HARRISONVILLE – A ministry founded by Kansas City Baptists is using unusual tools to help survivors of human trafficking understand unconditional love: goats.
Founded by Kansas City-Blue River Baptist Association in 2015, Restoration House of Greater Kansas City is now its own ministry and offers long-term, residential housing with faith-based restorative programs and services for adult women and minor girl survivors of human trafficking.
One of the unexpected ways RH ministers to its residents is through goat therapy on its seven-acre farm south of Kansas City. Roxie Loyd, executive director of programs at RH, said it a way to show the survivors what it’s like to be loved.
“You can see their light come on, and that happiness starts to show, she said. “You see them starting to care for these animals and nurturing them, brushing them, feeding them, milking them; it’s all part of a great experience.”
“This program saved my life,” a survivor said. “It gave me a whole new outlook. It helped me find who I am and what I’m worth.”
That’s not all RH does as it ministers to its residents, of course. The ministry provides housing, food, healthcare, therapy, education, emotional and spiritual counseling, as well as job skill training. The end goal is to: restore faith in mankind and God; restore hope for a better tomorrow; and restore trust that love can be unconditional, not transactional.
Restoration House was one of the charities selected for the AdventHealth Championship Play It
Forward matching gift program. Named for the PGA Tour-sanctioned event taking place in Kansas City May 16-22, RH will receive a 10 percent match on the first $50,000 raised through the tournament’s chartable event.
Restoration House is asking Missouri Baptists to create or join a team at https://give.classy.org/RestorationHouseKC. Teams can raise $500 to sponsor one of the goats at RH Farms. Restoration House will also be giving some “GOAT” (Greatest Of All Time) prizes to the top teams.
For more information about RH, go to www.restorationhousekc.org.