dará a Buckner “un enfoque más intencional y deliberada en la importancia de la iglesia local y en nuestra misión,” y agregó, “Esto nos conecta no sólo a las iglesias, pero las iglesias que tienen en común el origen hispano, lengua y cultura. Hay muchas cosas que vamos a hacer para aprovechar estas circunstancias en los países y zonas con culturas similares.”

Rincones, quien también se desempeña como pastor de la Iglesia Alianza en Lubbock, Texas, dijo que el acuerdo es importante para la Convención debido a “la rica experiencia y los recursos que Buckner trae a nuestras congregaciones.”

“Durante muchos años, las congregaciones hispanas han sido los beneficiarios de los esfuerzos misioneros bautistas,” él dijo. “Ahora estamos viendo un cambio de mentalidad y nos estamos mirando a nosotros mismos como colaboradores y promotores de los esfuerzos misioneros. La capacitación y las oportunidades que vamos a recibir en esta colaboración van a permitir que nuestras congregaciones aceleren el proceso de ser iniciadores de las misiones.”

Rolando Rodríguez, director del trabajo hispano de la Convención Bautista General de Texas, estuvo de acuerdo. “Es un nuevo día para la Convención, una oportunidad nueva. Durante muchos años, las iglesias hispanas se han considerado como un campo de misión – ahora se han convertido en una fuerza misionera.”

–30–

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–

Her name is Maria Belen. Belen is 5 years old, owns a little dog named Chocolate and loves to dance and play hide-and-seek. She also does not speak any English.

Her beautiful smile was the first to greet me each day and she was the last one to give me a hug when I left. We often communicated nonverbally and by the end of the week I could understand her rather well. What I did not know was how much she understood from me.

Through my spotty Spanish and role playing, I shared with her several Bible stories and verses. It was rather entertaining to watch, I’m sure. Yet, apparently Belen was sharing with her mother each night what we had learned together that day.

At the end of the week Belen’s mother came up to me and handed me a yellow bag she made for me. Belen had shared with her mother that yellow was my favorite color, and she wanted to thank me for sharing the love and joy of Christ with their family.

This experienced reminded me that God’s power and grace is beyond languages and cultures. It is incredible to witness His gospel message spread worldwide through the faithfulness of his followers.

Spending time in another culture always produces barriers, but by actively showing love and leaning on God’s guidance, you can be a useful tool for the Gospel. Isaiah 55:10-11 is a beautiful picture of God’s word and how it flourishes and does not return empty:

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

Jeanne Jacobs served as a volunteer with Project Go! last summer in Peru. The deadline to sign up to be a 2012 Project Go! volunteer is Feb. 5. Click here for more information. 

Mother-daughter mission trips offer a chance to bond over shared experiences in an environment like no other.

Barb McDonald and her daughter, Annie, went on the trip to Guatemala last year, when a painful diagnosis prompted Barb to start living out her dreams:

In August 2009 I was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. I asked my doctor what I should do. He suggested that I live in three-month increments and do all the things I want to do in that time. Annie, my daughter, and I had been discussing going on a trip to serve orphans so I went on the search. I turned to Buckner first because I had heard about Shoes for Orphan Souls trips on our local Christian radio station, KLOVE.  

When I explored the website, the mother-daughter trip sounded ideal for us. We had been to Guatemala before and feel in love with the children, so we knew this was a trip that God planned for us.

The Buckner trip was an experience that will forever bond Annie and me together in a new and deeper way. Our faith in a mighty God who calls us to serve the orphans and widows is deepened and filled with hope for the futures of the children we met. Each child, some with devastating stories, had the building blocks for a strong faith because of the work Buckner does in places like this.

With my weakened physical state, I was concerned about the accommodations. The hotel where we stayed was beautiful and a restful retreat after a long and emotional day with the amazing children and mothers of Guatemala.

Buckner answered a dream—one that I always thought would happen later, when we had more money or when we had more time. The cancer diagnosis prompted me to act on our biggest dreams and make them come true. I had a beautiful group of friends who supported us and reminded us that the body of Christ is a blessing. Without their support, it would not have been possible.

Throughout the trip, we bonded no only with the children of Guatemala, but also with the other mothers and daughters and we still keep in touch with most of our group. We were changed forever having done this beautiful trip. We were heartbroken when the translators told us their own stories of struggle and educated us on the state of Guatemalan government, of the corruption and the fight against this corruption. I pray for Guatemala every day and Buckner made it all possible.

Anyone considering this trip will be blessed beyond belief.

Volunteers on the 2012 trip will be serving children and families in the Buckner Honduras Community Transformation Center in El Eden, an impoverished area of the city of Tegucigalpa, as well as children in the Casitas Kennedy orphanage.

They will be working in the Buckner programs adding to the ongoing education, job training and spiritual formation that takes place year round, and acting as mentors to women and young ladies in the community. Volunteers will also distribute new shoes to children.

These trips are not limited strictly to mothers and daughters – grandmothers, granddaughters, godmothers and mother figures are all welcome.

“I looking forward to watching mothers and daughters connect on a spiritual level and expand their worldview together,” said Ashley Marble, trip coordinator. “The influence that will have on their family is priceless.”

Please click here to see a flier with more information about the trip. Or click here to sign up!

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 Diamond Richardson
Buckner International

DALLAS – Participants in HIV prevention education classes held at Buckner International’s Simari Ridge Community Resource Center graduated from the program in a ceremony at the Urban League of Greater Dallas administration offices.

“One of our guiding principles is to empower the community through the power of life,” said Loretta Johnson, health director for the Urban League of Greater Dallas, to the graduates. “The life that each of you are saving by completing this program is your own.” 

Simari Ridge collaborated with the Urban League of Greater Dallas, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to provide HIV prevention education to adults in the South Dallas area, said Carter Shepard, community resource coordinator for Simari Ridge.

Students learned about gender specific issues, HIV prevention, safe sex practices and behavioral self-management during SISTA, the women’s program, and NIA, the men’s program, said Tynetta Runnels, lead facilitator for SISTA. 

“There are a lot of role-playing situations, where we put people in certain situations with a girl or guy and work through how to handle the situation,” said AnDrou Hatchett, lead facilitator for the SISTA program.

Runnels said many of the women were passive when it came to HIV prevention because they had low self-esteem coming into the program, but she hopes the program will encourage them to take charge of their sexual health.

“I will definitely make sure my next boyfriend gets tested,” said Lytisha Robinson, a SISTA graduate. “And if he is not OK with that, then he can’t be with me because SISTA has taught me to love myself more.”

Kerry Washington, a graduate of the NIA program, sang at the graduation ceremony.

Kerry Johnson graduated from the NIA program and said he is thankful for the valuable information he learned.

“Before these classes I heard about HIV and AIDS on TV but I didn’t really know a lot,” he said. “Now I know what signs to look for and I am going to be more aware of who I choose to be with.”

At the graduation, Johnson encouraged the students to take what they have learned and share it with others.

“AIDS is the number one killer in the African-American community but information brings transformation,” she said. “Now we are going to release you to the front lines of this war and we are going to fight it.”

To find out more about the ways you can support Buckner community center programs, please call Buckner Foundation at 214-758-8050.

By Chelsea Quackenbush
Buckner International

For the Garretts, it’s a calling God placed on their hearts more than a decade ago.

“God mandates us to take care of our offerings, of our children,” Monica said. “God put me in my place and I just give my life away. It’s how I find my joy.”

Monica and Ivory were honored on April 16 at the Region V Foster and Adoptive Parent Conference. They currently parent nine children between ages five and 14 in a foster group home on the Beaumont Buckner Children’s Village campus. They also raised a combined five biological children, who are grown and out of the house.

“She understands what her role is, and knows how to work with the kids and figure them out,” said Samela Macon, program director of Buckner Child and Family Services of Beaumont. “She handles herself as a professional parent to provide a therapeutic environment but she’s still a mother to them.”

God’s calling

Monica Garrett started her journey in foster care as lead staff in a Buckner group home in 1997. Ivory soon joined her as they realized God’s calling for their lives. Their home was licensed for foster care in 1999, and for the next 10 years, they worked with about 25 children.

In 2009, they opened a group home for children with therapeutic needs. Since then, they’ve worked with 18 children, many of whom have had specialized needs, including significant development delays.

The Garretts take on “tough” kids, those who other people might shy away from, like their 14-year-old twin boys with autism. They take on the challenge because the kids are worth it. They are rarely willing to consider failure, Macon said.

The Garretts don’t let the challenge of having a lot of kids get in the way of having a normal life. They encourage each child to be themselves and provide ways for the kids to pursue their own interests.

Nontraditional but still a family

The clan of 11 does everything as a family. They cheer on their foster brothers and sisters at their baseball games. They go to the grocery store, to the mall and to school together. They go on fishing trips, road trips to Ivory’s country house, and even a trip to Disney World.

Ivory said he had to get used to dealing with so many kids at one time, but now he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I say I’m going to take a break and go fishing, but guess who’s coming with me?” he said.

“Everyone!” he and Monica answer in unison.

 “You truly have to be equipped to be a foster parent,” Monica said. “God has to equip you. I always say that even if I had a billion dollars, I’d still be a foster parent for the rest of my life.”

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.