BRIDGETON – Trustees appealed for help to send children to camp and received a clean audit report at their April 23 board meeting of the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home (MBCH) at their main campus here.
The agency, which works with on average 600 children and 250 families any given day, is also planning its sixth annual camp for students in its care July 8-12 at Camp Palestine in Chilhowee, south of Warrensburg.
It costs $200 per student to attend camp, and the MBCH board asked for churches, Sunday School classes and Vacation Bible Schools to help sponsor students. They are also seeking volunteers to staff the camp.
The board also heard more about one of MBCH’s newest ministries, “Freedom 43:19,” a collaboration with International Crisis Aid. A safe house for women and girls trying to leave human trafficking/prostitution, it takes its name from the 43rd chapter of Isaiah, which says “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Women that want out of their lifestyle are either picked up by a detective or they turn themselves in with a desire to get help and turn their lives around. There are three phases to the program that takes place at an undisclosed safe house in the St. Louis area. The first focuses on life skills and getting the women to see themselves as valuable. The second phase focuses on education – because most have dropped out of school – and job training. Phase three is preparing her to go out on her own to lead a normal life. Statistics suggest on average it will take a woman seven times leaving and returning to the program for it to finally sink in. Many will be addicted to drugs, and withdrawal adds to the hardship of sticking with the rehabilitation program.
“The last board meeting we talked about a woman who came to us and stayed for a day or so then left,” said Ron Robinson, chair of MBCH Children and Family ministries and pastor of First Baptist Van Buren. “She’s signed herself back in yesterday. This is an exciting ministry and we’re excited to see what God can do.”
The present goal is to rehabilitate up to 11 girls at a time between the ages of 17 and 24. The extended goal is to increase the capacity to 22 girls, including minors.
Trustees received a glowing, “clean” audit, and heard positive financial reports. Income from Cooperative Program is down just slightly over last year, but income from individual churches is up. Bequests and gifts from wills are significantly up over the first quarter in 2012. MBCH has budgeted to raise nearly $2.5 million through maternity home, residential and pregnancy resource tax credits in 2013. All told, year to date revenue is up 1.6 percent. Though expenses are up 12 percent over this time last year, MBCH is still more than $200,000 in the black. The bottom line was helped significantly by a much stronger investment portfolio: in 2011, MBCH’s investments lost $1.7 million in value, but gained $419,000 in 2012.
Their next meeting is July 22-23 at the Bridgeton campus.