Shepherding Homes
Bethany is committed to helping expectant mothers with housing assistance when needed. For women who make the courageous decision to choose life for their baby, housing assistance may be their greatest need. Bethany is actively seeking more shepherding homes: loving, stable Christian families who open their homes to them during their pregnancy. Shepherding care services are now provided through Safe Families for Children. (add link over Safe Families to Children to the web page on Safe Families)
Perhaps you can provide a nurturing, loving, home environment for a young woman who needs a place to stay during her pregnancy. As a Safe Family providing shepherding care you can reflect God's love and forgiveness to a young woman while He reveals His unique plan for her life and the life of her unborn child. Bethany will provide you with the training, supervision, and support that you need to be an effective Safe Family home. In addition to providing regular counseling sessions for the young woman placed in your home, Bethany staff will meet with you regularly to discuss your concerns and needs during the time that you serve.
Bethany provides ongoing training and support to families involved in Safe Families. If you would like to find out how you can be involved please fill out our contact form. The following story is a testimony from one or our Shepherding families.
A Special Ministry
David and Lori remember well the call they received from Bethany's counselor asking them if they would consider this most unusual situation. Typically, young women enter shepherding homes because of problems at home or with peers, or to shield the mother from negative influences during her pregnancy. Ana's situation was unique in that she did not speak English and that she requested that her mother come to live with her.
Over the previous three years, David and Lori had shared their home with a woman struggling to put her life together after an abusive marriage, a former drug addict trying to make a new start and several Bethany pregnancy counseling clients. When the call came from Bethany about Ana and her mother; David and Lori agreed to meet with them the very next night.
Much to her surprise, Bethany's counselor later discovered that David had already learned "beginning" Spanish for his job. He welcomed the opportunity to practice his Spanish and help Ana and her mother learn English. "We had just had an experience with a Venezuelan young woman living with us who knew little English. We knew the challenges before us and were excited about the opportunity to minister to those of a different culture and to help one another learn a new language." David and Lori bought English and Spanish dictionaries and kept them close at hand. Laughter filled their home on many occasions as they struggled to communicate, but they always found a way.
The relationship between David, Lori, Ana and Ana's mother grew as trust was quickly established between them. Ana describes David and Lori as her two angels, but to David and Lori, Ana and her mom were the angels.
As a Bethany shepherding couple, David and Lori have entertained many "guests" in the name of Christ: pregnant women, unborn children, immigrants and orphans, and who knows . . . perhaps . . . even angels.
To contact Bethany Christian Services of Atlanta, Georgia, call us at 770.455.7111or fill out our contact form.