Counseling Testimony

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God uses our family therapists on a daily basis to offer hope to hurting families from Corpus Christi to San Antonio to Houston. One client recently shared with his church his experience in marriage counseling at STCH Ministries.

“After the birth of our second son, my wife and I slowly slipped into some unhealthy patterns that were wreaking havoc on our relationship. We were both exhausted working multiple jobs and trying to raise our family – you know, just the normal everyday life stuff that comes with parenting a 2-year-old and a newborn. Then about 9 months later my wife was diagnosed with postpartum depression and we knew we were not in a good place in our marriage.

“A friend recommended that we contact STCH Ministries and we set up a meeting the next week. Like most couples we probably both went in hoping that our counselor would ‘fix’ the other person, but the reality was that she was able to hear what my wife and I had been saying/doing to one another and then helped translate it so we could each understand where the other person was coming from.

“We’ve had a number of breakthrough moments through our weekly counseling sessions. 2016 was an incredibly difficult year for us and without STCH there to walk alongside us we would have continued down a hopeless road and our story would likely have had a bad ending. Thank you for supporting STCH. Our experience with them has been absolutely incredible – it has changed our lives!”

At our Family Counseling ministry, we offer counseling that is clinically excellent and distinctively Christian. We believe in using scriptural principles as the foundation for viewing life’s problems. For over twenty years we have provided hope and direction from a biblical perspective for countless individuals, couples, children, and families. If your family needs help, call us at 1.833.83.STCHM to schedule an appointment.

Submitted by Family Counseling – Houston

Never the Same Again

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I will never be the same again…nunca seremos los mismos! Words we love to hear in any language. Changing lives for God’s glory…changing lives to enable them to fulfill their potential…empowering others to become Light-bearers for their families, communities, and the world.

For over 10 years we have ministered to children and their families in the Dominican Republic—in orphanages, schools, churches and through our Samuel’s Fund sponsorship program. Most of these children have suffered trauma during critical stages of their development due to abandonment, hunger, and abuse in many forms. With limited knowledge and virtually no available training, the staff at orphanages, teachers in the local schools, and children’s caregivers struggle to handle the behavioral symptoms of this trauma. They work tirelessly to love the unlovable, set appropriate limits, heal wounds, and meet need.

After searching for some time, last fall God led us to find a training course, Trauma Competent Caregivers. Amazingly, certified facilitators offered this training in Spanish in April, 2018 in two different locations in the Dominican Republic. STCH Ministries sponsored a total of 33 staff members, teachers, and caregivers from the local community to attend. Additionally, our Dominican STCH staff stepped up, volunteered their time, and traveled to Santiago, spending two nights and two full days caring for those children, so that 18 caregivers could be trained.

Some of the comments we have received:

Janibel: “I learned to have empathy for the abuse that children have suffered, how to understand them better…the importance of listening to them, and even playing with them.”

Ruth Ester: “I learned the importance of three things for children—security, sense of permanency, meeting their needs for well-being.”

Alejandra: “I have better tools for disciplining children in my home, responding according to the occasion and the behavior. This will help me to better connect, empower, and correct their behavior.

Valentina Flores, one of our own STCH Ministries team members, summed up the experience for everyone, “In reality, the knowledge we received has impacted the lives of each of us, and we will never be the same again! Now that we learned about different temperaments, how to calm them, meet their needs and identify trauma, we will not see children as we did before.

You and I are the blessed ones, the ones God has entrusted with the privilege of caring for children, counseling for broken lives and marriages, teaching truths from God’s Word that can set people free. And we are blessed 100 times more to share these ministries with you–volunteers, churches, mission trip participants, and sponsors.

Finding Potential with Limited Resources

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One of the most difficult aspects of the Samuel’s Fund sponsorship program is choosing which children to sponsor. How we wish that resources were unlimited, but only God is limitless. So we must choose. We cannot go strictly on need. The criteria is not only need, but also potential.

Potential includes a reasonable degree of support in the child’s environment—someone who will provide accountability for school and church attendance. It also includes a good attitude and willingness to invest efforts in their schoolwork. When those standards are met, our STCH Ministries team invests whatever it takes to help that child succeed.

Recently Rebeca, our Samuel’s Fund Director in the Dominican Republic, traveled about two hours to visit a school in Bani.

I went to Bani to visit with Christopher Cabrera’s mom and teachers. I had received information that Christopher was stuck and not progressing in his learning. I talked to mom who admitted that she had failed to help him to do what the Special Ed. teacher had recommended in the past. I helped her explain to the homeroom teacher, who didn’t know his past difficulties, all that Christopher and his previous teacher had achieved.

As a result of this visit, an online group called “Christopher support group” was created. Both mom and the current teacher were encouraged and they promised to work hard. It was worth making this trip.

Once a child is accepted in the sponsorship program, we are dedicated to their success and to minister to their families. Staying in contact, finding resources, addressing issues, advocating for them—it’s intense and time-consuming. We make it a priority to be faithful stewards of our resources in an effort to develop the potential God has given to each child.

Not So Impossible After All

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The single moms who live at Homes for Families are on a journey of faith. They are building a relationship with God and learning how to be the mothers that He created them to be. In the past few months, they discovered that faith has a big impact on their finances as well.

STCH Ministries brought two of our programs together: a Faith & Finances class was conducted at Homes for Families to teach the moms about biblical principles of money management.  In the first few classes, the moms learned the basics: what the Bible says about money, how to create a spending plan, and how to save for emergencies. As the semester progressed, so did the depth of the topics. The women learned how to understand interest rates and avoid predatory lenders.  They pulled their credit reports for the first time and, in some cases, were a bit shocked to discover how many past mistakes were still following them around. The Faith & Finances instructor worked individually with several students to make an action plan and begin setting things straight.

Perhaps most importantly, the class taught this group of moms that their dreams are not so impossible after all. Debt doesn’t have to be a way of life, and poverty doesn’t have to be permanent. An education and decent job are within reach. One day, they can provide a safe and comfortable house for their children and even pay it off. Faith & Finances showed them how to stop living in a financial crisis and begin the slow, steady process of building a foundation for the future.

The moms recently celebrated the completion of the class and received their certificates, along with the Homes for Families staff who also took part in the course. Their graduation was held on the first day of spring—a fitting metaphor of the renewed financial life that these ladies are beginning.

To find out more about Faith & Finances, take a look at the latest edition of the Messenger. If your church or organization is interested in partnering with us to host a class, visit www.STCHM.org/FF to contact the office nearest to you.