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Harvest Child Care Ministries recently celebrated eighteen years of ministry to abused, abandoned, or neglected boys and girls. This ministry has been through several metamorphoses in these past years. From our earliest beginnings at the Jasper Cottage to the development and relocation of our campus to the Stickleyville community in Lee County, VA; Harvest’s priority remains true—children.
The past couple of years, Harvest has served more and more children from church families. This is a new and exciting trend for the ministry. Even church families are becoming more dysfunctional as they embrace the idea that the American dream means having everything you want. This ideology is destroying families. Under this pressure parents often divorce, leaving the children to choose with whom they will live. They often choose the most disengaged of the two. One such child came to Harvest the very day their parents’ divorce became final. At Harvest, families receive counseling from our experienced licensed family therapist. If they are willing to work hard and want to make a better home for their child, they can be successful. One young man gave his parents our behavior support information, so they could learn how to parent him when he returned home. Children want rules and boundaries—this is how they know they are loved and cared for.
Each day we receive calls from distressed parents who just do not know how to be a parent. Unfortunately, because we do not have funds readily available, we are able to accept only a few of these children. We screen the children carefully. If on initial interview, we think this child can be helped with the services we provide, we will take that child. The families, whose children we are not able to accept, are given information about other resources where they may receive help. This is sad because we know we have the tool to help families—the gospel. But it would be an atrocity to take a child and not have the resources to care for it.
With the influx of families who need help, Harvest is asking churches to help us meet those needs by receiving a special offering on Sunday, November 6th. Please watch your mail for more information. Begin now, encouraging your church to help. Gifts from individuals are welcome as well. You can mail your gift to Harvest for Harvest, PO Box 259, Duffield, VA 24244. Thank you in advance for your prayers and gifts.
