"Can you pray for me?” These five words came from a girl who, for so long, did not realize how truly loved she was by her heavenly Father.

"One time, we were celebrating the birthday of a sixth-grade boy who was in our home. I realize that may sound somewhat ordinary, but for him, we learned it was the first time he had blown out a candle on a birthday cake.”

This is the vision Chief Operations Officer for North Alabama, Dr. Michael Smith, has for the Ensor Shelter Care home being built in Decatur: that children who need a secure place to stay in a transitional time would be given a safe place to call home.

Over the course of 35+ years, Jimmie and Martha Harris estimate they’ve been able to serve and care for around 300 children through Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes (ABCH), in Gardendale for a season and then largely on our Decatur campus as they care for school-aged girls.

Quanicia and her daughter, Briella, recently graduated from our Family Care program in Gardendale. Upon leaving, she decided to write a letter to future residents.

We are excited for you to hear from one of our former employees who chooses to support children and families in need in Alabama, even though he lives states away!

When we came in, though, there were bedsheets, blankets, clothes, towels, and Valencia even had a teddy bear waiting for my little girl on her bed. I didn’t think we’d even have our own room, so it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders to walk into our room.”

“Don’t be afraid; just believe.” (Mark 5:36) Amy, a mom at Grace’s House of Hope, our Family Care home in Mobile, clung to this verse in a recent season of life.

It’s easy to think of going international when talking about missions—but missions can happen right in our own backyard. And that’s what one small group from The Church at Brook Hills is doing.

A Family Care mom shares her experience at our Family Care home.

Don Eades was an 8-year-old ABCH “Home Boy” who lived at our home for boys in Eastlake, and then in our Gardendale home, now present-day Family Care home. Life there in the 70s was, in his words, a wonderful and blessed time. He has never forgotten the providence of his time with us, and he loves to tell others about it . . .