Summer interns have assisted Homes for Children (HFC) on the Boothe Campus for nearly 30 years. Enabling others to join in the ministry of reaching hurting children and families with God’s love and truth is essential to the mission of STCH Ministries and the intern program is one way to achieve that. This year, five college students lived among our students at Boothe Campus from May to August.  The staff feels interns make summers richer providing guidance and friendship to the students on campus.

College students provide unique friendships as they pour into the lives and hearts of the kids, friendships they probably do not have with their houseparents, their caseworkers or other staff.

Benjamin Brewer, a sociology major at Texas A&M University at San Antonio, is described by his peers as warm-hearted, energetic, compassionate, hardworking and wise. He applies passion and energy to all things giving an example of what a godly man looks like.

A few of the interns shared their experience at HFC and what they learned about themselves and God as they served. This is Benjamin’s story, in his own words:

This was my fourth and last summer here at Boothe Campus, I graduate with my bachelor’s degree this spring. The time I spent here has been marvelous. I built relationships with children and with houseparents that go so much deeper than I ever imagined; relationships that will impact me for the rest of my life. The amount of love a child can audaciously love you with is unfathomable. These hurting kids know how to love well, yet sometimes have a hard time receiving love because of their pasts. For me, that tends to be the hardest barrier to cross when it comes to building relationships with these spectacular children.

I learned so much about children and enjoyed the time I poured my life into them. My prayer has been to impact them for Jesus, and to Jesus, in all that I say and do. Not that it was me or of me that I loved them, but it was also Christ through me that loved them. Jesus enabled me to love and serve them with energy and compassion.

But this is not a story of how I impacted and loved these kids for the betterment of their lives. This is how they have taught me to love, to be loved and what it feels like to be loved by my Heavenly Father. I know it is easy to view these kids as troubled and needy. But I am just like them, in terms of my relationship with God. I am the one that needs His love; I am the one that needs to learn how to love back, I am the one that sometimes feels like I am rejected and have a poor image of myself. This place has taught me so much more about me and who I am; the reality is unreal.

Being here, I put Jesus’ instructions into practice. I served, loved and told of his remarkable Good News. So many experiences at HFC astounded me with God’s love – holding a little one and the sensation of torrential amounts of love that you have for her, playing football with little kids outside for what seems like forever, the trust of a child asleep in your arms, a teenager crying on your shoulder and the opportunity to share with them that Jesus is enough, the honor to shout their name from the stands as they walk across the stage to grab their diploma. The memories are unforgettable; I cherish them in my heart.

I want to say thank you to the fantastic houseparents for not only being houseparents to STCH Ministries’ kids but to us as well. Allowing us into their homes, feeding us and praying for us; it is something that I know I will never forget and helped me develop into the person I am today. Being In their homes was my favorite part of this whole experience.

I love and appreciate STCH Ministries Homes for Children. Thank you for everything.

Applications for summer 2020 will be accepted beginning January 2020 for anyone interested. Please call our office at 367-375-2101 or send an email to intake-homesforchildren@stchm.org for more information.

STCH Ministries is a collaborative effort. The dream birthed in the heart of Laura Boothe 67 years ago grew into an organization leading hundreds to meet the needs of children and families in crisis across South Texas and around the world. As you know, STCH Ministries is comprised of nine ministries, each one dedicated to healing hearts and sharing hope in their own way.

One of our driving principals is to remain 100% privately funded and God has honored that principal by providing through His people on many levels. STCH Ministries continues to grow because individuals and churches go beyond financial support. They link arms with our staff every day.

Fourteen Churches spanning from San Antonio to Houston, all the way down to Corpus Christi partnered with our Family Counseling ministry to provide a place for families and individuals to find hope and direction when they found themselves in broken places.

Couples enjoyed romance and inspiration in Corpus Christi during Date Night by the Bay. School counselors, pastoral staff and others who help people earned continuing education credit and more tools for their work at our 3rd annual iCare conference in Victoria. These events further Family Counseling’s efforts to provide safe environments for individuals, couples and families to process through the places of hurt in their lives.

God used our Faith & Work and Faith & Finances ministries as instruments of hope, reconciliation and healing for families across Houston, San Antonio and Corpus Christi helping people discover God’s purpose for their life, work and money. Students in all three cities testified to the practical and spiritual impact these programs made on them both personally and professionally. Class sizes, new training sites and the support from volunteers willing to assist in facilitating allowed the courses to increase in all three cities.

Hundreds of individuals stepped up to encourage the children and moms at Homes for Children and Homes for Families. That encouragement was expressed through hugs, group activities, new sidewalks and playing games.

Others literally went the extra mile traveling beyond the borders of the United States to Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Peru. Volunteers in these places ministered to orphans, taught job skills and built homes to show that Jesus’ love crosses man-made boundaries.

Our vision is to show the love of Christ to each child and family to whom we minister. Your cooperation brings it to reality as you pray, demonstrate acts of love through time spent helping others and financial support. Thank you for joining us in reaching hurting children and families with God’s love and truth.

R U OK? With this simple question, anyone can act as a superhero to a friend in need.

STCH Ministries Family Counseling joined Golder Associates in creating awareness that it is okay not to be okay. Family Counseling Regional Director Lorraine Turner presented during a suicide prevention event hosted by the global environmental consulting company.

Every day there are tragic stories about the toll mental health issues take on people’s lives. R U OK Day began in Australia in 2011 after Gavin Larkin’s father committed suicide. He had wondered whether this simple question could have made a difference and saved his father’s life. The suicide awareness and prevention campaign, now a recognized nationwide event in Australia, gained attention around the world through global companies such as Golder Associates.

Many times, individuals put their best face forward on social media and in face-to-face interactions because no one wants to burden others with personal issues. Lorraine firmly believes if everyone spoke openly with each other, there would not be the same level of mental illness such as depression and anxiety in our society. Most of us walk around acting like things are fine when they may not be. She insists it is important to express day to day frustrations, not just the big things because it’s the little things that add up to the big things.

Lorraine shared with the group that she dislikes the polite greeting, “How are you?” Too many people answer it with “fine” when they are not. Her presentation included reasons why someone might not be okay: stress, burn out, grief and depression all contribute to emotional well-being. However, everyday issues such as family disagreements, traffic incidents and a lack of sleep can also affect one’s overall health.

After defining the concerns, Lorraine gave practical tips on how to help a friend or coworker who is struggling. Concentrating on basic steps anyone can take to make a difference in another’s life, she spoke of the importance of active listening to another person’s responses, repeating back to them what you heard to show understanding, validating their emotions and asking clarifying questions. What bothered you about the conversation? When was the last time you did not feel so heavy? What do you like to do for fun and when was the last time you did it? Lorraine instructed the attendees to ask these questions to move the conversation forward and explore possible solutions together.

Lorraine taught self-awareness which enables individuals to recognize negative patterns. Participants learned how to self-evaluate stress levels by acknowledging what fills them up emotionally and drains them physically.

Greg Logan, a geologist at Golder Associates, used balloons to show how someone can become overwhelmed when they have too many things going on in their life. Each balloon represented a different issue or responsibility. Greg handed a colleague one balloon at a time and asked him to hold on to them the best he could. This revealed how challenging life can be when one has too much going on. This can lead to stress, feeling overwhelmed or even depressed. Asking “R U Ok?” allows a person to ask for help and lets them know someone cares for them. After asking “R U OK,” Greg began to take the balloons back and delegate them to others. This illustrated everyone can work together to help relieve the stress of others.

Writing pens, bracelets and posters around the office remind Golder Associate employees two things: ask each other if they are ok and to be open to sharing their burdens with others. Statistically, there is a global rise in depression, anxiety and both suicide attempts as well as suicide completions. Asking “R U Ok?” can make the world of difference for someone!

STCH Ministries Family Counseling serves as a preventative ministry as well as a source of direction and hope in times of crisis. Counselors provide training, seminars, and workshops enabling churches, organizations and community groups to be a resource to those in need. For more information on counseling or workshops: https://www.STCHM.org/family-counseling/

Tim Williams, Director of Church Relations grew up in the Victoria area and has been in Christian ministry since 1982 with 27 of those years serving as a senior pastor. As Director of Church Relations, Tim connects churches with STCH Ministries by helping identify ways to minister to their needs. He is also available for pulpit supply as he leads the Pastor Care ministry.

Occasionally, Tim will share stories from his ministry relating to how God heals hurts and shares hope using STCH Ministries. Here is one story, in his words:

My wife and I recently got to visit friends in Maryland, Pastor Dario and his wife Susie Agnolutto. Through our relationship with them over the years, Grace Brethren Church of Calvert County has made two trips to the Dominican Republic with STCH Ministries International. They are now planning their third trip. Since our visit included a Sunday, Pastor Dario allowed me to say a word of thanks to his church, share about our ministries as well as show one of our videos.

My wife, Judith, helped with the Ladies’ Retreat at Grace Brethren Church several times and after the service, a friend approached us. The woman shared she knew that she and her husband were, “going to make it – they were a family again,” after participating in the most recent mission trip as a family.

My wife later told me this woman showed up two years ago, at the Ladies Retreat broken and considering divorce after her husband’s affair. Through the grace of God, her church’s work with both of them as well as Christian counseling, this family has not just stayed together but now is being made whole.

It hit me that she was telling me the STCH Ministries mission trip made a difference in their lives and in her mind, changed their course from surviving to serving. We don’t always see the impact our International ministry has on people once they return home, but in this case, it was the healing of a family and the restoration of a marriage.  God works through us when we serve and that may be the most powerful way He works in us as well.

For more information about Pastor Care, please see: https://www.STCHM.org/pastor-care/

For more information about International Mission Trip opportunities, please see: https://www.STCHM.org/international/

Isaiah 54:4 – “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth.”

 A STCH Ministries Family Counseling client sought relief from crippling guilt and shame. The misplaced guilt the client struggled with stemmed from not wanting to be like his parents and feeling he had to hide his past. He helped raise his younger siblings due to a sexually abusive father and absent mother whose drug addiction led to frequent jail time. He believed himself guilty because he felt embarrassed by his family, he thought as a Christian, shouldn’t he love them unconditionally?

His counselor, Peyton, set a goal to help the gentleman discover those feelings did not belong to him. Guilt, a deep feeling of regret for an act which may or may not have occurred in the past, led to shame, the feeling of failing to live up to an imagined ideal of oneself. After many sessions processing through these emotions and establishing healthy boundaries, Peyton established that the guilt and shame he was carrying belonged to his family.

Often in a dysfunctional family, the children feel shame for their parent’s problems. Children cannot understand that their family is not “normal” or healthy and may think they are the cause of the problems. This idea may make them believe that the problem has to do with themselves, rather than the family. Family secrets can produce shame. Keeping a parent’s drug habit or sexual abuse a secret makes the child feel like they have something to hide and gives them the message “Don’t let people see you as you are.”

Peyton selected an insightful workbook called Making Peace with Your Past: Help for Adult Children of Dysfunctional Families by Tim Sledge to help her client. The lessons guided them through identifying the key characteristics of a dysfunctional family—how shame may transfer to others, defeating shame and understanding that spiritual cleansing is essential to win over shame. The client gave his shame and guilt to God and experienced God’s emotional renewal thus discovering his family was not his destiny. He learned to love his family with healthy boundaries in place.

Through faith and counseling, he surrendered guilt and shame to the Lord, developed a refreshed outlook on his life and experienced a great sense of relief. The client’s life reflected Psalm 3:3—“But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.” The client gave himself the grace and mercy he deserved, and his faith is stronger than ever.

If guilt or shame is a problem in your life, STCH Ministries Family Counseling offices are available in 16 locations around South Texas. Please visit: https://www.STCHM.org/family-counseling/